Ben Wright
BBC political correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

This announcement by the chancellor was more than just political presentation. This was a mini budget.

I think it was inevitable he had to act. He was under pressure because of the clear rises in the cost of living that everybody is feeling. That has been accompanied by political pressure as well.

The Liberal Democrats were the first to call for a windfall tax on oil and gas companies months ago. That was followed by Labour who’ve made it their signature policy in recent weeks. Tory MPs have been demanding action too.

Interestingly, a clutch of cabinet ministers have spoken out very publicly against the idea. They just feel it’s a very un-Tory thing to do that could deter investment.

The government hopes this will quieten those critics who have been calling for action. It’s the detail of all this, the substance of the policies, that will matter to people.

And it’s striking that we’re talking about universal help - measures that everybody will benefit from.

The chancellor said he couldn’t help everyone deal with the impact of rising inflation. But this is a massive intervention.

Financial journalist Martin Lewis has welcomed plans to scrap a proposed £200 loan to help with energy bills, in favour of a £400 grant given to all households.

The campaigner - who spoke to Chancellor Rishi Sunak last week about the cost of living crisis - says the "loan-not-loan is thankfully now dead", praising the decision as a "GOOD MOVE" (his emphasis) on Twitter.

Analysing the overall package of support, Lewis also says it "initially seems bigger than I expected" and adds he was "glad to see" the increase for vulnerable people.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said the most vulnerable people will get more support with the rising cost of living, and set out what he said was a £15bn support package.

So who will get what, and how will it be paid for?

• Every household in the UK is to get an energy bill discount of £400
• Those on the lowest incomes - around eight million people supported through welfare system - will receive one-off cost of living payment of £650 in two lump sums
• Pensioners who receive winter fuel payment will receive a one-off payment of £300
• Six million people who receive disability allowance will get a payment of £150

• There will be a temporary windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas companies at a rate of 25%

You can read more about what new support has been announced here.

Lib Dem MP Christine Jardine says her party have been calling on the chancellor to introduce a windfall tax since October, "when it could have made a difference" over the winter.

Sunak's announcement is "too little, too late", she says.

In response, Sunak says "now is the time to act", because there is more certainty over what the energy price cap will be in the autumn, and support can be scaled "appropriately".

The SNP's Kirsty Blackman says the chancellor's announcements do not go far enough.

She calls for an uplift in benefits to ensure they keep pace with inflation.

Blackman welcomes the introduction of a windfall tax but says she is disappointed it only covers oil and gas companies.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves continues, criticising the government for previously describing a windfall tax as "unconservative".

"It shouldn't take half a million pounds of publicly funded focus groups for the chancellor to realise that helping families and pensioners is exactly the right thing to do," she says.

She adds the prime minister is "making fools" of conservative MPs.

He's made them vote against a windfall tax three times, she says, and for months sent them to defend the "litany of rule-breaking in Downing Street" set out in the Sue Gray report.

"Labour called for a windfall tax because it is the right thing to do, the Conservatives are doing it because they needed a new headline," she adds.

Dharshini David
Economics Correspondent

The new measures will help all households – with least well off receiving about £800, and even the richest 10% benefitting by almost £300, although this isn’t likely to cover the extent of the higher bills most families will face. In short, consumers may still feel more pain come the autumn, not less.

But the Chancellor has borrowed from America’s Covid relief playbook when it comes to getting help to the most needy families quickly, by issuing direct payments.

It’s not the only pandemic-era trick he’s using.

The £5bn or so from the extra levy on oil and gas producers will only fund part of today’s £15bn help package. For the rest, £10bn or so, he’ll have to borrow more to fill the gap.

But with his finances in a better shape in recent months than expected, economists have been saying – some for a while - that this is a lever he can afford to pull, and one he’d have been unwise to ignore, given the hardship many could otherwise face.

Paul Johnson, the director of the Insititute for Fiscal Studies, has this snap verdict on what's just been announced.

He says it's a big and expensive package but criticises Rishi Sunak for claiming he is cutting taxes when he is not doing so.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has welcomed Rishi Sunak's announcements, saying they were policies Labour has been pushing for months.

"Let there be no doubt about who is winning the battle of ideas in Britain, it is the Labour party," she said. "Today it feels like the chancellor has finally realised the problems the country are facing."

She says Labour first called for a windfall tax on oil and gas companies nearly five months ago and today Sunak has announced one, but "he can't dare say the words" and it is "the policy that dare not speak its name".

She also says Labour opposed the loan scheme, which Sunak has now turned into a grant. It "shouldn't have taken a rocket scientist" to work out the scheme "would not cut it", she says.

She accuses him of being the "Klarna chancellor... announce now, ditch later".

"Dither and delay has cost our country dearly," she adds.

Sunak says that in total the measures he's announced today provide support worth £15bn, bringing the total cost of living support offered by the government this year to £37bn.

He adds that around three-quarters of the total support will go to vulnerable households.

Rishi Sunak also announces a one-off disability cost of living payment of £150.

"Many disabled people will also receive the payment of £650 I've already announced, taking their total cost-of-living payments to £800," the chancellor says.

The chancellor announces from the autumn eight million pensioner households will receive an extra winter fuel payment of £300.

The chancellor has also made the £200 loan for energy bills a grant that no longer needs to be paid back and increased its sum to £400.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak says around eight million of the lowest income households will be sent a one-off payment of £650.

Rishi Sunak announces the government will introduce a temporary levy on the profits of oil and gas companies at a rate of 25%.

He says the sector is making "extraordinary profits" due to surging global commodity prices driven in part by the war in Ukraine.

The chancellor says these profits must be taxed fairly and incentivise investment.

The levy will be phased out when prices return to more normal levels and the more a company invest the less tax they will pay.

Image source, House of Commons

The chancellor says the UK is facing rising prices for a number of reasons, including supply chain disruption and the war in Ukraine.

However, he says over the course of the year the situation has "evolved and become more serious".

He adds that the government has the "tools" to combat inflation - which is at the highest rate for 40 years - and get it under control.

The chancellor says the government will not sit idly by while there is a risk that people might never recover from the cost of living crisis

Rishi Sunak describes the current situation as "simply unacceptable" and says that the government will never allow people to be left destitute.

He reassures people the country will get through the crisis and the government have the tools they need to combat and reduce inflation.

Sunak adds the least well off and most vulnerable will get the support they need, adding the government will turn the current situation into a "springboard of opportunity".

Rishi Sunak begins his statement by saying high inflation is causing "acute distress" and he knows people are struggling.

The chancellor says the government cannot solve every problem but "we need to make sure for those whom the struggle is too hard... they are supported".

Image source, House of Commons

Rishi Sunak is on his feet and is now laying out the Treasury's plans to help people with the rising cost of bills and food.

Stick with us for all the key announcements from the House of Commons.

Dharshini David
Economics Correspondent

Regardless of the extra levy the government is expected to put on energy producers’ profits today, the Treasury is already benefitting from the windfall those higher oil prices have bestowed.

Companies pay a special additional rate of corporation tax, the offshore rate, on profits relating to North Sea oil and gas production.

The government’s watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, calculated in March that this will siphon off £10bn more across the three tax years spanning 2021-2024 than it expected just last autumn, thanks to the higher price of crude oil.

Around £5bn of that boost will come this tax year, equivalent to nearly £200 per household.

It’s one reason why economists say the government already had the cash to offer households more relief from the soaring cost of living, and it could tap into that to help fund today’s package.

But it’s left some asking if this extra levy, which is likely to raise less, is more of political significance - a bid to appease voters.