Summary

  • Chancellor Jeremy Hunt cuts workers' National Insurance by another 2p in the Budget, meaning it falls from 10% to 8%

  • He says the cut, to begin next month, is worth £450 a year for the average worker

  • Hunt also increases the child benefit threshold from £50,000 to £60,000

  • Labour leader Keir Starmer calls the Budget a "last desperate act" with people paying "more and more for less and less"

  • New official forecasts say the government will collect 37.1p per pound of GDP in 2028/29 - the highest level in nearly 80 years

  • Hunt also increases the VAT threshold for small businesses to £90,000, and announces higher taxes on vapes and business class flights

  • And he says he's "abolishing" the "non-dom" tax system, but new arrivals to the UK will still not pay taxes on foreign income for four years

  • Speaking to the BBC’s political editor Chris Mason, Hunt confirms he is “making progress” towards abolishing NI altogether, but fails say whether income tax would be cut before the election

  1. Alcohol duty frozen until next yearpublished at 12:42 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March
    Breaking

    In cheery news for drinkers, the chancellor has frozen alcohol duty. The freeze in duty was due to end in August but has been extended to February next year.

  2. Household Support Fund extendedpublished at 12:41 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March
    Breaking

    The Household Support Fund, which allows local councils in England to help families via food banks, warm spaces and food vouchers, will be extended beyond 31 March.

    It will continue for six months, Hunt says. Read more about the fund here.

    Jeremy HuntImage source, UK Parliament/PA
  3. Hunt says his policies mean 'more jobs, more investment and lower taxes'published at 12:41 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March

    Hunt continues after that intervention.

    He says that Labour's plans destroy jobs and risk family finances.

    His policies mean more jobs, more investment and lower taxes, he says.

    When he came to office inflation was at 11%, he says, and the latest figures show that it is now at 4%.

  4. Deputy Speaker has to intervene early on to call for orderpublished at 12:40 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March

    Hunt continues to say that due to the progress made, the government is in a position to help families with permanent cuts in taxation.

    "We do this to give much needed help in challenging times," the chancellor adds.

    Dame Eleanor Laing intervenes and calls for order as the chancellor is met with heckles and interruptions.

  5. Hunt says growth under Tories higher than in every large EU countrypublished at 12:38 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March

    Media caption,

    Hunt: UK growth higher than every large European economy

    The chancellor says despite the most challenging economic headwinds in modern history, growth since 2010 under the Conservatives has been higher than every large European economy,

    Hunt says unemployment has halved, absolute poverty has gone down, and there are 800 more people in jobs for every single day the party has been in office.

  6. Hunt announces £1 million towards Muslim war memorialpublished at 12:37 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March

    Jeremy Hunt

    Chancellor Jeremy Hunt opens his Budget address with a nod to the "tragic loss of life in Israel and Gaza".

    He says the prime minister has issued a reminder of the need to fight extremism and heal divisions.

    He remembers Muslims who died in two world wars "in service of freedom and democracy".

    And announced £1 million towards a memorial for them.

  7. Sunak makes way for Hunt for the Budget announcementpublished at 12:32 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March
    Breaking

    That's it for Rishi Sunak and Prime Minister's Questions.

    He makes way for the chancellor who is about to take to the despatch box.

    Stay with us as we find out what announcements Jeremy Hunt makes in his Budget.

    Remember - you can watch the full thing by pressing play at the top of the page.

    Hunt at despatch box
  8. Postpublished at 12:31 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March

    We're now hearing from Labour MP Angela Eagle, who asks Sunak which part of his economic legacy he is most proud of: the highest tax burden since the Second World War or the slowest real wage growth since the Napoleonic war.

    To which Sunak replies: "Saving 10 million jobs in the pandemic with the furlough scheme."

  9. Labour voting down Rwanda bill in the Lords a 'disgrace' - Evennettpublished at 12:30 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March

    Sir David Evennett now stands to declare that the Labour Party is a "disgrace" for voting down the Rwanda bill in the House of Lords, and says immigration is a top priority for his constituency of Bexleyheath and Crayford.

    Sunak says his colleague makes an "excellent point" and that the scheme that would see people who arrive in the UK by boat sent to Rwanda is important.

    "If you want to fully stop the boats, you have to have a working deterrent," he says.

  10. Labour MP asks if Sunak's levelling up agenda failed?published at 12:29 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March

    Backbench Labour MP Graham Stringer for Blackley and Broughton is up next and he notes a recent report which predicts wealth inequalities between the north and south of the UK "already too large, would increase".

    He asks if the PM's levelling up agenda "has failed".

    Sunak disputes this saying "inequality in our country has declined in this government".

    He adds the northern regions "have received the highest investment per capita".

  11. Sunak says UK remains steadfast in support for Ukrainepublished at 12:28 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March

    Jack Lopresti, the Conservative MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke is asking about the UK's support in helping manufacture arms for Ukraine.

    He says that Ukrainians have expressed frustration in how difficult it has been to collaborate with UK arms manufactures and asks for the bureaucracy to be "unblocked".

    Sunak says the UK remains steadfast in its support for Ukraine and there is a cross government taskforce looking at bolstering the two nations' defence industries.

  12. Postpublished at 12:27 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March

    Jeffrey Donaldson from the DUP is now asking Sunak whether he will continue to push the Irish government in making available facilities to enable the families of innocent victims, including in Omagh, "to pursue justice for their loved ones".

    Donaldson talks of the lack of cooperation from the Irish government in relation to murders committed there during the Troubles.

    Sunak replies by thanking Donaldson for his question, and saying that the government has raised those specific issues directly with the Irish government.

    "Like him, I want to give families as much information as possible," Sunak adds.

  13. Post Office Horizon scandal under the spotlightpublished at 12:26 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March

    Sir David Davis is asking about the Post Office Horizon scandal.

    He says that thousands of sub-postmasters who weren't convicted but faced great financial difficulty covering bogus shortfalls have not yet seen justice.

    Sunak replies that the government is working on introducing legislation to overturn convictions and pave the way for swift compensation.

    The prime minister assures Davis that the postal minister is closely examining the issues he's raised.

  14. SNP's Flynn presses Sunak on Scotland's resourcespublished at 12:24 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March

    Media caption,

    SNP: Scottish wealth and jobs 'all a game to Westminster'

    SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn then says Scotland's resources and jobs "are all a game to Westminster".

    "Will the PM do us all a favour and call a general election?" Flynn asks.

    Sunak replies by asking Flynn why he has opposed all measures to protect jobs and says the SNP has put taxes up in Scotland.

  15. SNP leader asks about Scottish windfall tax ahead of Budgetpublished at 12:23 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March

    The SNP's leader in the Commons Stephen Flynn is next, and asks Sunak to comment on reports that the Conservatives intend to tax what he describes as Scotland's national resources - North Sea Oil - to fund a tax cut in England.

    The PM is in danger of turning his colleagues into nationalists, he suggests.

    Sunak says he will not comment on any measures that might be in the Budget, but adds the Tories are the only party "standing up" for the oil industry in Scotland.

    Stephen Flynn in Parliament
  16. Government record on violence against women dominates PMQs ahead of Budgetpublished at 12:21 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March

    Henry Zeffman
    Chief political correspondent

    Prime Minister’s Questions is usually the biggest parliamentary moment of the week. This week it’s not even the biggest parliamentary moment of the afternoon.

    Sir Keir Starmer chose a subject far away from today’s economic debates but no less serious for it: the Angiolini Inquiry into Wayne Couzens’ rape and murder of Sarah Everard, and the government’s record on violence against women and girls more generally.

    Though the exchanges were a little lower-key than is typical, it was striking to see Rishi Sunak hitting back against Starmer’s argument by questioning his own record when he was Director of Public Prosecutions.

    Starmer, in turn, made an argument he has also made about the economy and other issues - that the prime minister’s confidence in the government’s record is “at odds” with people’s experience of public services.

    In just over an hour, Starmer will be up against Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor. During Budgets, the convention is that the leader of the opposition, rather than the shadow chancellor, responds to the chancellor.

  17. Sunak says government implemented measures for women's safetypublished at 12:20 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March

    Sunak says that his government has passed a landmark Domestic Abuse Act and implemented other measures.

    He lists things such as more CCTV and street lighting to help make women feel safer.

  18. Justice system at odds with reality women face - Starmerpublished at 12:19 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March

    Starmer says the "rosy picture" the prime minister tries to paint of the current justice system is at odds with the reality that women face.

    The Labour leader says MPs and government should start working on making Westminster a safe workplace.

    He goes on to ask Sunak when will he make time for the vote on banning from Parliament MPs that face allegations of sex offences.

    Stamer in commons
  19. Sunak defends 'rape action plan' measurespublished at 12:18 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March

    Sunak was shaking his head as Starmer spoke.

    "We have already implemented a rape action review plan," he says, and lists a number of measures to make the process for victims coming forward easier, such as ending what's known as "digital strip searches" and making better use of pre-recorded cross examinations.

  20. Starmer calls on Sunak to fix criminal justice systempublished at 12:17 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March

    Penultimate question from Starmer who says Sunak's jibe will be "fact checked" as he adds victims of crimes need better "than this nonsense".

    "It's not games," Starmer says.

    "Unless things change the criminal justice system will continue to fail them," he continues.

    Starmer asks when the Prime Minister will commit to fixing the criminal justice system.