The changes announced to mortgage relief ultimately helped to further fuel an ongoing property boom which led to a rise in inflation and an increase in interest rates.

Due to frequent disruptions during the Chancellor's speech, Deputy Speaker Harold Walker was required to suspend proceedings in what was described as an outbreak of "grave disorder".

Lawson believed the UK economy was slowing to a sustainable rate, and forecast a budget surplus which would enable him to make significant reductions in tax.

The 105-minute speech was beset by frequent interruptions, including one from Alex Salmond of the Scottish National Party, who was suspended from the House after describing the statement as "an obscenity", breaching parliamentary convention in the process.

[4][5] In the short term, Lawson's reputation was boosted, adding weight to his argument that the best way to control inflation was for the UK to join the Exchange Rate Mechanism, something with which he was at odds with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

[1] But, in a 2018 Telegraph article in which he acknowledged the 1988 budget as "one of the most controversial Britain has seen", Tom Clougherty, of the Centre for Policy Studies, described it as "one of the most successful" and one that Lawson's successors were "still essentially colouring in the map that he drew".