Budget 2015: Latest updates

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Labour leadership contender Jeremy Corbyn has strongly criticised George Osborne's Budget. "This is a Budget that is essentially an attack on the poorest by the benefit changes that have been produced and an attack on young people. What is it that the Conservatives and the chancellor have got against young people?" The chancellor had "done nothing" to address the housing shortage, including the lack of council housing and housing association properties being built, he added.

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The Residential Landlords Association warns that the move to axe tax relief on buy-to-let properties could push up rents as landlords have to recover their extra costs. RLA chairman Alan Ward said: "With many contradicting assessments of the number of private rented properties and the number of landlords, HMRC's impact assessment is scant on detail. The reality is that this measure will hit many more tenants than landlords. We urge the government to hit the pause button on these proposals and undertake a comprehensive and open consultation to assess what its measures will mean."

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The benefits cuts in George Osborne's Budget hit women harder than men, analysis by the independent House of Commons Library indicates. The analysis, commissioned by Labour leadership contender Yvette Cooper, shows that 70% of the almost £34bn in welfare savings by 2020/21 will come from women. The study, which included changes to direct taxes, tax credits and benefits, found £7 billion of the £9.6bn of cuts in 2020/21 will hit women. "It is appalling that George Osborne's budget is hitting women more than twice as hard as men - even though women still earn less and own less than men," Ms Cooper said. "In this Budget, with George Osborne's assault on tax credits, working mums are hit particularly hard."

The Resolution Foundation, an apolitical think tank, has been poring over the Budget fine print - the rising minimum wage, income tax cuts and cuts to benefits - and calculated its estimates for the overall effect of the package on different sorts of families in 2020. 

For a quick summary, see Newsnight Live

A comment by Financial Times economics editor Chris Giles on the Budget, as tweeted by BBC Newsnight policy editor Chris Cook:  

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A protest against the planned welfare cuts took place in Westminster earlier. Sam Fairbairn, People's Assembly national secretary, spoke to the BBC News Channel.

Quote Message: Osborne has announced £12bn in cuts to welfare. It's hitting young people incredibly hard. On top of all of that, public sector wages have been capped at 1% rise. This isn't an acceptable situation. We know tens of billions are lost every year in tax avoidance."

Osborne has announced £12bn in cuts to welfare. It's hitting young people incredibly hard. On top of all of that, public sector wages have been capped at 1% rise. This isn't an acceptable situation. We know tens of billions are lost every year in tax avoidance."

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Watch BBC's business correspondent Andrew Verity's assessment of the impact of today's Budget on the UK economy.

Scotland's deputy first minister John Swinney has slammed the Budget as "a series of con tricks" to try to hide the impact on households.

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Quote Message: The Chancellor has not even promised to meet the current living wage of £7.85 and under-25s will face the brunt of cuts but receive no increase in wages. The Chancellor is cutting from the poor whilst paying out to the rich, he is short changing those on low incomes whilst giving tax breaks to the better off. The reality is that in delivering his emergency Budget the Chancellor has simply exacerbated the emergency situation faced by many on low pay and low incomes."

The Chancellor has not even promised to meet the current living wage of £7.85 and under-25s will face the brunt of cuts but receive no increase in wages. The Chancellor is cutting from the poor whilst paying out to the rich, he is short changing those on low incomes whilst giving tax breaks to the better off. The reality is that in delivering his emergency Budget the Chancellor has simply exacerbated the emergency situation faced by many on low pay and low incomes."

Quote Message: Number 10 is cockahoop with its living wage announcement and sources say this was something the Chancellor has been looking at for a couple of years but felt he couldn't go for without big cuts to the welfare bill, and those were blocked within the last parliament by the Lib Dems. Free of those shackles, he was able to go for the two step - cuts to welfare, and an increase in the living wage. from Allegra Stratton Newsnight political editor

Number 10 is cockahoop with its living wage announcement and sources say this was something the Chancellor has been looking at for a couple of years but felt he couldn't go for without big cuts to the welfare bill, and those were blocked within the last parliament by the Lib Dems. Free of those shackles, he was able to go for the two step - cuts to welfare, and an increase in the living wage.

More analysis on Newsnight Live

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, tells the BBC that the Chancellor should have been bolder in his reforms to the tax system:

Quote Message: What's a bit disappointing is that he doesn't really have anything that looks like a strategy for a significant change to the tax system. We don't have anything laid out here which tells me that at the end of this parliament we will have a more sensible tax system than we had at the beginning of it."

What's a bit disappointing is that he doesn't really have anything that looks like a strategy for a significant change to the tax system. We don't have anything laid out here which tells me that at the end of this parliament we will have a more sensible tax system than we had at the beginning of it."

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Want to work out how the Budget will affect you? Simply click on the BBC's Budget calculator.

Paul in Hertfordshire emails: I have been a housing association tenant for just over 12 years and at present cannot afford to buy my own home. To have my rent increased to market value will have an impact on our finances, which I feel is disgusting. This again goes to show that people are going to be better off not working. Why not stop penalising the working people and target those who do not want to work?

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Anti-austerity protesters pelted Downing Street with balls today to highlight cuts to disability services and tax credits in the Budget. They then marched to Westminster Bridge where they halted traffic. Four arrests were made. David Peel, 55, from protest group Class War, said George Osborne's Budget was "probably one of the worst budgets in living memory for poor people, for working class people and especially for the disabled". More anti-austerity rallies will be held tonight in London, Cardiff, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield.

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House builders were the main Budget day losers on the London stock market today as George Osborne announced restrictions on tax relief for buy-to-let landlords. Barratt Developments dropped 36p to 594.5p, while Taylor Wimpey was down 9.3p at 176.2p and Persimmon dropped 92p to £18.76 on a day when the FTSE 100 rose 58.5 points to 6,490.7. On the FTSE 250, Berkeley fell 234p to £31.01 and Bellway lost 161p to £22.33, with estate agents also hit. Foxtons was down 9.8p at 211.1p and Countrywide slipped 12.5p to 525.5p.

Richard Middleton emails: "I have over 30 years experience in the NHS and I am a highly qualified clinician but I feel penalised because I decided to work in the public sector. I don't want thanks or gratitude - just a decent wage for all those public sector staff who do their job day in and day out because they want to help others. I am fortunate in that I can retire next year. Unfortunately because of the poor rates of pay in the NHS there just aren't enough young people joining the professions to replace us and who can blame them."

Shadow business secretary Chukka Umunna, says the Budget will do little to boost poor productivity levels in Britain.

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Quote Message: We need to see much more done, in particular around productivity. The ridiculous situation right now where people in our country who are doing amongst the longest hours in western Europe but their output is less than an average worker in the G7 - and that's because, frankly, they're not being given the tools to do the trade."

We need to see much more done, in particular around productivity. The ridiculous situation right now where people in our country who are doing amongst the longest hours in western Europe but their output is less than an average worker in the G7 - and that's because, frankly, they're not being given the tools to do the trade."

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Responding to the decision to remove the climate change levy exemption for renewable electricity from 1 August, Drax said that profits before interest, tax and other costs would fall by £30m this year and by £60m in 2016. Chief executive Dorothy Thompson said: "We are surprised and disappointed at this retrospective change to a support regime which has been in place since 2001 specifically to encourage green energy and support renewable investment decisions." The company's shares closed down 28% in response.

Cafe owner Sue Khan emails: "As a small business owner I will have no alternative but to increase prices considerably to cover the increased wage cost which will ultimately lose me customers as they don't have a lot spare for eating out anyway. Whilst I can see what the Chancellor is trying to do, it is almost impossible now to get staff to work a few hours a week as they are better off on benefits. I believe this will cause more businesses to pay 'on the side' and will see many of the honest ones going under."

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Quote Message: The Budget has a lot to digest within it, but one morsel worth chewing over is the section on universities. The government has replaced grants with maintenance loans. But the document may also mark an important intellectual shift in the way that we run our higher education system, as it will introduce a rather radical idea - different universities deserve very different treatment." from Chris Cook Newsnight Policy Editor

The Budget has a lot to digest within it, but one morsel worth chewing over is the section on universities. The government has replaced grants with maintenance loans. But the document may also mark an important intellectual shift in the way that we run our higher education system, as it will introduce a rather radical idea - different universities deserve very different treatment."

More analysis on Newsnight Live

Martin Young, in the Isle of Wight, emails: "Another missed opportunity, though the proposed change to a living wage is encouraging. The Chancellor has done nothing to repair the fundamental problem of the UK economy, namely that we do not have sufficient wealth creation to pay for our consumption. We need to encourage new investment in farming, fishing, mining and manufacturing using tax reductions of salaries and dividends in these sectors We need to export more and import less. We need to reform the 'gambling' nature of our current financial sectors, and reduce our service sector."

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Some reaction from the motoring industry to the announcement of a new emissions-based Vehicle Excise Duty (VED). Mike Hawes, of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, says:

Quote Message: We recognise the current system needs to be reformed and highlighted this in a recent report. The chancellor's Budget announcement on the regime came as a surprise and is of considerable concern. The introduction of a surcharge on premium cars also risks undermining growth in UK manufacturing and exports. British-built premium cars are in increasing demand at home and globally, and the industry helps to support almost 800,000 jobs in the UK. Levelling a punitive tax on these vehicles will almost certainly impact domestic demand."

We recognise the current system needs to be reformed and highlighted this in a recent report. The chancellor's Budget announcement on the regime came as a surprise and is of considerable concern. The introduction of a surcharge on premium cars also risks undermining growth in UK manufacturing and exports. British-built premium cars are in increasing demand at home and globally, and the industry helps to support almost 800,000 jobs in the UK. Levelling a punitive tax on these vehicles will almost certainly impact domestic demand."

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It is quite striking that a Tory government that says it fervently believes in markets is behaving like 1970s Labour, in creating a new official living wage - because it represents an attempt to fix the price of most businesses' most important cost, people, significantly higher than the current minimum wage. Read more from Robert here.

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Time for a little flashback - this was the last time we had an all-Conservative Budget. It was Ken Clarke who held aloft the red box in 1996.

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Some more reaction to the possible impact of the Budget on children.

Child Poverty Action Group's Alison Garnham says:

Quote Message: The suggestion that higher tax allowances will offset tax credit cuts is sheer fallacy: 44% of adults earn too little to pay income tax and those on slightly higher wages gain little because tax credits are withdrawn as incomes rise. The impact will be dramatic: as Supreme Court judges have noted, the current cap deprives children of the basic necessities of life, in breach of international law."

The suggestion that higher tax allowances will offset tax credit cuts is sheer fallacy: 44% of adults earn too little to pay income tax and those on slightly higher wages gain little because tax credits are withdrawn as incomes rise. The impact will be dramatic: as Supreme Court judges have noted, the current cap deprives children of the basic necessities of life, in breach of international law."

Barnardo's chief executive Javed Khan says:

Quote Message: Tax credit cuts could blow a £1,200 hole in some families budgets, leaving them struggling to cover even the cost of basics such as school uniforms for their children. Children who grow up poor are more likely to be ill, do worse at school and be jobless in future."

Tax credit cuts could blow a £1,200 hole in some families budgets, leaving them struggling to cover even the cost of basics such as school uniforms for their children. Children who grow up poor are more likely to be ill, do worse at school and be jobless in future."

Quote Message: Many believe that come 2018 there will be a straight fight for who will become Conservative leader and de facto prime minister - between George Osborne and Boris Johnson. Bo Jo has gone hard on the London living wage... One Tory MP tells me that the surprise living wage announcement has helped Osborne neuter one of Boris’ key USPs. from James Clayton Newsnight Political producer

Many believe that come 2018 there will be a straight fight for who will become Conservative leader and de facto prime minister - between George Osborne and Boris Johnson. Bo Jo has gone hard on the London living wage... One Tory MP tells me that the surprise living wage announcement has helped Osborne neuter one of Boris’ key USPs.

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More analysis on Newsnight live.

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Liberal Democrat leadership candidate Tim Farron says many of the changes announced in today's Budget had been blocked by his party in the last Parliament.

Quote Message: For all its talk about striving, aspiration and creating a Northern Powerhouse, this Budget has delivered none of it. It shows that the Conservatives, devoid of fresh ideas, have simply rehashed old ones that were rejected over the last few years."

For all its talk about striving, aspiration and creating a Northern Powerhouse, this Budget has delivered none of it. It shows that the Conservatives, devoid of fresh ideas, have simply rehashed old ones that were rejected over the last few years."

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Shadow chancellor Chris Leslie says the changes to tax credits amount to a "work penalty" despite the chancellor's promise of a national living wage.

Labour analysis indicates a lone parent with two children working 16 hours a week at the minimum wage would gain just over £400 from the move to a "living wage", but he or she would lose £860 from the changes to tax credits next year. A couple with two children where both work full-time at the minimum wage will gain £1,560 from the living wage, but lose more than £2,200 next year from tax credit cuts, Labour added.

Michael Noctor tweets: #budget2015 What I would have liked is a far more aggressive approach to tax evasion and tax havens

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Researcher Ben Richards, from left of centre think tank the Social Market Foundation, has been looking at the impact the announcements. He has this analysis:

Quote Message: A two-child family with one full-time earner on the minimum wage will receive £1,612 less in tax credits under the new system. The big question is: will the wage increases under the new living wage be enough to offset these cuts? The new £7.20 Living Wage will increase gross income by nearly £1,300 for the same family with a full-time earner, but the difficulty is that increases in gross income are offset by payments in national insurance and income tax, and decreases tax credits. This will mean that the family’s net income will not increase by nearly as much - by only around £255, for those not claiming housing benefit."

A two-child family with one full-time earner on the minimum wage will receive £1,612 less in tax credits under the new system. The big question is: will the wage increases under the new living wage be enough to offset these cuts? The new £7.20 Living Wage will increase gross income by nearly £1,300 for the same family with a full-time earner, but the difficulty is that increases in gross income are offset by payments in national insurance and income tax, and decreases tax credits. This will mean that the family’s net income will not increase by nearly as much - by only around £255, for those not claiming housing benefit."

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Shares in power station owner Drax crashed by almost 28% to 254.9p after a climate-change tax exemption was abolished in today's Budget. Goldman Sachs said the company could suffer a £50m hit to its profits from the move. The company produces 7% of the UK's electricity.

Chris McCarthy-Stott tweets: The new VED announced in #budget2015 will destroy everything that's been done to get people to switch to low emissions.

Budget response in from charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Like many in the charitable and public sector, it fears low-income working families will be hit worst by the welfare cuts announced.

Quote Message: Higher income from increasing the national minimum wage and the personal tax allowance will go some way towards closing the gap, but cutting support before the jobs market has had the chance to respond is a dangerous gamble. We need a credible long-term plan to make work more secure, build more affordable homes and lower essential bills, or times will simply get tougher for those on low incomes.” from Julia Unwin Chief Executive, Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Higher income from increasing the national minimum wage and the personal tax allowance will go some way towards closing the gap, but cutting support before the jobs market has had the chance to respond is a dangerous gamble. We need a credible long-term plan to make work more secure, build more affordable homes and lower essential bills, or times will simply get tougher for those on low incomes.”

Emma, in Bexleyheath, emails: "Congratulations to all those getting a pay rise - as a public sector worker I get the raw end yet again! One per cent for the next four years. Don't get me wrong I agree cuts have to be made but I've been paying for far too long this way! Let me have the pay rises I deserved and I might not need to not rely on tax credits as a top up!"

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Frank Field, veteran Labour MP and chairman of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, says the "national living wage" announced by Mr Osborne could be a "game changing move", but he adds:

Quote Message: What's crucial now is to ensure that the level at which it's set by the end of the parliament is matched by productivity increases so it is sustainable. The immediate issue, however, is how many strivers will be made worse off by the other announcements the chancellor has made and what moves should we initiate to ensure that our constituents' wish that work will pay is fulfilled."

What's crucial now is to ensure that the level at which it's set by the end of the parliament is matched by productivity increases so it is sustainable. The immediate issue, however, is how many strivers will be made worse off by the other announcements the chancellor has made and what moves should we initiate to ensure that our constituents' wish that work will pay is fulfilled."

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BBC Radio 5 live business presenter Rob Young writes: "The banks will pay an extra £2bn to the Treasury over the next five years, according to page 46 of the Red Book. However, the OBR says this is a very uncertain figure. The forecast for the tax take from the 8% profits tax and bank levy in 2016-17 is £415m."

The British Bankers' Association says this new profits surcharge "will reinforce fears that Britain is becoming a less attractive place for banks to do business". However, it welcomes the decision to amend the bank levy "to reduce the damage it does to Britain's biggest export industry".

Isabel Hardman is Assistant editor at The Spectator. She tweets:

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Why get bogged down all those figures ... not to mention all those words?

For those pressed for time, here are a few key provisions outlined in Wednesday's UK Budget... in emoji.

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Of course, what we all really want to know is what the Budget means for "the pound in our pocket" (if you'll forgive the Budget day cliche).

Our personal finance reporter Kevin Peachey has been considering some of your questions - take a look here.

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Environmental campaigners have criticised the lack of green measures in today's Budget, with the sole mention being the removal of the climate change levy exemption for renewable power. The Treasury said the removal of the exemption, which allows businesses not to pay the environmental tax levied on energy if it has come from renewable power, would prevent taxpayers' money benefiting clean electricity generated abroad.

Doug Parr, Greenpeace policy director said: "By removing the climate change levy exemption on renewable energy, Osborne is taxing clean power as if it were a fossil fuel. He is a man out of step with the times."

Many are asking if this is a real living wage. Well, the Living Wage Foundation has waded in with a press release.

Quote Message: Is this really a Living Wage? The Living Wage is calculated according to the cost of living whereas the Low Pay Commission calculates a rate according to what the market can bear. Without a change of remit for the Low Pay Commission this is effectively a higher National Minimum Wage and not a Living Wage."

Is this really a Living Wage? The Living Wage is calculated according to the cost of living whereas the Low Pay Commission calculates a rate according to what the market can bear. Without a change of remit for the Low Pay Commission this is effectively a higher National Minimum Wage and not a Living Wage."

  From the horse's mouth...  

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Quote Message: It was the first fully-fledged Conservative Budget for nearly two decades, and one that was as deeply political as it was fiscal. Although the speech lasted little more than an hour, it was substantial in its scope. Channelling former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, George Osborne said 'there will be no turning back'. But in some key respects, it was Labour's clothes he stole."

It was the first fully-fledged Conservative Budget for nearly two decades, and one that was as deeply political as it was fiscal. Although the speech lasted little more than an hour, it was substantial in its scope. Channelling former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, George Osborne said 'there will be no turning back'. But in some key respects, it was Labour's clothes he stole."

Read more from Iain here

Greg Mulholland, Lib Dem MP, tweets: #Budget2015 showed Tories' true colours & the huge extent to which @LibDems acted as a brake over the last 5 years!

As might be expected, many in the public and charitable sector in Scotland have strongly criticised the chancellor's announcements.

John Downie, director of public affairs at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations said:

Quote Message: This is the work of an economically-illiterate chancellor who is dead set on cutting, freezing and scrapping welfare to reach his target of £12 billion cuts. He's demonstrating a cruel disregard for the impact this will have on hundreds of thousands of people's lives."

This is the work of an economically-illiterate chancellor who is dead set on cutting, freezing and scrapping welfare to reach his target of £12 billion cuts. He's demonstrating a cruel disregard for the impact this will have on hundreds of thousands of people's lives."

Mary Taylor, chief executive of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, says welfare cuts "have the potential to be just as damaging as the bedroom tax".

Quote Message: Freezing working age benefits for four years and restricting tax credits and Universal Credit to two children, affecting those born after April 2017, will only serve to make it harder to escape the poverty trap."

Freezing working age benefits for four years and restricting tax credits and Universal Credit to two children, affecting those born after April 2017, will only serve to make it harder to escape the poverty trap."

Jackie Brock, the chief executive of Children in Scotland, branded the Budget "simply shameful".

Quote Message: Given the entrenching of inequality and social division that will result, there is a horrible and disturbing irony in George Osborne calling his spending plans 'a one nation Budget for one nation'. It is quite the opposite."

Given the entrenching of inequality and social division that will result, there is a horrible and disturbing irony in George Osborne calling his spending plans 'a one nation Budget for one nation'. It is quite the opposite."

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Labour leadership contender Yvette Cooper says the Budget is "deeply unfair" to working parents, who will be hard hit. She says the cuts to tax credits will add up to more than the increase in salaries due to the living wage. The promised expansion for childcare will also be delayed by two years, Ms Cooper adds.

Rick Jones in Barnsley emails: If companies are made to pay the living wage to unskilled staff then they won't want to raise skilled workers pay. Next April, I will be on 70p per hour more than the unskilled staff I work along side - why isn't there legislation that all workers pay should rise by the same percentage? I worked years as an apprentice on low pay to gain qualifications but I am financially no better off, yet I have a job with massive responsibilities.

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Vicky Redwood, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, comments: "With uncertainty ahead of the EU referendum, the probable rate rise and the easing boost from lower energy prices, economic growth is still likely to slow next year. But today's Budget supports our view that this slowdown will be quite modest.

"That said, if we are right in thinking there is scope in the economy for a decent productivity rebound, then the chancellor's smoothing shouldn't prompt the [Bank of England] to raise interest rates any faster than it would otherwise have done."

Mark Holmes, who runs a small retail bakery in Sheffield, says he is "very concerned about the living wage".

"I don't make millions of pounds and can just about manage to keep the three staff that I have got. We've been in business 10 years and at the moment we're just about all right," he told the BBC.

"If I cut staff hours, then it'll mean longer hours for me. Before the election it was all about how small businesses were going to get the economy going. I just don't see how this is going to make that happen."

BBC business reporter Rob Young tweets:

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Lee Anthony, from One Parent Family Scotland, told the BBC's Lorna Gordon that cuts to welfare, such as tax credits, could disproportionately affect women.

"We find that the majority of people who need help are female lone parents," she said. "We need flexible affordable childcare so that people can go out to work."

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Labour former Treasury minister John Healey says this is a "full-fat Tory government".

"It denies the truth that weak growth has been the central problem of the last five years and it disguises the fact that there are economic choices that could give us a different debate and a different direction for the future," he adds.

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The Association of Convenience Stores says the planned mandatory living wage for workers over 25 would have a devastating impact on thousands of small shops. Chief executive James Lowman says: "This will lead to retailers having to reduce staff hours, work more hours in their business and ultimately cancel their investment plans. To introduce this measure with no consultation undermines the independent Low Pay Commission and is a reckless way to impose a massive burden on small businesses."

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If you like detail and hard numbers, then take a look at this. Yes, it's the Treasury's calculations about how much today's Budget decisions will cost, or add over the next five years. Fascinating stuff.

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Edmund King, AA president, says drivers should not be "dancing in the streets or at the pumps" following the promise to freeze fuel duty. "The sting is in the tail. The insurance premium tax increase on the average car insurance policy is still equivalent to a fuel duty increase of almost 2p per litre," he says. "Either way drivers are being hit in their pockets. These are outrageous hikes in tax which could well backfire."

I think the headline the chancellor was looking for today was what he saved for the end of his speech - the "national living wage".

I think it's deliberately counter-intuitive for a Conservative chancellor in order to wrong-foot Labour.

The Budget announcement that public sector pay awards will be 1% for the next four years has provoked anger among unions representing NHS staff. The Royal College of Midwives, which was among ten unions which staged two strikes over pay last year, said the measure amounted to "further pay misery". Unison said capping pay at 1% would "hasten the reluctant exit of many dedicated staff" from hospitals. The British Medical Association accused the chancellor of "cynical disregard for NHS staff... at a time when he knows that inflation will rise above that".

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The Children's Society welcomed Mr Osborne's announcement of a "national living wage", but said the cuts to tax credits would "hammer" children living in poverty.

"Without this vital safety net of tax credits, work won't pay and children will suffer. The announcement of to limit child tax credits to two children is effectively a two child policy for the poorest families," chief executive Matthew Reed said.

Quote Message: What I take away from this is that the path to austerity is much less painful that we thought. If you're sitting in the Home Office or the Ministry of Defence, or if you work in culture media and sport, you're not quite cracking open the champagne, but you've not been - to use a technical term - mullered. And for all the rhetoric, this is actually a tax cutting Budget. That said, we should not underestimate that the welfare cuts will have a very big impact - not least the cuts to tax credits.

What I take away from this is that the path to austerity is much less painful that we thought. If you're sitting in the Home Office or the Ministry of Defence, or if you work in culture media and sport, you're not quite cracking open the champagne, but you've not been - to use a technical term - mullered. And for all the rhetoric, this is actually a tax cutting Budget. That said, we should not underestimate that the welfare cuts will have a very big impact - not least the cuts to tax credits.

Rob Young tweets: "hmtreasury expects to raise an extra £1.4bn+ a year from 2016 from the hike in Insurance Premium Tax. BritishInsurers reckon that insurance tax hike will mean home insurance going up by £9 a year and car insurance by £12 a year"

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Here's a lovely Budget word cloud courtesy of the ICAEW, the chartered accountants' body.

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Cuts to housing benefit have been condemned by the charity Crisis. Jon Sparkes, chief executive, says: "These short-sighted cuts... are likely to push more and more people into homelessness and could end up costing the taxpayer even more than they save.

"Homelessness has a terrible human cost, but it's also incredibly expensive for the public purse... failing to prevent someone from becoming homeless can cost between £3,000 and £18,000 per person per year. We need housing benefit that genuinely protects tenants struggling to make ends meet."

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Deputy leader of the SNP Stewart Hosie says broadly speaking the Budget was "very bad", although he welcomed the freeze on fuel duty and the increase to the income tax threshold.

But he complains there was "nothing to encourage innovation, nothing to encourage exports. This should have been about tackling productivity, but it was just the same old Tory Budget".

"There is 50 billion quid out of the welfare budget for the poorest and the most vulnerable," he adds.

They'll be a lower benefits cap for areas outside of London - £20,000 as opposed to £23,000. 

Why discriminate? Read the story on Newsnight Live

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TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "The chancellor is giving with one hand and taking away with the other. Massive cuts in support for working people will hit families with children hardest.

"The chancellor has finally woken up to the fact that Britain needs a pay rise. The TUC has long campaigned for the minimum wage to rise faster and the chancellor has listened to us at last."

However, the unions' leader adds: "Massive tax cuts for the wealthiest show the Conservatives are still the party of the inheritors, rather than the workers."

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UKIP MP Douglas Carswell says "there's a lot in this Budget we can support". For example, raising the income tax threshold to £11,000 was "straight out of our manifesto".

But he had a warning on public sector pay. "If average wages are increasing, it's going to be politically unsustainable to keep public sector wage increases at 1%, rather than raising them in line with inflation, because it says, 'We don't value you.""

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Katja Hall, deputy director-general of employers' organisation the CBI, describes it as a "a double-edged Budget" for business. She tells BBC business editor Kamal Ahmed that George Osborne is taking "quite a big gamble" by increasing the minimum wage, which will rise by more than 6% a year until 2020 at a time of zero inflation. "It will have a big impact on small firms in particular," she says.

Kevin Peachey tweets: "Ok everyone, take a breath. Here's what the #budget2015 means for you and your finances"

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Liberal Democrat Baroness Kramer said the Budget signalled four more years of austerity, whereas her party would have aimed for just two.

She also said young people and those leaving the care system would feel some "pretty harsh" effects, compared with "obvious winners, such as people who own homes worth a million pounds".

"That wouldn't have been a priority for us," she added.

James Plunkett, Citizens Advice tweets: "One implication of that £9 living wage: under 25s become relatively more attractive to employers. Not bad for youth unemployment #Budget2015"

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A different point of view - as you might expect - from Green MP Caroline Lucas: "Today's Budget will go down as a pivotal moment in the dismantling of the welfare state, with the government's own advisers saying that slashing the benefits cap will throw 40,000 more children into poverty."

What she's referring to is the well-trailed announcement from George Osborne that the £26,000 benefit cap for each household will be cut to £23,000 in London and £20,000 in the rest of the country.

Back in the Commons, the post-Budget questioning continues. Treasury Select Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie says that if the chancellor succeeds in balancing the books within a couple of years, he will be delivering the pace of deficit reduction that Alistair Darling sought in his March 2010 Budget. Mr Tyrie adds: "I really don't think this was ever a great economic experiment."

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Former Navy chief Admiral Lord West said he was "absolutely delighted" at the chancellor's announcement that defence spending would meet the Nato target of 2% of national spending, saying it was crucial in a "dangerous and unstable world".

He told the Press Association: "That's got to be seen very much as a minimum. My only concern is what exactly is now included in that methodology compared to two years ago? I would like a very clear explanation."

Perhaps the most eye-catching announcement in today's Budget was the move to bring in a "national living wage" of £9 an hour by 2020. Other big moves include the abolition of permanent non-dom tax status from April 2017, while the bank levy will be reduced gradually. University maintenance grants for lower income students are being axed in England and Wales from September 2016, and a new ring-fenced road fund, funded by new bands for Vehicle Excise Duty, will be created.

The BBC's Robert Peston asks the shadow chancellor whether Mr Osborne has in fact announced many changes that Labour would have made. "If they want to take our policy on the minimum wage, then fine - but it doesn't offset the tax credit cuts," Mr Leslie says.

He adds that "presumably there were things like stopping grants to lower paid students that he knew he would do at the time of the election".

"It's frustrating that in some respects they won the election on a false promise."

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Shadow chancellor Chris Leslie is speaking to the BBC News Channel now. He says for a chancellor who claimed to have a consistent plan, he has "chopped and changed".

"He seems to have conceded that the pace of the change previously planned would have had a dire effect," Mr Leslie says.

But he warns that behind the "headline tricks on rebranding the living wage... this Budget will hit those on low pay." The chancellor is taking "billions away from tax credits that people in work need".

Reaction from those in the transport industry. RAC chief engineer David Bizley says the fuel duty freeze for this year "sounds alarm bells for next year as by not extending the freeze further it potentially signals the country's first increase in duty since 2011".

He says the oil market is notoriously hard to predict so there's a chance that fuel prices will be considerably higher by the time of the Budget in March 2016 and any increase in duty would therefore have a negative effect on the economy.

Gerry Thomas emails: I'm delighted that George Osborne has capped all public sector pay to 1% per year for four years. It will be unique, and a very nice change, to see the Cabinet and MPs, who are paid out of the public sector purse, held to such a low figure. Maybe he doesn't think he's paid by the public? Maybe he's made a mistake?

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Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, says there will be some losers from today's Budget - high income earners who have buy-to-let properties and earn dividends in particular. Overall, it was a tax-raising Budget and will cut welfare spending, with a significantly less generous universal credit scheme being proposed, he says. The chancellor has also "decided to take a gentler slope" towards achieving a Budget surplus, Mr Johnson tells BBC News.

Victoria Fritz tweets: "The bookies @WilliamHillPLC now have @George_Osborne at 3/1 to be Cameron's successor. @MayorofLondon odds have lengthened to 5/2"

Nicola Sturgeon, SNP leader, tweets: £7.20ph nxt yr & £9 by 2020 is increase in minimum wage (tho offset by cuts in tax credits) but it's not living wage - LW is already £7.85

Some concern coming from business organisations about the apprenticeships levy - and saying more detail is needed.

Terry Scuoler, chief executive of manufacturers' organisation EEF, welcomed much of the Budget, but said: "Employers must be in the driving seat on [apprenticeship] reform to ensure we get the right quality of apprenticeships and training.

"There will be no tolerance for recreating the failed skills bureaucracy of the past."

The hashtag #Budget2015 is top trending worldwide on Twitter. There have been over 155,000 tweets using it. Since the chancellor's announcement of a new national living wage, the term 'living wage' has become the second most tweeted term in relation to the Budget.

Unions have been quick to attack the Budget, describing it as a "beautifully crafted con trick".

Paul Kenny, leader of the GMB, said: "On the one hand he offers a vision of a living wage which is welcome. On the other hand he is taking away money from working families without any guarantee that they will be better off.

The Public and Commercial Services union said the Budget "rewards the wealthy and punishes the poor".

A mixed reaction to the Budget from the Federation of Small Business:

Quote Message: We agree with the focus on productivity but need to see the details to raise skills through the apprenticeship levy on large firms. Planning reforms are also critical to raising productivity and again we look forward to seeing the proposals on Friday. from John Allan National Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses

We agree with the focus on productivity but need to see the details to raise skills through the apprenticeship levy on large firms. Planning reforms are also critical to raising productivity and again we look forward to seeing the proposals on Friday.

Quote Message: However, even though offset by a welcome increase in the employment allowance, some will find the new National Living Wage challenging. Changes to the treatment of dividends will also affect many of our members.

However, even though offset by a welcome increase in the employment allowance, some will find the new National Living Wage challenging. Changes to the treatment of dividends will also affect many of our members.

Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP tweets: Welcome Living Wage policy but budget spells more poverty 4 those unable to work - cuts to benefits cap increases child poverty #budget2015

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"Let's be clear, the way they have paid for less austerity is to put taxes up. According to the OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility), there are £47.2bn of additional taxes being raised," says BBC economics editor Robert Peston. He lists: changes to dividend taxation; insurance premium tax rise; changes in vehicle excise duty. The reform of tax credits is also significant, he adds, raising £4.5bn a year.

Look at the opening sentence of the Office for Budget Responsibility's report on the Budget. It says the new government has used the first Budget of this Parliament to "loosen significantly the squeeze on public spending".

In fact, £83.3bn more will be spent than Osborne promised in the last Budget - which remember was only in March. That's a huge change in the profile.

The promise that we will no longer spend more than we get in as a country has been postponed.

Jake in Wakefield emails: I may not have voted Conservative, in fact I may have campaigned for people to do quite the opposite. But, I fully support them reducing the appeal of Buy to Let (BTL) mortgages. It's a combination of BTL and foreign investors that are meaning first time buyers like me struggle to break the rent cycle.

Phew! If you missed most of that and don't want to watch it all again, we have a distillation of Mr Osborne's key changes in our "At a glance" piece. You can also see what we already knew, and what was a surprise.

Lucy Sealey emails: Baby number three is due imminently. Because of my job contract (I have a zero hours contract in the NHS) I'm only entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay. The Child Tax Credit cut comes just in time for me to miss out.

Ms Harman claims the chancellor has "ducked" big decisions on infrastructure spending. She also says the public will take NHS spending promises with a pinch of salt" from a government that has cut mental health, GP and other services.

Shops in England and Wales could be allowed to open for longer on Sundays, under budget plans.

Here's a brief history of Sunday shopping from Newsnight live

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You can find Newsnight's live page here.

George Osborne has just announced a change to rules on non-doms. It's a bit different to Labour's plan they unveiled in the election campaign but it's very much in a similar vein. 

At the time the chancellor said Labour was "tinkering around the edges" and that Labour's non-dom plan was "a total shambles". Maybe it was Ed Miliband's only legacy, after all.

More at Newsnight Live

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Reaction from Greenpeace to the announcement of a new emissions-based vehicle excise duty - and the decision to put all the money raised from it into new roads.

Director Dr Doug Parr says the changes could "provide less incentive for the low carbon vehicles that, ironically, the UK automotive sector is a leader in".

"It diverts money into roads at a time when health and best interest is served by encouraging active travel like walking and cycling. This feels like a very 1980s approach."

Ben Mackenzie tweets: Not happy with this National Living Wage, I see unskilled people already struggling to find work on minimum wage. #budget2015

Rob Mckenzie tweets: Harriet Harman is typical old Labour, clutching at straws to cobble together a response to #budget2015

How does the promised living wage compare with the national minimum wage? Well, currently, the latter for those aged 21 and over is £6.50, up from £5.93 in 2010. From October it will be £6.70.

So at £7.20 an hour, April's new living wage will give people 50p more than they would have got otherwise.

Ms Harman spends some time picking apart the chancellor's announcements on transport. She says people are weary of hearing the "same old re-announcements on roads" - "They could resurface the A14 with the government's press releases on roads."

Jack Redfern tweets: National living wage is welcome, but overdue and an obvious ploy to distract from sweeping, devastating, and murderous cuts #budget2015

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Ms Harman says the government is "playing politics with this Budget" - and that it's more about tactics by the chancellor "to help him move next door".

Norman Smith tweets: "So Budget of Big Decisions. National Living Wage. 4 years of Benefit and public sector pay freezes. Tax cuts for 29 million"

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Ms Harman says the northern powerhouse needs rail investment, which is on pause.

Robert Peston tweets: "OBR confirms that there is a big loosening since March budget in public service cuts and slowdown in deficit reduction #budget2015"

Now it's acting Labour leader Harriet Harman's turn to come back on the Budget. She opens with an accusation that the government is "making working people worse off by cutting tax credits and help for the poorest students".

She says the chancellor has not done enough to stop tax avoidance, and that growth has been revised down this year.

Helen Barnard tweets: Has the Chancellor just renamed the Minimum wage the national living wage? #budget2015

That brings to an end the Budget speech - the first all Conservative Budget since 1996.

Mr Osborne's final flourish: "One purpose, one policy, one nation."

OBR suggests a small impact on jobs from hiking the minimum wage up to a living wage - about 60,000 jobs. Corporation tax will be cut to help employers though, the chancellor says - 2.5m people will get a direct pay rise.

Iain Duncan Smith likes the living wage announcement. A lot.

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Andrew Verity tweets: "#Budget2015 @BBCNews At £7.20 next year the minimum wage will be a 11% rise from the current £6.50"

Mr Osborne says he will meet the Nato pledge to spend 2% of national income on defence - every year of this decade. That's a big win for Conservative backbenchers.

"While those commitments don't come cheap, the alternatives are far more costly," he says.

He also "guarantees" a real increase in the defence budget every year, and a joint security fund of £1.5 billion a year by the end of the parliament.

Rates of income tax remain unchanged but the thresholds do not. The personal allowance goes up to £11,000 from next year. The threshold at which the higher rate kicks in will go up to £43,000. 29m people will pay less tax, he says.

Louise Cooper tweets: Some sense finally #budget2015 limiting additional welfare support to two children. At last. If you want loads of kids, you pay for them.

Matthew Ellison tweets: The welfare reforms put forward are both practical and wholly justified! It's about time. #conservatives #budget2015

The £26,000 cap on benefits will be reduced to £23,000 in London and £20,000 outside the capital - we knew that was coming. Subsidised rents for the better-off will be cut as well, he says. As we also expected, tax credits and Universal Credit support will only apply to the first two children.

Another telling off for a "gang of three" MPs whom the Deputy Speaker says are causing trouble. "Our constituents need to hear this Budget," he says.

Andrew Verity tweets: "#Budget2015 @BBCNews A cut of £9bn in tax credits is a huge cut - bigger than the budget of most government departments"

Tom in Cardiff emails: I fully support these cuts to welfare. As a 27-year-old man who has been with his partner for nine years we feel like we are being punished for actually taking responsibility for our lives. We both work and want kids but understand we cannot have any until we can feasibly afford them. We're so fed up of seeing people take no responsibility for their lives and are given everything that we have to work so hard for, such as a house and a half decent wage.

Rents paid in the social housing sector will be reduced by 1% a year for the next four years, and the income threshold in tax credits will be reduced, from £6,420 to £3,850.

Universal Credit work allowances will be similarly reduced - and will no longer be awarded to non-disabled claimants without children.

The rate at which a household's tax credit award is reduced as they earn more will be increased.

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The chancellor has been on his feet at the dispatch box since 12.33. Budget statements usually last for about an hour.

The longest continuous Budget speech was by William Gladstone on 18 April 1853, lasting 4 hours and 45 minutes. Benjamin Disraeli's speech in 1852 lasted 5 hours but included a break.

Robert Peston tweets: "Big lowering in tax thresholds for removal of tax credits - raid on tax credits received by higher-paid people #budget2015"

The government will legislate to freeze working age benefits for four years, the chancellor says, so that "earnings growth will catch up and overtake the growth in benefits".

That will include Tax Credits and Local Housing Allowance.

Statutory payments like Maternity Pay and the disability benefits - PIP, DLA and ESA Support Group will be excluded from the freeze.

"We spend more on family benefits in Britain than Germany France or Sweden." Earnings have risen by 11% since the crash, while benefits have gone up by 21%. He wants to end the "ratchet" of ever-higher housing benefit "chasing up" rents.

Diane Abbott, Labour MP tweets: So @George_Osborne removes student maintenance grants. And he claims to be in favour of aspiration #SummerBudget

Brief intervention from the Deputy Speaker telling MPs to calm down. "Let's not spoil it before we get to the end," he says.

The MPs started to get noisier, by the way, as the chancellor set out how much the tax credits system costs the country.

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From September 2017, all working parents of three and four-year-olds will receive free childcare of up to 30 hours a week, he says. This was a key election manifesto pledge.

"As a result we now expect parents with a youngest child aged three, including lone parents, to look for work if they want to claim Universal Credit," he adds.

The chancellor says those aged 18 to 21 must either earn or learn, so he is abolishing automatic entitlement to housing benefit for that age group. This, he says, this will be new "youth obligation".

Carolyn Rice tweets: "30 hrs of free childcare for parents of 3-4 year olds from 2017. Nurseries said this would be tough in run up to election."

As we knew, the BBC will to take on responsibility for funding free TV licences for the over 75s. In return the government will "give our valued public broadcaster a sustainable income for the long term".

This is important: The government will not tax or means-test disability benefits, he tells the Commons.

"Welfare spending is not sustainable," the chancellor says, and "traps people into dependency". He says he wants a "lower tax, lower welfare". Remember, the government needs to find £12bn of welfare savings.

Mr Osborne has been cutting corporation tax. It's now at 20%. But he's cutting it again! 19% in 2017 in a bid to create more jobs. It will then fall to 18% by 2020.

Paula Callanan emails: I am disappointed. My mother-in-law passed away in January and my husband has to sell the family home to pay inheritance tax. We had hoped the allowance would be raised immediately.

Beverly Road tweets: Ending maintenance grants & slashing inheritance tax. Osborne clearly cares more about the dead than the young. #Budget2015

Mr Osborne says the dividend tax system is "complex and archaic". He's replacing dividend tax credit with a tax-free allowance of £5,000 of dividend income for all taxpayers.

The rates of dividend tax will be set at 7.5%, 32.5% and 38.1%.

Mr Osborne says he will be looking for ways to increase saving, rather than having "an economy based on debt". "Now it's time we look at the other end of the age scale, people starting pensions," he goes on. Pensions could be treated now like ISAs, being taken from taxed income, he suggests. Although there'll be a consultation before he decides, he says.

Robert Peston tweets: Least surprising announcement in #budget2015 - inheritance tax threshold raised, as set out in Tory election campaign

The new allowance will be on top of the existing £325,000 threshold which will be fixed until the end of 2020-21, Mr Osborne says. Both allowances can be transferred to your spouse or partner.

The government will "taper the relief" away for estates worth more than £2 million. He says the cut in inheritance tax will be paid for by changes to the pensions tax relief to the highest earners.

"No more inheritance tax on family homes. Aspiration supported," he says.

Duncan Weldon tweets: Potential big shakeup of pension industry ahead, consultation to follow. Not sure the industry will welcome another big change. #budget2015

Wanting to pass something onto your children is the most "basic, human and natural aspiration there is", Mr Osborne says.

From 2017, there will be a new £175,000 allowance on homes left to children or grandchildren, allowing £1 million to be passed on tax-free.

"Promise made, promise delivered," he adds with a flourish.

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Boris Johnson nods as George Osborne tells MPs: "It is to the nation's great advantage that we have one of the world's great capitals."

Mortgage interest payments can be offset against income for buy-to-let landlords, an unfair advantage over people buying homes to live in, he says. This has fuelled buy-to-let mortgages, which are now 15% of the market. Mortgage interest relief will be restricted to the basic rate of interest, he says. Room rental tax relief will be raised to £7,500.

Shopping baskets at the ready. As expected, there'll be the option to relax Sunday trading hours. Local councils and their Mayors will have the power to set the hours in their areas.

"Let local people decide," the chancellor says.

Simon Gompertz tweets: "Blow for buy to let landlords - their mortgage interest relief to be restricted to basic rate of income tax #summerbudget"

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By tradition, the chancellor, can drink alcohol during the Budget Speech if they wish.

George Osborne has previously chosen to drink mineral water, as did his predecessor Alistair Darling.

Other chancellors have chosen mineral water (Gordon Brown), whisky (Kenneth Clarke), spritzer (Nigel Lawson), gin and tonic (Geoffrey Howe), brandy and water (Benjamin Disraeli) and sherry and beaten egg (William Ewart Gladstone).

Northern powerhouse alert! He has agreed to devolve control of fire services, land and children services to Greater Manchester. Other councils are discussing the matter. £30m of funding to be given to a body to provide Oyster card style public transport payments in the north.

Nick Robinson tweets: "Bad news for students - maintenance grants replaced with loans. Better news - increase in amount you can get #Budget2015"

Andrew Harvey tweets: @BBC_HaveYourSay #budget2015 The Government obviously want to keep higher education the preserve of the rich

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On apprenticeships, George Osborne promises "a radical, and frankly long overdue approach".

There will be a new apprenticeship levy on all large firms - firms that offer apprenticeships can "get more back than they put in".

He says it will bring three million more apprenticeships, and the money will be "directly controlled by employers".

Douglas Carswell, UKIP MP, tweets: Every budget George Osborne has unveiled has pushed back date at which books will be balanced. He's done it again

As expected, from 2016/17 student maintenance grants will be replaced by loans, payable on incomes above £21,000. The government will consult on freezing that threshold for five years. This is "fairer" on tax payers, Mr Osborne says.

For new cars, the duty in the first year will be set according to emissions, like today, but updated for new technology. "Thereafter there will be three duty bands - zero emission, standard and premium."

In the last 25 years there's only been 300 miles of new motorway, he says. By 2017 three quarters of new cars will pay no vehicle duty in the first year. This is "not sustainable" he says. From 2017, new cars will pay emissions-based vehicle excise duty, he says, £140 on average. No extra revenue will be raised, but it will be "more secure", and the money will be spent on roads, he adds.

Duncan Weldon tweets: "Apprenticeship levy on all firms - idea being to tackle free rider problems. #budget2015"

Robert Peston tweets: Vehicle Excise Duty being re-introduced for all brand new cars, & there will be bands depending on how polluting they are #budget2015

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There's more money for recipients of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association on their 75th anniversary, and for a permanent memorial for victims of terrorism overseas, including those murdered in Tunisia.

Other funding includes £50 million to expand the number of cadet units in state schools to 500 and an extra helicopter for the Children's Air Ambulance.

Institute of Directors tweets: "Non-dom status is important to attract foreign investors and entrepreneurs - - @Stephen_Herring #Budget2015"

Claims management companies will be more strictly regulated and insurance premium tax will be raised to 9.5% from November.

Terrie Crawford tweets: @BBC_HaveYourSay Well I think some of those London billionaires will be packing their bags now

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On the bank levy, the chancellor says: "I will, over the next six years, gradually reduce the bank levy rate - and after that make sure it no longer applies to worldwide balance sheets."

He says he will introduce a new 8% surcharge on bank profits from the 1 January next year.

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Deputy Speaker Lindsay Hoyle is in the Speaker's chair for the Budget statement.

Traditionally, the Deputy Speaker (Chairman of Ways and Means) chairs the Budget rather than the Speaker. It is convention that financial demands from the King should be overseen by the House's 'own man' rather than the Speaker, who was seen as the King's spy.

He reminded MPs not to intervene on the chancellor.

Simon Jack tweets: "RAID on bank profits! Offsets lowered bank levy."

An extra £750m will be set aside for HMRC to raise £2bn of extra tax combating tax evaders.

The onto non-domicile tax rules, in place since 1914. He says they have an "important place" and won't be dumped outright, but "it is not fair for people to be born in the UK" to non-dom parents and then claim to be non-doms themselves. Putting homes in offshore companies is not fair either, nor is permanent use of the status, he says. From 2017, non-doms who've spent 15 of the last 20 years in the UK will pay the same tax as everyone else, he says. The new rules will raise £1.5bn.

Kate Chhatawal tweets: Apparently a strong 7-day #NHS depends on strong economies. Surely it depends on having enough high quality doctors and nurses? #budget2015

Alan Bennett, in Weston Super Mare, emails: Hardworking people are fed up hearing about families being better off on welfare than working. It is vital that this government makes it impossible for welfare payments to exceed national or regional minimum wages.

The chancellor says he will continue recent public sector pay awards with a rise of 1% per year for the next four years.

Mr Osborne says "our priority is the NHS". There will be savings made though, he confirms. As promised, during the election, it will receive £8bn on top of the extra £2bn provided this year, or £10bn a year more by 2020.

Duncan Weldon tweets: "£37bn of fiscal consolidation needed over Parliament. Half of that set out today, other half at Spending Review. #budget2015"

Paul Walker in Belfast emails: In reference to your emailer Simon Gilmour at 12.39, I have five kids and work anywhere from 37-50 hours per week. My wife works 28 hours per week and we have one child in day care three days a week for whom we receive help with childcare costs. Tax credits make up a tiny proportion of our income but give us a little room for manoeuvre. Believe me your taxes in no way help me live or make any difference to my lifestyle!

Playing Budget bingo?

We're hearing some of anticipated rhetoric from chancellor - some of it heard in the last Budget, and frankly a few before that as well.

"This is a one nation Government," he says.

"Britain is back in the black"

"We should always fix the roof while the sun is shining."

And of course: "Those with the broadest shoulders are bearing the greatest burden."

£69.5bn for the fiscal year we are in, £43.1bn next fiscal year and £23.3bn in 2017/18. Then it will be £6.4bn in the year to April 2019. The BBC's Robert Peston says this is a much slower pace of reduction than planned - there wont be a surplus until 2020, when it's forecast to be £10bn.

Mr Osborne talks up this achievements over the last five years:

"Our tax receipts are stronger than forecast, showing the recovery is firmly entrenched.

"Second - as a strong majority government we've been able to get on with making extra savings in this financial year.

"Third - we can make faster progress in returning our banks, including RBS, to where they belong - the private sector."

Stephen Birt emails: I would like to offer my full support of the overall objectives of the budget, and I am sure the detail will be in line with the objectives of low tax and low welfare society in the UK, because this promotes individual growth and prosperity and disconnection from continued subsidising of low income work. We voted for a Conservative government. Now let them please get on with the job and mandate they have.

Mr Osborne wants to run a surplus. The deficit - that's the gap between borrowing and income - was 10.2% of national income in 2010. This year it's expected to be 3.7% and 2.2% in 2016/17.

Robert Peston tweets: "George_Osborne has significant slowed pace of deficit reduction - less austerity.No surplus till 2019/20 now. #budget2015"

Robert Peston tweets: "@George_Osborne smooths path of public spending cuts - big first economic and political judgement #budget2015"

"We should cut the deficit at the same pace as we did on the last parliament," he says.

"At this pace the national debt is lower as a share of our national income in every future year than when I presented the Budget in March. And it is achieved without a rollercoaster ride in public spending."

Jonty Bloom tweets: Cutting deficit at same pace as in last parliament #budget2015 so not using end of coalition to accelerate

Business investment was 31.9% higher than 2010 and revised up again this year.

OBR forecast: more than two million more people in work since start of last Parliament. One million more expected in next five years.

George Osborne says living standards are rising "strongly", but "Britain still spends too much, borrows too much."

Now there's that line that we've heard Conservative MPs pushing this morning. Mr Osborne says: "The greatest mistake this country could make would be to think all our problems are solved.

"You only have to look at the crisis unfolding in Greece as I speak, to realise that if a country's not in control of its borrowing, the borrowing takes control of the country."

George Osborne sings the UK's economic praises. "The British economy I report on today is fundamentally stronger than it was five years ago. We're growing faster than any other major advanced economy. Our businesses have created two million more jobs."

Simon Gilmour in Edinburgh emails: Classic BBC reporting - all doom and gloom about the Conservatives balancing the books. I for one am delighted that people will be forced to live within their means and taxpayers will not be expected to pay for couples having three and four children. It's still ridiculous that people can receive £23,000 from benefits, and that's tax free!

"This is the new settlement", he says. "A Budget that sets out a plan for Britain for the next five years to keep moving us from a low wage, high tax, high welfare economy; to the higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare country we intend to create."

Mr Osborne opens with: "This is a Budget that puts security first, and recognises the hard-working British people."

George Osborne is on his feet.

Labour MP Karin Smyth says her constituents are still waiting for the roll out of universal credit - and asks whether the government will finish implementing it's previous policies before introducing new ones about to be announced in the Budget

The prime minister says he won't apologise for taking the roll out of universal credit at a "proper pace", and that the old system was riddled with problems.

David McAuley, chief executive of food bank operators The Trussell Trust, says: "We have two simple tests for the Budget being delivered today.

"Firstly, what does it do to reduce the number of people in poverty and hunger? Secondly, what does it do to ensure the government is supporting the work of charities and social enterprise in taking people out of poverty?

"Our figures show the number of people fed by food banks remains at its highest ever level after a period of cost of living rises, a pay squeeze, and issues for welfare recipients caused by recent reforms."

Looks as though the chancellor has cut off his former colleagues - @LibDemPress say he's blocking them from viewing his Twitter account.

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Norman Smith tweets: PM promises there will not be "an indefinite" pause to trans Pennine rail improvements #PMQs #budget2015

Katie Frame, London, emails: How are social housing residents supposed to afford market value rent? That's rent going from £650 to £2500-£3000 a month in Camden. That's ridiculous. You're just punishing the hardworking people. Cutting working tax credits will just discourage people from actually going to work.

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Talking now about English Votes for English Laws - EVEL, as it's become known - which Labour have argued will "rip up" hundreds of years of parliamentary procedure.

The government believes bills applying exclusively to England should not become law without the explicit consent of MPs from English constituencies.

David Cameron hits out at Harriet Harman, saying: "For once lets talk about the substance rather than the process.

"Legislation shouldn't be passed on English matters against the will of English MPs."

Ms Harman says Labour agrees there is a problem, but it's got to be done properly.

She says the PM should recognise "the strength of feeling about proper processes on all sides of the house, and consult properly" or he's breaking a manifesto promise.

Robert Peston tweets: "First budget in years where I expect something big & haven't clue what it is. Some may see that as progress, not me! #budget2015"

#Budget2015 @BBCNews Cutting wage subsidies hurts workers more than employers, according to this learned article.

"Basically this #PMQs session from Harman is just 'ask about things until it's time for the Budget and everyone forgets this session'."

tweets: I will watch eagerly to see if his plan to balance the economy on the backs of the low earning will work #budget2015

tweets: Son is starting uni in Sept and even with loans and grants I have huge shortfall to make up for him. This is devastating for us. #budget2015

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Acting Labour leader Harriet Harman is asking questions. She's focusing on the Human Rights Act, arguing the government should abandon plans to replace it with a British Bill of Rights. Mr Cameron says there were human rights - i.e. magna carta - long before the Human Rights Act.

tweets: Without a grant I would never have made it to university and into a job I love. How does the next generation stand a chance? #Budget2015

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David Cameron is answering questions in the Commons.

Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake says without his party in coalition, the Conservative message to people is "you're on your own".

"We want a situation where employers aren't relying on tax credits to top up wages, but simply removing working tax credits from people is not going to force employers to do anything about wages.

"Unless there is something in the Budget to address that as well, this is simply going to be a case of punishing the poor."

tweets: I have 3 children with #autism and don't work due to their needs. Not looking forward to hearing #budget2015

Prime minister's questions is now under way. The Budget speech will follow at around 12:30pm.

City slickers will have an ear out for any mention of the bank levy. An outright cut is unlikely, thinks BBC business editor Kamal Ahmed - cutting banker tax while cutting welfare probably wouldn't go down too well - but a review could be on the cards, he says. The bank levy is a tax on bank balance sheets (loans, basically). Larger banks like HSBC pay the most, and it is that bank which has been threatening to leave the UK for sunnier regulatory climes.

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Labour MP for Manchester Central and shadow Cabinet Office minister Lucy Powell asks: "Is this going to be an economy and a recovery that reaches all parts of the country? We haven't seen that over the last five years."

And she adds: "The changes to tax credits are going to hit low and middle income families really hard."

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Personal finance correspondent Simon Gompertz is in Norwich, weighing up what the Budget may mean for the pound in your pocket. Inheritance tax and benefits cuts are the topics viewers are emailing him about. Get in touch with him on haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk

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As well as cutting the welfare budget, Mr Osborne will be looking to find ways to improve people's wages - the question is how will he do it?

The BBC's economics editor Robert Peston explains: "The problem is our output per worker has been flatlining since 2013.

"That matters because we can't afford to pay ourselves more if we're not producing more."

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Just in case you'd forgotten this slightly awkward moment from the last Budget... A day after George Osborne showed off his red box, then chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander produced his yellow one.

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"They no longer have the excuse of coalition," says BBC political editor Nick Robinson, meaning Conservative election promises like an inheritance tax cut are likely to feature. Better-than-expected tax revenue will mean a bit of money to throw around, he adds.

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The House of Commons has opened for business ahead of today's Budget statement.

MPs start with international development questions followed by prime minister's questions. George Osborne will step up to the despatch box to deliver his Budget at 12.30 BST.

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Anti-cuts protesters have blocked Whitehall chanting "Balls to the Budget" and brandishing banners bearing anti-austerity slogans.

Among those stopping the traffic were disabled people urging an end to benefit cuts.

Dozens of police officers lined up in front of the Downing Street gates as the demonstrators threw plastic balls towards them.

The chancellor told the cabinet this morning that his first ever Conservative-only Budget would "put our country firmly on the path from a high tax, high welfare society to a lower tax, lower welfare society".

George Osborne added it would put the UK on a "strong solid foundation to security" in the years ahead.

The prime minister's official spokesman said cabinet members banged the table at times to show their support for the chancellor.

The discussion on the Budget lasted an hour and a quarter.

'Whatever Osborne says today, remember bigger economic picture with not just Greece but bigger prob still-China meltdown in the offing'

Right let's have a quick recap of what we know, or what we think we know, is coming up in the Budget:

- The Student Maintenance Allowance looks set to be scrapped

- Tax credits face changes with limits for families with more than two children

- Social housing tenants earning more than £40,000 in London and £30,0000 in the rest of the country will be expected to pay market rents

- The benefits cap is to be lowered to £23,000 in London and £20,000 elsewhere

- The chancellor is expected to increase the threshold at which the 40% rate of tax kicks in

- There's a good chance Mr Osborne will also increase the personal allowance from £10,600 earlier than anticipated

- Some people are suggesting the chancellor could even merge National Insurance and income tax

- It's expected the chancellor will increase the inheritance tax threshold to £1m

- And it's likely that the Right to Buy scheme will be extended to tenants housing associations

- Finally, we already know that the government will amend Sunday trading laws

- And the BBC will have to pay for free TV licences for the over 75s starting in 2018

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George Osborne and his team recently departed 11 Downing Street.

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As usual, the Treasury team appear outside Number 11 Downing Street for the traditional Budget photo. Now it's off to the Commons.

BBC Economics editor Robert Peston tweets:

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National Union of Students President Megan Dunn has given her reaction to the news that the Student Maintenance Allowance looks set to be axed - and it's not positive. 

Quote Message: Cutting maintenance grants would be detrimental to hundreds of thousands of our poorest students who currently rely on it, and could risk putting many people off applying to university. We know that our poorest students are the most likely to be deterred by debt, but it could also affect where students choose to live and which courses to take. It will mean staying at home instead of moving into halls or shared accommodation and applying for shorter courses to reduce costs."

Cutting maintenance grants would be detrimental to hundreds of thousands of our poorest students who currently rely on it, and could risk putting many people off applying to university. We know that our poorest students are the most likely to be deterred by debt, but it could also affect where students choose to live and which courses to take. It will mean staying at home instead of moving into halls or shared accommodation and applying for shorter courses to reduce costs."

"Big. Very big". That's how one well-placed insider responded when asked about today's Budget.

It ought to be. After all, this is the first Conservative budget in almost 20 years. The last was delivered by Ken Clarke in 1996. It has to deliver promises repeated for so long but yet to be delivered, like the cut to inheritance tax.

It has to fulfil the Tories' stated goals of cutting spending, cutting welfare and cutting tax whilst still claiming to be the "workers' party" pursuing a One Nation "we're all in it together" philosophy.

Read more on Nick's blog here

It's thought that the chancellor may cut the working tax credit, which tops up the income of the low paid and costs £30bn year.

But will George Osborne adjust National Insurance and income tax to compensate? Paul Lewis, the presenter of Radio 4's Money Box, has this useful info.

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A chipper-looking David Cameron leaving Downing Street a short time ago.

Need a hand discerning your fiscal drag from your structural deficit? Here's our guide to help you to decode what the chancellor is saying as he delivers the Budget.

John McFarlane will ostensibly use his position as executive chairman to lead the hunt for a new chief executive following the defenestration of Antony Jenkins - also known as "The Saint". I asked, pretty bluntly, if Mr Jenkins was fired. "Yes, he was definitely asked to leave and it was a board decision, fully endorsed by me. I was approached by the senior independent director, who convened a session of the non-execs, who came to me and said 'I think we need new leadership and we need it quickly, would you prepared to step in?'" Read more.

Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis quits his job in the same week that a job opens up at Barclays. Perfect timing?

There is much speculation that the Chancellor will make changes to the tax relief for pensions in his budget today. BBC personal finance reporter Simon Gompertz tweets:

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Mr McFarlane says he crafted the press release on Mr Jenkins' departure himself. It mentions the departed CEO's cultural inroads at the lender, but then spends a lot more time on "bureaucracy" at the bank, value left "on the table" and "shareholder returns". Back to the old Barclays? "I chaired my first board meeting where we had very large fines for foreign exchange," so the need for cultural change is not lost on him, he says. It's "only halfway through". Still, Barclays needs to be "hard driving" and a new set of values will be "superimposed" on the old ones.

Lawrence Jones founded the Manchester-based technology firm UKFast. He emails:

Quote Message: I don’t always agree with Boris Johnson, but we are on the same page when it comes to encouraging businesses to pay the living wage. Raising the personal allowance is a step in the right direction, helping those on lower pay to keep more of their money, but I simply don’t understand why, as the owner of a company, you would want to pay your team the bare minimum? This makes no long term sense, as it doesn’t inspire loyalty and it definitely doesn’t make people feel valued. The government shouldn’t have to subsidize business owners whose practices are archaic and ineffective.” from Lawrence Jones Founder, UKFast,

I don’t always agree with Boris Johnson, but we are on the same page when it comes to encouraging businesses to pay the living wage. Raising the personal allowance is a step in the right direction, helping those on lower pay to keep more of their money, but I simply don’t understand why, as the owner of a company, you would want to pay your team the bare minimum? This makes no long term sense, as it doesn’t inspire loyalty and it definitely doesn’t make people feel valued. The government shouldn’t have to subsidize business owners whose practices are archaic and ineffective.”

The timing of today's news of Antony Jenkins's sacking - Budget day! - is a "coincidence" Barclays executive chairman John McFarlane tells reporters. The decision was made last night at a board meeting. He's in no real rush to appoint a successor, he says. And there's no plan to raise fresh capital. The bank will strengthen its capital safety net through "self-help" he says, which probably means keeping some of its profits or selling or shutting capital-heavy businesses.

  BBC News assistant political editor tweets:  

Email Message: We are a family with 5 children, I work full time as a postman, my youngest is almost 2 and my partner looks after her, as her working is impossible, as we would be worse off!  

Any tax credit cuts will be crippling, childcare is sky high and unaffordable, over £100 for 3 half days!  These cuts won't just affect those who dont work, it appears I would have to choose between buying food or paying my bills. It's all wrong.

from Business live reader Vincent Pulling

We are a family with 5 children, I work full time as a postman, my youngest is almost 2 and my partner looks after her, as her working is impossible, as we would be worse off!  

Any tax credit cuts will be crippling, childcare is sky high and unaffordable, over £100 for 3 half days!  These cuts won't just affect those who dont work, it appears I would have to choose between buying food or paying my bills. It's all wrong.

The Financial Times leads on the suspension of company shares on Chinese stock markets as concerns over steep share price falls grows. On the Budget it says George Osborne will use his summer Budget to usher in a lower tax, lower welfare Britain. It speculates the chancellor could raise the personal allowance from its current level of £10,600 to £12,500 more quickly than anticipated to ease the pain of cuts to things like tax credits. Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph hails a £1,300 windfall for middle-income earners as a result of a raise to the higher income tax threshold.

"This is very much his moment, this is the one that he wants to be remembered for, "The Sun's political editor Tom Newton-Dunn tells Radio 5 live Breakfast "This is his Nigel Lawson moment in 1988 (when the then chancellor announced a 2p cut in the rate of income tax), " he says. "He is a chancellor at the start of his second term He is untouched and unparalleled in terms of his political prestige and power, says Mr Newton-Dunn. There will be surprises, he adds.

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The Guardian reports on George Osborne's plan to slow the pace of those £12bn of welfare cuts. The first £8bn will happen over two years, the paper reckons. The Times heralds tax cuts for the middle class. As well as a higher threshold for the 40% tax rate, the paper predicts "bold" moves on welfare, education, the north and English devolution.

Kevin Daly, managing director and senior economist at Goldman Sachs tells Today: "This is the most important budget for the next five years... the chancellor will set out his fiscal strategy for the whole parliament." However, "the bad news is the deficit is still quite large" and for Mr Osborne it is "increasingly difficult to justify that on weak economic growth."

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This is what Mr Straw is referring to: Mr Cameron said he did not want to cut child benefit or child tax credits if he won the election, but that it was possible to save more from the welfare budget. Asked if this amounted to an "absolute guarantee," he said child tax credit "would not fall" and child benefit was "one of the most important benefits there is" and did not need to change.

BBC 5 Live's chief political correspondent John Pienaar tells Radio 5 live Breakfast today's Budget is going to be different from several in the past few years. "It's the first true blue Budget since 1996," he says. George Osborne is a "deficit hawk" and he will squeeze benefits "significantly". But Mr Osborne will attempt to do what Margaret Thatcher did by "recruiting people to the Tory cause" and "making them feel that there is something in it for them," he says. "George Osborne is a very, very political operator, don't forget," John adds. "He is still trying to get through the pain as early as possible so that he has some room for giveaways towards the end of the parliament and nearer to the next election."

What else might we expect from today's Budget? Well, tax is likely to be a tricky issue. George Osborne has "tied his hands a little bit on tax," Paul Johnson of the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) tells Radio 5 live Breakfast. He cannot raise income tax, national insurance or VAT, he says, as Mr Osborne has already promised to enshrine in law restrictions to tax rises in these areas. It might be worth watching for ways in which the chancellor looks to raise taxes in less obvious and direct ways, Mr Johnson adds.

"It's going to be very difficult for the childcare sector to cover the cost" Wendy Hartley director of Brown Bear childcare tells Wake Up to Money of the reduction in tax credits. She says the childcare sector will come under even more pressure than it already is without government stepping in to cover some of its costs. Nurseries would like to pay their staff more but simply can't afford to, she says. "We're already being squeezed at both ends with the government fixing fees and demanding we increase quality of training," she adds.

Some Budget analysis from the BBC's Assistant Political Editor Norman Smith: "Tax credits are likely to be hit but the overall pace of the pain of benefit cuts will be eased considerably" from what was a "hugely daunting" target. "Today he [George Osborne] has delayed the benefit cut timetable, but these are significant benefit cuts," he adds. "The great unknown is whether he will incentivise businesses to pay people more."

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So what we think we know so far about today's first Conservative Budget in (nearly) 20 years is this: The chancellor is expected to raise the threshold at which people pay the 40p rate of tax and is expected to announced a further increase to the personal allowance from £10,600. Mr Osborne is also expected to ease the pace of spending cuts spreading the £12bn of cuts out over three years instead of two has previously proposed. Tax credits are expected to be in the firing line with families with more than two children expected to be hit hardest by the cuts. Otherwise, unusually, the chancellor is playing his cards pretty close to his chest.

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More analysis from Tina Riches on today's likely changes to tax. One of the more heavily-flagged changes is likely to be in inheritance tax. Mr Osborne will probably give taxpayers an extra allowance per person of £175,000. It means a couple with a £1m home won't pay inheritance tax when they pass it on. It helps people most in homes, and therefore people in the southeast, she adds.

It's been styled an emergency budget, but an emergency for who, asks Today presenter Simon Jack? Tina Riches tax partner at Smith & Williamson says George Osborne has "made it more difficult for himself by restricting the main rates including income tax" but he could remove some tax reliefs, she says, or cut the annual investment allowance for small businesses if he needs to raise money.

Many of the measures that are gong to be brought forward in today's Budget have been widely flagged, James Bevan, chief investment Officer at CCLA Investment Management tells Wake Up to Money. The City will be watching for any announcements on the timing of the privatisation of Royal Bank of Scotland, he says. It will also be watching for anything on the "Northern powerhouse" Mr Osborne has talked about in the past and what the chancellor might propose in terms of rebalancing the economy away from London and the south east, he adds.

You should know the drill by now but just in case, do let us know what you think about Greece, the Budget - are you worried about the cuts and how they will affect you for example - or anything else that you may want to get off your chest. We're here for you at bizlivepage@bbc.co.uk and on twitter at @bbcbusiness.

Morning folks. It's all about the Summer Budget today. There may be some more developments in the Greek debt crisis and the Halifax is publishing its latest house price index, but otherwise today the focus is very much going to be on the homefront and where the Chancellor's proposed £12bn of cuts are going to land. It's going to be a very busy day, we'll do our best to keep up and bring you everything as it happens.