Economy: Alan Walters diary (budget) [Middleton says Wass & Ryrie opposed £1b extra tax in budget; Brittan and Howe agreed with their view that “you must not put interest rates down if you had to put them up again!!”] [released 2012]

Document type:	Declassified documents
Source:	Walters MSS (Churchill Archives Centre): WTRS 3/1/1
Editorial comments:	Read other entries from this diary. View all Walters documents. The original diary can be studied here
Importance ranking:	Key
Word count:	66
Themes:	Executive, Monetary policy, Public spending & borrowing, Taxation

Wednesday 13th May 1981

Wass + Ryrie [Sir William (Bill) Ryrie, second Permanent Secretary to the Treasury] were very much against the £1 Bn extra tax in the budget (according to Middleton) - thought it would be very deflationary.

Leon Brittan + GH [Sir Geoffrey Howe] + D. Wass + Ryrie all agreed that you must not put interest rates down if you had to put them back up again!!