Philip Hammond gave his first (and last) spring Budget on Wednesday.
He spoke on a range of issues including social care funding, the price of cigarettes, funding for technical education post-16 and business rates.
“It’s Philip Hammond’s first and last spring Budget. And the Chancellor is determined to use his image as a penny-pinching accountant to maximum advantage, as he tries to steer the British economy and finances through both Brexit and deficit reduction.”
- Paul Waugh, Executive Editor, Politics, The Huffington Post UK
Here were some of the main points:
Growth forecast for the economy has gone up from 1.4% to 2%
No mention of climate change, Brexit fails to make an appearance
Extra £2 billion for social care in England over the next three years
Higher paid self-employed to pay an average of 60p a week more in NI
Most pubs are to be given a £1,000 discount on business rates
Corbyn accuses Chancellor of producing ‘Budget of utter complacency’
Not a fan of budget liveblogs? Admittedly, Hammond has said that “boring is best”.
We kept an eye out for interesting Budget-related moments, as well as the reaction to it.
Follow the action as it happened below...
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