Westminster Hall

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Conservative Bob Blackman says that the UK has fewer public holidays than many countries in Europe and also than the US.

He says people "recharge their batteries" when they get to have an extra day off for a holiday. He adds that he would not go "as far as" suggesting a four day week, like Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Mr Blackman adds that the UK should also consider reflecting Jewish religious holidays as well.

He says that with the ability to predict moon patterns, the dates can be set ahead of time for the public holidays.

He asks why public holidays are only limited to Mondays, apart from Christmas.

House of Commons
Parliament

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SNP Westminister leader Ian Blackford begins by paying tribute to the WASPI campaigners, who protested in the public gallery following the Budget statement, suggesting they have shown the "spirit of the suffragettes".

He criticises the chancellor for "not having the good grace" to stay for the SNP spokesman's speech - "what disrespect" - and doubts pledges to ending of austerity, "austerity coming to an end? Don't kid us."

"Let's not kid ourselves that the Tories are going to end austerity. It simply isn't going to happen," he repeats, suggesting the government "continues to balance the books on the shoulders of the poorest and the vulnerable" whilst giving out tax cuts to the rich.

He criticises the increased funding for Universal Credit, which he suggests is just "a sticking plaster".

"Can we even believe this Budget?" he asks, suggesting preparations for Brexit are insufficient and the Budget offers "no assurances the government can protect economy for the next three months", never mind longer term.

He says the government have abandoned Scotland. He suggests the government has "withheld" EU funds "that were explicitly meant for Scotland". The UK is dragging Scotland unwillingly out of the EU, he says.

He says Brexit presents a social, economic and political crisis for the UK, but the government is "leading us to a no-deal Brexit that will be a complete catastrophe". He calls for the UK to remain in the single market, and calls on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to "unite across this House" and join the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Lib Dems in supporting this position.

"The Budget is a typical Tory offering, giving with the one hand and taking with the other," he concludes, "only with independence can we deliver the budget that Scotland needs."

Westminster Hall

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The SNP's Martyn Day is opening the debate of this unusually late sitting of Westminster Hall, which is starting at 5:30pm due to the Budget statement.

MPs are debating two petitions, one calling for public holidays on Islamic religious days, and one on Hindu religious occasions.

Mr Day says Islam is the second largest religion in the UK, Hindu is the third largest, and neither are recognised in UK holiday days.

Mr Day says that the government has said it does not want to introduce new holidays, as they cost too much.

In a survey, 87% of those questioned from affected communities felt as though it was discrimination to not reflect other religious holidays in the UK calendar, he says. He adds that 84% of those in these communities felt that asking for extra time off for religious holidays was difficult to ask for, and could harm job prospects.

He raises concerns from the National Secular Society that introducing more holidays could cause increasing resentment between communities.

Chancellor Philip Hammond has delivered his Autumn 2018 Budget, the last before Brexit.

With huge question marks over Brexit, a restless party, and no majority in Parliament, it is quite a feat to try to pull off.

Philip Hammond turns on a Labour MP who shouts that he will not be the chancellor at the next Budget.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Chair of the Treasury Committee, Nicky Morgan says: "The Chancellor has offered solutions and a vision for the future, unlike the opposition."

Ms Morgan says there are "encouraging signs that the economy is picking up and unemployment is dropping".

"We are no longer borrowing to fund current spending, which is a huge positive."

"Brexit is of course the greatest and most imminent source of uncertainty looming over this budget," she says.

Ms Morgan says the OBR has predicted that "even with a smooth transition" the "increased trade barriers with the EU would leave the economy smaller and reduce long-running productivity growth".

She says "the forecast the budget is considered on can only be regarded as preliminary," and the OBR must be given "more time to analyse the data in detail".

Nicky Morgan says she supports the policies in the Budget which will "help hard working people", but questions why wine was not exempt from the beer, cider and spirits duties freeze.

"The chancellor is absolutely right to reduce business rates for small businesses, but the Treasury will be looking into these proposals in more detail," she says.

House of Commons
Parliament

With Chancellor Philip Hammond and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn finished, it's time for MPs to continue to debate the Budget.

The debate in Parliament will continue until 10pm tonight.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour MPs clap and cheer as the Chancellor's speech comes to an end. It appears that there's a protest in the public gallery.

Deputy Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle calls for order so that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn can get his response to the Budget under way...

This Labour MP tweets...

House of Commons
Parliament

The Speaker sits down, and is replaced by Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Ways and Means Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond takes his feet, and begins to give the Budget.

We'll be following our colleagues on the Budget 2018 live page here

Join us for the Budget debate in the House of Commons later this afternoon.

There seem to be two Budgets a year, but the one that takes place earlier in the year is actually a statement. Autumn is when the Budget itself is unveiled and voted on.

Confusingly, it used to be the other way around. In the 2016 spring Budget, it was announced that Budgets would be moved to autumn, and the statement to spring.

When Philip Hammond changed the Budget to autumn, many economists and tax consultants were happy with the move. They said that it gave more time for consultation on changes to taxation before the next tax year.

The statement is a relatively new invention, being given from 1976 onwards. Ken Clarke effectively made the two Budgets into one single Budget in 1993.

However, Gordon Brown and George Osborne both continued with two Budgets per year, even though they called the autumn one a statement.

House of Commons
Parliament

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MPs are now putting topical questions to Home Office ministers.

Conservative MP Theresa Villiers asks, in the light of events in Pittsburgh, for assurance that the government and the police "will always take very, very seriously the security of the Jewish community and other minorities that may be subject to hate crimes and violence".

Mr Javid says he has spoken to head of Community Security Trust, to offer reassurance. He adds that the government is looking at new ways of helping communities with its own security needs. He adds that he will be attending a vigil to remember the victims tonight.

Labour's Luciana Berger says both the perpetrator in Pittsburgh and the person suspected of sending mail bombs in to individuals in the US had a history of online hate crime. She asks what is being done to tackle the issue.

Mr Javid says social media is playing a role in feeding hate, and the government has refreshed its anti-hate strategy and will be taking this further.

House of Lords
Parliament

The peers now begin to debate the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill on the first day of its committee stage.

The bill follows the government's reviews of its counter-terrorism strategy.

Part 1 would make it an offence to express beliefs that are supportive of certain organisations, would criminalize the publication of certain images and strengthens the offence of downloading terrorist material.

Part 2 brings in powers to stop, question, search and detain people at ports and borders to determine whether they appear to be or have been engaged in hostile activity.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Conservative peer Lord Polak is now introducing his Private Notice Question on the actions of the government to protect and reassure the Jewish community in the UK after the killing of 11 worshippers at a Synagogue in Pittsburgh.

Minister for Housing, Communities and Local Government Lord Bourne says he is "appalled by this horrific attack" and "no one should be afraid to practice their faith."

He says the government has invested £13.4m into the Communities Security Trust to ensure "people can pray and live without being in fear".

Lord Polak says Jewish communities "are afraid", and that "more action is required" because anti-Semitism "is a grave threat to British values".

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Palmer says anti-Semitic postings on social media "are also in need of a government response".

Labour peer Lord Winston says: "The issue is hate speech, not guns."

"The government is resolute on cracking down on these sorts of posts on social media, and this is central to our efforts to combat anti-Semitism and other forms of hatred," the minister says.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott says the National Audit Office has "set out clearly how the government has failed to protect police funding". She asks if the home secretary would agree that "it is a mark of shame and it is putting the public at risk."

"All of our constituents can see the consequences of this," she suggests, and asks if the chancellor will be offering any additional police funding.

The home secretary says it's worth reminding people that Labour planned to cut police spending by 5%-10% had they won the 2010 election.

"There's not a single Labour MP that voted for an increase in police funding when it had the opportunity," he adds.

Budgets are traditionally delivered on a Wednesday, immediately after Prime Minister's Questions.

This year, Wednesday is Halloween, which would lead to some rather predictable headlines from the press.

It is the first time since 1962 that the Budget has been delivered on any day other than a Wednesday.

Today is also five months exactly until Brexit happens.

House of Lords
Parliament

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Greaves asks about proposals for new investment in the railway network in the north of England.

Transport Minister Baroness Sugg says through projects such as HS2 the government is investing in the communities of the north, and "have committed substantial money to ensuring that journey times are improved".

Lord Greaves says rail services in the north are "at breaking point", and asks if the government understand that "people in the north are losing all confidence in the Department for Transport, who are 200 miles away, and their ability to acknowledge the situation and act."

Lord Greaves calls for responsibility of the northern railways to be transferred to Transport for the North.

Conservative peer Baroness Neville-Rolfe says "ticket pricing is very confusing" and that "new investment should involve simplifying rail fares".

Baroness Sugg says "We understand services in the north have not been good enough, and this is why we are investing in this area."