lets see what happens in the next few hours. let's join lets see what happens in the next few hours. let'sjoin huw lets see what happens in the next few hours. let's join huw edwards for our special programme. it is the first budget for philip hammond, as the government takes stock. stay tuned for live coverage of the budget 2017. a very good morning from westminster and welcome to our live coverage of the budget. it's philip hammond's first as chancellor and it's also likely to be his only spring budget because after today the budget

will move to the autumn. and it's the last budget before the government triggers article 50 and starts the formal process of leaving the eu, possibly as early as next week. a few minutes ago the chancellor emerged, red box in hand, from his official residence, number 11 downing street, alongside him the treasury ministerial team, including his number 2, david gauke, who we'll be speaking to a little later on. the red box was made for david osborne in 2011. the chancellor posing for the traditional photo for the ranks of the photographs in downing street on budget day and later he will be making to the house of commons and he is expected to get to the despatch box in around an hour's time because we have a little bit of talking to do and then we'll have prime minister's questions, as usual on a wednesday and then the

chancellor will get to his feet. stay with us as we'll have all the budget detail and reaction. i'm outside parliament where the focus recently has been on britain's future outside the eu i will be getting reactions from politicians across the political spectrum. i'm in hull the across the political spectrum. i'm in hullthe uk across the political spectrum. i'm in hull the uk city of culture for 2017 and i'll be getting reaction from businesses, large and small to the chancellor's statement. what does the budget mean to you and your family's finances? i will respond to youre—mails, family's finances? i will respond to your e—mails, text and tweets about the measures announced today. plenty of voices, not just from westminster but beyond westminster which is crucial on a day like today. to help me make sense of it all, we're joined by our political editor, laura kuenssberg, our economics editor, kamal ahmed, and our business editor, simonjack. they'll all be providing plenty

of thoughts on social media as things happen, if you want to join the twitter conversation, use the hashtag #budget2017. use the hashtag and the comments can go into the same area and you can e—mail us as well: haveyoursay@bbc. co. uk. we'll try and put some of your tweets and emails to our experts and guests during the programme. so it's chancellor, philip hammond's, big day and the treasury released these images of mr hammond hard at work last night, putting the finishing touches to his speech before it's locked up in the red box. as expected, he's facing plenty of demands from the opposition to increase spending in quite a few ares — notably health and social care.

this was labour's message. he's had increased tax receipts recently. so i'm not asking him to go out on a huge spending spree. i'm asking him to tackle the crisis that's here now. it's all well and good saying you're saving money for later in case there's a problem. there is a crisis in our nhs at the moment, there's a crisis in social care. he's got to do that. he's got top understand what people are going through. john mcdonnell there. he will talk to us again later. he will probably join us in the studio to give his response. laura, can i turn to you. the content of any budget is interesting. any budget is important but in such a turbulent and uncertain political time, really the context is — we have never seen anything like it. absolutely not. when philip hammond steps out of the shiny black door of number 11 this morning what has been on his smind that the country is stepping into an uncertain future, probably the most uncertain future, probably the most uncertain pattern any chancellor has had to deal with for a very, very long time. i think today, therefore, we won't hear a very palatable message from him, really. there are going to be spending cuts and we expect some tax rises, too. sure,

the picture is likely to look a bit better than it did since the autumn statement, the last big event from the chancellor but he is not prone to what he calls "lurches of sentiment", kind of careering from one thing to another, saying everything is fine and therefore i can splash the cash, that's not what we are going to see. there's a trio of tasks he has to achieve to keep his his and theresa may's agenda. first, showing he is committed to balancing the books in a long term albeit at a slower rate than had been predicted. second of all, a lwa ys been predicted. second of all, always important on a budget day, try to do that without any big political blunder. that's always at the back of every chancellor's mind. think last year and george osborne made a big mistake and i think talking about solving some long—term problems that the country faces. whether that's social care, we expect an announcement of a long—term review and additional cash now. but also things the treasury

are now. but also things the treasury a re interested now. but also things the treasury are interested in, how do we make the tax system work better, for example, how do we confront the changes in technology? he has to deal with short—term pressures but he will provide clues to a long—term vision at a time which is really uncertain. . i think it is vision at a time which is really uncertain. . ithink it is fair vision at a time which is really uncertain. . i think it is fair to say some of his colleagues didn't like the fact he used a phrase like "a roller coaster ride ahead of us", he used that last year. are we likely to get that signal in those terms? i think the tone will certainly be, shall we say, very, very careful. philip hammond is not prone to behave in a way some of his cabinet colleagues do, with the hints of a buck inneering future, brexit britain out, promising a land of milk and hobby. he is a caution politician in anyway case but it is no secret that the treasury is at the concerned end of the spectrum around whitehall at the potential impact of us leaving the european union. that is why, rather than using a little bit of the headroom

that he's got stored up, he's basically going to keep that back in case there are big bumps in the road as we head towards leaving the european union. remember, it's not the case that he suddenly has tens of billions sitting around in a bank account. it's that the country is predicted to be borrowing less. therefore, there has been pressure on him to say — flash the cash now, get on with it, please a few more people but he's not going to do that, i don't think. that leads me to kamal. that's the context. when he gets to the despatch box, today, what is the economic landscape we should be thinking of? absolutely. i think the two big things to always look at, as laura says, over the budget, are borrowing and growth. those are the two big issues. so so let's look back first of all on the borrowing numbers. if we go back to the november and the predictions in the november and the predictions in the autumn statement, this was the time of what you might describe as

"peak bloom. " time of what you might describe as " peak bloom. " most time of what you might describe as "peak bloom." most economic forecasters thought at this stage that the economy could be seeing real headwinds because of the uncertainty around brexit. that the economy could be seeing real headwinds because of the uncertainty around brexit. the office for budget responsibility, the government's official economic watchdog, predicted, last november, that this would be what our borrowing looked like over the next five years. so 2016—17, you can seeiour yoking at around £68 billion a year, falling every year, down to about £20 billion in 2020—21, but, not hitting that idea of balancing the books until sometime after that date, into the next parliament. despite it being, as laura says, a key government pledge. since then the economic news is cheerier and things are looking better and here are the predictions for what borrowing may look like, given the slightly higher tax receipts which means the government has a little more headroom on borrowing, this are numbers from the resolution foundation. they suggest by 2021, the government may

understood its its target by about £29 billion. so, just as i say, it is not money in a bank account that he can take out and stick into the nhs or whatever but it means slightedly less borrowing. he can take out and stick into the nhs or whatever but it slightedly less borrowing. so that's borrow, you mentioned growth as well. tell us about that? again, if we go back to what was predicted last november, the office for budget responsibility said growth for this year would be a very cautious and pretty miserable, frankly, 1.4%. but since then we have had, again this better economic news. the consumer has been more resilient and kept spending. the bank of england, you, a couple of months ago suggested, or a month ago, suggested the growth this year would be 2%. a much more robust figure and i'm sure today the obr will upgrade that growth forecast, better news for philip hammond as he stands up to deliver the budget but as important is what will happen after that? is this pain cancelled or delayed? i think the obr will

suggest it is pain delayed possibly until next year, possibly, 2018. it originally estimated that in 2018 growth would be around 1.7%. lower than the bank of england's growth hmmfi than the bank of england's growth forecast for this year. and the bath has said in growth for 2018, it would blow in growth compared to this year. so it is likely that in growth — these are the two economic forecasters, the bank of england and obr, will say there is likely to be a slowing in growth in 2018, of course when we will be in the teeth

of the brexit negotiations. #7 forecasters, the bank of england and obr, will course when we will be in the teeth of the brexit negotiations. #7 i'm wondering, given the traditional focus on budget day is to do with tax measures and other benefits, what is he likely to do there? well, i think what is easy to forget on budget day, we have had previous budgets and there are changes coming down the road which will be challenging for some of the groups that the government says it wants to help, the just about managing, an economy that works for everyone. let's look at what the government has already announced in terms of what might be described as tax give—aways, to help some of the groups it wants to help. the tax—free personal allowance is going up tax—free personal allowance is going up to £11,500. we'll probably see some more moves on that. that can be seen as a tax cut particularly for those on higher numbers. and they've raised the threshold to £45,000 and it maybe easier for people to save what little money they have. but on the other side there is some of the pain that we mustn't forget. this is still a situation where the government is constraining spending, it is not adding to spending. and if we look at some of the welfare changes already in place, we mustn't

forget there is already the cut in working—age benefit which is still going through the system. the public sector pay freeze is still there at 196, sector pay freeze is still there at 1%, despite inflation going up. what is called the employment support allowa nce, is called the employment support allowance, an allowance for people who are ill or disabled going back into work. that is being cut back as well. as are child tax credits. so i think one of the big messages from the chancellor today, is that, yes, things are looking a little better, possibly only in the short—term but still that drive towards balancing the books via austerity, is still very much front and central of the government project. plenty for us to think about. simon you have been busy this week in geneva, i'm wondering what is the business focus for you today? businesses have been ona for you today? businesses have been on a journey with this government. when theresa may arrived she came out of the traps early warning businesses — you better create a

fair economy that works for everyone, if you don't i will step n it scared the horses a bit. —— step in. but the chancellor needs business. the economy is made up of a few things, consumer spending, who have been keeping the economy afloat single handedly, and of government spending which we know is going to be cut and it is business spending. he is going to want to try to stimulate that. i expect this budget to dove tail in the with industrial strategy we heard earlier in the year to give people incentives to spend money, to take on new workers, train them, invest in new plants. for smaller businesses, it is all about business rates. now three—quart earnings, two—thirds of business also see their rates stay the same or fall for some business also see their rates stay the same orfall for some in certain areas of country, particularly snout east they face sharp prize —— particularly in the south—east. the federation of small businesses say there are rises of up to 300%. i

expect to see a bit of money top soften the edges of that. but it'll only soften the edges. these letters have been written, calculated they are on their way out the door from the local authorities. there will not be the scope a massive redrawing of the business rates. small businesses under the cosh with the living wage. and if we do get this big change in self—employment that. will be big. it'll be interesting to see whether we get the changes today or whether he nods to a future consultation. many self—employed people pay less national insurance for people who are self—employed. troublesome if he does that, some may remember the 2015 tory manifesto pledge, not to raise, vat, income tax and national insurance. but as simon is hinting, there is appetite in the treasury for a whole sale review of how this whole system works, which includes things like big online retailers getting off

relatively scot—free compared to more traditional retailers in terms of taxation in the high street. the numberfrom of taxation in the high street. the number from the obr last fr last year, suggested the government could be losing about 5.5 billion a year in taxes because of the people's move on to self—employment and the gig economy, it is undermining the tax base where philip hammond has a real problem. lead's pause for a second because we are here on budget day and this is the focus our westminster but we are getting reports that four people have been injured in a stabbing attack in the west midlands. police are telling of this. west midlands ambulance service, i am being told, saying they are at the scene of a serious incident in the maryhill area of wolverhampton. —— merry hill area. it is being reported four people being injured after a

stabbing in the west midlands and we will keep you in touch with everything that is going on with that as it develops on the bbc news channel and also developments on the bbc news channel. we are focusing on budget day and as philip hammond has already made his way to the house of commons to get ready for the speech, we will have prime ministers questions injust we will have prime ministers questions in just under 15 minutes. lots of reaction throughout the day and now we join jane lots of reaction throughout the day and now wejoinjane parliament. thanks, huw. but to parliament and in a moment i will look at what philip hammond might have in store with lord lamont and chris leslie but as you have been reflecting on everything we're going to hear against 30 pm —— from 4:30pm is against the backdrop of the referendum, britain's decision to leave the eu. before i talk to my guess, let's remind ourselves how the economy has led since that vote. the british people have spoken and the answer is — we're out. the bank of england will not hesitate to take additional measures, as required, as markets adjust. if you're just managing,

i want to address you directly. hello. i'm over the moon. obviously it brings security. i've been here 25 years and i hope it's going to be here for another 30 years. is there any money left, chancellor? what do we want? brexit. when do we want it? now. we will pursue a bold and ambitious free trade agreement

with the european union. the industrial strategy that we've launched today sets out some of our ideas. i think brexit is going to be a wonderful thing. so that is where we are today, the backdrop to what we will hear this lunchtime. let's discuss philip hammond's options. joining me now is the former conservative chancellor, lord lamont, and the former shadow treasury minister, chris leslie. welcome to both of you. the tone of this is going to be so interesting, lord lamont. we think things are a little more rosy economically but because of brexit, he's got to be

very cautious, hasn't it?|j because of brexit, he's got to be very cautious, hasn't it? ithink that's right. i think it is important he emphasises the opportunities as well as the challenges but i think there are two things it has to do because of brexit. one is to keep a little bit back. some people are saying tax reve nu es back. some people are saying tax revenues are better but i think actually, he would be very wise to keep a bit backjust in case there are schools in financial markets later. secondly, in this budget and in every other one that he does, the emphasis has to be on making britain competitive. this is going to be a challenge for britain outside the eu and we have do have everything competitive, our costs, our tax rates, our degree of regulation, all that. those are the two themes, being competitive and actually holding something in reserve. but you say that is the case for every budget but we are in uncharted territory. this is so different because by definition, no one really knows what is coming down the track.

that's why i've said what i did! chris leslie, your thoughts on the balance he has to strike between a degree of optimism, as lord lamont says, but actually being cautious. everyone is using that word this morning. when you hear lord lamont saying it could be a challenge, for that read there is a harry kane potentially on the horizon —— there isa potentially on the horizon —— there is a hurricane potentially on the horizon for the uk economy. brexit will dominate, lots of people talk about taxes here or there, spending here or there but that storm, i personally think the government is actively heading towards it because of its decision not to try to salvage single market membership, is already affecting consumers because sterling has fallen quite considerably, and inflation is starting to head upwards and we're already seeing consumer spending power begin to go on the wane. retail sales down very much in the la st retail sales down very much in the last months. so where is the engine of the economy going to come from as we head into this storm? for me,

thatis we head into this storm? for me, that is a serious problem. where is the engine? first of all, i don't think it is inevitable there will be a storm or a hurricane coming down. provided we can get, for most of the uk economy, tariff free access and a free trade deal, it will be just as good as the single market. you know, i think all of this myth about the single market, that it is some kind of chinese garden with a large wall around it and we have do have a key to sell things in it, you know, the top three partners, trading wise, of the eu have no special trade arrangements with the eu. the idea we couldn't trade with them without a trade agreement is an illusion, it's completely wrong. but i think there is a very good chance of having a trade agreement and that is what the government... it's just nonsense to harp on about membership of the single market, which during the referendum, people advocating for gabi mayne said it would not make any sense if we were outside the eu to be part of it. on the

other point you raised about the economy, so far, the economy has been remarkably resilient. inflation, as chris has said, has risen a bit but it is rising even higher in germany than it is here. it is not high by historical standards. i don't think it is inevitable... nothing is inevitable, if the government does the right thing and tries to get, well, we had better get a free trade agreement with europe because without that, it is notjust the service sector which will suffer, it will be goods and services, all of those companies, like nissan, who have 5 million parts per day, they have to get from this warehouse of the eu, they only keep half a day's infantry on site. if you have friction in those goods and services, that trade, we are going to have a real problem for our business model in the uk, and so, we have do, i think, get the free trade agreement but if we don't, not only will we have big tariffs and potentially for components coming m, potentially for components coming in, but also want the goods we want

to sell worldwide. so our exports potentially will be inhibited and so i worry very much about where the living standards and the consumer spending power is going to come from when things get more expensive and i worry about the storm on the horizon with the trade issue, which could be really severely impaired. gentlemen, we have to leave it there. we will find out in the next few hours. chris leslie and lord lamont, thank you for being with us and more reaction when we have heard from philip hammond outside parliament. for now, back to you. thanks to you and your guests. reaction beyond westminster as well. wherejo coburn is with a range of guests to talk about the main concerns there on budget day. yes, i'm at a busy distribution centre which employs about 850 people in hull. we are bringing you breaking news of an incident in the west midlands in which two people have died. it follows what police are describing asa follows what police are describing as a domestic stabbing in wolverhampton. there were called to the merry hill area of the city at

around 9:45am, where it is believed around 9:45am, where it is believed a man attacked two women before inflicting injuries on himself. three air ambulances were called to the scene, as well as a number of other ambulances and medical staff. initial reports we received said that several people were understood to have been injured in a serious assault in wolverhampton. then, as more details began to emerge from the west midlands police, we were told a man is believed to have attacked two women, before inflicting stab injuries on himself. west midlands police say that a woman in her 30s and a man in his 30s have died, while another woman, believed to be in her 50s, has been taken to hospital with what are described as critical stomach wounds. police had to use stun grenades to storm the block of flats

where the incident happened, to storm the flat in a bid to, we are told, destructive and detain the man who was wielding the knife. —— distract and detain. the woman believed to be in her 30s died at the scene. the man in his 30s was pronounced dead a short time later. we understand that a police officer has also been treated for minor injuries as a result of the incident. just to recap if you are joining us, breaking news coming from the west midlands, a number of people have been involved in a very serious incident, a domestic stabbing, we are told, in wolverhampton. this happened at a block of flats in the maryhill area of wolverhampton. block of flats in the maryhill area of wolverha m pton. west block of flats in the maryhill area of wolverhampton. west midlands police have confirmed that two

people have died. a woman in her 30s, and a man, the male suspect in the case, also believed to be in his 30s, pronounced dead a short time later, while the woman died at the scene. another woman, thought to be in her50s, scene. another woman, thought to be in her 50s, taken to hospital with critical stomach wounds. officers using stun grenades, as they stormed the flat in a bid to get to the man with the knife. a police officer treated for minor injuries, we are told. three ambulances were called told. three ambulances were called to the scene. we are just checking to the scene. we are just checking to find out if any more details are coming in from west midlands police about this serious incident. at the moment they are confirming the news

of these two deaths, the woman in her 30s, the male suspect, also in his 30s, and a woman in her 50s, taken to hospital with critical stomach wounds. eyewitnesses reported a large number of police officers arriving at highfields court. we understand that is the area of wolverhampton, where the fatal domestic stabbing has happened this morning. that is when police we re this morning. that is when police were called to the block of flats, when it was believed a man attacked two women, before inflicting stab injuries on himself. we are going to keep a close eye on any developments on that story. let's return to the budget special. yes, we are expecting to see some tax rises from the chancellor. it is

rumoured national insurance contributions for self—employed people could go up. at the moment, they pay about 9% on earnings of just over £8,000. that compares to employed people who pay 12%. we could possibly see, there is speculation we will see a 3% rise on national insurance contributions for the self—employed. also, we could see alcohol and tobacco duties going up. maybe there will be a new tax on e—cigarettes. if you have any questions about what you do in the budget, you can contact us in lots of ways, text 61124, e—mail haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk or tweet. back to london. thanks to the team in hull because we will be back there later to get lots of reaction to the speech itself. you can also take advantage of the bbc‘s range of expert analysis, and all the latest budget news on the bbc website — bbc.co.uk/budget. and later today, there will be

a calculator on the site where you can work out the impact on your household's finances. it's heading towards midday here at westminster on budget day. a magnificent sight, on the banks of the thames, parliament on budget day. very soon, we'll be in the house of commons for prime minister's questions, with the chancellor's speech to follow. let's ta ke let's take a peek inside the chamber. we have a session of departmental questions and i'm delighted to sell you today that it is questions to the secretary of state for wales. it doesn't get better than that as far as i'm concerned! and i hope the speaker is very donors with his time allocation —— generous with his time occasion. the secretary of state for wales just taking questions there before the speaker calls for the prime

minister to take questions. of course, the chancellor is in place already, ready is laura, the prime minister has already said from scam number ten what she expects the themes to be? yes, she told the cabinet this morning there would be "a strongp hand on fiscal tiller." but it would also "put the wheels in motion for future growth and prosperity." the mixed metaphors are not mine. it shows they are trying to balance the books but equip the economy for a future outside the european union, make it more dynamic and competitive. in the autumn statement we saw investment in infrastructure, roads, rails, if you like you have had the bricks and mortar in the autumn, today we might see the human

capital. skills, schools, how we actually look like an economy that's really gunning along, not in 2016-17, 18, but really gunning along, not in 2016—17, 18, but much further ahead. let'sjoin 2016—17, 18, but much further ahead. let's join the 2016—17, 18, but much further ahead. let'sjoin the prime 2016—17, 18, but much further ahead. let's join the prime minister for question time. thank you, mr speaker, i'm sure members across the whole house will wish tojoin me in marking international women's day as we celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, both here and around the world. but we also redouble our effo rts world. but we also redouble our efforts to tackle the problems that women all toop often still face. mr speaker, this morning, i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others n addition to my duties in this house, i shall have further such meetings later today. —— in addition. can ijoin the prime minister in celebrating international women's day. since 2010, conservatives in government have a proud record of protecting and supporting both those at risk and supporting both those at risk and the victims of domestic violence and the victims of domestic violence

and abuse. i saw this myself when i joined my local police and i would like to thank them for the difficult job they do but even as far as too many women are still at risk and are still suffering. what more account prime minister do to tackle this abhorrent crime? my honourable friend raises a very serious issue, one in which i have taken a particular personal interest and i attach very great importance to this issue. tackling domestic violence and abuse is a key priority for the government. and what we have done already in government, i think, has the potential to transform the way in which we think and tackle these terrible crimes when they take place. we've already committed to bringing forward new legislation and today, i have confirmed an additional £20 million to support organisations working to tackle domestic violence and abuse. this means the total funding available for ourour means the total funding available for our our strategy will be over £100 million this parliament.

the speaker: jeremy corbyn thank you, mr speaker. thank you, very much, mr speaker, could i start by wishing all women a very happy international women's day today. and i'm very proud that the labour party has more women mps than all other other parties combined in this house. and a shadow cabinet of which half the members are women. a month ago go, mr speaker, i raised the question of the leaked texts between the leader of surrey council and government officials about social care. the prime minister's response was to accuse me of peddling alternative facts. could the prime minister explain the difference between a sweetheart deal and a gentlemen's agreement? first of all,

the right honourable gentleman references women in this house. i think i will point out to him that actually the conservative party has taken a further measure in relation to women in this house recently. we've replaced a labour male mp with a female conservative. cheers and jeers he has asked me about the issue in relation to surrey county council and the substance of what he is asking is has there been a particular deal with surrey county council that is not available to other councils? and the answer to thatis other councils? and the answer to that is no. as i've said before — the ability to raise a social care precept of 3% is available to every council. the issue of the retention

of 100% of business rates is currently — is going to be available toa number of currently — is going to be available to a number of councils in ip a. let's look at them. liver —— in april. let's look at them. liverpool, manchester, london, what do we know about those? ah, they are all under labour control. so what he's actually asking me is — why should a conservative council have access to an arrangement that's predominantly currently available to labour councils? mr speaker, my question was about the arrangements between the government and surrey cou nty between the government and surrey county council. a recording has now emerged saying that the leader of surrey county council, david hodge said there was a gentlemen's agreement between him and the government which meant they would not have to go ahead with the referendum. my question is — what

deal was done with surrey county council? because there is an acute social care crisis that affects every council. 4.6 billion of cuts made to social care since 2010. can the prime minister tell every other council in england what gentlemen's agreement is available for them? can i say to the right honourable gentleman, on today of all days, i think if we could just be a little patient and wait half an hour for the budget, he will actually find out what social care funding is available to all councils. if he's — i come back to it, if he is asking me if there was a special deal for surrey that was not available to other councils, the answer is no. if he is looking to uncover a conspiracy i suggest he just looks behind him. well, mr speaker, if all the

arrangements were so clear and above board, will the prime minister place in the library of the house a record of all one—to—one meetings that have been held between the communities' secretary and the chancellor, with any council leader or chair of social services anywhere in england? and can she explain, if there is no special deal, why surrey is the only cou nty special deal, why surrey is the only county council to be allowed into the business rates retention pilot when it's been denied to others? the business rate retention pilot will be coming into force for a number of councils this april. that includes, asi councils this april. that includes, as i have already said in answer to his earlier question, liverpool, greater manchester, greater london, and some others. in 2019—20, it's

going to be available to 100% of councils. for 2018—19, councils going to be available to 100% of councils. for2018—19, councils are able to apply to the part of a further pilot. that goes for all councils across the country. the text, mr speaker, said there was a memorandum of understanding. the prime minister said there was no deal. she now is unclear about this. did she actually know what arrangement was made with surrey cou nty arrangement was made with surrey county council? she is unkeen on answering questions on that. there is another area of deep concern over the whole country. could the prime minister tell us how many new school places will be needed by 2020? can i just say to the right honourable gentleman that really he should listen to the answers i give before

he asks the next question. he said i didn't answer the question about a special deal for surrey. i think i've answered it now three times but i'll do it a fourth time tl.s no special deal for surrey that was not available to other councils. mr speaker, the prime minister was also asked a questionjust speaker, the prime minister was also asked a question just a speaker, the prime minister was also asked a questionjust a moment speaker, the prime minister was also asked a question just a moment ago about the number of new school places needed by 2020, perhaps she could explain why we have a crisis in school places and class sizes soaring, thanks to her government? so what is the answer on the number of new school places needed, prime minister? well, this government has a policy, which is about increasing the number of school places but doing more than that. i want to increase the number of good school places, so that every child has an opportunity to go to a good school. that's what the money we are putting

into education is about. it includes money for new free schools — those will be faith schools, university schools, comprehensives, grammar schools, comprehensives, grammar schools, university schools i have said, maths schools. there will be a diversity because what i want is a good school place for every child and parents to have a choice. what the right honourable gentlemanp wa nts the right honourable gentlemanp wants is parents to take what they're given, good or bad. mr speaker, the national audit office tell us that a very large number of new school places are needed, 420,000, nothing she's said gets anywhere near to that. instead, she proposes a flagship scheme to build the wrong schools in the wrong place, spending millions of vanity projects of grammar schools and free schools, whilst at the same time per pupilfunding schools, whilst at the same time per pupil funding is falling schools, whilst at the same time per pupilfunding is falling in real terms. it is time that this colossal

waste of money was addressed. it is doing nothing to help the vast majority of children, doing not to help with soaring class sizes. that's what this country wants, not vanity projects from her government. it is no vanity project to want every child to have a good school place. the majority of free schools — the majority of free schools that have been opened, have been opened in areas where there is a need for school places and the majority have been opened actually in areas of disadvantage, where they are helping the very children we want to see get thep opportunity to get on in life. but i have to say to the right honourable gentleman, this is about afairer honourable gentleman, this is about a fairer society and on this budget day, what we see is we are securing the economy labour want it weaken it. we are working for a fairer society. labour oppose every single reform. we're fighting for the best

dealfor britain, reform. we're fighting for the best deal for britain, labour are fighting among themselves. that's labour, weak, divided and unfit to govern this great country. thank you, mr speaker. this week it is likely that in my area four people will suffer a stroke. with this in mind and given that the highly successful stroke strategy expires this year, will my honourable friend update the stroke strategy which and put in place schemes that can increase the outcomes. the nhs wants to continue to build on the success he is of the current stroke strategy there. have been huge improvements. we all recognise huge improvements over the last decade in stroke care

and we want to deliver our ambition for truly world—leading care. on the particular treatment she refers to, i understand the nhs has improved the use of mechanical clot retrieval in specific cases. it does rigorously audit the quality of stroke ca re across rigorously audit the quality of stroke care across the country so we can make sure we are delivering on our commitments and we have some of the fastest improvement in hospital recovery rates for stroke and heart attacks in europe. on international women's day, we wish all campaigners for equality well, including the waspy campaigners. mr speaker, the cross—parliamentary brexit committee has recommended the uk must guarantee the status of eu nationals living in the uk and act unilaterally, if necessary. the committee then went on to say that the current process for consideration of the permanent residency applications is not fit for purpose and in the absence of any contrary resolution to relieve

the anxiety, felt by the #12i789ed 3 million eu citizens resident in the uk, it is -- million eu citizens resident in the uk, it is —— felt by the 3 million eu citizens, it is untenable as it now stands. given the positive contribution thae. u nationals make to this country, what concrete plans does the prime minister have to deal with this? as the right honourable gentleman knows, we do want to have an early agreement, which will enable us to guarantee the status of eu citizens living in the uk but also, we need to guarantee the status of uk citizens living in the european union. as regards the process of application, the home office are looking at this, as they a lwa ys office are looking at this, as they always do, looking regularly at how they can improve the systems and simplify them. mr speaker, since 2010, the home office has seen its full—time staff equivalent cut by 10% so at current rates of processing applications for

permanent residency, it would take the home office more than 50 years. 50 yea rs the home office more than 50 years. 50 years to deal with 3.2 million european nationals in the uk. this is clearly totally and utterly unacceptable. so will the prime minister tell us how quickly she hopes to be able to guarantee all european nationals permanent residence? i would say to the right honourable gentleman, you can'tjust say and stand up because actually the home office is getting more efficient, it's going to be longer for a nswers efficient, it's going to be longer for answers to be given to these people. yes, the home office is getting more efficient at how it is dealing with these things. i don't know if he's ever heard about technology but these days, actually, people apply online and they are dealt with online. following the recent findings of the study on terror convictions in britain, it is clear there are serious problems with how communities integrate into society, and the danger that this

lack of integration, leading to acts of terror. will the prime minister update the house on the government's counter extremism strategy and response to these findings? again, this is a very serious issue that my honourable friend has raised and the government is taking a comprehensive approach to tackling terrorism, violent extremism at source but also obviously through counter extremism strategy, looking at extremism more widely. we want to defeat notjust terrorism and violent extremism but extremism wherever it occurs. we will shortly publish a new counterterrorism strategy and in the coming months, we will respond to dame louise casey's report on integration. but this is backed up by additional investment in the security and intelligence agencies, 2.5 billion overfive security and intelligence agencies, 2.5 billion over five years and i clear the government is doing everything it can to tackle issues around integration, extremism and terrorism. i come from a westminster hall debate on behalf of my young

constituent, sam, who is 11, who developed narcolepsy as a result of receiving a vaccine to protect him from swine flu. sam's mother is in the gallery today. in rare and devastating cases could the lease between pandemrix narcolepsy is proven and yet families face a long legal battle with the government. will the prime minister today promised that no more of these disabled children will be handing all the courts. —— handed through the courts. will she apologised to the courts. will she apologised to the families concerned and also oversee payments to support the children's long—term oversee payments to support the child ren's long—term care oversee payments to support the children's long—term care needs. oversee payments to support the children's long-term care needs. can i first of children's long-term care needs. can ifirst of all children's long-term care needs. can i first of all congratulate the honourable lady on securing the westminster hall debate on this important topic. she referred to at the end of her question to the issue of payments. of course, i'm sure she realises the vaccine damage payment scheme is not a compensation team but a one—off tax—free lump sum

which is paid to ease the burden of those who are disabled as a result of vaccination and it is part of a range of support provided. she has raised a very specific case and can i suggest you learn that obviously, she's had that westminster hall debate, we want to ensure the process is open and fair at every stage. the dwp looks at every claim based on its own facts and if she wa nts to based on its own facts and if she wants to write with the details, i'm sure my honourable friend the minister for sure my honourable friend the ministerfor disabled sure my honourable friend the minister for disabled people, health and work will look into the specific case she has raised. closed question: mr michael fabricant. question for, sir. while i won't speculate on the statement is my right honourable friend the chancellor will make very shortly, i can assure my honourable friend that the fundamentals of our economy are strong. since 2010 from employment in the west midlands has risen by 215000 and private sector employment alone grew by 80,000 over the last year. we have also seen schools and police budgets being protected and

more doctors and nurses in his local hospitals. michael fabricant. and of course, we have also witnessed the post brexit vote of confidence from nissan, boeing and dyson, investing in other parts of the country. good my right honourable friend speak a bit more about firms like jaguar land rover in the west midlands? i'm happy to say to my honourable friend that of course in the wider sense, our plans for the midland engine show we want an economy that works for everyone. we have already confirmed over 330 million in the croasdale funding, money going to the west midlands engine investment fund, the birmingham rail hub but it is important to recognise the investment being made in the uk by companies like jaguar land rover who will be building their new range rover model in solihull. that is very good news for the west midlands. it is also very good news for the british economy and is a sign of the confidence jaguar land rover has in the uk for the future.

gordon marsden. mr speaker, my casebook is now full of the anxiety is the dwp and home office are imposing on the honourable constituents, including officials' devs to overturn tribunal decisions protecting benefits and residents, including a family settled here for eight years and a man with a severe brain injury. can i ask the prime minister if she wants people to respect brexit means brexit, shouldn't she respect that tribunal ‘s mean tribunal is, and not try to block them with grubby regulations, affecting 164,000 block them with grubby regulations, affecting 164, 000 disabled block them with grubby regulations, affecting 164,000 disabled people? if the right honourable gentleman is referring to the decision that has been taken in relation to the courts and the personal independence payments, as i explained in this house last week, as has been explained by the secretary of state, this is about restoring the system to the state that it was intended to be when parliament agreed it. it was agreed by the coalition government,

agreed by the coalition government, agreed by the coalition government, agreed by this parliament, after extensive consultation. mark menzies. mr speaker, in national apprenticeship week, it is important to recognise this government's commitment to investment and commitment to investment and commitment in apprenticeships and skills. would the prime minister look at encouraging a greater commitment to degree apprenticeships as part of the government strategy, as part of the government strategy, as championed in businesses in my constituency like bae systems who have been at the forefront of developing these new programmes through its engineering degree apprenticeships scheme? my right honourable friend has raised a very important issue at, as we look to the future, we want to ensure that people in the uk have the skills they need for the economy of the future, degree apprenticeships will be an important part of this and as he refers to specifically, there are companies like bae systems which have been right at the forefront of developing those new programmes. i am pleased to say that overall, if we look at apprenticeships, the apprenticeship levy will take the total investment in england, £2.45

billion, double what was spent in 2010. that means it is more opportunities for young people to gain the skills they need for the future. dan jarvis. tomorrow, a memorial will be unveiled to those men and women who served our country in afghanistan and iraq. does the prime minister agree that we should all pay tribute to their service and commemorate their sacrifice? not just with a memorial but through a commitment to learn from the past and do better in the future. the honourable gentleman raises a very important point. this will be a very significant ceremony when this memorial is unveiled and we should all, i think, memorial is unveiled and we should all, ithink, across memorial is unveiled and we should all, i think, across this house, paid tribute to those whom that memorial will be recognising, for the sacrifice they made. those in our armed forces but also all those civilians who worked to deliver aid and health care and education. it is

important that we recognise the sacrifices made by our armed forces and also by their families. sacrifices made by our armed forces and also by theirfamilies. that will be a significant moment tomorrow. we are very clear that we do need to learn the lessons from the past and that is exactly what we will do. johnny mercer. thank you, mr speaker, and i was delighted with the prime minister's intervention in that it was in january which i the prime minister's intervention in that it was injanuary which i still feel has not had the attention it deserves. —— intervention in mental health. in plymouth, we are com pletely health. in plymouth, we are completely reconfiguring services because we realise parity of esteem means nothing without parity or provision. will the prime minister, visit plymouth and see some of the pioneering work we are doing, and perhaps in national mental health week in may where i am hoping plymouth will take a national lead? i thank my honourable friend because i know this is an issue he has championed and it is very close to his areas of concern. he's done a lot of lot of work on mental is

important as he talks about the parity of esteem, which the government has introduced, and more money is going into mental health provision than ever before. i would certainly be delighted to see the work done in plymouth provided my diary allows it. julie cooper. in my constituency of burnley, primary and secondary schools are severely underfunded. maintained nursery schools are struggling to survive. why that at this time, when we cannot adequately fund the schools we already have, if the prime minister suggesting spending millions of pounds creating new grammar schools that will help only a minority of children? this is as unfairas a minority of children? this is as unfair as the new funding formula and will do nothing to help social mobility. let's be clearer about what the government has done. there are record amounts of funding going into education in this country. the conservative led government introduced the pupil premium. the conservative government has protected the core schools budget.

when it comes to new money that will be going into schools as a result of today's announcements, that money is not about a return to a binary system of grammar schools and secondary moderns. that is not what we are going to do. what we are doing is ensuring we give a diversity of provision so yes, grammar schools but comprehensives, faith schools, universities ghouls, maths schools. what i want is a good school place for every child, and more than that, the right school place for every child. amanda milling. on this international women's day, it is absolutely fantastic we have the highest female employment rate on record. we have the highest percentage of women on ftse 100 the highest percentage of women on ftse100 boards on record. the gender pay gap is at the lowest on record. and we have an amazing female prime minister. cheers and

jeers. never, bill -- however, i'm sure the prime minister will agree there much more to do, in particular supporting women back to work after a career break. can my right honourable friend outline what more the government are going to do to level the playing field? the government are going to do to level the playing field ?|j the government are going to do to levelthe playing field? i thank the government are going to do to level the playing field? i thank my honourable friend for her question. when i stood on the steps of downing street lastjuly, when i stood on the steps of downing street last july, and when i stood on the steps of downing street lastjuly, and talked about a country that works for everyone, i meant that and that is why we are taking a number of measures... including an international women's day, today, and we will be setting up day, today, and we will be setting upa new day, today, and we will be setting up a new fund to help mothers returning to work after a long career break. returnships are important and open to both men and women but it is important to recognise the majority of those who ta ke recognise the majority of those who take time out of a career women who

are devoting themselves for motherhood —— demanded for a period and often getting back into employment is difficult and they find it closed off which is why it makes economic sense but it is also right unfair for those women that we provide for the returnships to get them back in the workplace. everyone agrees that early years education is crucial for the welfare and future of our children. however, nurseries in my constituency tell me that the funding for 30 hours for free childcare is not sufficient and not enough and many of them will be forced to close. what steps will the prime minister take to ensure those nurseries don't close? can i say to the honourable lady, she talks about the honourable lady, she talks about the 30 hours that is being introduced, if you just look at what we are doing on childcare, we have introduced 15 hours free childcare a week for three and four—year—old is already, 15 hours free childcare for disadvantaged —year—olds and help win up to 70% of childcare costs for

people on low incomes and shared pa rental leave people on low incomes and shared parental leave and we will spend a record £6 billion on childcare support by end of this parliament. it is this conservative government, conservatives in government have the record of supporting parents in relation to childcare needs. michelle brooke. does my right honourable friend agree with me that it is indefensible for the police and crime commission in west yorkshire to be raising council tax precept when he's got £120 million in reserve and overspent this year's budget by £4 million? -- alec shelbrooke. can i say to my honourable friend, the decision about what to do on the police precept on council tax is a matter for the directly elected police and crime commission for west yorkshire as it is in every area that has a policing crime commission. but i would encourage those commissioners to look at ways of introducing efficiencies into their forces before looking to increase local taxes. i think what we have seen

over the last six years is that police forces can find sensible savings and can reduce crime at the same time. brian davis. mr speaker commune at the royal couege mr speaker commune at the royal college of physicians have found that 40,000 people die prematurely each year from diesel pollution at a cost of £20 million to the economy, and that yougov have found 45% of diesel drivers are willing to switch, given the right scrappage or tax incentive schemes. so will she today commit to a fiscal strategy and a new clean air act to put us on and a new clean air act to put us on a new, cleaner, healthier trajectory, to take global leadership rather than be dragged into the courts to fulfil basic eu air quality standards? as the honourable gentleman will know, we are looking at the measures that we need to introduced to improve air quality. there has been improvements in recent years but we do need to go

further and that is what the government is looking at across departments, obviously, with the department for environment, food and rural affairs actually paying most attention to that because it is in their remit and we will bring proposals on air quality forward in due course. international women's day is a chance to reflect on how governments and democracies across the world serve women. will my right honourable friend confirm that when it comes to female prime ministers, it's 2-0 it comes to female prime ministers, it's 2—0 to the conservatives? well, i'm grateful to my honourable friend for having pointed that out, which i refrained from doing earlier in response to questions but i think it is very telling that the labour party spend a lot of time talking

about rights for women and giving support to women and getting women on, whereas its a conservative party that is the party, in this house, that has provided two female prime ministers. thank you, mr speaker. will the prime minister give an undertaking that any new scotland act will only be drafted after full consultation with the people of scotland, and with the people of scotland, and with the people of scotland, and with the consent of the scottish parliament? i would say to the honourable lady, i'm not sure if she's referring to discusses currently taking place about the powers that might be available to the devolved administrations available to the devolved administrations when we discuss to leave the eu but we knows full well that we all... crowd comms a business in my

constituency operates out of its small market down and has offices in seattle and sydney. and it has high—qualityjobs for seattle and sydney. and it has high—quality jobs for people available themselves of fast broadband and telephone communication. this is the recipe for growing the rural economy. will my right honourable friend ensure it undertake her government does all that it can to i will can the blackspots in rural areas?|j that it can to i will can the blackspots in rural areas? i can assure my honourable friend that we wa nt to assure my honourable friend that we want to ensure we are doing that. my right honourable friend the secretary of state for culture, media and sport is looking at our digital strategy and ensuring broadband is available in rural areas and indeed at good speeds in other areas which might be less rural than my honourable friend's conzitcy. —— constituency. the speaker:

finally, mr tim farron. thank you mr speaker. order, order. i don't know why honourable members are cheering because it is finally or the popularity of the honourable gentleman. you are very uncharacterically kind. mr speaker on international women's day we stand with women and girls across the world and note with resolve that we must take not for granted the progress we have made towards equality over the last few decades. mr speaker, yesterday we heard that hundreds of families of soldiers who died in iraq and afghanistan have been denied seats at tomorrow's unveiling of the memorial to our fallen troops. inviting a relative of each of those killed in iraq and afghanistan would have taken up fewer than one—third of the 2,500 seats at that event. will she now apologise to those families for what i assume is a careless oversight and rectify that mistake immediately to

the so bereaved families can come and pay their respects to their fallen loved ones? can i reassure the honourable gentleman to assure him that charitable groups representing the bereaved were asked to put forward names i have a tendees and we look forward to welcoming so we can acknowledge the sacrifice their loved ones made. over half of those attending tomorrow are current or members of armed forces. no—one from the bereaved community has been turned away and everyone who has applied has been successful. i am' reassured if there are any bereaved families who wish to attend the ministry of defence will make every effort to ensure that they can do so. speak speak order. prime minister's questions comes to a close, and we now have a change in the speaker's chair. we are now getting towards the budget statement. by tradition, the principal deputy speaker, currently the labour mp lindsay hoyle,

also known as the chairman of ways and means, takes the chair for the budget statement. proposals for raising taxation used to originate in the committee of ways and means. so we are getting ready for the budget. thank you mr deputy speaker. i report today on an economy that has continued to confound the commentators with robust growth. a labour market delivering record employment and a deficit down by over two—thirds. as we start our negotiations to exit the european union, this budget takes forward our plans to prepare britain for a brighterfuture. it plans to prepare britain for a brighter future. it provides a strong and stable platform for those negotiations. it extends opportunity to all our young people. it delivers further investment in our public services, and it continues the task

of getting britain back to living within its means. we are building the foundations of a stronger, fairer, more global britain. mr deputy speaker, as the house knows, this will be the last spring budget. the treasury has helpfully reminded me that i am not the first chancellor to announce the last spring budget. 24 years ago, norman lamont also presented what was billed then as the last spring budget. he reported on an economy that was growing faster than any other in the g7 and he continued to commit to restraint in public spending. the then prime minister described it as the right budget at the right time, from the right chancellor. what they failed to remind me, mr deputy speaker, was that ten weeks later he was sacked. so, wish me luck today. mr deputy

speaker, last year the british economy grew faster than the united states, faster than japan, economy grew faster than the united states, faster thanjapan, faster than france. indeed amongst the major advanced economies, britain's economic growth n 2016 was second only to germany. employment is at a record high. unemployment is at an 11—year low, with over 2.7 million more people enjoying the security and dignity of work than in 2010. a very far cry from the 3 million unemployed predicted by the party opposite. and i'm pleased to report, mr deputy speaker, on international women's day, that there is now a higher proportion of women in the workforce than ever before. i'm even more pleased to report, as my right honourable friend, the prime minister has remarked, since february 23rd, there is a higher proportion of women in work in the parliamentary conservative party. but mr deputy speaker, there is no room for complacency and you will not find any on these benches. as we

prepare for ourfuture not find any on these benches. as we prepare for our future outside the eu, we cannot rest on our past achievements. we must focus, relentlessly, on keeping britain at the cutting edge of the global economy. the deficit is down, but debt is still too high. employment is up, but productivity remains stubbornly low. too many of our young people are leaving formal education without the skills they need for today's labour market. and too many families are still feeling the squeeze, almost a decade after the squeeze, almost a decade after the crash. so, ourjob is not done. and our task today is to take the next steps in preparing britain for a globalfuture — to quip our young people with the skills they need, to support our public services and to help ordinary working families, as we build an economy that works for everyone. mr deputy speaker, i thank the

office for budget responsibility for their report received today. let me ta ke their report received today. let me take this opportunity to thank my right honourable friend the chief secretary and my ministerial team who really are the unsung heroes of the budget, doing much of the heavy lifting over the last few weeks and of course my excellent pps, my right honourable friend. i turn now, mr deputy speaker, to the obr forecast. this is the spread sheet bit but bear with me, because i have a reputation to defend. the obr forecast the level of gdp for 20221 to be broadly the same as at autumn statement however the path we get there has changed. reflecting the recent strength in the economy, the recent strength in the economy, the obr has upgraded its forecast for growth this year, next year, from 1.4% to 2%. and mr deputy speaker, i don't see too many people

on the opposition front bench doing this. in 2018-19, on the opposition front bench doing this. in 2018—19, growth is forecast to slow to 1.6%, before picking up to slow to 1.6%, before picking up to approximate 1.7%, then 1.9%, returning to 2% in 2021. resilience in the economy is reflected in a strong labour market. since 2010, the employment rate has risen from 70.2, to 74.6, with positive news for all parts of the united kingdom. unemployment has fallen fastest in yorkshire and the humberand fallen fastest in yorkshire and the humber and wales. wages have grown fastest in northern ireland. and productivity has grown fastest in scotla nd productivity has grown fastest in scotland and in the north—east. and this positive trend is set to continue over the forecast period. the number of people in employment

is set to grow in every year, with a further two—thirds of a million people in work by 2021. the obr forecast inflation at 2.4% this year, then 2.3% next year and 2% in 2019. and most importantly, mr deputy speaker, despite higher than target inflation, real wages continue to rise in every year of the forecast. mr deputy speaker, while the economic forecasts are broadly unchanged since the autumn, the obr has substantially revised down its short—term forecast of public sector net borrowing. the obr attributes this change to a number of one—off factors that they do not expect to lead to a structural improvement over the forecast period. combining these factors with the higher short—term forecasts for growth and taking into account the measures that i shall announce today, the obr

now forecasts borrowing in 2016—17 to be £16.4 billion lower than forecast in the autumn, at £51.7 billion. then, £58.3 billion in 2017—18, £40.8 billion in 18—19. then, £58.3 billion in 2017—18, £40.8 billion in 18-19. £21.4 billion, £20.6 billion and finally £16... in 21-22. all billion, £20.6 billion and finally £16... in 21—22. all lower than forecast at autumn statement. over all, public sector net borrowing, as a percentage of gdp is predicted to fall from 3.8% last year to 2.6% this year. and forethose who care about such things, it means we are forecast to meet our 3% eu be stability and growth pact meet our 3% eu be stability and growth pa ct target meet our 3% eu be stability and growth pact target this year for the first time in almost a decade. but i won't hold my breath, mr deputy

speaker, for my congratulatory letter from speaker, for my congratulatory letterfrom jean—claude speaker, for my congratulatory letter from jean—claude junker. borrowing is then forecast to be 2.996 in borrowing is then forecast to be 2.9% in 17-19 borrowing is then forecast to be 2.9% in 17—19 and then to fall. 21-22 2.9% in 17—19 and then to fall. 21—22 will be the lowest level in two decades. the obr expect cyclically adjusted public sector net borrowing to be 6.9% in 2020—21. giving us a #23rs target in the new fiscal rules, maintaining ourfiscal resilience over the period. the obr's forecast of lower near—term borrowing, coupled with recent strength in the economy, be means lower debt across the period. the obr now forecast that is debt will rise to 86.6% this year before

peaking at 88.8% next year. 1.4% points lower than forecast in the autumn. it then falls in 2018—19, for the first time since 2001—2, to 88.5%, and then continues to decline to 86.9% in 1920, 83% in 20-21 and 79.8% in 21-22. mr to 86.9% in 1920, 83% in 20-21 and 79.8% in 21—22. mr deputy speaker, at the autumn statement, i set out our plan to return the politic finances to balance in the next parliament. a plan that is now underpinned by our new fiscal rules. that plan strikes the right balance between reducing the deficit, preserving fiscal flexibility and investing in britain's future. some have argued that lower borrowing this year makes a case for more unfunded spending in the future. i

disagree. britain has a debt of nearly £1.7 trillion. almost £62,000 for every household in the country. each year, we are spending £50 billion on debt interest, more than we spend on defence and policing combined. and borrowing, over the forecast period, is still set to be £100 billion higher than predicted at budget 2016. so the only responsible course of action, mr deputy speaker, is to continue with our plan, undeterred by any short—term fluctuations and undistracted. .. undistracted by short—term fluctuations and undistracted... undistracted by the reckless policies advance by the opposition. because, mr deputy speaker, we on this side will not

saddle our children with ever increasing debt. shouting mr deputy speaker, i think the honourable members opposite may need to have a word with their own front bench, which proposes borrowing another £500 billion to saddle our children and burden their futures. so, mr deputy speaker, the budget i set out today will again fund all additional spending decisions over the forecast period. mr deputy speaker, a strong economy needs a fair, stable and competitive tax system, creating the growth that will underpin ourfuture system, creating the growth that will underpin our future prosperity. my will underpin our future prosperity. my ambition is for the uk to be the best place in the world to start and grow a business. under the last labour government, corporation tax 28%. by the way, they don't call it

the last labour government for nothing! from... from april this year, from april this year, it will fall to 19%, the lowest rate in the g20. in 2020, it will fall again to 17%, sending the clearest possible signal that britain is open for business. mr deputy speaker, i am listening to the voice of business. as i committed at the autumn statement, we have reviewed with business hour aren't the tax credit regime, the one place where i am not going to hear the voice of business is from the benches opposite! —— our r&d tax credit regime. we have done so, and we have concluded that it is

globally competitive. but to make the uk even more attractive for r&d, we have accepted industry calls for a reduction in administrative burdens around the scheme, and we will shortly bring forward measures to deliver them. in a digital age, it is right that we develop a digital tax system, but in response to concerns about the timetable expressed by business organisations, and by several of my right honourable friends, including the chairman of the treasury select committee, i have decided that for businesses with turnover below the vat registration threshold, i will delay by one year the introduction of quarterly reporting, at a cost to the exchequer of £280 million. and i have heard the cause by north sea oil and gas producers and the scottish government to provide further support for the transfer of late life assets. as uk oil and gas production declines, it is absolutely essential that we

maximise exploitation of remaining reserves , maximise exploitation of remaining reserves, and so we will produce a formal discussion paper on the options in due course. mr deputy speaker, there is one further area in which i can introduce action to back british businesses. my right honourable friends community secretary and i have listened to the concerns raised by colleagues in this house and by businesses about the effect of the 2017 business rates revaluation. business rates raises £25 billion a year, all of which, by 2020, will be going to fund local government, so we cannot abolish them, as some have suggested. but it is certainly true, in the medium term, that we have to find a better way of taxing the digital part of the economy, the parts that does not use bricks and mortar. but in the meantime, there is scope to reform the revaluation process , is scope to reform the revaluation process, making it smoother and more frequent to avoid the dramatic increases that the present system can do live. we will set out our

preferred approach in due course, and we will consult on it before the next revaluation is due. the revaluation itself, mr deputy speaker, is by law this bill neutral, and ahead of this revaluation, the government committed to a package of cuts to business rates now with nearly £9 billion. —— this can be neutral. it raises the threshold so that six and a thousand small businesses are taken out of paying rates altogether. but the revaluation has undoubtedly raised some hard cases, especially for those businesses coming out of small business rates relief. so today, as i promised many of my right honourable friends i would, i address those concerns with three measures which applied to the national business rate system for england. first, any business coming out of small business rate relief

will benefit from an additional cap. no business losing small business rate relief will see their bill increase next year by more than £50 a month. and the subsequent increases will be capped at either the transitional relief cap or £50 a month, whichever is higher. second, recognising the valuable role that local pubs play in our communities, i will provide a £1000 discount on business rates bills in 2017 for all pubs with a rateable value of less than £100,000. that is 90% of all pubs in england. and, third, i will, on top of these two measures, i will provide local authorities with a £300 million fund to deliver discretionary relief to target individual hard cases in their local areas. this fund will be allocated to local authorities by a formula,

and my right honourable friend the communities secretary will set out details in due course. taken... taken together, mr deputy speaker, this is a further £435 million cut in business rates, targeted at those small businesses facing the biggest increases, protecting our pubs, and giving local authorities the resource to respond flexibly to local circumstances. mr deputy speaker, just as a strong economy requires a tax system that is competitive, a strong society requires one that is fair. because i have committed to funding my spending decisions, rather than borrowing more, i make no podgy for raising additional revenues and for doing so in ways which enhance the fairness of the system. —— i make no

apology. first and foremost, that means collecting the taxes that are due. since 2010, we have secured £140 billion by taking robust action to tackle avoidance, evasion and noncompliance. this has helped the uk attain one of the lowest tax gaps in the world, but in this budget we set out further actions to stop businesses from converting capital losses into trading losses, to tackle abuse of foreign pension schemes, to introduce uk vat on roaming telecoms outside the eu in line with international standard practice, and from july we will introduce a new financial penalty for professionals who enable a tax avoidance arrangement that is later defeated by hmrc. taken together, these measures will raise £820 million over the forecast period. but, mr deputy speaker, as well as collecting taxes that are due, a

fair system ensures that those with the broadest shoulders bear the heaviest burden. as a result of the changes we have made since 2010, the top 1% of income taxpayers now pay 2796 top 1% of income taxpayers now pay 27% of all income tax, a higher proportion than in any year under the last labour government. but a fair system, a the last labour government. but a fairsystem, afair the last labour government. but a fair system, a fair system will also ensure fairness between individuals, so that people doing similar work for some low wages, and enjoying similar state benefits, pay similar levels of tax. as our economy responds to the challenges of globalisation, shifting demographics and the emergence of new technologies, we've seen a dramatic increase in the number of people working as self—employed or through their own companies, indeed many of our most highly paid professionals work through limited liability partnerships and are treated as seldom ploy. there are many good

reasons for choosing to be self—employed, or working through a company. indeed, mr deputy speaker, i have done both in my time. and i will always encourage and support the entrepreneurs and the innovators who are the lifeblood of our economy, people should have choices about how they work, but the choice should not bejudged primarily by differences in tax treatment. my right honourable friend the prime minister has asked matthew taylor, the chief executive of the rsa, to consider the wider implications of different employment practices and i look forward to his final report in the summer, and i am grateful to him for sharing his preliminary thoughts. he is clear that differences in tax treatment are a key driver behind the trends we are observing, a conclusion which is shared by the ifs and the resolution foundation. an employee earning £32,000 will incur between him and his employer £6,170 of national

insurance contributions. a self—employed person earning the equivalent amount will pay just £2300, significantly less than half as much. historically, the differences in nics reflected a differences in nics reflected a difference in state pension entitlement and contributory welfare benefits, but with the introduction of the new state pension last year, these differences have been very substantially reduced. self—employed workers now build up the same entitlement to a state pension as employees, a big pension boost for the self employed. the most significant remaining area of difference is in relation to pa rental difference is in relation to parental benefits, and i can announce today that we will consult in the summer on options to address the disparities in this area, as the fsb and others have proposed. mr

deputy speaker, the difference in national insurance contributions is no longer justified by national insurance contributions is no longerjustified by the difference in benefit entitlements. such dramatically different treatment of two people earning essentially the same undermines the fairness of our tax system. employed and self—employed alike, use our public services in the same way, but they are not paying for them in the same way. the lower national insurance paid by the self—employed is forecast to cost our public finance billions this year alone. this is not fair to the 85% of workers who are employees. the abolition of class two nics for self employed people, announced by my right honourable friend the member for tatton in 2016, and due to take effect in 2018, would further increase the gap between employment and self—employment. to be able to support our public services in this

budget, and to improve the fairness of the system, i will act to reduce the gap to better reflect the current differences in state benefits. i have considered, mr deputy speaker, the possibility of simply reversing the decision to abolish class two contributions, but the class two nic is aggressive and outdated. it is absolutely right that it should go, so instead, from april 2018, when it is abolished, the main rate of class four nics for the main rate of class four nics for the self—employed will increase by 196 the self—employed will increase by 1% up to 10%, with a further 1% increase in april 2019. the combination of the abolition of class two and the class four increases i have announced today raises a net £145 million a year for our public services by 2021—22, an average of around 60p per week per

self—employed person in this country. and since class two contributions are payable at a flat rate, while class four is chargeable asa rate, while class four is chargeable as a proportion of profits, all self—employed people earning less than £16,250 will still see a reduction in the total nics bill. this change reduces the unfairness in the nics system and reflect more accurately the current differences in benefits available from the state. mr deputy speaker, alongside the gap between employees and the self—employed, there is a parallel unfairness in the treatment of those working through their own companies. britain has the most competitive corporate tax regime in the #2k3w7. we must ensure that our corporate

tax regime does not encourage people across the country to form companies to reduce tax liabilities, pushing the burden of financing our public services on to others. hrmc estimates that existing corporations cost the public finances over £6 billion a year and the obr forecasts that at the current rate of increase an additional annual cost to the exchequer will occur from those chosing to incorporate of £3.5 billion a year by 2021—22. the gap in total tax and nics between an employed worker and one who has set up employed worker and one who has set up his own company will be even greater than the self—employed and there are perfectly legal ways in which that gap can be made bigger still. it is not fair and not affordable. fairness demands this discrepancy and treatment has addressed, just as i have addressed the discrepancy with the

self—employed. the dividend allowa nce self—employed. the dividend allowance has increased the tax advantage of incorporation. it allows each director shareholder to ta ke allows each director shareholder to take £5,000 of dividends out of their company, tax—free, over an above the personal allowance. it is also an extremely generous tax break for investors with substantial share portfolios. i have decides, therefore, to address the unfairness around director shareholders' tax advantage and at the same time, raise some much—needed revenue to fund the measures i shall announce today, by reducing the tax—free dividend allowance from £5,000, to £2,000, with effect from april 2018. about half the people affected by this measure are director shareholders of private companies. the rest are investors in shares with holdings worth typically, over £50,000, outside isas and of course eve ryo ne £50,000, outside isas and of course everyone will benefit from the

generous £4,760 increase in the annual isa allowance to £20,000 and annual isa allowance to £20,000 and a further increase in the personal allowa nce to a further increase in the personal allowance to £11,500 from april. mr deputy speaker, i now turn to duties and levies and unusually for a chancellor i'm delighted to announce a reduction in the expected yield of a tax. the soft drinks levy. i can confirm today the final rates of 18 and 24p per litre for the main and higher bands respectively but producers are already reformulating sugar out of their drinks which means a lower revenue forecast for this tax. this is good news for our children. and in further good news for them today, ican in further good news for them today, i can confirm that we will nobbled fund dfe with the full £1 billion we originally expected from the levy this parliament to invest in school ports and healthy living programmes.

iam ports and healthy living programmes. i am freezing, for another year the ved rates for hauliers and the hgv road user levy. i'm introducing a new minimum excise duty on cigarettes based on a pack price of £7.35 and cigarettes based on a pack price of £7.35andi cigarettes based on a pack price of £7.35 and i can also confirm i will make no changes to previously planned upratings of duties on alcohol and tobacco. the tax measures i have announced enhance the sustainability of our public services into the future and by improving the fairness of the system, helps us to keep tax rates low. mr deputy speaker, economic policy does not exist in a vacuum and economic growth is a means, not an end in itself. the objective of our economic policy is to support ordinary working families and to build an economy that works for them. and on this side of the house, we know that we can only achieve

rising living standards and deliver vote. in vital public services, if if we have a strong economy and sustainable public finances. it is a simple proposition, mr deputy speaker, yet one which the opposition front bench seems to find strangely difficult to understand. we start from a strong base. real wages have grown for 27 straight months. the wages of the lowest paid grew faster last year than in any of the previous 20 years. and the poorest households have seen their labour incomes rise more since 20 #10e in the uk, than in any other country in the g7. —— since 2010. last year we delivered a pay rise to over a million of the lowest paid through the national living wage and next month we take more steps to support workerfamilies month we take more steps to support worker families with the cost of living. the national living wage will rise again to £7.50 in april, over £500 more for full—time worker

than this year and £1,400 more than when the national living wage was introduced. the personal allowance will rise for the 7th year in a row to £11,500 and the higher rate threshold to £45,000. 29 million people will be better off with a typical basic rate taxpayer paying £1,000 less than in 2010. and we will meet our manifesto commitment to increasing the thresholds to £12,500 and £50,000 respectively by the end of this parliament. mr deputy speaker, i can also confirm today that the new ns & i bond which i announced at autumn statement will be available from april and will pay 2.2% on deposits up april and will pay 2.2% on deposits up to £3,000, a welcome breakfor hard—pressed up to £3,000, a welcome breakfor ha rd—pressed savers and up to £3,000, a welcome breakfor hard—pressed savers and the universal credit taper rate will be reduced in aprilfrom universal credit taper rate will be reduced in april from 56% to 63%,

cutting tax for 3 million families on low income. next month, we will see the introduction of our flagship tax—free childcare policy. that will allow working families across the uk to receive up to £2,000 a year, towards the cost of childcare, for each child under 12. the scheme will be rolled out to all eligible pa rents be rolled out to all eligible parents by the end of the year. and from september, in addition, working pa rents from september, in addition, working parents with three and four—year—olds will get their free childcare entitlement doubled to 30 hours a week. that, mr deputy speaker, is worth around £5,000 a year to a young family with a three—year—old, and both parents working. by the end of this parliament, this government will be spending on childcare £6 billion a year. these childcare measures represent a further huge step forward in support for ordinary working families and

for ordinary working families and for women in the work place. and i am delighted to use the occasion of international women's day to announce three additional measures. well not quite announce them, mr deputy speaker, because my right honourable friend the prime minister has already announced two of them. it is national women's day. it says here — "i will commit a further £20 million of government funding to support the campaign against violence against women and girls." which does, as my right honourable friend said earlier, take the government's commitment to this campaign to over £100 million in this parliament. that is on top of the tampon tax which today delivers another £12 million in support of women's charities across the united kingdom. the prime minister earlier also mentioned that the government will commit fought £5 million to

promoting returnships to the public and private sector, helping people back into employment after a career break. mr deputy speaker, as next year is the centenary of the 1918 representation of the people act, the decisive step in the political emans pays of women in this country, i will commit a further £5 million to are projects to celebrate this centenary and to educate young people about its significance. mr deputy speaker, as well as knowing the government is on their side, people want to know that they are getting a good dealfrom private markets too. a well—functioning market economy is the best way to deliver prosperity and security to working families and the litany of failed attempts of state control of industry by labour, leaves no—one in any doubt about that, except, apparently the right honourable gentleman opposite, who is now so far down a black hole that

even stephen hawking has disowned him. this government, mr deputy speaker, recognises that sometimes markets, particularly in fast—developing areas of the economy, can fail people. sometimes the market does not deliver the outcome the textbooks suggests it should and when that happens, this government will not hesitate to intervene. we will not hesitate to intervene. we will shortly bring forward a green paper on protecting the interests of consumers. but, ahead of the green paper, we will take the first steps to protect consumers from unexpected fees or unfair clause, to simplifies t&. fees or unfair clause, to simplifies t &. krs and to give consumer bodies great enforcement powers. —— simplify ts & cs. together this will boost incomes, help family budgets stretch further, support parents

back into bosch and tackle some of the frustrations that sometimes make it feel that the dice are load he had against ordinary people going about their ordinary lives. this house knows that the only sensible way to raising living standards is to improve the productivity growth. simply put — higher productivity means higher pay. the stats are well—known with 35% behind germany, 18% behind the g7 average average and the gap is not closing. mr deputy speaker, investment in training and investment in infrastructure will start to close this gap. and this government places addressing the uk's productivity challenge at the very heart of its economic plan. because the cornerstone of an economy that works for everyone must be rising living standards for ordinary working people. . the key elements of our

plan is the additional investment from infrastructure that i announced at the autumn statement. today to enhance the uk's position as a world leader in science and innovation i'm allocating £300 million of that fund to support the brightest and best research talent, including support for 1,000 new phd places and fellowships, focussed on stem subjects. £270 million to keep the uk at the forefront of disruptive technologies like biotech, robotic systems and driverless vehicles, technology i believe that the party opposite knows something about. £16 million for a new 5g mobile technology hub and £200 million for local projects to leverage private sector investment in full fibre broadband networks. on transport,

i'm today announcing £90 million for the north and £23 million for the midlands from a £220 million fund that addresses pinchpoints on the national road network and i'm launching a £690 million competition for local authorities across england to tackle urban congestion and get local transport networks moving again. my right honourable friend the transport secretary will announce details shortly. and because we believe local areas understand local productivity barriers better than central government, we make further progress with our plans to bolster the regions. in may, powerful mayors will be elected in six of our great cities. across britain, local areas will ta ke across britain, local areas will take control of their own economic destiny and we will support them to do so. i can inform the house that i have reached a deal with the mayor of london on further devolution. i will follow the launch of the

foreign powerhouse strategy at autumn statement by publishing tomorrow our midlands energy are strategy, addressing productivity barriers across the midlands. —— midlands engine strategy. and for the desolved administrations, our announcements today deliver additionalfunding of announcements today deliver additional funding of £350 announcements today deliver additionalfunding of £350 million for the scottish government, £200 million... # cheers inaudible shouts let'sjust move on. we are doing very w let's not spoil a good day. #k078 on, chancellor of the exchequer.

—— come on. wait for it. £200 million for the welsh government. and almost £120 million for an incoming northern ireland executive. demonstrating, mr deputy speaker, once again, that we are stronger together in this great united kingdom. mr deputy speaker, mr deputy speaker, perhaps the single most important thing government can do to support ordinary working families is to invest in the future so that their children and grandchildren can make the most of the opportunities ahead. that means addressing the skills gap and ensuring that every child, regardless of background, has the opportunity to go to a good or outstanding school. at autumn statement, i focused on outstanding school. at autumn statement, ifocused on investment in infrastructure and r&d. the next step today in our plan to raise

productivity and living standards is to focus on the quality of our children's education. mr deputy speaker, while investing in education and skills of course helps to tackle the productivity gap, delivering greater prosperity, it does something else as well. it delivers greater fairness. because investing in skills and education is the key to inclusive growth, to an economy that works for everyone. mr deputy speaker, if you talk to people from any background, in any pa rt people from any background, in any part of the country, about their hopes and aspirations for the future, you will hear a recurring concern for the next generation # row will they have the qualifications to find a job, will it have the skills to retrain as thatjob it have the skills to retrain as that job changes and it have the skills to retrain as thatjob changes and changes again over a working lifetime? will they be able to get on the housing ladder, to save for a pension? in short, the question that concerns so many people is, will our children enjoy the same opportunities that we

did. mr deputy speaker, ourjob is to make sure that they do, and that is why we are investing in education and skills, to ensure that every young person, whatever their background, wherever they live, has the opportunity to succeed and prosper. the proportion of young people not in work or education is now the lowest since records began. that is a good base from which to build, but it is only by equipping them for thejobs of build, but it is only by equipping them for the jobs of tomorrow that we ensure that they will have real economic security. we have put education reform at the heart of our agenda since 2010, and that commitment, that commitment is already paying off. 89% of schools in england are now rated good or outstanding, the highest proportion ever recorded. what that means, mr deputy speaker, is 1.8 million more children being taught in good or outstanding schools than when the

party opposite left office in 2010. our forthcoming schools white paper will ask universities and private schools to sponsor new free schools. it will remove the barriers that prevent more good faith based free schools from opening and enable the creation of new selective free schools so that the most academically gifted children, of every background, get the specialist support they need to fulfil their potential. today, i can announce funding fora potential. today, i can announce funding for a further 110 new free schools, on top of the current commitment to 500. this will include new specialist maths schools to build on the clear success of exeter mathematics school, and king's couege mathematics school, and king's college london maths school, which my right honourable friend the prime minister visited earlier this week. we commit to this programme because we understand that choice is the key to excellence in education. but, mr

deputy speaker, we recognise that, for many parents, the cost of travel can bea for many parents, the cost of travel can be a barrier to exercising that choice. pupils typically travel three times as far to attend selective schools, so we will extend free school transport to include all children on free school meals who attend a selective school, because we, mr deputy speaker, are resolved that talent alone should determine the opportunities a child enjoys. and before they get too excited, mr deputy speaker, we will invest in our existing schools too, by providing an additional, oh yes, we will, by providing an additional £216 million over the next three

yea rs, £216 million over the next three years, taking total investment in school condition to well over £10 billion in this parliament. mr deputy speaker, good schools are the bedrock of our education system, but we need to do more to support our young adults into qualityjobs and help them gain world class skills, and while we have academic wood that is one of the best in the world, the truth is that we languish near the bottom of the international league ta bles bottom of the international league tables for technical education. our rigorous, well—recognised system of a—levels provides students with the qualifications to move into our world —class qualifications to move into our world—class higher education system, and we support these route further today by offering maintenance loans today by offering maintenance loans to part—time today by offering maintenance loans to pa rt—time undergraduate today by offering maintenance loans to part—time undergraduate and doctoral loans in all subjects for the first time. but long ago, mr deputy speaker, our competitors in germany, the us and elsewhere realised that, to compete in the fast—moving global economy, you have

to link technical skills to jobs, andi to link technical skills to jobs, and i am pleased to report, in national apprenticeship week, that our apprenticeship route is now finally delivering that ambition here, with 2.4 million apprenticeships started in the last parliament, and with the launch of our apprenticeship levy in april supporting a further 3 million apprenticeships by 2020. but there is still a lingering doubt about the parity of esteem attaching to technical education pursued through the further education route. today, we end that is doubtful good with the introduction of t—levels. thanks to the work of lord sainsbury, baroness will and other experts, we have a blueprint to follow. their review concluded that students need a much clearer system of qualifications, one that is designed and recognised by employers with clear routes into work, more time in the classroom and good quality work

placements. one that replaces the 13,000 or so different qualifications with just 15 clear, career focused roots, qualifications with just 15 clear, careerfocused roots, delivering on those recommendations is the third pa rt those recommendations is the third part of our plan. so today we will invest to deliver in full these game changing reforms. we will increase by over 50% the number of hours' training for 16—19 —year—old technical students, training for 16—19 —year—old technicalstudents, including training for 16—19 —year—old technical students, including a high—quality three—month work placement for every student. so when they qualify, they are genuinely work ready. once this programme is fully rolled out, mr deputy speaker, we will be investing in an additional £500 million a year in our 16—19 —year—olds, and to encourage and support the best of them to go on to advanced technical study, we will offer maintenance loa ns for study, we will offer maintenance loans for those and taking higher level technical qualifications at

the new institute of technology and national colleges, just as we do for those university. putting the next—generation first to safeguard their future and secure our economy. mr deputy speaker, because changing labour markets will mean that retraining is vital, with many of our young people today needing to retrain at least once, and perhaps more often during a working life that maize ban more than 50 years, we will consider how best to deliver high quality learning and training throughout working lives. the fa will invest up to £40 million in pilots to test the fact is of different approaches to lifelong learning. —— dfe. so that we can identify what works best and help the next—generation learn train throughout their lives. mr deputy speaker, just as the principle that every child should have the opportunity to fulfil his or her

potential is central to this government's values, so is the principle that everyone has access to our national health service when they needed and that everyone should enjoy security and dignity in old age. today our social care system ca res age. today our social care system cares for over 1 age. today our social care system cares for over1 million people, and i want to pay tribute to the hundreds of thousands of carers work in it. but the system is clearly under pressure, and this in turn puts pressure on our nhs. today there are 500,000 more people aged over 75 than there were in 2010, and there will be 2 million more in ten yea rs' there will be 2 million more in ten years' time. that is why the government has already delivered £7 billion extra spending power to the system over the next three years, and it is why we are ensuring that local authorities and the nhs work more closely together to enable elderly patients to be discharged when they are ready, freeing up precious nhs beds, and ensuring that

elderly people are receiving the appropriate care for their needs. so today, mr deputy speaker, i am committing additional grant funding of £2 billion to social care in england over the next three years. mr deputy speaker, that is £2 billion over the next three years with £1 billion available in 2017-18, this with £1 billion available in 2017—18, this will allow local authorities to act now to commission new care authorities to act now to commission new ca re packages authorities to act now to commission new care packages and forms a bridge to the better care funding that becomes available towards the end of the parliament. of course, mr deputy speaker, this is not only about money. while there are many excellent exa m ples of money. while there are many excellent examples of best practice around the country, at the other end of the scale, just 24 local authorities are responsible for over half of all delayed discharges to

social care, so alongside additional funding, the health and communities secretaries will announce measures to identify and support authorities which are struggling and to ensure morejoined up which are struggling and to ensure more joined up working with the nhs. these measures, and greater collaborative working and nhs sustainability and transformation plans, will bring short and medium—term benefits, but long—term challenges of sustainable funding for care in old age requires a strategic approach. and the government will set out its thinking on the options for the future financing of social care in a green paper later this year. for the avoidance of doubt, mr deputy speaker, i would like to make it clear that those options do not include, and never have included, exhuming labour's hated death tax. the social care funding package that i have announced today will deliver

immediate benefit to the nhs, allowing it to refocus on delivering the nhs england forward plan a plan which this government has supported with the £10 billion increase in annualfunding with the £10 billion increase in annual funding by 2020, with the £10 billion increase in annualfunding by 2020, £4 billion in this year alone. we recognise the progress that the nhs is making in developing sustainability and transformation plans, and we recognise too, mr deputy speaker, that in addition to the funding already committed, some of those plans will require further capital investment. so the treasury will work closely with the department of health over the summer, as the programmes are prioritised and progress, and that autumn budget, i will announce a multi—year capital programme to support implementation of high—quality stps across the health service in england. in the meantime, my right honourable friend the health secretary expects that a small number of the strongest stps

may be ready ahead of autumn budget, soiam may be ready ahead of autumn budget, so i am allowing more capital to allow the first selected plans to proceed. mr deputy speaker, i have one further announcement relating to the nhs. the social care package that i have announced today will help to free up beds by easing discharge of elderly patients. that is one of the two big pressures in our hospitals. the other is inappropriate a&e attendances by people of all ages. experience has shown that on—site gp triage in a&e departments can have a significant and positive impact on a&e waiting times. iam and positive impact on a&e waiting times. i am therefore making a further £100 million of capital available immediately for new triage project at english hospitals in time for next winter. mr deputy speaker, this government backs the nhs's

plan. we are funding it with a £10 billion above inflation increase by 2020. we have addressed the pressures on the nhs from the social ca re system pressures on the nhs from the social care system with a total of £9.25 billion additional resources. we will protect the nhs from the effects of the changed personal injury discount rate and have set aside £5.9 billion across the forecast period to do so. and today we have made it clear them up —— a clear new commitment to a capital programme to find high—quality stps with the first down payment for the early pioneers. mr deputy speaker, as the voters of copeland so clearly understood, we are the party of the nhs! mr deputy speaker, we are the party of the nhs colours we have notjust the commitment and the will, but also the economic plan that will

secure the future of our most important public service. mr deputy speaker, last november, i set out our plan to build an economy that works for everyone, to enhance our productivity and protect our living standards, to restore our public finances to balance, and to invest for our future. today's obr finances to balance, and to invest for ourfuture. today's obr report confirms the continued resilience of the british economy, and that this budget we continue with our plan, building on the foundation of our economic strength, reaching out to seize the opportunities that lie ahead, backing our public services, supporting britain's families, investing in the skills of our young people, and making britain the best place in the world to do business. mr deputy speaker, our united kingdom has a proud history — we have done remarkable things

together. but we look forwards, not backwards, confident that our greatest achievements are ahead of us. today we reaffirm our commitment to invest in britain's future, and we embark on this next chapter of our history confident in our strengths and clear in our determination to build a stronger, there, better britain. i commend this budget to the house. studio: the chancellor, philip hammond, the conclusion of his first budget speech. we will be back in the commons in a moment, because, of course, we will get the response from labour's jeremy course, we will get the response from labour'sjeremy corbyn, who was the butt of quite a few criticisms there from the chancellor as he went through the statement. let's look at some of the main measures quickly before we go back to the commons. they include £2 billion of additionalfunding over three they include £2 billion of additional funding over three years for adult social care in england.

that's been one of the main focuses over the past few months. the pressure on the social care system. he has allocated an extra £2 billion over three years. big changes in national insurance, because the national insurance, because the national insurance, because the national insurance for self—employed workers is to increase by 1% to 10% in april 2018 and again after that. in april 2018 and again after that. there will be talk about that. we will discuss it here in the studio and of course on business rates, because lots of businesses, concerned after the revaluation about the impact, £1,000 business rate discount for pubs in england with the rateable value of under £100,000, that accounts for 90% or so of all the pubs in england. it affects lots of them. let's look at the other main measures: £300 million for businesses facing large rates increases. a reduction of tax redifficultened allowance for £5,000 to £2,000 in april 2018. that will affect directors who are shareholders and the sugar tax levy

confirmed at 18 p and 24 p per later for main and higher bands. those are the main measures. now we will go back into the chamber. the deputy speaker is basically going through some of the financial measures, some of the technical demands on the house at this point. i think house at this point. i of the technical demands on the house at this point. i think that labour's jeremy corbyn house at this point. i think that labour'sjeremy corbyn will be on his feet within a few seconds. maybe time for a comment from laura? interesting to see philip hammond, normally a very dead pan politician feeling relaxed and confident enough to be frequently cracking jokes throughout that budget. very interesting indeed. the big challenge is whether the rhetoric — we heard lots of the use of the word "fairness", matches the reality. this was a budget of utter complacency about the state of our economy. utter complacency about the crisis facing our public services and, complacent about the reality of

daily life for millions of people in this country. entirely out of touch with that reality of life for millions. this morning, over £1 millions. this morning, over £1 million workers will have woken up, not knowing whether they'll work today, tomorrow or next week. millions more workers know their next pay packet will not be enough to make ends meet. millions struggling to pay rent or mortgage, with private renters, on average, paying nearly half their income on rent. yesterday, mr deputy speaker, over 3,000 people in this country will have queued up at food banks to feed themselves and their families. last night, mr deputy speaker over 4,000 people will have slept rough on the streets of this country. and the chancellor made his boast about

a strong economy. but who is reaping the rewards of this economy? for millions, it is simply not working. not working for the nhs. in its worse crisis ever, with funding being cut next year. not working for our children's schools. not working for our children's schools, where pupilfunding for our children's schools, where pupil funding continues to for our children's schools, where pupilfunding continues to be cut. not work for our neighbourhoods which have lost 20,000 police officers. leaving the force in a perilous state in many parts of the country. and not working for our dedicated public services and the people who work in them. nurses, firefighters, teachers, no pay rise for seven years for them. and for people with disabilities, who are twice as lakely to be living in poverty —— twice as likely, and

this government is denying them the support that the courts say they need. 4 million children living in poverty which will rise by another 1 million in coming years. not working for the thousands of young people, who can't get anywhere to live, can't get on the housing ladder and cannot, in many cases, leave the pa rental cannot, in many cases, leave the parental home. pa rents of parental home. parents of grown—up children, who would expect to be debt—free by now, but having to bail out student debt or try to help with a deposit to get housing, if they can manage it and a million elderly people and i'll come on to this again, denied the social ca re on to this again, denied the social care they need due to the £4.6 billion cuts made by his government with the support of the liberal democrats over the past five years. not for pensioners, for whom the security of the triple lock remains in doubt. mr deputy speaker, that is the reality facing britain today. a

government cutting services, and living standards of the many, top fund and continue to fund the tax cuts of the few. there are some people, mr deputy speaker, who are doing very well under the conservative government. the chief executives of big companies, now paid 180 times more than the average worker and taxed less. big corporations making higher profits than being taxed less. speculators making more and being taxed less. and wealthiest families taxed less, due to cuts in inheritance tax. a give way to those who need it the least. this government is a government with the wrong priority. let me give you three examples: the pain of losing a child is

unimaginable for most of us. but for those who do that, that pain is worsened by the stress of having to pay for their own child's funeral. i pay for their own child's funeral. i pay tribute to my friend, the member for swa nsea pay tribute to my friend, the member for swansea east, for her campaign to establish a children's funeral fund but far from to establish a children's funeral fund but farfrom establishing to establish a children's funeral fund but far from establishing such a fund costing just £10 million a year, the government is instead cutting support for bereaved families. three in four bereaved families. three in four bereaved families will receive less. this is utterly the whatless. despite generous tax give—aways at the top end, there was no money, eitherfor the top end, there was no money, either for the 160,000 people with disabilities that a court has ruled deserve a higher rate of personal independence payments. these are people with debilitating mental health conditions. dementia, schizophrenia, post—traumatic stress disorder. the prime minister came to

office talking about fighting burning injustices. less than nine months later she seems to have forgotten all about them because none of them are being fought today. low pay holds people back and it is holding our country back. we are the only major developed country in which economic growth has returned, yet workers are worse off, wages are still below the 2008 level. inflation rising, an urgent need to address the pressure on people's incomes. massively rising personal debts. rising energy bills and the cost of the weekly shop, transport costs a nd cost of the weekly shop, transport costs and housing costs all rising. the chancellor faced a series of tests as to whether he would stand on the same side of the people or not. he could have raised the minimum wage to the level of the living wage. the real living wage of £10 per hour, as we, the labour

party are pledged to do. it would pay for a pay rise for 6 million people in this country, 62% of whom are women. he failed to do that. since 2010, millions of public sector workers have endured a pay freeze and then a pay cut. dedicated public servants who keep our services going, have lost over 9% of their real wages, or will have done by 2020. he could have ended the public sector pay cut, as we are pledged to do, and given a pay rise to 5 million dedicated public servants who we all rely on day—in, day—out in our hospitals, our health service in general and our local government. he failed to do that. it's an insult to say they deserve falling living standards when we all know those in the public sector are working harder

than ever, covering the jobs of those that have gone. there is a crisis, too, mr deputy speaker in job security. millions of workers don't know whether or not they'll be working from day to day. millions of workers who don't know how many hours they'll be working this week or next week. just imagine what it's like to try and plan your life if you don't know what your income is going to be from one week to the other. because, mr deputy speaker, thatis other. because, mr deputy speaker, that is the reality... order. can i just say to these benches, i want to hear the leader of the opposition. i don't want him shouted down because you may not be interested but our constituents out there want it hear what the alternative is. —— want to hear. if the whip wants to be funny he can

go and get a cup of tea now. so, let'sjust show the go and get a cup of tea now. so, let's just show the same go and get a cup of tea now. so, let'sjust show the same respect that was given to the chancellor of the exchequer. jeremy corbyn. thank you mr deputy speaker. there is nothing funny about being one of 900,000 workers on zero hours contracts. 55% of them women. he could have announced ban on zero hours contracts, as we are pledged to do. again, he failed. but zero hours contracts, mr deputy speaker, are only the tip of an iceberg. 4.5 million workers in britain, in insecure work. 2.3 million working variable shift patterns, 1.1 million on temporary contracts. we have long argued to clamp—down on bogus self—employment but today the chancellor seems to put the burden on self—employed workers instead. there has to be something for something deal, so i hope the chancellor will bring forward extra social security in

return. one policy that labour backed, extending statutory maternity pay it self—employed women, which is likely to costjust £10 million per year. women, which is likely to costjust £10 million peryear. —— women, which is likely to costjust £10 million per year. —— to self—employed women. low pay and insecure work have consequences for us all. mr deputy speaker, in reality we all pay for low pay. there are a million working households having to claim housing benefited. just get that figure. 1 million working households claiming housing benefit because their wages aren't enough to pay the rent and 3 million working families who simply rely on tax credits to make ends meet. this is modern britain. the most effective way of boosting wages and increasing job security, as all studies show, is actually to improve collective bargaining through a trade union. words that the chancellor did not use in his speech. but instead of a trade union

act we have, which will further shackell unions and perpetuate chronic low pay, which actually costs us all a lot of money through in—work benefits, we will promote collective bargaining and repeal the trade union act. this is a chancellor and a government not on the side of the workers, not on the side of the tax payers who pick up the bill for low pay and insecure work. mr deputy speaker, on international women's day, did the chancellor deliver a budget that works for women? according to the house of commons' library analysis, commissioned by my friend, the memberfor commissioned by my friend, the member for rotherham, who commissioned by my friend, the memberfor rotherham, who is doing a brilliantjob memberfor rotherham, who is doing a brilliant job speaking up memberfor rotherham, who is doing a brilliantjob speaking up for women from our front benches, brilliantjob speaking up for women from ourfront benches, 86% brilliantjob speaking up for women from our front benches, 86% of the savings the treasury has made from tax and benefits have fallen on women. women's lives have been made more difficult through successive

policies of this government. women struggling with more caring responsibility, due to the continuing state of emergency in social care. the waspie women, born in the 1950s, who with little notice facing a crisis in retirement they could not possibly have predicted. 54,000 women a year are forced out of theirjobs 54,000 women a year are forced out of their jobs through 54,000 women a year are forced out of theirjobs through maternity discrimination. they can't afford this government's extortionate fees, to ta ke this government's extortionate fees, to take their employer to a tribunal in search ofjustice. women up and down the country, who will have to wait another 60 years before the gender pay gap is closed. the hundreds, hundreds of women being turned away from domestic violence shelters every year, through lack of space or appropriate services, or because they have simply been closed. mothers struggling, put under more pressure through cuts to

universal credit and tax credits. if this wasn't bad enough, to cut tax credits for children who are born third orfourth in tax credits for children who are born third or fourth in a family. most shamefully, mr deputy speaker, as of next month, women will have to prove that their third child is a product of rape if they wish to qualify for a child tax credits for that child. i paid tribute to my friend the member for rotherham, that child. i paid tribute to my friend the memberfor rotherham, and the honourable member for glasgow central, for their campaigning on this issue. i hope the chancellor will reverse this cut. there is, mr deputy speaker, a housing crisis, a crisis of supply and affordability. since 2010, house building has fallen to its lowest rate in peace time since the 1920s. the building of social homes for rent is at its lowest level for a quarter of a century. did he empower councils to

tackle the housing crisis by allowing them to borrow to build council housing, as we are pledged to do? no! have they replace council houses sold under right to buy, as they promised? no! just one in six have been replaced! and was there any commitment to return to the council is the £800 million right to buy proceeds the treasury has taken back which would build 12,000 homes? no. did he scrapped the unfair bedroom tax, as we are pledged to do? no. did he reverse housing benefit cuts that would take support away from 10,000 young people, despite the opposition of shelter, crisis and centre point, which even the honourable member for crisis and centre point, which even the honourable memberfor enfield southgate correctly described as catastrophic? last week, the institute for government said there we re institute for government said there were clear warning signs of the damaging impact of government cuts on schools, prisons, health and

social care. this government has taken a sledgehammer to public services in recent years. the chancellor now expects praise for patching up a small part of that damage. the budget did not provide the funding necessary now for the crisis in our nhs. the bma reckons it needs a next £10 billion. it didn't provide the funding necessary to end the state of emergency and social care now, which needs to billion pounds a yearjust to plug the gaps, according to the king's fund. that is not met by £2 billion over three years. the money is needed now. more than1 million people, mainly elderly people, desperate for social care, still can't get it. the money ought to be made available now. because this government ducks really tough choices, like asking corporations to pay a little bit more in tax. not

every local authority can just text neck and get the deal they won't! another council services are suffering as well. our communities are stronger when we have good libraries, and they are valuable, obviously for children, but for the entire community. 67 closed last year because of local government underfunding. 700 sure start centres closed because of lack of funding from local authorities, denying the life chances that a labour government delivered to them with the opening of those centres in the 19905. the opening of those centres in the 1990s. and the opening of those centres in the 19905. and 600 the opening of those centres in the 1990s. and 600 youth centres have closed as well. these painful decisions are being taken by councils not because they want to do it but because they don't enough money even to keep essential services running because of the slashing of their budgets year—on—year. and it goes on! it affect our communities and our lives

in so many ways. last year, councils proposed a sell—off of school playing fields to the equivalent of 500 football pitches. 500 pitches not available for young people to indulge in sport. it is our duty as a community, surely, to ensure all our young people, wherever they live, have a decent chance to grow up live, have a decent chance to grow up with a library, with a playing field, with a sure start centre. it is not a lot to ask. the chancellor boasts, mr deputy speaker, of a strong economy, but abandons the target of the previous chancellor, so let's give a more realistic context to today's figures. the deficits that was going to be eradicated in 2015, you all remember the long—term economic plan? the debt was going to peak at 80% of gdp and then start falling. our economy is not prepared for brexit. we still have an economy suffering from underinvestment and an overreliance

on consumer spending and wholly unsustainable levels of personal and household debt. investment must be evenly spread around our country. despite the announcements today, london continues to receive six times as much investment as the north—east, and so that is why labour is backing the fair funding formula for investment so that every area gets its fair share of capital spending. what has been announced today doesn't achieve that. you can't build a northern powerhouse or a midlands engine if the investment does not follow the sound bite. our country currently spends 1.7% on research and development, well below the oecd average. the strongest economies spend over 3%. in the immediate term, and the chancellor did not have much to say about this, he must focus his attention is on the precarious future of skilled workers and' jobs at vauxhall in

ellesmere port in luton and ford in bridgend. it would give these companies more confidence if the government were committed to negotiating for tariff free access to the single market and dropped the reckless threat of turning britain into a tax saving on the shores of europe. one of the biggest challenges facing our country, mr deputy speaker, is environmental, it is climate change. this government is climate change. this government is failing to lead, failing to drive a mission led industrial strategy as our own business select committee has recommended. the chancellor failed to make energy efficiency a national infrastructure plan and the. no commitment to establishing zero carbon standards on new building, and unclear about investments in public transport that will definitely reduce pollution. the poor air quality is appalling. it is killing thousands of people in

this country. it is taking away the life chances of many children growing up alongside polluted roads. the good work being done by labour's london marathon, sadiq khan, the good work being done by the labour government, has recognised this as an urgent public health crisis, particularly for children. we have to deal with this crisis and deal with it urgently. there cannot be, mr deputy speaker, an industrial strategy or productivity gains u nless strategy or productivity gains unless there is serious investment in skills. adult skills training cut by 54%, further education by 14%, and the small amounts committed today are long overdue but woefully insufficient. over the coming years, the schools budget is being cut by 8%. does the chancellor really want fewer teachers and teaching assistants, larger classes, shorter schooldays? which is it? i agree with the prime minister that every child deserves a decent education,

every community deserves decent schools. you do it by working with those communities to provide those schools, not blogging into them selective schools which are not being demanded by those communities. the money announced by the prime minister yesterday for the new grammar schools is frankly a vanity project. cancel this gimmick, project. cancel this gimmick, project selection and segregation, and why not honour their own 2050 ma nifesto and why not honour their own 2050 manifesto pledge to protect per—pupil funding, which is manifesto pledge to protect per—pupilfunding, which is clearly not happening? —— 2015. this is a budget that lacks ambition for this country and lacks fairness. it demonstrates again the appalling priorities of this government, another year, tax breaks for the few, public service cuts for the many. when she took office, the prime minister said, if you are one of those families, if you are just managing, iwant of those families, if you are just managing, i want to address you directly. this budget does not address them, it failed them! this budget has done nothing to tackle

low play, to solve the state of emergency that persists for so many people, demanding and needing health and social care now. and nothing to make a and social care now. and nothing to makeafair and social care now. and nothing to make a fair economy truly working for everyone. it is built on unfairness, and it is built on failure to tackle an fairness in our society. andrew tyrie! studio: jeremy corbyn, the leader of the opposition, with his response, basically saying that he says there isa basically saying that he says there is a crisis in public services which has not been addressed by this budget. we will put those points to the chief secretary, david gauke, when hejoins us the chief secretary, david gauke, when he joins us later, the chief secretary, david gauke, when hejoins us later, and john mcdonnell will be with us too. there will be a long debate. days on the budget, and if you want uninterrupted coverage, you can go to our colleagues on bbc parliament. i think it is a good moment now to ta ke i think it is a good moment now to take us through the budget measures,

quite a few of them, and we will go through those before we have a chat in the studio with our colleagues, andindeed in the studio with our colleagues, and indeed with pauljohnson from the institute for fiscal studies, who has joined the institute for fiscal studies, who hasjoined us. we have taken delivery of the red book, i think it is there to say it is slimmer than usual! is that fair to say? much slimmer than usual! only 64 pages. there are 77 measures in the 2016 budget, 28 in this one. golj there are 77 measures in the 2016 budget, 28 in this one. go i feel i will probably mention those 28, let's have a look at those measures. a significant upgrading then a slight downgrade in growth, so that forecast slightly adjusted, but as i say, this year has been upgraded by a bit. let's go on to the borrowing forecasts, and a significant

reduction, in fact, forecasts, and a significant reduction, infact, in forecasts, and a significant reduction, in fact, in the forecast for 2016-17, reduction, in fact, in the forecast for 2016—17, at reduction, in fact, in the forecast for 2016-17, at 51 reduction, in fact, in the forecast for 2016—17, at 51 billion. but then we see the figures going on, no balancing of the books, as we see, by the end of the parliament, but tapering away to 16 billion, that is the latest borrowing forecast by 2021-22. we will the latest borrowing forecast by 2021—22. we will be asking paul to tell us more about that. let's talk about debt, 86.6% of gdp in 2016—17, going down gradually, according to these latest forecasts, to 79.8% by 2021-22. that is the these latest forecasts, to 79.8% by 2021—22. that is the broad picture in terms of debt and borrowing and the growth forecasts. let's go on some measures, some policies. health and social care, well, this was one of the major announcements today, after a ll of the major announcements today, after all the talk of pressure on the social care system in england, an announcement to do with england. £2 billion of additional funding over three years for the social care system in england, is that enough?

well, we will be talking to some people later and asking if it answers the needs. jeremy corbyn doesn't think it does. annexed the £100 million to place gps in a&e departments next winter. —— an extra £100 million. the chancellor says thatis £100 million. the chancellor says that is to address the fact that many people turn up inappropriately for treatment at a&e departments. an extra £325 million for the first nhs sustainability and transformation plans to be implemented, again, some of these reforms coming in to try to deal with the pressures, the very real pressures within the nhs system. let's look at some tax changes. well, national insurance for self—employed workers to rise to 10% in april 20 11% in april 20 19. i think it is there to say this will bea i think it is there to say this will be a controversial change, simply because there are lots of people saying this is a direct

contravention of a promise made in the conservative manifesto, not to raise any of the taxes, vat, income tax, national insurance. we will ask the minister about that. the tax—free dividend allowance cut two £2000, that is to do with company directors and the advantages they get. and any personal tax—free allowa nce get. and any personal tax—free allowance is to rise, as planned, £12,500 by 2020. business rates, simon was talking about these earlier, people wanting help with their rising business rates. there will be £300 million fund for businesses facing big increases to their rates bills. pubs in england, £1000 discount for pubs with a ratea ble £1000 discount for pubs with a rateable value under £100,000, the vast majority of pubs in england, well over 90% getting that discount. and firms losing small business rate relief will have a cap, their increases will be capped at £50 per month. all of that is meant to help,

we will ask simon whether it will do the trick, and given what he has been told by people in business about that. money for the devolved administrations — an extra £350 million for the scottish government, an extra £2 million for the welsh blood, £120 million or thereabouts for the northern ireland executive, when there is one in place. then £690 million competition launched for local councils to tackle urban congestion. those are the packages not just for the devolved congestion. those are the packages notjust for the devolved nations but for local authorities too. 110 new free schools will get funding. there's an introduction of what we call t—levels to raise the status of technical educational

vocation. the chancellor said that was a matter of priority for him. some other measures, the last set, asigo some other measures, the last set, as i go through the budget measures today, the national savings bond will be available from april, at this time of very low interest rates, it will pay 2.2% interest on deposits up to £3000. the receipts to fund a further £12 million for women's charities on sanitary products. and some £200 million to encourage investment in local full fibre broadband networks. even a question at prime minister's questions today about the quality of broadband networks, especially in rural areas, so £200 million to encourage investment there. that is a broad sense of where we are and there were some eye—catching proposals from the chancellor, not least to do with social care and the changes in national insurance. we

will talk to paul with us, but laura, i'm going to start with you. on the political side, there's a broader picture clearly but can we deal with the issue of manifesto pledges which may or may not have been broken? in national insurance terms, what is your view? as simply asi terms, what is your view? as simply as i can, the tory manifesto promised no increases in income tax, vat or national insurance rates. in the budget today, philip hammond has gone against the spirit of the pledge, absolutely, no question about that because he has increased what is known as class for national insurance payments, they will go up from 9% to 11% by 2018. where the treasury will try to get itself off the hook on what i would describe as a technicality is when that ma nifesto a technicality is when that manifesto pledge was put into law, the law that was passed referred only to a different class of national insurance payments. what ended up in black and white in legislation was a narrower promise than the tory manifesto but if you

are only picking up the tory ma nifesto are only picking up the tory manifesto and having a look he will bring philip hammond has gone against it and i think that might be against it and i think that might be a bit itchy politically but the scale of the measure overall might mean they get off the hook? the broader picture, what did you make of the statement itself in what it said about where the government thinks it is? safety first is really the headline from this. philip hammond tiptoed through the controversial area of brexit but only at the beginning. he basically said it is the broad canvas but i think quite deliberately chose not to make lots of references to what happens when we leave the european union or before then threw his statement. i think basically he gave moderately with one hand and took away moderately with the other. what ido away moderately with the other. what i do think is worth drawing from thatis i do think is worth drawing from that is the emerging picture of what people at the top of government hope people at the top of government hope people will come to see, they hope, is sort of theresa may's meritocracy. there is one phrase he used that stuck in my mind, he said,

"we believe talent should be the only driver", so whether that is improving access to further education, better skills, trying to help people who are, as theresa may would say, getting on with it, with something like the small print clause, the kind of things that really make consumers mad, i think that emerging jigsaw of the overall ethos was in there. but the real challenge is whether that matches up to how people actually feel in terms of the economy. labour already pointing out a couple of things, they have gone through the numbers, that real household income has been revised down on average, they are forecasting people will be worse off cumulatively over the next five yea rs, to cumulatively over the next five years, to use of labour's numbers and they have pointed out the national living wage was meant to be £9 by 2020 and today it has been suggested it will only be £8.75. as ever, rhetoric, reality, where do we end up? paul cole your day, there we re end up? paul cole your day, there were some big numbers in terms of

the growth forecast and all the rest it but what caught your eye? the first thing is the big change in the public finances for this year relative to what the office for budget responsibility were saying in november. it is something like £16 billion increase, improvement in the public finances for this year. that is by farand public finances for this year. that is by far and away the biggest adjustment the obr has made in a year since it came into existence. the reason for that? there are two bits, about half of it isjust one of things, that will happen this year and will not happen again. some of that is some strange spending accounting, we are giving european union less money, as it happens, in the first quarter of the year and more in the last three quarters of the year. there are some changes associated with the changes to dividend taxation that came in last year which means we are getting quite a lot more money in this year but we will get less next year. there are some departmental spending

changes where departments don't seem to be spending all the money they have got and then there are some longer term, better news, which is that some other tax revenues, from corporation tax and paye income tax are doing a bit better than expected. but no change at all to the public finances three or four years down the road. so really, it isa years down the road. so really, it is a here and now change but looking on, prospects look, how do they look to you? for the public finances, they haven't changed, pretty much, in terms of the economy, looking a bit better in the short term but again, the accord it —— economy according to the official forecast will be roughly in 2020 where it was expected to be in november but as laura says, actually, also the bad news in a way is that the earnings hmmfi news in a way is that the earnings forecast and income forecast have gone down. this talk of the chancellor building up a kind of store of money, a war a brexit savings account, what is the evidence of that and where is that

going to happen? that is always nonsense. there is no war chest! the chancellor says there is £1.7 trillion of debt, where is the war chest there, and we are borrowing £50 billion this year? the only way you could think there is a war chest is that the chancellor has said he would be ok borrowing £45 billion in 2020 and cried forecasts are only to be borrowing £20 billion. in that sense, he could borrow more and still meet his own fiscal targets but of course, if we end up there, then he's got another big period of austerity to get through to get down to zero which is where he wants to be next parliament. that is the point i wanted to raise, when he spoke last year about a roller—coaster ride, we're talking now people will be saying some of the figures look much better, the is ina the figures look much better, the is in a better state than we thought it would be, so has that roller—coaster in the medium term disappeared or is

there still one head? it is always important to compare where we are not in terms of the forecast than where we were a year ago and they are still all down relative to a year ago. there's a roller—coaster ride in the sense that there are changes in the forecast and we still seem to be on a bit of an upswing but the expectation is for a downswing later. it is really important to be clear with these forecasts, though, and i don't know if the obr have said it but all forecasters are saying at the moment there is probably more uncertainty about where we will be in for five years' time than pretty much ever in the last 20 or 30 years.|j years' time than pretty much ever in the last 20 or 30 years. i think what is striking when you look through the budget measures is not only the limited number of them but in the next two years, there is actually a slight fiscal loosening. spending and tax changes, there are more giveaways than take away is. so he has used a bit of the headroom, straightaway, on the social care changes, on the higher taxes on dividends for company directors, to enable him to support the economy

slightly more aggressively than maybe he would have done in the past. but all that, as paul said, has to be gained back towards the end of the forecast period, so yet again, as we often had with george osborne, it is paying, not cancelled but delayed. so they push back the cuts that are going to be coming in. so by the end of the forecast period, there will be this tightening again into the next parliament. i think the self—employed issue is the start of the big debate of the next few yea rs. the big debate of the next few years. ok, it is a small start now, with the change in national insurance class four. i think there isa insurance class four. i think there is a big issue with the clash with the spirit of the manifesto commitment. but what phillip hammond clearly wa nts commitment. but what phillip hammond clearly wants to do is what the treasury are calling equalisation. that means people who are self—employed are taxed in a way thatis self—employed are taxed in a way that is more similar to those that are in full—time employment. it is surprising, though, and i would be interested to us david gauke about

it, why at the start of this debate and the tax rises on the self—employed side of the ledger, with the self—employed people, rather than the firms that you self—employed people and gain from that because they don't do national insurance contributions, don't put in pension contributions, don't allow for holiday entitlement? the government has started it, started the squeeze on those working in that area rather than the firms to gain from them. the treasury's point on this which they are trying to circulate their arguments right now, after the statement, is that the intent of the manifesto was delivered by that legislation we we re delivered by that legislation we were talking about, the tax lock, but what they are saying is, the point is it is not fair to the 85% of workers who are employees, given that these days, the benefits and entitlements are broadly similar. that is their case which is kind of, "whatever we said in the manifesto, this government", which in a lot of weight isa

this government", which in a lot of weight is a new government, different with different priorities to david cameron in george osborne, "in our calculation, we don't think this is on", and they are prepared to take a hit on it and they know they will because they have the arguments ready. business rates was the big thing for small business owners going into this and the a nswer owners going into this and the answer was a bit complicated and short lived. basically, if you are a small business and you were below the small business rates relief cap which is £15,000, the rateable value of your premises, if you are going into the new bracket, the cap on your increase will be £50 per week, £50 per month, i should say and if you are a pub and your rateable value is under £100,000, you will get a £1000 discount on your business rates next year. that is not to say you will pay £1000 less, you are only going to pay £1000 less than you would have paid with a massive increase a lot of people out of pocket still. a £300 million fund to be administered by local authorities for the hardest hit, to be administered area by area. it is a complicated problem so they are

farming it out to local authorities, if you like, you have to deal with it with the £300 million. but will the humility of effect do the trick? £455 million in total in the giveaways are very short lived and eventually, the rate rises will come through. they say they are going to have a review, so unless this review, how much do companies like amazon pay compared to the corner shop, unless that delivers major reform, and we won't know that yet, essentially, as kamal ahmed said, this is paying delayed, not cancelled. interestingly, a range of things including the new t—levels, the focus on technology and vocational skills, which lots of people in business have been demanding some again, interesting to know what business makes this qualification. i think they are broadly supportive, too many people are focused on things like a—levels. i've been at the geneva motor show all week and they say they can't the right people, the labour supply may be more constrained when we are outside the eu. if we are going to build heathrow, hinkley point,

whatever, hs2, and bolster industry, we're going to need these people and i think this will be broadly supported. it kind of fits in with the industrial strategy we heard about a few weeks ago. a quick final thought from paul because david gauke willjoin us, the treasury minister, in a moment, and then we will go to hull and get a response. your headline thought from the budget today is? a couple of things, firstly, short—term gain to the public finances but nothing improving in the long run. i quite like some of the ways we have heard that we're going to have some consultation on some big things, so more consultation on the self—employed, more consultation on social care, more consultation on some of the tax issues rather than jumping in feet first. on the self—employed changes, an extra 2% on national insurance still doesn't get them anywhere near as highly taxed as employees, so in a sense, it isa taxed as employees, so in a sense, it is a move in the right direction one thing we have not talked about is this reasonably significant increase in the taxation dividends.

that is what people who run and own their own companies can pay themselves, what you receive if you own shares. this is an doing almost mostly undoing a change that george osborne announced only injuly mostly undoing a change that george osborne announced only in july 2015, that was only introduced last april. probably a move just about in the right direction in terms of evening up the tax treatment of self—employed and owner managers. but not a very steady world where you make a change last april and change it really quite significantly this march. a slightly rueful look from george osborne, nodding his head during it. i wonder whether it was, as you are raising the amount of national insurance the self—employed are pain, people might think, "in that case, i'll incorporate myself into the co m pa ny" , incorporate myself into the compa ny", but they incorporate myself into the company", but they saw it coming so they reduced the amount of tax relief. a quick word from laura. that may prove to be politically more troublesome than the national

insurance weight because people who set up their own company and pay themselves dividends would probably be natural tory voters. that might get them or exercised. thank you for joining us, paul. we will see you again. let's go back tojo in hull. iamat i am at arco distribution centre, close to the centre of hull, which is city of culture for 2017 and part of the northern powerhouse. we used to hear a lot about that. i think there was only one mention today in philip hammond's speech when he talked about £90 million going to the northern powerhouse in transport. let's find out if that is enough for this man, thomas martin, the managing director of arco. is it enough for you to get your teeth into? it isa it is a start, but it is only one

mention. ourshareholders it is a start, but it is only one mention. our shareholders have invested hundreds of millions, but we cannot do it on our own. i hope to hear more about transport infrastructure, evidence that the chancellor was taking the northern powerhouse as seriously as i think you should be. and what about the future of your company? it is a success story here and hull, but against a backdrop of decline, what would you like to have heard? there is about seven times as much money being spent in the south as the north, and i understand that for historical reasons, but for a chancellor trying to balance the books and get value for money, £1 spent in the north can go a lot further, so i am pleased about skills, the apprenticeships. we have made our own luck, we already have future experts in our programme. i think he is trying, he could have been more direct, with a more overt industrial strategy. i heard some tactics, i didn't hear an overall vision for uk plc. on inflation,

that figure going up to 2.4%, worried about that? he was very honest in terms of the public finances, i think perhaps less connected with what really might happen in terms of inflation. we have 1000 containers a year coming through, costs are going up significantly as a result of the devaluation of the pound. thank you very much, more reaction from local businesses and from the chambers of commerce in the ground in hull. first of all, unemployment levels, philip hammond says that unemployment has fallen fastest here as part of a group of areas in the uk, put that into context. well, yorkshire and humber is seeing a reduction in unemployment, and these are good times for hull, particularly with the offshore wind revolution that is going on, siemens, the german company, is investing 300 million here, 1000

jobs being created in wind turbines, and a danish energy company are spending £6 billion as part of their offshore energy agenda, and that will all help as part of growing this part of the world. that sounds like a rosy picture, is that how you view it? it is difficult for small businesses like me to get an audience with the likes of siemens, there is a lot of competition from national companies, so it is difficult to fight for the revenue thatis difficult to fight for the revenue that is being generated locally. so what do you say to someone like sally who cannot get access to funds? philip hammond is talking about a bit of money going towards broadband investment, but is that really going to improve the fortunes. the? it is important that politicians are careful when they spend money on rebadged initiatives, businesses grow, they have to get

the balance right. thank you very much for giving us your views. there will be lots of changes that will affect you, the viewers, in finance, let's find out more from our personal finance expert. yes, as we've been hearing, national insurance convolutions for the self—employed will go up by one percentage point in april, and up again next year by one percentage point up to 11%. the dividend allowa nce point up to 11%. the dividend allowance is something that directors and shareholders of their own companies can use to take £5,000 with dividends out of their companies as part of their personal allowa nce, companies as part of their personal allowance, that is going to be reduced to £2000 from next year.

laura has been in touch to say, i am a single mum of two, children under the age of ten, was there anything drastic for me? nothing really drastic, laura, but the personal allowa nce drastic, laura, but the personal allowance will rise to £11,500. that is the point above which you start paying income tax, so there will be a little bit more money in your pocket. for higher rate taxpayers, the rate is going to go, the threshold is going to go from £43,000 up to £45,000, although that will not apply in scotland. and if you have money to save, from april, you have money to save, from april, you will get 2.2% on up to £3000 of savings every year, although when it was originally announced in the autumn statement, critics said it was rather underwhelming. if you have got any questions for us, please get in touch, 61124, or you

can e—mail us. back to you in london. thank you very much to everyone in hull, we will be back in a short while for more reaction. delighted to welcome to the studio of the chief secretary to the treasury, david gauke, thank you for coming in. here is a quote, a conservative judgment, you will be familiar with this quote, will not increase the insurance in the next parliament, why has that manifesto promise been broken? the intent of the manifesto commitment was legislated for, covering class one national insurance contributions, the rate that applies to employees. it did not cover class four, which is what we are increasing today, and one of the reasons for that was, at the same time we were reforming class two, more accurately abolishing clash two, so you have got to

remember that almost self—employed people, if you look at all the reforms, the national insurance contributions over the next couple of years, most of them will be paying less in national insurance contributions, not more. the relatively higher earners will be paying more, that is true, but the majority of self—employed will pay lower levels of n ics majority of self—employed will pay lower levels of nics in three years' time. ok, so let's say that there are four references to tax and your plans on tax in the manifesto, here is another. we can commit to no increases in vat, income tax or national insurance. tax rises on working people would harm our economy, reduce living standards and cost jobs. economy, reduce living standards and costjobs. now, looking at what you revealed today, notwithstanding the explanation you just given us, there is an increase in national insurance which goes against at least the spirit of that, is that not right? well, what i would say, this is a

context where there is, there is quite substantial reform of national insurance contributions, with many people winning from it, but we are also faced with a growing unfairness, if you like, because what we now have is a situation where national insurance contributions are contributions to pay for certain benefits. if you are employed and self—employed, traditionally there were quite big differences between the benefits that you got, on things like the state pension, for example. well, actually, that difference is going from 2016, we brought in the new state pension, so the self—employed are in as good a position as the employed. we have said today that one of the outstanding differences is on paternity and maternity pay, and we are looking to get rid of that. and in a world where, essentially, you are getting the same at the end of the process, you should put the same amount in. and thatis should put the same amount in. and that is exactly what... well, that

is what we are moving to, there is still a gap, but we are closing that gap, and! still a gap, but we are closing that gap, and i think it is right that we do that. the chancellor underlined that point, and you have again, but i come back to you to say, you make a promise not to raise national insurance, and then you raise it, thatis insurance, and then you raise it, that is the issue you have got. you have explained the logic around it, but you cannot get away from the fa ct but you cannot get away from the fact that you made a promise and you have not kept to it. we legislated, i took through the bill that was essentially... but you put national insurance up. at that time, we were clear, within the legislation, we were focusing on the main rate of national insurance contributions, which was class one, the 12% rate. that is not clear, is it? we also explained, my memory is we explained to parliament that because of the reforms that we were doing, and because we needed to look at the issue, because of that potential

unfairness, we excluded class four from... we can commit to no increases. i also come back to the point that this problem is growing, and as! point that this problem is growing, and as i say, in a context where we are making a new announcement today, looking at maternity pay, specifically. employed, given that we have essentially removed the differences. —— for self employed. we have removed all the major differences in the entitlements that the self—employed get versus the employed, and! the self—employed get versus the employed, and i think in the context of also, we do need to pay for the additional spending on social care, skills, schools. the chancellor explain that. it is right that we ta ke explain that. it is right that we take this step to say that it is a relatively, if you look across the board, it is a relatively modest increase in terms of the national

insurance contributions that are levied on the self employed, but i do think, in the circumstances, it is the right step. but you are not acknowledging even that it is a promise that you have not kept. the intent was on the main rates. i think that was how we... very difficult for someone reading that, it would seem to be a bit of a stretch for you to say that you are not aware of the technicalities within the definition — we can commit to no increases, that is very clear. as i say, for the majority of self—employed, they are actually seeing a reduction in terms of their contributions, and if you take into account personal allowance, all self—employed earnings up to over £32,000 a year will be paying less. that is understood, just picking you up that is understood, just picking you up on the commitment, ok laura? isn't it the thing, minister, that people understand when you change

your mind, but what people find frustrating is when you clearly break a promise? well, i think, you know, we have looked at the situation... and you have changed your mind, but what about the ma nifesto your mind, but what about the manifesto commitment? as i say, i think we have got a situation where we have closed the gap in terms of the benefits entitlements, effectively eliminated it, that we have got a growing situation with the cost, and a sense that if we don't take action, and matthew taylor is doing a review of these issues action, we are placing an unfair this specific manifesto promise, that it was basically made up on the roof and maybe a rather silly promise to make in the first place,

that you would commit forevermore not to raise income tax, vat or national insurance? if you look at our record as a government over this period of time, you will see it is a re cord period of time, you will see it is a record where we are cutting direct taxes, we are holding the vat, we are cutting taxes through the personal allowance razors, and when it comes to those direct taxes, we are not looking for more, but there isa very are not looking for more, but there is a very specific case, and the more we look at this, the more we can see there is a problem that is going to build up, and it is a long—term problem. if we don't take action on this, we do place an unfair burden, you know, if you are employed... you have made that case, minister, would you rule out making other increases to vat or income tax kaymer that is the question people will ask, you cannot blame them for saying, hang on a second, how many of these other commitments, you

mentioned vat and income tax, should we disregard the sections of the ma nifesto we disregard the sections of the manifesto because you have already wiped one of them out? what else is up wiped one of them out? what else is upforgrabs? wiped one of them out? what else is up for grabs? we have legislated in this parliament, we will not increase vat, income tax, we will not increase class one national insurance contributions. we have legislated, we would have to take additional legislative action to be able to do that. as i say, when we took this matter through the house of commons, back in 2015, i think, we specifically excluded class four national insurance contributions because at that point there clearly was an issue, and as i say, put it in the context of abolishing class two, which, you know, provides a tax cut for all the self—employed in isolation, but still means a net tax reduction in terms of national insurance contributions for the majority. how many people are affected, i should have asked this earlier, by

this change? in terms of the number of people who are self—employed, i think it is about 4.2 million, the majority of whom will be paying less national insurance contributions in three years' time the layout paying today. can we pause for a second, a bit of housekeeping for me because viewers in scotland are leaving us now but thank you forjoining us and we wish you a good afternoon. here on the bbc news channel and bbc two, we are carrying on, and son, your questions to the minister? this change of message about no raising of national insurance and then saying you did not mean a particular class. there is an issue that entrepreneurialism, the government said start your own business and it worked, people could pay more tax because they were taking more risk, they were starting the red businesses and there's been an enormous increase in self—employment, about 50% of all thejobs self—employment, about 50% of all the jobs that have been created since the crisis of 2008 at come from the self—employed. now you are

saying you're going to come down like a saying you're going to come down likea time saying you're going to come down like a time of bricks and tax some of the growth and looking at some other numbers, bearing in mind you are already going to cancel class two national insurance, this looks like if you add together the cut in the dividend allowance and the class four increase, it amounts to a £2 billion tax in the next five years on the self—employed. what kind of message is that? that was not the message is that? that was not the message we were sold a few years ago. i don't accept the point. this isa ago. i don't accept the point. this is a government which is very supportive of small businesses. we have done a whole host of things, today, in terms of business rates but in things like the employment allowa nce, but in things like the employment allowance, the cuts in corporation tax, some of the changes to capital gains tax are very helpful for smaller businesses. absolutely, we recognise the importance of the entrepreneur to the economy. but these are the same small businesses who are facing water enrolment, you have given them some relief on the business rate increase but only delayed it and they will come down

the road at some point. they will be feeling bruised by that. and most small businesses benefit from the business rate reduction. —— re—evaluation. that is before you put in the permanent extensional small business rate relief and so on. we've done a lot for small businesses. but the point i will make is if you have got essentially three people doing essentially the same job, one three people doing essentially the samejob, one is employed, one is self—employed but unincorporated and the other is working through their own company, and they are paying very substantial differences in the level of tax and national insurance contributions, that creates an unfairness on the employed, the 85%, who pay substantially more in tax and national insurance and that problem will grow. the easiest thing in the world would be for a government, and it might be very politically easy to pretend the problem doesn't exist and it won't be there but it will grow and grow

and only you know, there's nothing wrong, in fact, it is no bad thing at all that we have large levels of self—employment in this country but if it creates an unfair burden on the employed, then you are storing up the employed, then you are storing upa the employed, then you are storing up a problem and at some point, the government has to act and better to act now than later. some people would say, and the point was made earlier, what you should do is look at the employers who are using self—employed status of their workers, i'm thinking of the delivery companies of this world, who using the self—employed status for their benefit. why did you start there? why did you go after the boys first? i can see why you make that point and it is a fair challenge to us and the answer is, this is a much more complicated problem. matthew taylor is undertaking a review for the government. he has given us his interim findings in a letter today. but he is reporting back later this

year. i think it is right that we look at some of those issues. firstly, we have to deal with what is described as falls self—employment but some of this is genuine self—employment but it does not really fall within any of the usual parameters and the economy is changing and there are different jobs. as i say, if there is a vast disparity in the way in which we tax those people, you know, it can create distortions and it can create unfairness. it is right we address it but it is a more complicated one and we need to make sure we take our time to get it right. what about employers, will they also face tax increases into the future as you review the situation? there's obviously clear disparities if you do employ people on self—employed status. you get a great advantage as an employer because of the reduced national insurance contributions and pension contributions, no holiday entitlement, etc. surely that has to change as well? it comes back to

what i said earlier, it is a really complicated area and i think it is right we are looking at this. but with a view to increasing the burden is on employers? that is a huge thing to take on. in terms of shifting it, the reality is that if you are an employer with employees, you are an employer with employees, you pay you are an employer with employees, you pay national insurance contributions at nearly 14%. that is a substantial. if you go down a different route, you might not pay anything at all and again, that is a similar type of distortion, a similar type of distortion, a similar type of unfairness, you like. quite carefully. but with a view to changing it, clearly? with a view to trying to level the playing field. is that enough you have done now, to get rid of this disparity, as you see it, between being self—employed and employed? is that the end of it now? can you remake your manifesto pledge, even though you did not stick to the first one, can you make

a pledge for no more increases in national insurance? i think we have got the balance right now. so no more increases? i think we have the balance right now and matthew taylor's report, we have to wait to see what it was a but we have tilled the balance in a direction which i think is fairer for those who eventually see themselves paying quite a lot more if they are employed than if they were self—employed. employed than if they were self-employed. we are battling the clock minister and you need to go but a quick one from laura.|j clock minister and you need to go but a quick one from laura. i was going to say, everyone will be looking very carefully at the legislation from that tax law in 2015. i'm interested, briefly, beyond painting a broad canvas at the start, hardly any mention of brexit from the chancellor. was he deliberately tiptoeing around the subject because it is a controversial on the benches behind him? i don't think so, but brexit is a massive issue for the country and the government but we also have to get on and do the other things. we have to make sure we have a social ca re have to make sure we have a social care system that is working properly. we have to make sure we invest in skills. we have to make

sure we have sound public finances, thinking about the long term there. today was a day where, i know everyone is very focused on brexit but today was the day when we needed to address some of the other issues that we have as a country and i the chancellor did that very well. are you not worried that the numbers suggest wages are still going to be falling back and national living wage is predicted to be less than it was the last time? people will still be really feeling the pinch for a long time according to today's numbers. the way we address that and get living standards improving on a sustainable basis is about improving productivity. that means the investment in infrastructure we saw in the autumn statement, the investment in skills we saw today, a competitive tax system, which, when you look at encouraging investment, what we have done in terms of corporation tax. all those things will drive up productivity and living standards and that is the way we can ensure we are a prosperous country. minister, good of you to comment as usual on budget day and

thank you for fielding our question. david gauke, the chief secretary to the treasury. i will remind you very quickly of the today as we see them. we have been talking about national insurance for self—employed workers, rising to 10% in april next year and 1196 rising to 10% in april next year and 11% in april 2000 19. the additional funding for social care, we did not discuss that but we mentioned it earlier, an additional £2 billion of funding over the next three years for social care in england because we know of the huge pressures on the system and funding announced four new grammar schools and new free schools, 110 of them in england, very much one of the prime minister's principal projects, something she is very keen to promote. the other main measures, £300 million fund for firms facing large business rate increases. simon was talking about the measures to try to relieve some of the pressure after that revaluation. as part of that, a £1000 business rate discount for pubs with a rateable value of

under £100,000, which is the vast majority of pubs in england. and the national savings bond for savers, as interest rates are very low, this will pay 2.2% on deposit up to £3000 from april. lots of other measures, too, but we have condensed that to half a dozen at this point. let's go straight out to the green outside parliament and join jane. some of the issues with my guess you have joined some of the issues with my guess you havejoined me. ishould some of the issues with my guess you havejoined me. i should explain there's a very noisy pensions protest behind me. douglas carswell of ukip and tim farron of the liberal democrats, i hope we can just about he read other thing! douglas carswell, you have said quite a few times that you hoped phillip hammond would be more fiscally responsible than his predecessor. do you think he has been? i'm a bit worried that the amount of public debt is heading back up again. the best that can be said for this budget is that it is

very dull and not flashy but it's not fundamentally sorting out the biggest problem we face which is the accumulation of big amounts of public debt. at the same time as the public debt. at the same time as the public debt. at the same time as the public debt is going back up, he is managing to attack the self—employed and self—employed national insurance contributions. i'm not happy about either of those things. tim farron, you are nodding through some of that. yes, the obvious being from the budget is you cannot have well funded health services, social care or education or indeed to solve the problems of the things we are complaining about today with a hard brexit. you choose to leave the single market and the customs union, which was not on the ballot paper, then there is a cost, 100 billion extra borrowing and 60 billion war chest to pay for the loss of trade and income and tax receipts relating toa and income and tax receipts relating to a hard brexit. it is right for us to point that out. we think today, if you look at the attack on business in particular, the little sticking plaster, if that am of the relief to those who will be hit by business rate increases is nothing

at all and if you look at the impact of the national insurance contribution rises on self—employed people, it is immense. something like one in four people in my constituency the south lakes are self—employed and it will be huge blow to them. it seems to me that we have a government who thinks they can take business for granted because they have a dreadful opposition who does not keep them on their toes. we'll come back to some of that but isn't that part of the point, douglas ca rswell, carswell, philip hammond has to be cautious because he has to retain the war chest? by definition, we don't know what is coming. the war chest? by definition, we don't know what is comingm the war chest? by definition, we don't know what is coming. it is not a case of brexit, and at some point, the japanese and italian bond markets are going to go pop and governments will find... markets are going to go pop and governments will find. .. but it is another layer of uncertainty? the gross predictions have gone up from 1.496, gross predictions have gone up from 1.4%, to 2.2%. it is pretty healthy growth. just south of 2% for the next four or five years. given the obr's success rate at forecasting these things, i'm not sure we can

ta ke these things, i'm not sure we can take anything beyond the next 18 months seriously. but in terms of growth projections, there is some pretty good news today. tim farron, can we find some positives? your party were very keen to see more investment in health and social care and quitea investment in health and social care and quite a lot of money coming forward for social care. do you think the government finally thinks this is an area that needs tackling? £2 billion sounded good until he said it was over three years, we need something like 4 billion every year as a need something like 4 billion every yearasa minimum need something like 4 billion every year as a minimum so it is a poor but it is a reminder of what limited room for manoeuvre he has got. as douglas pointed out, we are at the mercy powerful market which is the 120 miles away across the channel. i'd rather not fight the referendum but i'm happy to. what this budget really tells us is that the significant economic decisions will be taken in about six months' time. this very big decisions on business rates, the fact there is no

substantive answer to the big question, how we fund social care, i think, ina question, how we fund social care, i think, in a sense, this budget kicks things into touch to be deferred in six months' time. isn't that partly because we are now heading into an autumn budget as well? there is great uncertainty as well. the point about growth is significant and the growth we have, which is modest but it's there, is based almost entirely on consumer spending and the great fear about that is, as inflation goes up, which is predicted, we have all seen petrol prices go up by 15% over the last six to 12 months, those kind of things stop people spending money and if your entire economy is based on consumer spending, you are in trouble which is why he needed to invest for the long—term and he has not done that. is there some better news much longer term, looking at the education announcements, t—levels, a lot of rhetoric about making britain fighting fit for the future, i mean, a recognition that vocational qualifications are worthy and imported is a good thing? important, and to blur the line between

vocational and academic education is a long sought call that i share with the chancellor. the problem we have in all of this is that it is new gimmickry, new words and slogans that don't mean much different to what we have had in the past, replacing qualifications that already have a good brand recognition with employers, for instance. the real issue, if you wa nt instance. the real issue, if you want to improve education, it is about money, 3 billion will be lost in the next three years in schools funding and give them a third of the berlin to pet projects like grammar schools to free schools, whether you agree with them a lot, it is a diversion from the real problem which is giving teachers the tools they need to teach our kids. isn't it about diversification? isn't it about diversification? isn't it about saying stem topics are very important, we need to get more children interested in that, particularly girls on international women's day, and to make britain a modern, forward—looking country? vocational education is critically

important, and that intent within this budget is that we should welcome that, but the detail is worrying, some of it. the money is going to the pet projects, the crazy thing is that some wonk in the dfe has dreamt up, and now every teacher has dreamt up, and now every teacher has to live with it. just a pet project, the approach to education? in my constituency, the government managed to spend £3 million on a bradley is cool that they closed after three years. spending more money differently is very welcome. —— ona money differently is very welcome. —— on a brand—new school. we need to make sure these reforms don'tjust improve education in some of the better off parts of london. douglas ca rswell, better off parts of london. douglas carswell, tim farron, thanks very much forjoining us. much more from a very noisy college green to come. quite noisy at there, we heard the

guests loud and clear, thank you very much. we will be talking to the snp injusta very much. we will be talking to the snp injust a moment, but i thought i would take you through some of the figures to do with precise duties on tobacco and alcohol, because they we re tobacco and alcohol, because they were not specified in the budget speech. why don't we take you through them? by the way, it is also important to underline that some of these changes were put in place in 2014, so they are just coming through the system now much they we re through the system now much they were not all announced in one go today. but, for example, a packet of 20 cigarettes will cost 35p more from 6pm this evening, as a result of changes in the budget. it will cost, actually, the changes that we re cost, actually, the changes that were put in place in 2014, those are still coming through. it will cost 42p for a 30 grams packet of hand—rolling tobacco. a pint of beer will cost 2p more from monday, and

other changes to duty on our colour coming through. a bottle of whisky, 36 sense the mike —— 36p more. those changes coming through from monday. not all of those are measures that we re not all of those are measures that were announced today, some were brought in two years ago. i will go straight to the houses of parliament, we are joined straight to the houses of parliament, we arejoined by straight to the houses of parliament, we are joined by the snp's roger mullin, thank you for joining us, congratulations on the best tie in the house of commons today, no question about that! thank you very much indeed! why don't i ask you first, roger, what is your main take on the budget today? we had the announcement on extra money for the scottish government. my main ta ke for the scottish government. my main take is the chancellor is living in a parallel universe. how on earth anyone can talk about the budget for anyone can talk about the budget for an hourand not anyone can talk about the budget for an hour and not mention the biggest challenges facing the uk is beyond

me, no mention of brexit, no mention of how he will fill the gap in the loss of revenues in agriculture or the university sector. and doing absolutely nothing to tackle the problem of austerity on the one hand, which the government has chosen, and the squeezing of savings of pensioners and the like on the other hand, created by the bank of england policies. so in every major issue, he failed to comment. given that he outlined the nature of the debt that the uk is an two, and continues to be an two, did you really think he had the leeway to address those problems? —— be under. he has to address the issues of leaving the european union, because he keeps telling us we are leaving the european union, and i have looked at some of the documents accompanying the speech, and his

assumptions are wholly flawed, parallel straight lines, her weight of them saying, we don't know how to plan for the future, therefore we are doing nothing about facing the challenges of brexit. —— a way. i think this is a deeply worrying budget, deeply worrying as we are about to trigger article 50 and get negotiations started to exit. he did mention north sea oil and gas, he talked about tapering revenue from there. i'm just talked about tapering revenue from there. i'mjust wondering, in talked about tapering revenue from there. i'm just wondering, in the light of that, do you agree with some of your own colleagues in the snp who think that your economic case for independence should no longer include oil revenues because of the fact that they have dipped so significantly? i think what the argument is, looking at the future, we can base our economy very strongly, the whole breadth of the economy, and i'll is, in that sense, a bonus. ithink economy, and i'll is, in that sense, a bonus. i think there has been a

bit of misrepresentation. i have no problem with looking to the future and making sure the revenues from oil properly husbanded for the first time. correct me if! am oil properly husbanded for the first time. correct me if i am wrong, oil properly husbanded for the first time. correct me if! am wrong, i think andrew wilson said that making oil numbers a central place in 2014 was a mistake, so do you agree with that? the logic would be that you move away when you make a case in future. i prefer to look to the future, i don't share andrew's interpretation of 2014, but that is immaterial, what and who myself think about that. what is important is how we build the future, and we wa nt to is how we build the future, and we want to create a future for scotland thatis want to create a future for scotland that is built on growth in across the whole breadth of the economy. that is the really important message. so a case for independence, whenever it comes again, we'll have to partly depend on the whole question of oil revenues, as it did in 2014? -- question of oil revenues, as it did in 2014? —— will have to.

question of oil revenues, as it did in 2014? -- will have to. it will have to depend on the entire scottish economy, it would be foolish to say otherwise. there are so money facets to it, it is changing so fast, we have one of the fastest—growing new technology sectors in europe, so many riches in terms of whisky, which i see they are bumping up duty on again today. so there is such strength across the economy, to focus only on one aspect would not be sensible, would not be in scotland's interest. you mention the big brexit issue clearly, and there was some kind of mention right at the start, but you are right, roger, it didn't feature later on. in the context of brexit, given that your party conferences happening very soon, when can we expect a more clear signal, if you like, from nicola sturgeon and from your other collea g u es nicola sturgeon and from your other colleagues about your plans in terms of revisiting the whole independence issue? it depends on two things, huw, when article 50 is going to be

triggered. in my humble opinion, it would be foolish to make any definitive comment until after that period. secondly, it crucially depends on the written response from the uk government to the scottish government's proposals of last year. we know neither of those things, so it would be sensible to wait until we get both of those points resolved before we make a final decision. we get both of those points resolved before we make a final decisionlj before we make a final decision.” heard one minister recently saying, a westminster ministers saying that it would make no sense to have an independence referendum until you saw the shape of the final brexit deal, which of course is 2019 or thereabouts. what is your thought on that? we are going to have to see the final deal 18 months in, because it isa the final deal 18 months in, because it is a six—month period for the deal to be approved by all the countries in europe, and it is going to be in the public domain. we will know in about 18 months what the shape of the exiting deal is going to be, so it won't take the full two

yea rs to be, so it won't take the full two years for that. secondly, we are going to get information as things come along, we are going to have to keep other institutions informed, like the council of ministers. i think we will have a very good sense of where the uk is going, we will begin to get that within a few months of the triggering of article 50. let's talk about the other sense, your sense of where public opinion is moving in scotland right now, what is your sense of that? well, i can onlyjudge it on two things, the most recent poll that i am aware of suggested 49% would vote yes, a big improvement on when alex salmond triggered the last election referendum, 28% yes at that time. the second thing is what is happening on the ground. my view on the ground is that there is an expectation that there has got to be a change. and in the future. whether that change is the uk government allowing us to stay in the single

market, or whether we move towards an independence referendum, in some senses, that is in the choosing of the uk government. will they man up and give us a bespoke deal? very interesting, as ever, roger, thank you very much forjoining us. roger mullin is of the snp giving us is responses to the budget and the big question of if and when the first minister will come forward with a second independence referendum. it isa second independence referendum. it is a good moment to go back to hull and jointjo. yes, huw, you know how much politicians love to don hard hats and high—vis jackets. well, that is exactly what these ladies here are packaging up for distribution. safety equipment and protective clothing. this is a company that has beenin clothing. this is a company that has been in the same family for four generations. it is a success story

in hull, it employs about a dividend 50 people. we have talked already to the managing director, let's find out what other people in the area think to philip hammond's statement. jo isa think to philip hammond's statement. jo is a cafe owner, darren is the deputy leader of hull city council. one of the big issues that was going to come up in this statement, this budget, was social care and the pressures on it. for a council like yours, were you relieved to hear there will be a cash injection? we we re there will be a cash injection? we were relieved partly, the sector has lost £4.6 billion, so the idea of putting 1 billion back in next year is welcome, but it is not enough, and whilst we welcome that, we look forward to the green paper that they are talking about, because there needs to be urgent reform for adult social care. as we know, when adult social care. as we know, when adult social care. as we know, when adult social care sneezes, the whole nhs catches a cold, and it is important that we recognise that most of the

precepts of those councils up and down the land has onlyjust said the increases in the living wage. we need new money for health and social ca re need new money for health and social care to replace the money taken out in the last five years. so you are waiting to hear about the long—term solutions, the proposals being put forward by the government. as a local business, hull is uk city of culture, that must be good for business. definitely, it is uplifting. it is good, people are more positive, the business is doing well. will that be enough to offset the rise in the national living wage? that is something that was announced in the autumn but will come into force next month. the good news about business rates will help offset that, and the business doing so well will obviously be a good thing as well. we may have to increase prices, hopefully not much. i employ ten people. are you thinking of expanding? not in the near future. what about information? the projection is it will go up to

about 2.4%, the highest it has been in quitea about 2.4%, the highest it has been in quite a while, what impact does that have? we will have to increase prices in line with that, because otherwise we will not make any money, basically! so it will make quite a difference. what about other money coming into hull? there was an announcement on broadband, 90 million going into the northern powerhouse in terms of transport, that must be welcomed. yes, but it isa that must be welcomed. yes, but it is a bit timid, really, because we asa is a bit timid, really, because we as a council have invested £70 million in the infrastructure of the city, and businesses have invested about £1 billion. in that perspective, it is a very small amount nationally. what we need to do is see real evidence on the ground. there is not even electrified rail between hull and selby, that has to be a priority, because if the chancellor is serious about productivity, electrified trail between hull and selby, connecting our railways to the rest of the country, is a must for this

area. i wanted to see less timid capital investment, because the time to invest in infrastructure is during a recession. what about the issue of self—employed people? national insurance contributions going up, maybe a breach of a ma nifesto going up, maybe a breach of a manifesto commitment, will that affect you or people you know? some people i know, yes, definitely. i affect you or people you know? some people i know, yes, definitely. lam employed by my company, so i pay national insurance like anybody else does. a lot of people will be affected. amongst your friends, your family, are they mainly self employed? family, are they mainly self employed ? are family, are they mainly self employed? are people working for themselves? half and half. so barely evenly split? what about uk city of culture, good news all round? brilliant, we had 240,000 visitors in the first few weeks, and people are talking about hull for all the right reasons, and on the bbc weather map every night! people know where it is, come and visit. a

positive on the bbc weather map! there are issues coming into force from a personal finance there are issues coming into force from a personalfinance perspective, we can go to ruth alexander. we have had some questions from the audience. robert asks what the government is doing to encourage people to save? something the chancellor mentioned and something he has previously announced was the national savings bond where you will be able to save up to £3000 per year and get 2.2% on it. interest rates are not high so it does not sound that great, though. valerie wants to know, what about increases in petrol and beer and spirits? fuel duty will remain frozen for the seventh year ina row remain frozen for the seventh year in a row and alcohol duty will rise by inflation from monday, so about 2p on by inflation from monday, so about 2pona by inflation from monday, so about 2p on a pint of beer and about 30p on a litre of whiskey. we would love to hear more of your question so get in touch, text 61124, e—mail us at

haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk or tweet us.