Budget live: Highlights of the Chancellor’s speech
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is delivering his Spring Statement to MPs.
The Budget comes on a day when the Bank of England announced an interest rate cut to 0.25% to help mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus.
Here’s the latest:
12.36pm
Mr Sunak said “we are doing everything we can to keep this country and our people healthy and financially secure” as he delivered his Budget against the backdrop of the coronavirus crisis.
12.34pm
The Chancellor of the Exchequer rose to deliver his Budget to the House of Commons at 12.34pm.
12.15pm
PA video of Mr Sunak leaving Downing Street.
11.58am
Labour figures have called on the Chancellor to offer support for residents forced to pay for cladding removal from their flats.
Almost three years after Grenfell, no resident should face big bills to remove and replace dangerous cladding on their home.
A big test of this Budget is action to get this work done and end the #claddingscandalhttps://t.co/3DUo9p00Wy
— John Healey MP (@JohnHealey_MP) March 11, 2020
My letter to @RishiSunak yesterday. For his first budget he must finally provide the security and safety residents need, by providing the necessary funding required to make tower blocks affected by cladding and other fire safety deficiencies safe pic.twitter.com/RmfLrbV5pq
— Rebecca Long-Bailey (@RLong_Bailey) March 11, 2020
11.53am
Mr Sunak with departmental colleagues on Downing Street.
11.37am
Mr Sunak has left 11 Downing Street to head to the House of Commons.
11.09am
10.29am
Mr Sunak told the Cabinet his Budget’s measures to cope with Covid-19 “will make the UK one of the best placed economies in the world to manage the potential impact of the virus”, Downing Street said.
10.17am
The economy stayed flat in January despite predictions that it would grow by 0.2% following a tough year, figures showed.
The Office for National Statistics said GDP remained unchanged after growing 0.3% in December, dashing hopes that the economy was bouncing back after a clear win for the Conservatives in December’s election.
8.02am
The Bank of England announced an emergency interest rate cut to help the UK cope with the economic shock from coronavirus as Rishi Sunak prepared to unveil his first Budget.
Hours before he was due to unveil his package, the Bank set the scene with the rate cut from 0.75% to 0.25% and a series of other measures to help businesses and households through an economic shock “that could prove sharp and large, but should be temporary”.
