MPs will debate the Budget later with Labour dismissing the government’s claim to be ending austerity

Gb news24 desk//

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said welfare cuts were continuing and public services could face a further squeeze.

But Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss told BBC Newsnight tax cuts would put “more money in families’ pockets”.

In the Budget Chancellor Philip Hammond used a tax receipts windfall to put money into the NHS and universal credit and bring forward income tax cuts.

The personal allowance will rise to £12,500 and the higher rate threshold to £50,000 in April 2019, worth £130 a year for a typical base rate taxpayer.

Mr Hammond said the £1.7bn investment in universal credit would protect claimants moving onto the new system and save millions of families £630 a year. But some MPs said it was not enough to undo cuts already made to the system in previous years.

What else was announced?

£400m to allow schools to “buy the little extras they need”
A digital services tax aimed at tech giants
Help for first-time buyers of shared ownership properties
Another freeze in fuel duty
A £30bn package for England’s roads, including repairs to motorways and potholes
£900m in business rates relief for small businesses and £650m to rejuvenate high streets
Tighter tax rules affecting private sector contractors
A tax on plastic packaging which does not contain enough recycled materials – but no disposable plastic cup tax
An extra £1bn for the Ministry of Defence to boost cyber capabilities and anti-submarine warfare capacity
A further £650m of grant funding for English local authorities to spend on social care

There was a freeze on beer, cider and spirits duty, saving 2p on a pint of beer, 1p on a pint of cider, and 30p on a bottle of Scotch or gin.

Wine duty will not be frozen and a bottle will go up by 8p from 1 February next year, and a packet of 20 cigarettes has gone up by 33p.

Healthier forecasts

Mr Hammond said borrowing this year would be £11.6bn lower than predicted in March, at £25.5bn.

This helped pay for the multi-billion pound boost for the NHS, as well as more money for defence, schools, welfare and above-inflation rises in the income tax personal allowance.

The Office for Budget Responsibility said the spending promises represented the biggest Budget giveaway since the independent fiscal watchdog was set up in 2010.

It was the last Budget before the UK’s scheduled exit from the EU, and came with the final relationship between the two sides yet to be agreed.

There was an extra £500m to prepare for what happens if the UK leaves the EU without a deal – a scenario Mr Hammond has said would require a whole new Budget.

The chancellor also promised a “double deal dividend” if the UK and the EU reached agreement over Brexit.

First off, it is, on the face of it, a big change in direction – a Tory chancellor talking about turning on the spending taps again, rather than how to scrimp and save.

You’ll see headlines about the ‘biggest giveaway’ in a generation. That’s accurate in terms of the overall numbers, and the sense that government departments on average from next year will see spending go up not down.

And it’s different certainly to see a Conservative resident of No 11 putting that ahead of finishing off the attempts to clear the deficit. This chancellor is in fact seemingly content to let the deficit float up. That would have, until relatively recently, been considered heresy round his way.

Politically, it’s a big change of priority and has allowed the government to change its rhetoric substantially.

But if you look carefully, a huge amount of that money will be gobbled up quickly by the health service. After that, by some calculations, there simply won’t be much to go around – and some departments might even still face cuts.