Philip Hammond has delivered his final Budget before Brexit. The Chancellor said that the era of austerity is coming to an end as he pledged extra cash for no deal preparations and slapped a digital services tax on tech giants such as Facebook and Google. He also revealed that the OBR has upped its growth forecast to 1.6 per cent for 2019/20. Here are the key announcements:
- Government abolishes the use of Private Finance Initiatives
- Extra £420m to repair potholes
- An extra £20.5bn for the NHS over the next five years
- A further £500m for the Housing Infrastructure Fund
- Fuel, beer, cider, spirits duties all frozen
- E-passport gates at UK airports will be opened up to visitors from the United States, Canada and New Zealand
- An extra £1bn to MoD to fund the Trident programme
- Stamp Duty abolished for first-time buyers of shared ownership properties valued up to £500,000
- £500m more cash for Brexit no deal planning
- A digital services tax on online tech giants
Here is all the action as it unfolded on The Spectator live blog:
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