WELCOME, to my LIVE coverage on Chancellor George Osborne’s first-all Conservative budget since 1996. All announcements will be posted as ‘tweets’ below, with discussion afterwards.
LIVE ANNOUNCEMENTS:
AND THAT’S IT. Osborne has commended his budget to the house…
BUDGET: Iain Duncan Smiths reaction to the introduction of a higher National Living Wage… #Budget2015
BUDGET: National Living Wage for 25 & over – £7.20 from April 2016. £9 an hour by 2020 – compulsory. #Budget2015
BUDGET: Government commits to defence spending of 2% of GDP. #Budget2015
BUDGET: Higher tax rate raised to £43,000 – 130,000 people lifted out of high rate tax. #Budget2015
BUDGET: Tax free personal allowance raised to £11,000 – an extra £900 in pocket, Chancellor says. #Budget2015
BUDGET: Families who have a third child after 2017 will NOT receive tax credit or UC support. #Budget2015
BUDGET: Benefits cap of £23,000 in #London and £20,000 to rest of the country introduced. #Budget2015
BUDGET: Income threshold for tax credits reduced to £3,850 #Budget2015
BUDGET: 18-21 yr olds housing benefit = scrapped. Employment and support allowance and family benefits – cut! #Budget2015
BUDGET: Working age benefit FROZEN for 4 years. #Budget2015
BUDGET – WELFARE: He’s cutting incapacity benefit for most new claimants to JSA. #Budget2015
BUDGET: Youth obligation introduced – either earn or learn. #Budget2015
BUDGET: WELFARE – Best route out of poverty is work. #Budget2015
BUDGET: CORPORATION TAX – Cut to 19% in 2017 and 18% in 2020. #Budget2015
BUDGET: ANNUAL INVESTMENT ALLOWANCE – Tax break for businesses now FIXED at £200,000. #Budget2015
BUDGET: INHERITANCE TAX – Threshold raised to £1 million per couple. #Budget2015
Liverpool Council chiefs watching the Chancellors budget and how it will effect the city, and its services. #Budget2015
BUDGET: Sunday trading laws CONFIRMED to be relaxed. Elected mayors & council chiefs will decide opening hours. #Budget2015
BUDGET: #Liverpool, #Leeds = in discussions for elected mayors. #Budget2015
BUDGET: Loans increased to £8,200 possible loan, repayable if you earn £23,000. #SummerBudget #Budget2015
BUDGET: Artificial cap on students going to University – abolished. Maintenance grants – replaced from Sept 2016 by loans. #SummerBudget #Budget2015
BUDGET: 3 million more apprentices announced – Apprenticeship levy announced. #SummerBudget #Budget2015
BUDGET: Fuel duty will remain FROZEN. #SummerBudget #Budget2015
BUDGET: New ‘Roads Fund’ created. VED Bands introduced from 2017. #SummerBudget #Budget2015
BUDGET: NEW insurance premium tax to be introduced at 9.5%. #SummerBudget #Budget2015
BUDGET: A permanent memorial will be funded for those who were killed in #TunisiaAttack. #SummerBudget #Budget2015
BUDGET: Bank levy gradually reduced over next 6 years. 8% surcharge introduced on profits instead. #SummerBudget #Budget2015
BUDGET: Permanent Non Dom tax status abolished from April 2017. #SummerBudget #Budget2015
BUDGET: Rise of 1% per year for the next 4 years for public sector workers. #SummerBudget #Budget2015
BUDGET: #NHS will be given an extra £8 billion #SummerBudget #Budget2015
BUDGET: Total £37 billion of tightening needed in this parliament. £12bn from welfare. £5bn from tax evasion, rest from department cuts. #SummerBudget #Budget2015
BUDGET: Budget surplus delayed by one year. Austerity blow is ‘softened’. #SummerBudget #Budget2015
BUDGET: ”Britain has… left the age of austerity behind”. #SummerBudget #Budget2015
BUDGET: Tax receipts stronger than last year = more money to ‘play’ with. #SummerBudget #Budget2015
BUDGET: Deficit will be cut at same pace as the last parliament” #SummerBudget #Budget2015
UK economic forecast: 2015 – 2.4% 2016 – 2.3% 2017 – 2.4% #SummerBudget #Budget2015
Osborne: ”A strong #NHS requires a strong economy”. #SummerBudget #Budget2015
Osborne: ”This is a budget for working people”. #SummerBudget #Budget2015
Liam F - Journalist 