Institute for Fiscal Studies warns of another year of austerity
George Osborne hits back at critics
Labour says Budget is 'unfair' to those on low incomes
Small business groups hail Budget reforms
Questions about prospect of a surplus in 2020
BBC Breakfast
The "highest burden of the cuts" will fall on women, according to shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
Quote MessageThe highest burden of the cuts in terms of services and in terms of increased taxes are falling on the lowest paid, but also in particular, women. 80% of the cuts are falling on women... It's women with children, but also older women, those ones who have the caring responsibilities in their families."
Political editor Laura Kuenssberg tweets:
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
BBC Breakfast
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell says the Budget has given to the rich while taking from the disabled.
Quote MessageYesterday the Budget was so unfair. What I was really angry about, and this came up last week, is that George Osborne has cut capital gains tax, and that actually is a cut in tax to the 5%, the wealthiest people in this country. And who has he taken the money from? People with disabilities, and I think that's unacceptable. We urged him to think again on this one, and unfortunately he hasn't, and he's driving it through."
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg says George Osborne is "trying to do lots of things at the same time" and was forced to "wriggle a bit" in his Today interview over the failure to meet two of his three fiscal rules.
"There's real scepticism that the miraculous turnaround from the red to the black in 2020 is achievable economically, and some cynicism too that the timing of that is about the politics and his ambition."
BBC Breakfast
All schools being forced to become academies is "completely inappropriate" says shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
Quote MessageIt doesn't address the issues of teacher shortages, it doesn't address the issue of increase in class sizes or the lack of places... there are people asking questions that there's a hole in this budget now, maybe up to £500m, that actually might fall on schools."
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4
More from George Osborne's interview on Today.
Because he created the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, the Chancellor says “I don’t get to fiddle” the figures. On the basis of the figures in the Budget, the OBR has concluded that a budget surplus will be achieved by the end of the Parliament.
Pressed by John Humphrys about whether a surplus is a realistic prospect, Mr Osborne says: “There is a commitment to reach a budget surplus in normal times.”
That caveat means that if recession strikes again the government would have to adapt its plans.
The Chancellor also conceded that productivity in the UK was not growing fast enough.
BBC Breakfast
The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, says while Labour would like to see small businesses exempt from paying business rates, it would leave local councils with a shortfall.
"There's a worry now that government is cutting grant to local councils, withdrawing all grant eventually, forcing them to rely on local business rates, and if they're cutting business rates at the same time, that means that you're actually destabilising local government funding."
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4
George Osborne has been on the Today programme to be grilled by John Humphrys about yesterday's Budget. The Chancellor says the government has achieved much of what it has set out to do but reiterates that "storm clouds are gathering" on the global economy.
He is taken to task for failing to achieve two of the three fiscal targets he set out to achieve. Mr Osborne concedes: “We have got more to do to get that debt falling and deliver that budget surplus.”
The government is not pretending that it has abolished boom and bust or that the UK is immune to problems elsewhere, he adds.
BBC Breakfast
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell says Labour supports the move in the Budget to raise the tax threshold to £11,500.
Quote MessageWe've supported raising the tax threshold for the lower paid. Our worry though is there's a large number of people as we saw last week announced another 100,000 on zero hours contracts - that's about 1 million people on zero hours contracts who are so low paid they are below that limit, not actually earning enough to pay tax, so it's about lifting wages as much as anything."
BBC Breakfast
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has criticised George Osborne for not meeting his own targets. Would Labour retain the new Lifetime Isa?
Quote MessageI think so, but we want to look at the detail of it. We want to do anything that will encourage savings, but at the same time we have to recognise that the large number of people, almost 50%, actually have no savings whatsoever - young people in particular. There's issues about how that effects the pensions industry, so we'll look at the detail of that."
Ross Hawkins
Political correspondent
The Budget was supposed to bolster George Osborne’s standing with his own MPs but its just made some angry. Why?
1: He used his Budget speech to back the EU, and the OBR’s words to make his point: “Why would you insult half your backbenchers?” That was one MP’s view, who said with so many Tories backing Brexit the chancellor should have kept quiet on the subject. Some accuse him of unfairly using the words of the impartial OBR watchdog to make his point. The OBR itself had insisted it wasn’t for them to judge what a leave vote would mean.
2: Disability benefit cuts are rattling some MPs: A Conservative reputation for compassion is being put at risk by cutting disability benefits to help reach a surplus. That was one well-placed – very frustrated – Tory’s view. There are big rows going on behind the scenes, a backbencher tells me.
A newspaper article at the weekend linking disability cuts to tax cuts deeply worried some, external - particularly as they don’t know what to tell worried constituents. Having announced a change to the Personal Independence Payment very quietly, through a written statement last week, a minister then had to write to Tory MPs to explain the detail. Conservatives already under fire for cuts to another benefit that will affect some disabled people – the Employment Support Allowance – are fretful.
3: There is a rebellion brewing on the so called ‘Tampon tax’: Labour MP Paula Sherriff has tabled an amendment to the finance bill that could see a major scrap come Tuesday. Labour and SNP MPs and Conservative Eurosceptics are united in opposition to 5% VAT on women’s sanitary products. The reasons: the suggestion tampons are a luxury product that should incur VAT is patently ridiculous many argue, and – crucially - the tax has been required by the EU. So there’s a passionate coalition demanding change.
When they tried to alter a finance bill last year they got a lot of support.
So... Today is likely to reveal not just what the analysts make of his figures, but whether private fury will turn into a real political problem for the chancellor.
BBC Breakfast
The Chancellor has broken two of his three fiscal rules: the welfare cap was breached last year, and debt falling as a proportion of national income was broken yesterday. Now there are big questions about the budget surplus by 2020. How does George Osborne plan to eliminate the deficit?
Quote MessageCollectively as a nation we've got to live within our means. If that doesn't happen then we don't have job security, we don't have economic security for families, and we saw the price when that goes wrong just a few years ago when the country was in a crisis. I'm saying 'Let's carry on taking the action to make sure that we spend no more than we raise in taxes', and we've set out our plans to do that and get that budget surplus, which is an important part of delivering that security. As we do that, we can bring our national debt down."
George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4
Institute for Fiscal Studies director Paul Johnson tells Today that George Osborne will be forced to find "genuinely big" tax rises or spending cuts if there was any further downgrade in the public finances if he wanted to meet his target of delivering a budget surplus by the end of this parliament.
"Within his very tight rule he will probably get away with this this time round. But there's only about a 50-50 shot that he's going to get there," he says. "If things change again, if the OBR [Office for Budget Responsibility] downgrades its forecasts again, I don't think he will be able to get away with anything like this. I think he will be forced to put some proper tax increases in or possibly find some yet further proper spending cuts."
Mr Johnson adds: "I think this is going to be the last chance he gets to move things around like this without doing anything genuinely big to the public finances."
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4
Emma Jones of small business lobby group Enterprise Nation, external has been on Today to hail what she describes as a “fantastic Budget for small business”.
As well as meaning that some 600,000 firms will no longer have to pay business rates, she says the Budget will have a psychological impact and make SMEs feel more loved.
Like the CBI's Carolyn Fairbairn, Ms Jones also calls for an end to the "us and them" view of big and small business and says that SMEs want big companies to thrive as well.
Chancellor George Osborne is challenged on BBC Breakfast that when it comes to the disabled, half a million people will lose about £1bn of personal independence payments a year.
Is the Budget skewed towards those who are already in middle and higher income brackets?
Quote MessageWe are... increasing the money that is available to disabled people: that money is going to go up as a budget, because we've got to make sure we help the most vulnerable in our society."
He adds that the "rising budget" for disability can only be paid for "if you have that growing economy".
Quote MessageWe've got to make sure we control our disability budget so that as it rises... it absolutely goes to the people in our society who need it most."
BBC Breakfast
Do the downgrades to the UK's growth forecasts damage the Chhancellor's reputation?
George Osborne tells BBC Breakfast that these are independent forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility, adding that the world is now "a much more uncertain place".
Quote MessageThe question is: what does it mean for Britain? In Britain we have a growing economy, we've got unemployment coming down again... and what I'm saying in this Budget is that we've got to hold to the course that we have set out. We've got to take action now on the public finances so that we're stable and secure and we don't pay later, and we've got to back small businesses, the self-employed, working people by cutting their taxes and helping our economy to grow, and we set out the plan to do that in the Budget."
Image source, GSKSir Andrew Witty described GSK as "a very special company with an inspiring mission".
Quote MessageBy next year, I will have been CEO for nearly ten years and I believe this will be the right time for a new leader to take over. In making this decision it has been important to me that the board have the time to conduct a full and proper process and that we sustain the momentum of our current business performance... By doing so we will strongly position GSK to achieve the medium-term outlook set out to investors last year and deliver a return to core earnings growth in 2016."
Image source, Getty ImagesGerman carrier Lufthansa has reported strong annual results for 2015 - net profit up to €1.7bn thanks to lower fuel prices and more customers.
The company has restored dividend payments.
The airline, which has faced numerous flight cancellations because of industrial action, said it was confident profits would increase next year.
Image source, GSKGlaxoSmithKline chief executive Sir Andrew Witty will leave the company in March 2017, the pharmaceuticals giant said today.
Image source, rio tintoThe deputy chief executive gets the top job.
Jean-Sébastien Jacques becomes the boss at the world's second biggest miner Rio Tinto.