BUDGET 2022 LIVE: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveils emergency Budget

2022-11-17

AUTUMN BUDGET 2022 LIVE: Jeremy Hunt confirms UK is now in recession as he imposes 45p income tax on more Britons, slaps oil and gas giants with 35% windfall tax in autumn statement

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The Government will press ahead with plans to build a new nuclear power plant at Sizewell in Suffolk, the Chancellor has announced.

Jeremy Hunt said the project, which has been in the pipeline for years and could create 10,000 highly skilled jobs, could by given final approval by the end of the month.

It would constructed over the objections of environmental campaigners, with French energy giant EDF one of the parties involved in the project.

There had been fears it would be scrapped, but Mr Hunt said the Government would invest £700million in the development, making it the first state-backed nuclear project for more than 30 years.

He said: ‘There is only one way to stop ourselves being at the mercy of international gas prices: energy independence combined with energy efficiency.

‘Britain is a global leader in renewable energy but we need to go further, with a major acceleration of home-grown technologies like offshore wind, carbon capture and storage, and, above all, nuclear.’

Hunt’s ‘Tesla tax’ is ‘probably fair’, RAC says

Electric car drivers will pay road tax from 2025, Jeremy Hunt announced in his Autumn Budget this afternoon.

The Chancellor said electric vehicles will no longer be exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) from April 2025 to make the motoring tax system ‘fairer’.

Addressing MPs, he said: ‘Because the OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) forecast half of all new vehicles will be electric by 2025, to make our motoring tax system fairer I’ve decided that from then, electric vehicles will no longer be exempt from vehicle excise duty.’

The RAC welcomed the move saying it was ‘probably fair’ that electric car owners ‘start contributing to the upkeep of major roads from 2025’.

Read the full story on MailOnline here:

The pound fell against the US dollar as investors appeared concerned over the prospects of a lengthy recession and fears Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s austerity budget will compound the economic woes.

Sterling dropped nearly 1% to 1.18 US dollars and was 0.3% lower at 1.14 euros.

On the London market, the FTSE 100 Index was 0.7% lower at 7300.4.

Pound falls as Jeremy Hunt raises taxes in Autumn Statement: Sterling drops half a cent to below $1.18 against the dollar

The value of the pound has plummeted after Jeremy Hunt delivered his autumn budget statement which set out tax rises and spending cuts worth billions.

The pound fell to $1.18 after the Chancellor made his statement in Parliament, while government bond prices also fell.

Bond market losses were modest and UK markets appeared relatively calm in comparison to the sharp selloff triggered by Kwasi Kwarteng and Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget in September.

British banking stocks rallied, while shares in the power sector came under pressure after Hunt announced a windfall tax on oil and gas firms and extended it to power generation firms.

Read the full story on MailOnline here:

Labour Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves summed up the autumn budget statement as ‘more taxes, more inflation, higher mortgages’.

She said: ‘Instead of tricks and stealth taxes, why don’t they have a proper economic plan for Britain that puts working people at their hearts?’

Conservatives shouted: ‘Where’s yours?’

Ms Reeves continued: ‘Why do they refuse to have a real industrial strategy that gives business certainty, unlocks investment and means that Britain can once again lead the world in the industries of the future?’

‘We want Scandinavian quality and Singaporean efficiency’: Jeremy Hunt demands NHS tightens its belts but gives it extra £6.6BILLION over next two years

Jeremy Hunt today demanded the NHS tightens its belts to give the public ‘Scandinavian quality alongside Singaporean efficiency’.

The Chancellor, a former Health Secretary, simultaneously pledged to give the ailing health service an extra cash injection.

He argued that efficiency savings — which could see a crack down on the layers of middle management within the NHS — ‘will not be enough to deliver the services we all need’.

It means the NHS, juggling unprecedented A&E and ambulance pressures as well as a record-high backlog, will get an extra £6.6billion over the next two years.

Although less than what health bosses originally pushed for in response to the sky-high inflation bills, Mr Hunt claimed that NHS England’s chief executive said the top-up to its £150billion-a-year budget would be ‘sufficient’.

Read more on MailOnline here:

The Office for Budget Responsibility forecast more than half a million people would lose their jobs, while living standards will crash as a result of rising prices as Jeremy Hunt delivered his autumn statement.

The OBR’s assessment said: ‘Rising prices erode real wages and reduce living standards by 7 per cent in total over the two financial years to 2023-24 (wiping out the previous eight years’ growth), despite over £100 billion of additional Government support.

‘The squeeze on real incomes, rise in interest rates, and fall in house prices all weigh on consumption and investment, tipping the economy into a recession lasting just over a year from the third quarter of 2022, with a peak-to-trough fall in GDP of 2 per cent.

‘Unemployment rises by 505,000 from 3.5 per cent to peak at 4.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2024.’

The Conservatives are responsible for 12 weeks of chaos, but also 12 years of economic failure, Rachel Reeves said.

The Shadow Chancellor is delivering her response to Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement in the House of Commons.

She told MPs: ‘What people will be asking themselves at the next election is this – are me and my family better off with a Conservative Government? And the answer is no.’

‘Yes!’ Conservative backbenchers shouted back.

Ms Reeves continued: ‘The mess we are in is the result of 12 weeks of Conservative chaos, but also 12 years of Conservative economic failure.

‘Growth dismal, investment down, wages squeezed, public services crumbling.’

How Jeremy Hunt’s budget affects YOU

Jeremy Hunt has finally unleashed his Scrooge-like Autumn Statement, adding to the financial gloom of millions of Britons with a swathe of tax rises.

The average family is likely to be more than £800 a year worse off after he unleashed an expected wave of tax changes designed to rake in £24billion for the Treasury.

Under plans announced today he will increase the income tax burden on millions of workers.

He also set the stage for massive increases in council tax bills by easing the rules for local authorities to rake in cash to pay for services.

At the same time he confirmed that help with soaring energy bills is due to be reigned in. Liz Truss’s plan to underwrite all bills for two years will end after just six months and be replaced with targeted, cheaper, assistance aimed at those least able to pay.

It means families will be paying £1,000 extra by next spring. But he also unveiled moves to make the moist well-off pay more tax, a move broadly supported by the public according to a poll this week.

Read the full story on MailOnline here:

The Chancellor said he will increase state pensions in line with inflation in April, announcing the ‘biggest ever cash increase in the state pension’.

The Government will introduce additional cost-of-living payments for the ‘most vulnerable’ with £900 for those on benefits, £300 for pensioners and £150 for those on a disability benefit, Mr Hunt said.

Mr Hunt said the energy price guarantee scheme will increase from £2,500 for the average household to £3,000 for 12 months from April.

The stamp duty cuts announced in the recent mini-budget will be scrapped in 2025, Jeremy Hunt revealed today as he delivered his much-anticipated Autumn Statement.

The cuts, announced by ex-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng at the end of September, mean that no stamp duty is be paid on the first £250,000 of any property purchase – doubling the threshold for the tax – which was previously at £125,000.

For first-time buyers the duty threshold was increased from £300,000 to £425,000.

Read more here.

The cap on the amount people have to pay towards social care has been delayed for two years, the Chancellor confirmed today.

It means the £86,000 limit people in England would have to spend for their care will no longer come into effect next October – a pledge made by the Government last year.

The move, announced by Jeremy Hunt, is expected to save £1billion next year and up to £3billion in subsequent years if the cap is further pushed back.

Read more here.

The value of the pound has fallen sharply as Jeremy Hunt delivers his Autumn Budget statement which sets out plans for tax rises and spending cuts as the government looks to reduce the national debt.

The pound was half a cent against the dollar down to $1.1808 as the Chancellor made his statement.

Britain’s currency has recovered most of its value after crashing following the disastrous mini-budget unveiled by Kwasi Kwarteng and Liz Truss in September.

Read more here.

Britain’s economy is already in recession and set to shrink by 1.4% next year after the fiscal watchdog slashed growth forecasts due to rampant inflation.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has said it expected UK gross domestic product (GDP) to slump as it significantly downgraded previous projections that the economy would actually grow by 1.8% in 2023.

The OBR also pulled down growth expectations for the following year in the face of continued inflationary pressure.

It has, however, slightly upgraded the total economic growth expected this year to 4.2% from 3.8% in the March statement.

The OBR has also predicted that inflation will hit an average rate of 9.1% this year and 7.4% in 2023.

Mr Hunt said he will increase the NHS budget by an extra £3.3billion in each of the next two years.

Jeremy Hunt has said he would continue to maintain the defence budget at ‘at least 2% of GDP’.

The Chancellor told the Commons he and the Prime Minister ‘both recognise the need to increase defence spending’, adding: ‘But before we make that commitment it is necessary to revise and update the Integrated Review, written as it was before the Ukraine invasion.

‘I have asked for that vital work to be completed ahead of the next Budget and today confirm we will continue to maintain the defence budget at least 2% of GDP to be consistent with our Nato commitment.’

On overseas aid, he said: ‘The OBR’s forecasts show a significant shock to public finances so it will not be possible to return to the 0.7% target until the fiscal situation allows.

‘We remain fully committed to the target and the plans I have set out today assume that ODA spending will remain around 0.5% for the forecast period.’

The UK remains ‘fully committed’ to the Glasgow Climate Pact agreed at Cop26, Jeremy Hunt has said.

The Chancellor told the Commons: ‘The United Kingdom has also been a global leader on climate change, cutting emissions by more than any other G20 country.

‘But with the existential vulnerability we face, now would be the wrong time to step back from our international climate responsibilities.

‘So I can confirm that despite the economic pressures we face, we remain fully committed to the historic Glasgow Climate Pact agreed at COP26 including a 68% reduction in our emissions by 2030.’

Mr Hunt has increased the windfall tax on oil and gas giants from 25% to 35% and imposed a 45% levy on electricity generators to raise an estimated £14billion next year.

Electric vehicles will no longer be exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty from April 2025 to make the motoring tax system ‘fairer’, Mr Hunt has said.

Jeremy Hunt has announced two new fiscal rules, telling the Commons: ‘The first is that underlying debt must fall as a percentage of GDP by the fifth year of a rolling five-year period.

‘The second, that public sector borrowing, over the same period, must be below 3% of GDP.’

The Chancellor went on: ‘The plan I’m announcing today meets both rules. Today’s statement delivers a consolidation of £55 billion and means inflation and interest rates end up significantly lower.

‘We achieve this in a balanced way: in the short term, as growth slows and unemployment rises, we will use fiscal policy to support the economy.’

He said the OBR confirms ‘that because of our plans, the recession is shallower, and inflation is reduced’, adding: ‘Unemployment is also lower with about 70,000 jobs protected as a result of our decisions today.

‘Then, once growth returns, we increase the pace of consolidation to get debt falling. This further reduces the pressure on the Bank to raise interest rates because as Conservatives we do not leave our debts to the next generation.’

Mr Hunt has reduced the threshold at which the top rate of income tax is paid from £150,000 to £125,140.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the Bank of England has done an ‘outstanding job’ since its independence, adding it has ‘my wholehearted support in its mission to defeat inflation and I today confirm we will not change its remit’.

He told the Commons: ‘But we need fiscal and monetary policy to work together – and that means the Government and the Bank working in lockstep.

‘It means, in particular, giving the world confidence in our ability to pay our debts. British families make sacrifices every day to live within their means and so too must their Government because the United Kingdom will always pay its way.’

Mr Hunt said he could ‘understand the motivation’ of former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget and he was ‘correct to identify growth as a priority’.

He added: ‘But unfunded tax cuts are as risky as unfunded spending which is why we reversed the planned measures quickly. As a result, the cost of Government borrowing has fallen. The pound has strengthened.

‘And the OBR says today that the lower interest rates generated by the Government’s actions are already benefitting our economy and public finances. But credibility cannot be taken for granted and yesterday’s inflation figures show we must continue a relentless fight to bring it down, including an important commitment to rebuild the public finances.’

Mr Hunt said the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts the UK’s inflation rate to be 9.1% this year and 7.4% next year and that his autumn statement will cause inflation to ‘fall sharply from the middle of next year’.

The OBR has said that the UK is ‘now in recession’, Jeremy Hunt has told the Commons.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has promised his autumn statement will lead to a ‘shallower downturn’ in the UK’s finances.

He also said the Office of Budget Responsibility has confirmed ‘global factors’ are the ‘primary cause’ of inflation.

The NHS is set to be protected as Jeremy Hunt unveils a fresh austerity drive today – but other departments face brutal cuts.

The Chancellor is announcing spending curbs to save £30billion a year as part of his Autumn Statement.

But Health Secretary Steve Barclay has indicated that the NHS – long insulated from government efforts to rein in expenditure – will be given more support to make up for soaring inflation.

There are signs that the schools budget will also be shielded from the worst of the pain, after pressure from Tory MPs. The IFS has estimated that without extra funding spending per pupil will stop growing this year and be 3 per cent below 2010 levels by 2024.

However, other department are looking at deep reductions, with a close eye being kept on Defence Secretary Ben Wallace after he publicly urged more money for the military. The worst of the cuts are likely to be backloaded until after the general election.

The pound eased against the dollar today ahead of Jeremy Hunt’s emergency budget full of ‘tough but necessary’ measures to control inflation.

The question sterling traders will have to weigh up is whether tighter fiscal policy will return some credibility to UK markets, which should boost the pound, or whether a higher tax burden will hamper growth even further, thereby denting the currency, experts said.

Sterling was last down 0.3% against the dollar at $1.188, having touched a session high of $1.1958 earlier in the day and was flat against the euro at 87.22 pence.

The pound hit a record low against the dollar of $1.0327 in late September after Truss’ ‘mini budget’ added billions to the government’s borrowing costs and forced the Bank of England to step in to stabilise the market and protect pension funds.

Sterling has since regained around 16% in value and is trading around its highest in three months. But much of this apparent strength has been the result of investors cashing in on the dollar’s huge rally this year.

Against the euro, sterling has only risen by around 6% since late September and by 9% against the yen.

Gilt yields, meanwhile, have subsided. Benchmark 10-year gilts are around 3.3%, their lowest since mid-September, just before Truss and Kwarteng released their budget.

The number of UK businesses which went to the wall this year rose from 299,000 to nearly 330,000, according to official figures released just minutes before Jeremy Hunt’s emergency budget.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also said that turnover for businesses plunged month-on-month.

The ONS data can be viewed below.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said there was a ‘shared determination’ among world leaders at the G20 summit to ‘restore stability, deliver long-term growth and drive a better future, one where no single country has the power to hold us back’.

Making a statement to the Commons on his visit to the G20 summit, Mr Sunak told the Commons: ‘In just a few moments the Chancellor will build on these international foundations when he sets out the autumn statement, putting our economy back on to a positive trajectory and restoring our fiscal sustainability.’

Self-employed workers face losing out on savings for their retirement if Jeremy Hunt confirms an increase on dividend tax rates in today’s autumn statement.

Tax accountant Joanne Thorne of SJD Accountancy said: ‘If the rumours of further taxation to dividend payments are true, it will be another blow to every self-employed worker that operates through a limited company.

‘Many are expecting the Chancellor to announce an increase of 1.25% on each of the different dividend tax rates, in addition to a cut of the £2,000 annual dividend allowance. This exemption threshold has decreased rapidly since 2016 and it’s possible we could now even see it disappear completely.

‘Changes to Capital Gains Tax and Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) are also rumoured, which, if true, would further compound things for contractors and freelancers – particularly those who have worked hard to save up profits for their retirement.

‘This Autumn Statement is likely to strike a very different tone from what we heard from the last Chancellor just a few weeks ago, and many will be holding their breath to see exactly what is announced.’

Soaring energy bills sent UK inflation to its highest level for 41 years in October as households felt the brunt of the cost of living crisis, according to official figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that inflation jumped to a higher-than-expected 11.1% in October – the highest rate since October 1981 and up from 10.1% in September – as gas and electricity costs rocketed, despite Government support limiting the rise in bills.

Most economists had been expecting a rise to 10.7%.

The ONS said gas prices have leaped nearly 130% higher over the past year, while electricity has risen by around 66%.

Liz Truss’s energy price ‘guarantee’ to cap average bills at £2,500 for two years will now be raised to around £3,000 from next April. A universal one-off payment of £400 this winter will not be repeated, meaning millions will be an average of £900 worse off.

Ian Blackford, the SNP Westminster leader, said that ‘optimistic signs’ on inflation from the Bank of England mean the Chancellor does not need to bring in the ‘austerity measures’ expected in today’s autumn statement.

Mr Blackford told Sky News: ‘I think it really brings into question a lot of the austerity measures that we know that the Chancellor is going to bring in today.

‘He doesn’t need to be doing this, it’s a political choice as much as anything else.’

The SNP MP also called for windfall taxes on companies that ‘have benefited from high energy prices’ and said a tax on share buybacks ‘would bring in £11billion’.

📽 I spoke with Sky News this morning, ahead of the Chancellor's Autumn budget statement. pic.twitter.com/S81S7wLlmF

The Prime Minister has flown back from the G20 Summit in Bali ahead of today’s Autumn Statement.

Speaking at a summit press conference, he said that the UK’s ‘insidious’ inflation had to be ‘gripped’ and was now his ‘absolute number one priority’.

‘It makes people poorer, that’s what inflation does,’ he said. ‘And it’s the enemy that we need to face down. I want to make sure that we do that and we do it as quickly as possible.

‘I want to limit the increase in mortgage rates because that’s also causing anxiety for millions of homeowners.’

Jeremy Hunt is set to argue today that his brutal Budget does not represent a return to austerity.

The Chancellor will seek to show that the wealthy are being clobbered too, cutting the level at which the 45p top rate is due from £150,000 to £125,000.

Middle-earners face paying thousands of pounds more in tax as a freeze on thresholds drags people deeper into the system by ‘stealth’.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) national chairman Martin McTague

‘Small businesses are facing soaring costs, rampant inflation, falling revenues, difficulty accessing affordable finance, and a rise in invoices being paid late.

‘What we need is a pro-small business Autumn Statement helping small firms to weather the current headwinds.

‘We’ve heard reports of the possible announcement on freezing the VAT threshold, cutting research and development (R&D) tax credits for small firms and raising tax on dividends – all of which will land badly with small business owners. Rising costs and prices will drag more struggling small firms into paying VAT, while rolling back R&D tax relief will crush innovation and growth.

‘Raising the VAT threshold to £100,000, continuing the existing R&D tax credits scheme for small firms, delivering the Conservative Party 2019 manifesto of a downward review of business rates and extending Small Business Rates Relief to remove the 200,000 most at-risk firms would allow tens of thousands of small businesses to get through a tough winter.

‘Including directors of small companies paid through dividends in the reversal of National Insurance hikes would encourage entrepreneurship, which economic recovery will depend on.

‘We’ve been calling for clarity on what will happen once the initial six month of support with energy bills is up to prevent a cliff-edge and enable small firms to plan beyond the first quarter. We’d like to see on-going support to small firms with soaring energy bills, regardless of which sectors they are in.

‘At the time of pressure on public finances, the Chancellor could take the opportunity to improve cashflow for vast numbers of small firms without costing taxpayers a penny – that’s through action to tackle poor payment practices in supply chains.’

Oliver Prill, the CEO of Tide, which represents more than 450,000 small businesses

‘SMEs account for half of the economy and make up more than 98% of all businesses in the UK. They are the unsung engine of the UK economy. Supporting them is vital if we are to avoid a deep and long-lasting recession and get the economy growing again.

‘We have consistently asked the Government to lower VAT, and avoid adding to the burden on small businesses. From regular surveys of Tide members, we know that thousands of business owners are having to draft in friends and family to keep their operations afloat.

‘Others are picking up side-gigs or drastically cutting down on their expenditure to make ends meets.

‘Many of these businesses are still finding their feet after the pandemic, and are now being hit by high inflation (a 41-year-high of 11.1%), low consumer confidence, rising interest rates, and big banks not offering finance, or acting slowly.

‘Too much of the narrative we hear is about large companies. We hope the Prime Minister and Chancellor think hard about the millions of UK SMEs ahead of the Government’s Fiscal Statement on 17 November and now to cultivate their contribution to the economy.’

“Motes and beams – it seems to me that the Bank of England should take the beam out of it’s own eye before it takes the mote out of the government's eye”@Jacob_Rees_Mogg responds to Governor Andrew Bailey’s comments regarding September’s mini-budget. #Peston pic.twitter.com/GqK00Lz3Fn

Harriett Baldwin, chairwoman of the Treasury select committee, said inflation was ‘the worst economic problem in this country at the moment’, adding that the UK needed to get it ‘back in its box’.

She told Sky News that it would ‘help to reassure the markets that there is someone marking the Chancellor’s homework’, and said it was ‘really welcome’ that the Chancellor’s autumn statement will come with an OBR forecast.

The Conservative MP said Kwasi Kwarteng’s fiscal statement in September ‘clearly was a disastrous mini-budget’ and that the autumn statement ‘would convince the financial markets that we’re back on track in terms of paying our way in the world’.

Ms Baldwin added that the committee wanted ‘to see something that will help work with the grain of what the Bank of England is trying to do to bring down inflation’.

Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), warned against the dangers of austerity.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme ahead of the Chancellor’s autumn statement, she said that tough spending cuts are ‘never easy for working people’.

Ms O’Grady said that George Osborne’s austerity plan had ‘failed’, amid expectations that Jeremy Hunt will preside over similarly painful cuts.

‘If you are starving the NHS, our education and skills system, of funding that has an impact on the economy because we need a healthy workforce, we need educated, skilled and trained workers,’ she said. ‘Now we really need big investment in green infrastructure and our public services, if we’re going to grow.’

Band D households in some of England’s most expensive boroughs could face a council tax bill hike of more than £114 under changes put forward by Rishi Sunak.

The Prime Minister is thinking about letting local authorities in England hike general council tax by 5 per cent without the need for a referendum, something that has prompted a backlash from his own MPs.

At the moment councils are required to put any plans to bump up tax by more than 2 per cent to the public in a vote, while they are also allowed to increase it by 1 per cent to fund social care.

Pat McFadden, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said the UK was stuck in a ‘Conservative doom loop of emergency statements’ and the Chancellor should begin his autumn statement today by ‘taking responsibility’.

Mr McFadden said to Sky News: ‘I think he should acknowledge their responsibility for what’s happened. I don’t think he should pretend the mini-budget was just a bad dream.’

The Labour MP said the Chancellor may have to ‘overcompensate’ for the mistakes of Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget and would be ‘desperate to blame global factors’ for the UK’s poor economic outlook.

In a video produced by the Treasury, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: ‘Today we are having to take some difficult decisions to restore stability, bring inflation down and balance the nation’s books.

‘So this is our plan to build a stronger economy, protect public services and make sure we look after our most vulnerable.’

An accompanying tweet read: ‘The UK is facing the effects of the global economic crisis. Difficult decisions need to be taken now to drive down inflation – the hidden tax eating into household budgets. The Cabinet has set out why we are prioritising stability, growth and public services’.

The UK is facing the effects of the global economic crisis.

Difficult decisions need to be taken now to drive down inflation – the hidden tax eating into household budgets.

The Cabinet has set out why we are prioritising stability, growth and public services ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/VOUg5AMBeh

Tax thresholds freeze

The ultimate stealth tax could rake in billions as a four-year freeze on income tax thresholds is extended to six years. The basic rate threshold will stay at £12,571 until 2027, while the starting point for 40p tax will be held at £50,271.

Council tax hike

The decade-long cap on council tax increases is expected to be lifted to 5 per cent, putting £100 on an average Band D bill.

Pensions and benefits

The Chancellor is expected to raise pensions and benefits in line with the September inflation figure of 10.1 per cent, which will see the new state pension rise by £18.70 to £203.85 a week.

Energy bills

45p tax

The PM vetoed plans to restore Labour’s 50p top tax rate. But he has accepted proposals to lower the starting threshold from £150,000 to £125,000, which could drag around 250,000 high earners into the top rate for the first time.

Social care

The Chancellor is expected to delay the flagship cap on social care costs by two years, with officials predicting it will save £1 billion next year.

Spending

Mr Hunt is expected to announce public spending cuts totalling around £33 billion. Some capital projects face curbs, such as prison building.

Saving and investment

The £12,300 tax-free allowance for capital gains tax is set to be halved to around £6,000. The annual £20,000 limit for ISA savings will be frozen.

Windfall tax

The 25 per cent levy introduced on oil and gas profits this year could be increased to 35 per cent and is likely to be extended until 2028.

Motoring

Electric vehicles are set to be charged vehicle excise duty for the first time.

Britain is bracing for the Chancellor’s grim £54billion package of tax rises and spending cuts.

Jeremy Hunt will call for ‘sacrifices’ in order to bring down inflation, which jumped to a 41-year high of 11.1 per cent.

The Chancellor, who raised taxes by £32billion last month, will announce a further £24billion in tax hikes, taking the overall tax burden to a new post-war record as part of a ‘plan for stability, growth and public services’.

Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation think tank, said he was expecting some ‘pretty bad economic news’.

Good morning and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s 2022 Budget.

Follow all the latest updates on the Autumn Statement as Britain braces for a brutal package of tax rises and spending cuts.

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