How the budget will affect me – from pints to pensions

THE Budget happened at 12.30pm yesterday and was full of booze tax cuts, spending plans and a couple of major surprises.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered his second Budget of the year to a packed House of Commons.

The Budget lays out the state of the nation’s finances and suggest proposals for changes to taxation over the next year too.

It also includes forecasts for the economy by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

The Chancellor's announcements affect everything from the price you pay for a pint at the pub to how much you might get paid at work.

Here we round up some of the most important announcements.

What was announced in the Autumn Budget 2021

One measure which had been widely trailed in advance was the plan to increase the minimum wage to £9.50 an hour, a move that will give millions of Brits a pay rise.

That's up from the current £8.91 by an extra 59p an hour.

It works out at an extra £20.65 per week, roughly the same amount that Universal Credit claimants saw their payments cut by when the £20 a week uplift was axed earlier this month.

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This could even trigger another rise in three year's time that would see Brits paid a minimum of as much as £10.50 an hour.

The Chancellor has also ended a public sector pay freeze, which will be a boost to teachers, civil servants and police wages.

The public sector pay freeze was brought in last November after Covid ravaged the economy.

Elsewhere, the Chancellor will launch a £3billion skills revolution to train thousands of British workers for better-paid jobs.

It's all part of his plan to “level up” across the UK.

One of the biggest overhauls announced was a revamp of alcohol duty.

Rishi Sunak has confirmed an overhaul of taxation on alcohol, branding the duty of 28% on sparkling wines as "irrational".

He announced a new Draught Relief on drinks served from draught containers over 40 litres.

Mr Sunak said the move would mean a permanent cut in the cost of a pint of 3p.

Retail and hospitality businesses such as pubs, cinemas and restaurants will also be handed a 50% discount on their business rates.

The Budget at a glance:

• Beer prices cut from tonight as Rishi Sunak promises cheaper wine in alcohol duty shake-up
• Major boost for struggling pubs as business rates are SLASHED giving hope to British boozers
• Long haul holidays to get more expensive but Air Passenger Duty is slashed on domestic flights
• Wage boost for millions of public sector workers as pay freeze scrapped
• Minimum wage rises to £9.50 in bumper news for 2million Brits 
• £435million crime blitz confirmed including help for rape victims and more CCTV
• Massive Universal Credit shake-up means 2million can keep an extra £1,000 a year
• Cost of pack of cigarettes to go up to £13.60 from 6pm TONIGHT as Chancellor hikes tobacco tax
• Free school meals for millions of pupils and boot camps for kids as Rishi Sunak unveils £3bn skills revolution
• Rishi Sunak announces £11.5bn to build 180,000 affordable homes including 160,000 new homes on brownfield land
• Fuel duty increase to be SCRAPPED in victory for The Sun’s Keep It Down campaign

These industries were hit hardest by the pandemic, with many forced to close their doors for months.

It was also announced that that the government will spend millions of pounds a year on continuing the Holiday Activities and Food programme which means children can continue to get free school meals and activities throughout holidays.

In more public spending, Mr Sunak also revealed plans for 180,000 affordable homes as part of his bumper autumn 2021 Budget.

It will help the government reach its target of building 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s.

But it's bad news for smokers as they will see the price of cigarettes hit a massive £13.60 from tonight after the Chancellor revealed a tobacco tax hike today.

It means the price of a 20-pack will soar by up to 88p, with the extra levy coming into effect from 6pm tonight.

Victory for The Sun

The Sun landed a couple of major victories in the budget, including the scrapping of a hike to fuel duty.

Mr Sunak ditched plans to bring in a 2.84p hike in fuel duty in a great win for The Sun's Keep It Down campaign.

Fuel duty has now been frozen for 12 years in a row.

And a spectacular victory came in the surprise announcement that the Universal Credit taper rate will be slashed by 8%.

The surprise announcement will mean 1.7 million workers will be able to keep an extra £1,000 a year of their earnings.

The work allowance is also set to rise by £500.

The taper rate effectively taxes Brits 63p in the pound on anything they earn over their base level of benefits, and the Chancellor admitted it effectively discouraged people from working.

Mr Sunak promised the new lower rate will come into effect no later than December, a huge victory for The Sun's Make Universal Credit Work campaign.

It means Sunak could slash taxes on English sparkling wine and some beers as part of a huge post-Brexit overhaul of booze rates. 

We could also see the harsh Universal Credit taper rate slashed.

The taper rate effectively taxes Brits 63p in the pound on anything they earn over their base level of benefits - which puts many thousands off applying for better paid jobs or taking on more hours.