Summary

  • Wednesday's Budget included a cut in the UK's economic growth outlook

  • Philip Hammond: Let's prove grim forecasts wrong

  • UK set for longest squeeze in living standards on record, think tank warns

  • Stamp duty to be abolished for all first-time buyers up to £300,000

  • Get in touch: bizlivepage@bbc.co.uk

  1. Austerity 'still biting'published at 09:45 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

    Heather Stewart, political editor at The Guardian, writes:

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  2. Services growth 'lowest since 2013'published at 09:39 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

    City of London skylineImage source, PA

    The UK's dominant services sector - which makes up 80% of the economy - saw its slowest growth in nearly four years in the third quarter, according to official data.

    Services output increased by 1.4% in the three months to September compared with the same period a year ago, the Office for National Statistics, external said.

    That was the lowest growth since the three months ending October 2013, it added.

  3. 'Nothing big or bold' on tax, says Pestonpublished at 09:38 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

    ITV political editor Robert Peston writes:

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  4. Chancellor 'giving tax cuts to the rich'published at 09:35 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

    BBC News Channel

    Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has criticised the Budget for not addressing the needs of people who are struggling. He adds:

    "Look, nurses are going to food banks, in the sixth richest country in the world, that cannot be right, and it's the same across other public sector workers.

    "The issue around universal credit yesterday was a disgrace, an absolute disgrace, when he's giving tax cuts to corporations and rich people. How much? £76bn over the next few years."

  5. UK growth confirmed at 0.4%published at 09:32 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017
    Breaking

    The UK economy grew by 0.4% in the third quarter, confirming an earlier estimate, according to the Office for National Statistics, external.

    The ONS gave its updated guidance on the health of the UK economy for the July to September period based on additional data.

  6. UK must defy gloomy forecast - Hammondpublished at 09:22 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

    Media caption,

    Budget 2017: Hammond says UK must defy gloomy forecast

    The chancellor says the challenge is to prove the economists wrong and deliver higher productivity.

    UK must defy gloomy forecast - Hammond

    The chancellor says the challenge is to prove the economists wrong and deliver higher productivity.

    Read More
  7. McDonnell: Budget 'not helping families'published at 09:08 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

    John McDonnell

    Earlier, Chancellor Philip Hammond said his Budget would help families who are "feeling the pressure".

    Labour's Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell says: "I can't see where he's helped families at all.

    "If he's referring to universal credit, what he did yesterday is he gave people £1 and took £10 off them.

    "If he's referring to families who are concerned about the education of their children there was virtually nothing there to tackle the budget cuts that are going through our schools, and if he's talking about health, the chief executive of the health service asked for £4m, he's got just over half that, but nowhere near the amount he needs, and so we're facing another winter crisis in the NHS. It just demonstrates to me just now cut off from the real lives of people the Chancellor is."

  8. What's the £3bn Brexit pot for?published at 09:05 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    EU flag in WestminsterImage source, PA

    The chancellor set aside £3bn in yesterday's Budget to prepare for every possible outcome as the UK leaves the EU.

    Philip Hammond gives an example on Today of a new IT system the government will need to build for moving animals and food stuff between the UK and EU.

    So is he a Brexit convert?

    "I've never been gloomy, I'm a pragmatist. I take the world as it is. We are leaving the European Union and that has certain consequences," he says.

    "We need to prepare for those consequences. We need to make sure that we make a success of this and that is the government's number one priority."

  9. Thames Water to close Cayman unitpublished at 09:01 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

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  10. Is Hammond connected to firm which left land undeveloped?published at 08:58 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    Philip Hammond is asked on Today about a property firm he co-founded which has been accused of sitting on land granted planning permission for new homes.

    One of the chancellor's housing policies in the Budget was to make it more difficult for developers to do just that.

    Mr Hammond says he hasn't been involved in the company, Castlemead Limited, for several years. He co-founded it in 1984.

    But doesn't he have a direct interest through a trust?

    "It doesn't pay me anything," he says. "We have quite strict rules about this. It would be quite wrong for me to get involved in that and I don't."

  11. Hammond 'confident' of 300,000 house targetpublished at 08:54 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    Philip Hammond holds up Budget boxImage source, AFP

    The boss of one of the UK's biggest housebuilders suggested earlier on the Today Programme that a realistic target for the industry would be 225,000 new houses a year.

    Is the chancellor being overly optimistic with his Budget target of 300,000?

    Philip Hammond says he's "confident" he can deliver it through extra funding, changes to planning rules, and a crackdown on land banks.

  12. Centrica shares plummet after earnings hitpublished at 08:41 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

    British Gas vanImage source, Getty Images

    British Gas owner Centrica's shares have plummeted more than 17% after the energy giant revealed it lost another 823,000 household energy accounts since June and warned over its earnings per share outlook.

    Customers moved from the Big Six firms after it increased electricity prices by 12.5% in September, although it said 150,000 of the lost accounts were down to market switching trends following the tariff rise.

    It now has 13.1 million customer accounts and 7.9 million customers.

    It said its earnings per share would be lower than expected due to the British Gas issues as well as troubles in its North American arm, which is being hit by "highly competitive market conditions and low price volatility".

  13. 'Worst decade for productivity growth since 1812'published at 08:30 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

    ShoppersImage source, EPA

    This decade is set to be the worst for productivity growth since 1812, according to think tank the Resolution Foundation.

    Torsten Bell, it's director, said: "Faced with a grim economic backdrop the Chancellor will see this Budget as a political success.

    "But that would be cold comfort for Britain’s families given the bleak outlook it paints for their living standards.

    "Hopefully the OBR’s forecasts will prove to be wrong because, while the first sentence of the Budget document reads 'the United Kingdom has a bright future', the brutal truth is: not on these forecasts it doesn’t."

  14. Previous productivity estimates 'over-optimistic'published at 08:17 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

    BBC Breakfast

    The OBR's sharp cut in the UK economic outlook is down to its own previous estimates of productivity growth being too optimistic, Chancellor Philip Hammond tells BBC Breakfast.

    "What the Office for Budget Responsibility did yesterday was acknowledge that the forecast they've been using for the last eight years showing productivity growth returning to about 2% were over-optimistic.

    "Throughout that period we never actually achieved that level, and now they've reset their forecast for the coming years, and that feeds through into a lower forecast of growth.

    "The challenge for us, now, as a nation, is to prove them wrong. The challenge for us is to deliver that higher productivity that will feed through into higher economic growth."

  15. How much would debt costs rise under Labour?published at 08:12 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, is pushed for a figure on how much more it would cost to service the UK's debt under Labour's spending plans.

    It's "absolutely minimal" because it would be returned in the form of higher growth, he says.

    Currently, the UK pays £48bn to service its debt, Today presenter Mishal Husain says.

    She asks Mr McDonnell a couple more times for a figure how much it could rise if Labour were in power, but he declines to give one.

  16. UK still not investing enough - McDonnellpublished at 08:03 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    John McDonnellImage source, Reuters

    Labour's shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, says the UK's low productivity is a result of the Conservative government not investing enough in the economy.

    Other countries are seeing their economies pick up because of higher government spending, whereas UK growth and productivity was downgraded yesterday, he says.

    So how long would it take to bring UK productivity back to 2%, the level it was at before the financial crisis?

    "I believe we can make a start within the lifetime of a parliament," he says - which is a period of five years.

  17. Stamp duty move 'will benefit a million first-time buyers'published at 08:00 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

    BBC Breakfast

    The Office for Budget Responsibility has said that the decision to scrap stamp duty for certain first-time buyers will only benefit to an extra 3,500 households.

    But Chancellor Philip Hammond says: "The Office for Budget Responsibility looked at a particular narrow question - if you reduce stamp duty and don't do anything else, what would happen?

    "But we've not done nothing else, we've introduced a very big package - £15bn of extra money going in, on top of the billions that we're already spending on housing, to increase the number of houses that we build in this country, so that's not the situation that we will have. We will have many more homes available.

    "The important thing here is that over the next five years... a million first time buyers will make an average saving of just under £1,700 when they buy their first home. I think that's a good-news story."

  18. 'Biggest housing boost since 1980s'published at 07:57 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

    Today Programme
    BBC Radio 4

    Social housesImage source, Getty Images

    Nigel Wilson, the chief executive of Legal and General, the big insurance company which has been investing heavily in housing and other UK infrastructure, is upbeat about the Budget's housing measures.

    "For the first time since 1980 when we started selling off council houses, we've had supply side stimulation to the economy, which is what we all know we need," Mr Wilson tells Today.

    Policies like easing planning rules, backing modern methods of construction, boosting skills, and devolving more powers to cities and towns are all needed, he says.

  19. Pound weakness knock-on effect on growthpublished at 07:55 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

    BBC Radio 5 live

    So why is the economic outlook so sombre? Well, it's down to the weakness in the pound following the Brexit referendum, says Rain Newton-Smith of the CBI.

    "The weakness of sterling has fed through to higher inflation, that's made it harder for households, it has put a squeeze on household incomes in real terms, and that's led to a slowing in spending in our High Street shops, and that's having an impact on our economy," she says.

  20. 'Sombre economic backdrop'published at 07:52 Greenwich Mean Time 23 November 2017

    BBC Radio 5 live

    The Office of Budget responsibility said yesterday that growth will continue to shrink to 2020.

    CBI economist Rain Newton-Smith says: "We have to recognise that this is a sombre economic backdrop. It's almost unprecedented... At the same time the global economy is actually doing well, we're seeing a strong recovery there."