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Budget 2018 – Philip Hammond vows ‘austerity is coming to an end’ as he delivers last Budget before Brexit ploughing £100bn into NHS, mental health, defence – and promises tax cuts for 32MILLION Brits
PHILIP Hammond today claimed that "the era of austerity is finally coming to an end" in his Budget - and slapped a £400million tax on global tech giants such as Facebook and Amazon.
The Chancellor revealed public spending is set to rise by an extra £100billion while 32million Brits will get a tax cut, vowing: "Britain is open for business."
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As well as £20billion to be spent on the NHS, he promised additional money for defence, schools and local councils - which have all faced relentless cuts over nearly a decade.
And he is pumping an extra £1.9billion a year into the troubled Universal Credit system in a bid to ensure that it pays to be in work for everyone.
Speaking in the Commons, he said: "I present a Budget for Britain’s future, a budget that shows the perseverance of the British people finally paying off.
"A Budget for hard working families... people who get up early in the morning to open up factories, shops, and building sites, to drop their kids off at school, to check on elderly relatives and neighbours.
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"The strivers, the grafters and the carers who are the backbone of our communities and our economy."
He defended the Tories' record of austerity since 2010, saying that spending cuts were "driven by necessity" and adding: "We did what needed to be done."
But praising the sacrifices made by Brits, he concluded: "Their hard work is paying off - the era of austerity is finally coming to an end."
The Chancellor did not go as far as Theresa May - who told the Tory party conference this month, "People need to know that austerity is over."
Highlights of today's Budget include:
- The national living wage rising to £8.21 per hour, up 4.9 per cent on last year
- A £500million pot for No Deal Brexit preparations
- Fuel duty frozen for the ninth year in a row - in a victory for The Sun
- Duty on beer, cider and spirits frozen while tobacco tax goes up again
- An extra £2billion for mental health, with specialists installed in every school and hospital, and £650million for social care
- The Ministry of Defence will get another £1billion to keep Britain's military in shape
- New funding to repair crumbling roads across the country and end the country's pothole epidemic, adding up to £30billion over five years
- £400million for schools - adding up to £10,000 per primary and £50,000 for every secondary
- An increase of £160million for counter-terror policing
- The end of PFI contracts in the wake of Carillion's collapse
- £1.5billion more to help out the struggling High Street - including a cut to business rates
- Interest-free loans to Brits who can't repay their debts to payday lenders
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The Chancellor announced that he is imposing a new tax on the revenues of large tech firms which operate in the UK.
The "UK digital services tax" is set to raise at least £400million a year from 2020, Mr Hammond said, and will apply to all the British sales of global web giants - not just their profits, as is the case currently.
He blasted: "We are serious about this reform - profitable businesses need to pay their fare share to our pub services."
In a jokey reference to Nick Clegg's new job as Facebook's top spin doctor, he added: "I am already looking forward to my call from the former leader of the Liberal Democrats."
Mr Hammond confirmed that if we crash out of the EU without a deal, he will hold an emergency Budget next spring aimed at shoring up the economy.
And he committed an extra £500million to preparations for a possible No Deal scenario to ensure the Government is ready for any outcome.
He said: "This is a pivotal moment in our EU negotiations - the stakes could not be higher.
"If we get it right, we will harvest a double deal dividend."
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Mr Hammond predicted that cutting a good deal with the EU would boost Britain's economy as a whole, as well as freeing up the cash previously put aside to cope with a possible No Deal scenario.
The Chancellor also revealed that the economy is growing faster than previously predicted while the deficit is set to fall to 1.4 per cent - down from nearly 10 per cent under Labour.
He confirmed that borrowing this year has been £11.6billion lower than forecast, giving him the room to spend more without having to hike taxes.
The Chancellor said that after eight years of cuts, public spending will start to grow from next year - increasing by at least 1.2 per cent annually.
The spending increases he announced include more than £20billion going into the NHS over five years, previously promised by the PM.
All the terrible jokes Philip Hammond made in his Budget speech
On the Facebook 'tech tax' he quipped at the firm's new head of PR, Nick Clegg: "I am already looking forward to my call from the former Leader of the Liberal Democrats."
On leaking out a lot of his Budget announcements: "I can poach a rabbit every now and again!"
Mocking his reputation of being a man who is financially responsible: "Fiscal Phil says fiscal rules OK."
On new business rate relief on public toilets: "so that local authorities can at least relief themselves... it's the only announcement in this Budget that hasn't leaked!"
On John McDonnell's recent tumble, leaving him with scars on his face: "I can’t guarantee to the House that £10million is going to be enough to stop him falling flat on his face in the future."
On his bad predictions about jobs: "the Shadow Chancellor’s prediction of 1.2million jobs lost out by the tiny margin of 5.4million - or roughly the population of Scotland!"
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He said: "We made our big choice four months before the Budget was delivered - the NHS is our number one priority."
The cash boost will see extra funding go towards mental health treatment in a bid to "ensure people suffering from a crisis, young or old, can get the help the need".
Mr Hammond also pledged additional money for the Ministry of Defence, local councils struggling with the cost of social care, primary and secondary schools, and road repairs.
But Labour's John McDonnell blasted: “We now have it confirmed that the pledge to end austerity was a broken promise, like the whole Budget.
“It is now clear austerity is not over, the cuts to social security will continue and Philip Hammond gave no assurances that departments won’t face further cuts.
“Eight years of destructive austerity has damaged our economy, damaged people’s incomes and damaged our essential services."
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Other measures announced in the speech today included the scrapping of the proposed "latte levy" which would have slapped a tax on all single-use plastic cups.
Huge cuts to the maximum stake on "crack cocaine" gambling machines have been pushed back another six months to protect bookies' jobs.
Mr Hammond revealed visitors from key countries including the US and Japan will from now on be able to use electronic passport gates at airports - previously restricted to EU citizens.
Earlier today, No10 insisted that the announcements made in the Budget today would apply whether or not Britain strikes a deal with the EU.
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Theresa May's spokesman said: "We are focused on delivering irrespective of Brexit, starting with today's Budget which locks in the progress we have made.
"All of the spending commitments that the Chancellor will set out today are funded irrespective of a deal."
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Mr McDonnell said: "What is going on? The PM and the Chancellor contradicting each other. On the day of the Budget. We’ve never seen anything like this."
Today's Budget is the first to be held on a Monday for more than half a century.
The speech usually takes place on a Wednesday - but this year it was moved to avoid clashing with Halloween, because Mr Hammond's aides wanted to avoid ridicule.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock vows the NHS WILL get £20bn Budget boost even if there's no Brexit deal
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