To jeers from the opposition. Mr Hammond said: "Since the budget we've made substantial progress in our negotiations with the European Union to deliver a Brexit that supports British jobs ... and prosperity."

He added: "But we will continue to prepare for all eventualities and today ... the chief secretary is publishing the departmental allocations of over £1.5bn of Brexit preparation funding for 2018/19."

As expected, Hammond says the government will examine ways to help small businesses deal with late payments which he describes as a "scourge".

"We are the party of small business and the champion of the entrepreneur," he says.

Mr Hammond said:"There is indeed light at the end of the tunnel ... but we've got to make absolutely sure it isn't the Shadow Chancellor's (opposition finance policy chief John McDonnell's) train hurtling out of control in the other direction towards Labour's next economic trainwreck."

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Hammond reveals that 60,000 homes have benefited from the Stamp Duty relief introduced in the Autumn Budget.

Then he gets yet another dig in at his opponents across the chamber by pointing out that Labour voted against the relief.

Mr Hammond said the Government will work with the UK’s statistics office to devise better ways of measuring the economic value of people.

He says that it is easier to measure the payback from investments made in infrastructure such as roads and railways. It is more difficult to do this with human beings.

The government will work with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to look at better ways of measuring human capital “so that future investment can be better targeted”.

The new forecasts for government borrowing as a percentage of GDP are:

• 1.8% in 2018-19
• 1.6% in 2019-20
• 1.3% in 2020-21
• 1.1% in 2021-22
• 0.9% in 2022-23

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The Chancellor says £80m of funding will be released to support small businesses to engage with apprentices.

Where will the money come from? He didn't say.

Mr Hammond says the Conservative government will support the “ambition of British businesses” and that he wants to “unleash inventors and discoverers”.

He says that boosting UK productivity – which remains the key to unlocking higher living standards and raising long term growth – will create a thriving economy.

He rejects Labour proposals for more state intervention and says it’s important to “say more loudly than ever” that the UK is “open and outward looking and confident to compete with the best in the world”.

He says a market economy “embraces talent and creates opportunity”, adding: “We will go on supporting British businesses”.

Hammond is bullish on the UK economy. He says: "Our economy will remain outward looking, confident and ready to compete with the best in the world."

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Commenting on the OBR's predictions, Mr Hammond says that "forecasts are there to be beaten and we should make it our business to do it again", referencing the 1.7% GDP growth the UK achieved in 2017 compared to expectations of 1.5%.

The Office for Budget Responsibility expects UK GDP to grow by 1.5% in 2018 - that is an improvement on its previous forecast. However, it has kept its forecast for the next two years unchanged.

It also forecasts growth of 1.4% in 2021 and 1.5% in 2022 - lower than last November's forecasts which were:

• 1.4% in 2018
• 1.3% in 2019
• 1.3% in 2020
• 1.5% in 2021
• 1.6% in 2022

Mr Hammond attacks Labour for being "Fiscal fantasists".

He says: "We will continue to deliver a balanced approach" before asking MPs to "Judge me by my record."

Hammond says the economy "has grown in every year since 2010", and now has a "manufacturing sector enjoying its longest run of growth for 50 years" and has added three million jobs.