social and politics

LIVE BLOG: Analysis, reaction and the verdict on the Autumn Statement 2014 

Live analysis, reaction, charts and data and what the experts and you the readers are saying in reader comments and on social media .




social and politics

Autumn Statement scraps tax on children's flights saving £140 on trip to Florida

The Chancellor abolished air passenger duty on all flights for children under the age of 12. It will also reduce the cost of a holiday to Spain for a family of four by £26.




social and politics

Nick Clegg 'snubs' crunch Autumn Statement for photo-call in Penzance

The Deputy Prime Minister spurned the chance to hear the Chancellor's statement in person and instead headed to Cornwall to announce funding for coastal defences.




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QUENTIN LETTS sees Autumn Statement day fervour cranked to the max

Autumn Statement day is always a big one in the Commons year but yesterday the fervour was particularly felt as next May’s electoral reckoning looms, writes QUENTIN LETTS.




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Jeremy Browne attacks Nick Clegg over no-show at the Autumn Statement 

The stinging criticism from former Home Office minister Jeremy Browne came after the deputy leader shunned Wednesday’s Autumn Statement.




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Autumn Statement boosts small firms and high tech manufacturers

Critics argue these initiatives would not be necessary if the banks were doing their job instead of persisting in their reluctance to lend to small companies.




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How the Autumn Statement will affect your take-home pay from April

Whether you are earning the minimum wage or raking in millions, the amount of tax that disappears from your earnings is likely to change to some extent.




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RUTH SUNDERLAND: Help for exporters is missing link in George Osborne's Autumn Statement

The big omissions from a Budget or an Autumn Statement are always revealing. It used to be help for savers. This week the missing element was the squeezed middle. Not households, but firms.




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Housebuilders, oil & gas, banks... What George Osborne's Autumn Statement means for shares by sector

As analysts digested the detail of the Chancellor’s ‘mini-Budget’ the ramifications of reforms to stamp duty, business rates and the North Sea tax regime became clearer…




social and politics

Measures in Autumn Statement to improve small firms' access to finance are 'drop in ocean', it has been claimed

Geoff Parkes, teaching fellow at Aston Business School in Birmingham, said: ‘Thus far, the scheme has accounted for less than two per cent of all lending to small firms.’




social and politics

Will Osborne target capital gains tax in the Autumn Statement?

Profits made from the sale of assets such as property or shares, which are called capital gains, rose to £32.1billion last year, up from £23.5billion in 2012-13, marking their highest level on record.




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Freelance staffing 'catastrophe' fears over workers forced onto payroll

IPSE, a body that represents the self-employed, believes the Chancellor could limit contracts to just a month for freelancers, after which they would be forced on to the client’s payroll.




social and politics

George Osborne's pension tax grab threats revealed

Three major changes to pension saving are on the horizon, which will hit those helping to build a healthy fund for retirement. Now, the Chancellor faces calls to reverse a planned tax grab




social and politics

Osborne's bid to balance books in crisis as experts predict he will be a forced to borrow an extra £30bn over the next five years

The Chancellor has pledged to eliminate the record deficit racked up by Labour during the financial crisis and return the country to the black by the end of the decade.




social and politics

George Osborne's £6billion a year increase for the NHS

Chancellor George Osborne will use tomorrow’s spending review to announce that the Health Service will receive an extra £6billion straight away – rising to £10billion a year by 2020.




social and politics

George Osborne refuses to rule out police cuts

Border systems will be upgraded to better target weapons being smuggled into the country while a joint operation centre will see police, intelligence agencies and the military to work more closely.




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Autumn Statement 2015 predictions on what George Osborne will announce

Today George Osborne will reveal details of his Autumn Statement. We round-up what to expect, including his tax credit headache and the predicted pension changes.




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Working families spared tax credits cut, as Chancellor performs U-turn

Changes sparked a backlash as they were forecast by the Insitute of Fiscal Studies to take £1,000 a year off 3 million families. They have now been halted altogether.




social and politics

Flat rate state pension to be £155.65 but Autumn Statement leaves tax relief hanging

Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed the basic state pension will rise by £3.35 to £119.30 a week from April, while the starting rate for the new single-tier version will be £155.65.




social and politics

Government to back 135,000 affordable homes through shared ownership

Anyone with a household income of less than £80,000 in England will soon be able to buy a home through shared ownership, which has long been restricted to key workers.




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UK Sport to receive 29 per cent funding increase in Autumn Statement shock in boost for Olympic and Paralympic stars

UK Sport has been handed a shock 29 per cent increase in funding, handing a boost to British athletes preparing for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo four years later.




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Autumn Statement 2015 LIVE: Analysis, reaction and what it means for you

We bring you the latest the analysis, reaction and charts from the experts and our own journalists from throughout the day.




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Energy bills to fall by £30 a year as Osborne cuts funding for energy efficiency improvements

George Osborne says household energy bills will fall by an average of £30 by 2017 as a result of reducing green levies, as outlined in his Autumn Statement this afternoon.




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George Osborne SCRAPS £4.4bn tax credit cuts in his AUTUMN STATEMENT 2015

The NHS, defence, foreign aid and housing are set to be the big winners, but the police, transport, justice and the environment will bear the brunt, with families braced for big hikes in council tax bills.




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George Osborne slashes funding for opposition parties by 19% in Autumn Statement

Public funding - known as Short Money - given to opposition parties to prepare to become an alternative government is to be slashed by 19 per cent, in line with Whitehall departments.




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Watch David Cameron slyly eat a sweet during George Osborne's Autumn Statement

The Prime Minister took a few seconds out from the 65-minute brief to subtly unravel the treat and pop it into his mouth like a mischievous schoolboy.




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Autumn Statement 2015 shows transport bears the brunt but foreign aid balloons by 21%

To raise £18billion in spending cuts over the five years, George Osborne slashed departments by up to 37 per cent but the NHS, defence and international development are the big winners.




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Autumn Statement: Small businesses react positively as rate relief continues

The Autumn Statement contained some good news for entrepreneurs as George Osborne pledged to carry on exempting micro companies from paying business rates.




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DAILY MAIL COMMENT: George Osborne's Autumn Statement was a huge gamble

George Osborne showed himself a master of his political trade in yesterday's Autumn Statement - but seems to have abandoned his early enthusiasm for slimming down the size of the state.




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George Osborne's Autumn Statement 2015 stuns MPs as he abandons tax credit cuts

The climbdown means George Osborne (pictured) will breach his self-imposed welfare cap for the next three years, meaning a minister must explain and apologise to Parliament.




social and politics

Hundreds to be added to council tax bills to pay for elderly care, George Osborne announced

Draconian rises signalled by the Chancellor will see the average bill for a Band D household rise up to £320 by 2020/21. George Osborne urged town halls to impose increase to fund social care shortfalls.




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Holloway Prison in London to be sold off and turned into 5,000 new homes

HMP Holloway in north London, which has been home to some of Britain's most infamous killers, will be sold off as part of a £1.3billion government overhaul of the UK prison service




social and politics

Autumn Statement 2015 trebles stamp duty bill on a £275k buy-to-let

Chancellor George Osborne landed buy-to-let and second homes a huge shock by announcing a stamp duty surcharge on property purchases from April.




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The buy-to-let stamp duty tax trick that landlords still have up their sleeve

George Osborne hit the buy-to-let dream with a big stamp duty hike yesterday, but landlords still have a tax trick they can pull to claim it back.




social and politics

Part-time and post-graduate students get a boost from the Chancellor as he extends student loans and help with living costs

Part-time students have been handed some good news in today's Autumn Statement with access to maintenance loans to help with living costs during their studies from 2017/18.




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George Osborne's Autumn Statement sees UK cuts to increase Foreign Aid

He has repeatedly slashed domestic spending, but the Chancellor remains committed to funnelling 0.7 per cent of Britain's GDP into an array of dubious overseas aid projects.




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George Osborne vows to tackle UK housing crisis during 2015 Autumn Statement

In his Autumn Statement and Spending Review, Mr Osborne claimed he is tackling the 'crisis in home ownership' head-on with the 'biggest housebuilding programme since the 1970s.'




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Freeze on fuel duty to help struggling households to be proposed in Autumn Statement 

Theresa May has told Chancellor Philip Hammond to make middle and low-income families in the UK a priority in next week’s Autumn Statement.




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Philip Hammond is set to freeze fuel duty and boost childcare

Theresa May has told Chancellor Philip Hammond to make middle and low-income families a priority in next week’s Autumn Statement.




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Philip Hammond under renewed pressure to help ‘just about managing’ families

Ahead of the Autumn Statement a study has warned that planned welfare curbs and rising inflation are set to deal a major blow to the 'just about managing' group - or 'JAMs'.




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Philip Hammond rules out more cash for the NHS in Autumn Statement 2016

The National Audit Office (NAO) warns today that the health service’s ‘endemic’ financial problems have left it so short of cash that it is having to raid building projects to pay for day-to-day services.




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Philip Hammond's broadband pledge that will download films in seconds

The Chancellor will use tomorrow’s Autumn Statement to pledge that two million homes in bigger towns and cities will get access to gold standard ‘full-fibre’ broadband, which can download TV shows.




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Philip Hammond gets pre-autumn statement 2016 boost

Things appear to be changing for the better for the economy - and just in the nick of the time for the Chancellor as he prepares to give his first major report later today.




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Government borrowing falls again as economy continues to defy Brexit warnings

Defying Brexit doomsayers, the deficit came in at £4.3billion in October - below the £6billion expected. The figures emerged on the eve of Philip Hammond's Autumn Statement.




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Millions to see higher insurance bills as Government hikes insurance tax in Autumn Statement

Insurers have slammed the rise which has pushed the tax up to almost double what it was in 2015 and they predict it will lead to an increase in the number of uninsured drivers on the road.




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Autumn Statement 2016 LIVE: Analysis and reaction to Philip Hammond's post Brexit changes

The analysis, reaction and charts from the experts and our own journalists from throughout the day.




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Labour MPs busy with their PHONES as Shadow Chancellor rails at Autumn Statement

As John McDonnell stood up for his big moment to respond to the Chancellor's spending plans, Labour's MPs were much more interested in their mobile phones than his rambling speech.




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Philip Hammond promises low and middle earners they WILL get income tax cuts

The Chancellor reaffirmed the Conservative manifesto commitments to lift the personal allowance to £12,500 and the 40p tax threshold to £50,000 by accelerating progress to meeting the goals.




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Immigration won't hit target of dropping below 100,000 a year even after Brexit

In its five-year forecast the Office for Budget Responsibility predicts net migration will only fall slightly as the UK adopts a tighter migration regime. Net migration is currently 327,000 a year.




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Philip Hammond freezes fuel duty meaning motorists will save 100s of pounds a year  

Philip Hammond announced a further freeze until April 2018, which will keep fuel duty at 57.95p per litre, the level it has been at four more than five years.