Summary

  • George Osborne has drawn battle lines for the general election after unveiling his Budget for a "comeback country"

  • Ed Balls says there was nothing in a "pretty empty" Budget which Labour would reverse if it won the election

  • UKIP MEP and general election candidate Janice Atkinson has been suspended over what the party calls "allegations of a serious financial nature"

  • Danny Alexander says the Lib Dems would borrow less than Labour and cut less than the Conservatives

  • Mr Alexander unveils a "better" Lib Dem alternative to the Budget

  • There are 49 days until the general election

  1. Tax evasionpublished at 11:16 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Right on the main announcement at least. On tax evasion and avoidance, Mr Alexander says the public will not tolerate such actions any more. Since 2010, he says, every year the government has put in more measures to tackle abuse of the tax system.

    He says a the law around tax evasion will be tightened to "strict liability", which means that pleading ignorance of the law - or your accountants actions - will no longer be a defence to offshore tax evasion.

    A new offence of aiding and abetting tax evasion will be created by legislation. There will be more scope for tax evaders to be named and shame too, he says.

  2. Ian Dunt, editor of politics.co.ukpublished at 11:13 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    Danny AlexanderImage source, Twitter

    tweets, external: If the plan behind the alternate Budget is to somehow make the Lib Dems looks good, it is not working.

  3. Lib Dem Budgetpublished at 11:08 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    Danny Alexander is continuing to deliver his alternative Budget plan and accuses one Labour heckler of "raving like a lunatic".

  4. Lib Dem Budgetpublished at 11:07 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    Danny Alexander is being heckled by Labour MPs quite relentlessly. Some on the front bench are waving a copy of the Treasury's "Red Book" as he tries to explain how his party would do things differently.

  5. Lib Dem Budgetpublished at 11:04 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    Danny Alexander is delivering his alternative budget to a quiet chamber. He says people watching Wednesday's Budget would have wondering if there was another way. "Today I say yes there is," says the chief secretary to Treasury. The Lib Dem plan cuts less than the Tories and borrows less than Labour, he adds.

  6. James Forsyth, political editor at The Spectatorpublished at 11:02 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    tweets:, external Very odd how empty the Lib Dem benches are for the presentation of their alternative fiscal plans. Only 6 of their backbenchers present.

  7. Isabel Hardmanpublished at 11:00 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    tweets:, external Excitement builds in the Commons Chamber ahead of Danny Alexander's alternative Budget.

    House of CommonsImage source, Twitter
  8. Lib Dem Budgetpublished at 11:00 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Danny Alexander and Nick CleggImage source, EPA

    Danny Alexander is about to present the Lib Dem view on the Budget and what the party sees as the way forward for the British economy. Strangely, that means the chief secretary to the Treasury will essentially be providing an opposition alternative to a Budget he was heavily involved in. Nick Clegg said earlier that all individual measures in the Budget yesterday were agreed by both parties. So what will be see from Mr Alexander? We'll bring you updates.

  9. Parties pitch to young voterspublished at 10:49 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    Six of the UK's main political parties have made political broadcasts aimed at secondary school-age children. School Report - the BBC's journalism project with UK schools - invited them to do this, with the aim of helping young people learn about democracy and politics and develop their own views. The parties took different approaches and you can see them all here.

  10. Barts Hospital Trustpublished at 10:41 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Health minister Jane Ellison says Labour is trying to make political capital out of the report into Barts Health NHS Trust. She says the Labour government swept problems under the carpet, but the coalition has improve transparency. You can follow the debate on our Democracy Live page.

  11. Urgent questionpublished at 10:36 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Andy Burnham highlights that Barts is the largest NHS Trust in England. He says problems have been known for some time and have been allowed to get worse over the last two years. Specific warnings, he said, were not acted on. He says it is a cause for concern the Trust has been put into special measures.

  12. Urgent questionpublished at 10:34 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    On Barts Health NHS Trust being put in special measures, health minister Jane Ellison says the trust will receive tailored support to make necessary improvements. She says a new rigorous inspection regime means the public will be told if a hospital is not performing adequately.

  13. Triumph of electioneeringpublished at 10:24 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    The Daily Telegraph

    Some more reaction from today's newspapers. The Daily Telegraph's, external Alistair Heath says the chancellor "was able to use his Budget to declare victory on the national debt, snatching it from the jaws of defeat with a surprise fall in the debt to GDP ratio thanks to collapsing inflation for which he bears no responsibility".

    He adds: "He portrayed himself as the epitome of the fiscally responsible statesman, while simultaneously downgrading his spending cuts. He outfoxed Labour time and again, despite scaling back austerity and engaging in another round of soak-the-rich policies, implying that Ed Miliband's lines of attack must have been working."

  14. Budget analysispublished at 10:14 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    The Guardian

    The Guardian has collated reaction to the Budget from some of its top writers.

    Tom Clark writes that "statistics were sliced and diced to produce heartening lines", while Polly Toynbee says "essentially nothing much changed".

    Rafael Behr, meanwhile, says any impact on the election is likely to come from thus far undecided voters. "A single budget won't change the minds of people who decided long ago that the Conservative party wasn't on their side," he says. "But the chancellor may have more success with the army of undecided voters who may feel financially insecure but recognise that overall the country is in ruder economic health now than in 2010."

    You can read more here, external.

  15. Postpublished at 10:09 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    Some reaction from the Taxpayer's Alliance to the Budget has landed. The lobby group's chief executive Jonathan Isaby says politicians of all stripes must come clean about the spending cuts to come.

    He says: "Politicians can't have their deficit reduction cake and eat it too. If they say they're going to balance the books, they need to demonstrate how they'd do it and where the axe will fall.

    "The chancellor failed to spell out the details of his deficit reduction plan in yesterday's Budget, and Ed Balls' response to questioning on this morning's Today programme was pitiful. Politicians must come clean with the electorate before the election about what tough choices they are really willing to make."

  16. Lib Dem Budgetpublished at 10:02 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    Adam Nicholls, Politics live reader

    writes: "Can I announce my alternative Budget? I have as much chance of getting in power as the Lib Dems!"

  17. Israeli electionpublished at 09:51 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    Benjamin NetanyahuImage source, AP

    Britain should recognise Palestine in response to Benjamin Netanyahu ruling out a two-state solution, Nick Clegg suggests. He tells LBC he backs the two-state solution and says that if Mr Netanyahu continues to advance that view and expands settlements, the world will have "no option" but the recognise the Palestinian state.

  18. Steve Richards, Independent columnistpublished at 09:46 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    tweets:, external After the budget the 2 key questions remain exactly the same-Why does Osborne want to cut spending so deeply and quickly? What will he cut?

  19. Cyril Smithpublished at 09:43 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    Speaking about child abuse allegations against Cyril Smith, Nick Clegg says he objects "in the strongest possible terms" to any suggestion the Lib Dems know something that is being deliberately hidden. He tells a caller on LBC he wants victims to get justice.

  20. Measured planpublished at 09:39 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2015

    Labour is "lurching off to the left" and has failed to explain how it would balance the books, while the Tories are "lurching off to the right" and penalising the poor and taking more and more money away from public services, Nick Clegg says.

    We should, broadly speaking, "stick to the measured, balanced plan" that has been pursued over the last few years, he says.

    The Lib Dem leader tells LBC his party won't go into coalition with Labour if the party is going to mess up all over again and won't sign up to George Osborne's plan to "deliberately penalise the poor".