The World at One
BBC Radio 4

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, has told Radio 4's World at One that "the majority of self-employed people" will see a reduction in their National Insurance contributions. 

Mr Gauke said that the gap between the employed and the self-employed is "going to grow" if action isn't taken.  

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Peter Dowd, Labour MP and shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury calls the rise in National Insurance for the self employed "a kick in the teeth".

Mr Dowd told Radio 4's World at One that the government had their priorities "absolutely wrong" because they were raising taxes for the self-employed whilst making "huge corporation tax cuts".

Huw Edwards asks David Gauke asks why the government is breaking its promise not to increase national insurance.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury explains that the promise did not cover class 4 NI contributions. That is what we are increasing, he says.

Chris Cook, external Newsnight's policy editor writes. 

Tucked inside the Budget, external , the Treasury outlines some pretty heavy cuts for the Local Government department.

Its budget will drop from £8.2bn last year to £5.5bn by next year, as the table below shows... 

Image source, Getty Images

Will the £435m of business rates relief be enough?

BBC business editor Simon Jack says a wider review into the whole business rates system will be more important.

It will look at questions like how much should Amazon, Asos and corner shops pay. 

Unless that delivers big changes, it'll be "pain delayed, not pain cancelled".

In Hull Jo Coburn asks local businessman Thomas Martin if he was pleased with the £90m investment in transport in the North

"It's a start," he replies but says he wanted more evidence that the Chancellor was taking the Northern Powerhouse seriously.

He points out that "seven times as much money is being spent in the South than the North".

The Budget forecasts are based on the calculations of the Office for Budget Responsibility, external . 

Despite the lower-than-predicted borrowing the IFS's Paul Johnson says that "three of four years down the road" there is no change.

The bad news, he adds, is that earnings and income forecasts have gone down.

He also describes "talk of building up a Brexit war chest" as nonsense noting that "there is still £1.7tn of debt."

BBC Transport correspondent writes. 

Financial Times telecoms correspondent Nic Fildes tweets:

BBC News Channel

The Conservatives promised in their 2015 election manifesto that they wouldn't raise National Insurance, among other taxes.

The Chancellor has "gone against the spirit of that pledge" by raising NI contributions for self-employed workers, says BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg.

The NI contributions will rise from 9% to 11% by 2019, which "might be a bit itchy politically", she adds. 

The FTSE 100 has edged into positive territory, having been lower during the Chancellor's speech.

Neil Wilson, Market Analyst at ETX Capital writes:

"Markets took a drab Budget in their stride... as you would expect, there was plenty of pro-business stuff in there and growth for 2017 was revised higher, in line with other forecasts.

"Spreadsheet Phil cracked a few jokes but this was a Budget pretty low on content as far as investors are concerned – the reduction in the tax free dividend allowance aside.

"This was a dry run for the new autumn set piece when he will know a lot more about what the Brexit landscape looks like."

Image source, Getty Images

The Federation of Small Businesses says the Chancellor took a "direct and much-needed response" to the impending rises in business rates.

Philip Hammond announced £435m of measures to help ease the impact of the rates rise on pubs and small businesses.

"But this tax remains out-of-date, so today we call for a cross-party Commission to create a simple, fair tax system for a modern economy," FSB chairman Mike Cherry adds.

Jeremy Corbyn now concludes his speech by accusing the budget of doing nothing to tackle "the low-pay state of emergency".

There is nothing, he says to create a fair economy.

Instead, he argues, the budget is "built on the failure to tackle unfairness."