Kuenssberg reminds the chancellor that the prices are "going up and up and up" and although it has slowed down, "there is this idea within the people that public services are just creaking, and maybe if you have any spare cash you should be spending on that."

Hunt answers that saying: "What most people want is better public services and pay lower tax. The only way to have a chance of delivering something like that is spending the money much more efficiently."

He adds, "we should rethink our whole approach to public spending."

Laura asks Hunt now if he disagrees with "Jeremy from 2022".

He responds that the country sees through "gimmicks" and that he won't make any decisions through using gimmicks.

Hunt says the government have a plan and that the budget will reflect long-term growth.

He refuses to talk about individual tax plans but says he does want to find a way to reduce the tax burden.

Hunt says that more will need to be spent on defence in the future and for that, a healthily growing economy is needed. That's why he thinks that they shouldn't change the fiscal rules.

"The UK needs a long-term approach that's what you'll see from what I will announce in the Budget," Hunt says.

Jeremy Hunt also says the most "unconservative" thing to do is to cut taxes by increasing borrowing.

He also acknowledges that future generations would have to suffer the consequences.

The chancellor then adds that he will be "prudent" when addressing lower taxation.

Kuenssberg starts questioning Hunt about his tax cut plans.

"You have been sending messages for a few months that you have really been eager to do tax cuts. And now you have got less money to spend than you hoped. Was it a mistake to raise people's expectations?" she asks.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says that the economies growing fastest around the world are the ones with lower taxes and they want that to be the case in the UK. "But we have always said that we would cut taxes in a way only responsible and prudent."

Laura starts off by asking Andy Haldane what he wants to hear from Jeremy Hunt. Haldane replies that the most pressing issue is a funding crisis affecting local councils.

Sir Rocco Forte says the government should be looking at a much longer plan for the economy. He adds that tourist tax should be abolished and calls it "short sighted".

Journalist Vicky Spratt agrees with Sir Rocco Forte, saying that she wants to see more funding for social housing which she says directly impacts funding for local councils.

As Laura points out, a number of papers report on expectations for the Budget - and an expected break for Queen Camilla. You can check out our newspaper review here.

And we’re live - Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg is now on air on BBC One, the BBC News Channel and BBC iPlayer.

You can press Play above to watch the show.

And we’ll bring you live text updates, clips, reaction and analysis right here on this page.

As always, you’ll be able to watch Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg live at 09:00 GMT without leaving this page - just hit Play at the top.

If you’re on your phone and can’t see the button, simply refresh your feed and it should appear.

The programme will also be available on BBC One and iPlayer - and we’ll bring you live updates, clips, reaction and analysis right here.

Stay tuned.

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As we've been reporting, joining Laura today is Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who’ll be taking questions a few days days before delivering his annual Budget statement to MPs.

From the Labour Party, shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson will be on the programme.

As always, it’s not just politicians we’ll hear from. Laura will also speak to Mariano Janin, the father of 14-year-old Mia Janin, who took her own life after being bullied by boys at her school.

On the panel,

• Sir Rocco Forte, the legendary hotelier who founded Rocco Forte Hotels, and until recently, a top Tory donor
• Vicky Spratt, a journalist whose 2016 housing campaign ‘Make Renting Fair’ led to letting fees in England and Wales being banned
• and they'll be joined by Andy Haldane- now one of the wise heads on the government's economic advisory council, who was the chief economist at the Bank of England

Jeremy Hunt's appearance on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg comes three days before he’ll appear in the House of Commons to deliver his annual Budget statement to MPs.

It outlines the government's plans for raising or lowering taxes and sets out its spending commitments for health, schools, police and other public services.

Some parts of the Budget, such as defence spending, impact the whole of the UK. Others, such as education, only affect England.

There are reports this year’s will feature proposals such as cutting National Insurance (NI) tax and introducing a new levy on vapes. You can read more about what could come up here.

Hunt will make the statement at 12:30 GMT on Wednesday - it normally lasts about an hour.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is then given the chance to respond.

Image source, Getty Images

Speaking of pressure... Former chancellor George Osborne raised eyebrows this week when he claimed there was tension between Rishi Sunak's No 10 and Jeremy Hunt's No 11 over income tax cuts.

Speaking on his Political Currency podcast, Osborne said: “There’s certainly been friction between No 10 and No 11. It is pretty obvious that No 10 would like to cut income tax. That is something specifically Rishi Sunak promised when he was to be the Tory leader against Liz Truss.”

He added: “I think No 10 was interested in cuts in the headline rate of income tax and the problem that they’ve not been able to get around is the fact that this is regarded as inflationary by the Office for Budget Responsibility. So in other words, if you cut income tax, you put inflation up. This has been the source of a lot of conflict, debate and argument between No 10 and No 11.”

Sources in both No 10 and No 11 denied this, using somewhat colourful language, in the Sunday papers.

Tories need a Budget bounce but can Jeremy Hunt deliver?published at 08:20 Greenwich Mean Time 3 March

08:20 GMT 3 March

Laura Kuenssberg
Presenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg

Cut tax! Spend less! Spend more! Tax more! Pay off the debt! Spend more on defence! More for me! Less for you!

Chancellors are never short of demands from the outside world or their colleagues on the inside for action.

After taking the reins during the Liz Truss disaster, nothing Jeremy Hunt says in his Budget on Wednesday is going to be as dramatic, or perhaps as important, as those first few decisions to ditch tens of billions of tax cuts that were promised on the never never.

But that doesn't mean the clamour calling on him to do this or that is any less deafening. The pressure is huge, especially when the general election is months, not years away.

Read more from Laura here.

Why this won't be the Budget that Jeremy Hunt wantedpublished at 08:00 Greenwich Mean Time 3 March

08:00 GMT 3 March

Faisal Islam
Economics editor

Let's turn now to the economy.

This coming Wednesday was supposed to be a major moment in the Conservatives' election campaign.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt would have stood up in the Commons and delivered the Budget, bringing an end to three years of rolling geo-political and economic crises and multiple inflation shocks.

If all had gone to plan, he would have unveiled a raft of voter-friendly giveaways including tax cuts thanks to a growing economy, falling interest rates and improved public finances.

Instead, the economy is in recession, and Hunt and Rishi Sunak do not have the space for a bumper pre-election giveaway.

Hunt is not fully in charge of this Budget and his power to make people feel better off and have more money to spend is limited by the decisions of bodies outside of his control.

Read more from Faisal here.

As you'll recall, this week ended with a rather dramatic by-election result in Rochdale. Smaller parties left the mainstream candidates in the dust, as none of the major parties got a look in what was previously a Labour seat.

Instead, George Galloway, who now represents the Workers Party of Britain, re-entered Parliament with a resounding win after a campaign in which the Hamas-Israel war was a running theme.

"Keir Starmer - this is for Gaza," said Galloway, a former Labour MP, after polling 12,335 votes - nearly 6,000 more than any other candidate.

David Tolly, the candidate who polled second with 6,638 votes, is an Independent. The Tories came third - getting 3,731 votes; Labour, 2,402 and the Lib Dems, 2,164.

Labour had withdrawn support for candidate Azhar Ali over remarks widely alleged to be antisemitic. He’s since apologised.

You can read all the details of those results here.

It's certainly not been a quiet week in British politics - but when is it ever, really?

The by-election in Rochdale saw George Galloway - once a Labour MP, now representing the Workers Party of Britain - win the seat with more than 6,000 votes than any other candidate. After a campaign that put the war in Gaza at its centre, he used his victory speech to say the outcome was Sir Keir Starmer's "worst nightmare".

By Friday evening, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak used a hastily arranged speech outside No 10 to warn that British democracy is being targeted by extremists - taking specific aim at Galloway, calling his win "beyond alarming".

We'll have to see if Laura puts any of this to her guests when the programme gets under way at 09:00 GMT. Stay tuned for text updates and remember, you can watch the programme live once it starts by tapping the Play button at the top of this page.

Image source, PA Media