Commenting on the government plan to exempt manufacturers from renewables costs, Terry Scuoler, chief executive of EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, said:

But he added that the apprenticeship levy is "a blunt instrument".

The government appears to have decided to exempt energy intensive industries (EII’s) - like the steel industry -  from the cost of some renewables (the RO and FiTs schemes) that end up on our energy bills.

This is what the chancellor said:

The cost of supporting renewables is added to our energy bills. Firms that use a lot of energy say that's unfair. They've sought compensation for those costs. But that compensation has be funded by taxpayers and renewed in each spending period.

Manufacturers' organisation the EEF says it had lobbied for a longer term solution - for big energy users to be exempted from these costs altogether, which they say is what happens in Germany.

This move will still require EU approval. And in practice they will be exempt from around 85% of the cost, not all of it.

The EEF has estimated the move could save EII's around £500m over this parliament. Based on documents published by the Treasury the EEF think this measure will add around £5 to annual consumer household energy bills instead.

It’s a move that could help the steel, chemicals, aluminium and paper industries.

House of Commons
Parliament

Speaking about cuts to police office numbers, Mr Osborne says the first duty of government is to "protect the people" which can only be done as the UK now has a strong economy. He was asked by a member of the Labour Party who called the decision a "begrudged" and "late" U-turn.

Mr Osborne adds the current Labour leaders have spent their careers "undermining" the police and campaigning against them. He says that is what the party will be judged on.

House of Commons
Parliament

Asked about the "four fold difference" in the ability of different areas to raise money for social care through measures announced today, Mr Osborne replies the objective is to achieve the "integration" of health and social care services across the country over the next five years. 

Conservative MP Matt Hancock, a Cabinet Office minister and former adviser to George Osborne, says he doesn't know exactly when the decision was taken not to cut police budgets, but says it is a "perfectly reasonable" measure in the current climate. He defends the decision to spend more on overseas aid than the Home Office. Counter terror spending is increasing, while aid spending tackles terrorists "at source" he says, adding: "The whole package makes sense".

BBC News Channel

Matt Hancock says he thought the cuts to tax credits were "sensible measures" - and says they were ditched because "we lost in the House of Lords". Better economic forecasts give the government leeway to make changes, he adds.

UKIP's Douglas Carswell says Mr Osborne's policing pledge is "clever politics" as forces have been given new powers to raise council tax to cover their costs. This means police commissioners, rather than the government, will "get it in the neck", he says.

Lib Dem Baroness Kramer says the extra council tax will fall hardest on deprived communities.

House of Commons
Parliament

The Chancellor says he has never had a "single proposal" from Labour for deficit reduction. 

Allegra Stratton
Newsnight Political Editor

So a screeching U-turn performed by George Osborne, but even so, it appears that the Tories have not been thrown out of the car. They are still driving all of this - even though the U-turn was a win for Labour's John McDonnell, he was not effective just now in the Chamber in claiming it. 

The tax credit changes that George Osborne's big new idea meant to signal over the course of this parliament, his philosophy of lower welfare spending (lower welfare, higher pay etc) were also meant to be a symbolic skewering of Gordon Brown's big offer. 

I remember breaking the first story about the Tories planning these changes to tax credits and they were sold to me then as a totemic ending of one of Gordon Brown's central legacies. Well, that hasn't even lasted half a year: announced in July and completely killed off come November. 

I remember only at party conference in October that the chancellor was completely and utterly wedded to this change. Not any more. It does make you think that these policies, meant to exemplify what the Tories stand for, are easy come, easy go.  

More from Allegra Stratton on BBC Newsnight 22.30 BBC Two

How are police forces reacting to the chancellor's pledge to protect them from cuts? Kevin Hurley, Surrey's police and crime commissioner, tells the BBC it feels "almost like euphoria if your football team scored a goal". He adds that "all isn't well in the world" of policing, with earlier planned cuts coming into force.

Tom Brake, a Liberal Democrat, asks whether the chancellor will "apologise" for causing fears over tax credit cuts. 

Mr Osborne replies Mr Brake should be "welcoming" the decision adding that since they had been "freed" of their "shackles of the Liberal Democrats" they can invest more in public services.

House of Commons
Parliament

George Osborne is taking questions in the House of Commons after delivering the Autumn Statement.

Labour's Caroline Flint says she never thought she'd see the day when "my sex was fined for having a period". She calls for an impact assessment to ensure funding from the tampon tax goes to the places most needed. 

Mr Osborne replies he is providing the "best interim" solution, as abolishing the tax lies with European Union. 

Today's tax credit reversal will change nothing in the long run as the cuts will still feature in the new universal credit system, Paul Johnson of the IFS points out. "In the long run he's saving just as much and politically he's got through that," he adds.