Image source, Getty Images

Well, it's fair to say it's been a very busy day. Here's a recap of what's happened:

• Chancellor George Osborne set out his tax and spending plans in his last Budget of the Parliament

• He announced tax cuts for first-time home buyers, workers and savers and claimed that Britain is "walking tall again"

• He also cut 1p from beer duty, 2% from cider and whisky and froze fuel and wine duty

• Labour leader Ed Miliband said Mr Osborne had "failed working families" and claimed people would not believe the budget

• Politicians, businesses, trades unions and pressure groups reacted to the statement

• Ahead of the budget, David Cameron and Ed Miliband clashed over the NHS (and kitchens) in what is likely to be the penultimate PMQS before the election

• UK unemployment fell by 102,000 to 1.86 million in the three months to January, according to the latest ONS figures.

We're ending our coverage for the day now. Thanks for joining us - we'll be back tomorrow at 6am.

Image source, PA

Douglas Fraser, the BBC's Business/economy editor, Scotland has this analysis of the impact of the chancellor's measures on the Scottish oil industry.

He writes that a headline tax cut of a third - in the case of the Supplementary Charge on newer fields - "looks unusually generous in the current fiscal climate".

But he goes on: "It looks less generous when it's added to corporation tax, which runs at 30% of profits while other industries pay 20%. And it's less generous still, when you recall that the cut in supplementary charge from 30% to 20% precisely reverses the increase George Osborne announced in his 2011 Budget - to oil industry consternation.

"This was a Budget which spelled the end to the 40-year era of oil and gas being a government cash cow."

tweets, external: Tsk, you lot confused by what the Sun front page image of Osborne means. It's this ad, aimed at Young Persons, external

Image source, Vars

Isabel Hardmann has blogged, external in the Spectator that the chancellor will be pleased with tomorrow's front pages. Yup, even THAT Sun front page, apparently.

tweets, external: YouGov/Sun poll CON 33%, LAB 34%, LDEM 8%, UKIP 14%, GRNS 6%

Danny Finkelstein responded to Damian McBride and defended the chancellor's performance. He said the Conservatives' election strategy was not to run the election on a giveaway Budget but rather try "to show that it has competent, consistent management" of the economy.

Damian McBride says George Osborne hasn't done enough, today, to hand the Conservatives the election. The former advisor to Gordon Brown told BBC Newsnight, "in an election campaign ... momentum is everything".

He said: "Will this produce the 5% shift in the polls that will change the momentum and direction of the election campaign and massively put the pressure onto Labour or does it actually leave Labour thinking 'Well, we've got the argument where we want it.' And I fear for George Osborne today that he hasn't produced that shift." He went on to say it was a "big opportunity" for the chancellor but it was "a missed opportunity."

The Spectator editor Fraser Nelson says that, as ever, the story of the Budget was hidden in the small print. There are no hidden tax rises, but the story isn't really in the tax. It's about the cuts to come, the incredible jobs recovery and the games already being played for the general election campaign, he adds. He breaks down the Budget down into ten graphs., external

It's shadow Treasury secretary Chris Leslie's turn to be grilled by Evan Davis now. Asked to confirm that Labour would spend more than the Conservatives if it wins the election, Mr Leslie does not address the question directly. He says Labour rejects the need for such "extreme spending cuts" planned by the Conservatives, and tells BBC Newsnight the party would not rely on borrowing in its general election manifesto. He says that getting on top of the deficit is not just dependent on cuts but also fairer taxation.

The chancellor was making a point about deficit, wages and job "where we have got a very good story to tell", David Gauke adds. He says the government inherited a "desperate position" from Labour in 2010 "but we are now moving in the right direction".

Challenged over Mr Osborne's remarks that Britain is paying its way in the world, Treasury minister David Gauke tells BBC Newsnight the government will be delivering a budget surplus in 2018-19 and that debt will be falling as a proportion of GDP from 2015-16 - the first time in fifteen years, he adds.

James Landale
Deputy political editor

Today's Budget doesn't change the fundamental debate of British politics: George Osborne is still saying 'the economy is getting, better stick with me', while Labour is saying 'there are big cuts to come, don't risk it with him'. But the argument has been refined. The chancellor has a budget book which he says shows debt will be falling, living standards will be rising and austerity will end a bit earlier than expected - all designed to counter specific Labour criticism of the Conservative position. But Labour says the chancellor has got the tone wrong, and by being so optimistic today he has been hubristic, which will jar with the public. The test of the budget will come in the coming days, when strategists pour over the numbers and opinion polls to see whether today's announcements have tempted marginal voters to come on board or whether they say no, it's time for a change.