| Welcome to Beyond Brexit, Bloomberg's weekly newsletter tracking changes in the U.K. after its exit from the European Union. Rishi Sunak's budget was the first chance for Britain to flex its fiscal muscles and diverge from Brussels since leaving the EU. But the chancellor of the exchequer didn't once utter the B-word and in fact offered up a policy that trade experts say could have been delivered while part of the bloc. Eight English freeports, effectively low-tariff business zones, will aim to stimulate trade and investment. It was a policy backed by Ben Houchen, the mayor of the Tees Valley and a Conservative party darling, whose region was one of those chosen. Houchen claims the award will create 18,000 jobs at Teesside port in northeast England. Still, a study by the UK in a Changing Europe think tank said the policy will be no "magic bullet", merely displacing jobs and activity from elsewhere in the country.  A big boost in corporation tax was one of the headline features in the budget, leaving Sunak virtually alone among global finance ministers in fretting about public finances. The levy will rise from 19% to 25% by 2023, reversing a Conservative effort to make the U.K. among the most lightly taxed places for companies to do business. The delay to 2023 means the U.K.'s post-Covid fiscal squeeze will hit home in the year before the next general election. As Bloomberg's Stephanie Flanders notes, Sunak's plan is a step-change from previous Conservative fiscal policies, and points to "a different vision for the post-Brexit economy." It all jarred with the spectacle of big banks moving operations to the EU and the consultant EY finding that Dublin is the favorite destination for finance firms that need to move. Ireland's tax on businesses is half the new U.K. rate.  London share trading got a boost after Amsterdam overtook it as Europe's leading hub by volume. Sunak promised to act quickly on reforming stock exchange rules to make listing in the U.K. capital more attractive for founders, especially 2021's hottest investment vehicle, special purpose acquisition companies – so-called blank-check vehicles, affectionately known as SPACs. Away from the budget, political tensions escalated between Brussels and London after the U.K. said it would waive customs paperwork on food entering Northern Ireland until October. That's a step beyond the April deadline it had agreed with the EU. Brussels threatened legal action. You can read more from Ian Wishart on what's likely to be a rocky few months. — Lizzy Burden As ever, if Brexit is affecting your business in a way we haven't mentioned, please let us know. Chart of the Week Rishi Sunak's eyebrow-raising decision to raise corporation tax in the budget made him the first British chancellor to do so since Denis Healey in 1974. It marks a dramatic break with the policy of his predecessor George Osborne, who slashed the levy to 19% in a bid to encourage firms to hire and invest. Don't Miss Rishi Sunak poses with the Budget Box on March 3, 2021. Photographer: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP Want to keep up?You can follow us @Brexit on Twitter, and listen to Bloomberg Westminster every weekday. Share Beyond Brexit: Colleagues, friends and family can sign up here. For full EU coverage, try the Brussels Edition. Get More From BloombergYou can find all of our newsletters here, but here are some we think you'd particularly enjoy: Bloomberg is also tracking the progress of coronavirus vaccines and mapping the pandemic. Sign up here for our Coronavirus Daily newsletter and here for our podcast. Subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and expert analysis. | 
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