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| Budget 2020: Chancellor unveils £30bn coronavirus package | Budget 2020: Chancellor unveils £30bn coronavirus package |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled a £30bn package to help the economy get through the coronavirus outbreak. | Chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled a £30bn package to help the economy get through the coronavirus outbreak. |
| He is abolishing business rates for many firms in England, extending sick pay and boosting NHS funding. | |
| He warned of a significant but temporary disruption to the UK economy but vowed: "We will get through this together." | He warned of a significant but temporary disruption to the UK economy but vowed: "We will get through this together." |
| The Bank of England announced an emergency cut in interest rates just ahead of the Budget on Wednesday. | The Bank of England announced an emergency cut in interest rates just ahead of the Budget on Wednesday. |
| Mr Sunak who was promoted to chancellor just four weeks ago after Sajid Javid quit the government, has had to hastily re-write the government's financial plans to deal with coronavirus. | Mr Sunak who was promoted to chancellor just four weeks ago after Sajid Javid quit the government, has had to hastily re-write the government's financial plans to deal with coronavirus. |
| "We are doing everything we can to keep this country and our people healthy and financially secure," he told MPs. | "We are doing everything we can to keep this country and our people healthy and financially secure," he told MPs. |
| The measures put in place to mitigate the effect of the coronavirus outbreak include: | |
| The number of coronavirus cases in the UK reached 382 on Tuesday, a rise of 63 since the previous day, with a sixth person confirmed to have died after contracting the virus. | The number of coronavirus cases in the UK reached 382 on Tuesday, a rise of 63 since the previous day, with a sixth person confirmed to have died after contracting the virus. |
| The chancellor said that without accounting for the impact of coronavirus, the Office for Budget Responsibility has forecast growth of 1.1% in 2020, 1.8% in 2021 and then 1.5%, 1.3%, and 1.4% in the following years. | |
| In other measures, the chancellor announced that fuel duty would be frozen for another year. | |
| A planned increase in spirits duty will be cancelled and duties for cider and wine drinkers will be frozen as well. | |
| Mr Sunak said he was providing £200m for local communities to build flood resilience and would double investment in flood defences over the next six years to £5.2bn, as previously announced. | |
| He announced more than £600bn for road, rail, housing and broadband projects over five years, aimed at delivering on the Conservatives' election promise to boost economic growth outside of London and the south-east of England. | |
| This would bring "net public investment to the highest levels in real terms since 1955", said the chancellor. | |
| He vowed to "change the whole mindset of government", announcing plans for Treasury offices in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and a "new economic campus in the north, with over 750 staff from the Treasury". | |
| He also promised an additional £640m for the Scottish government, £360m for the Welsh government, £210m for the Northern Ireland executive and £240m for new city and growth deals. | |
| In other developments: | In other developments: |
| A planned National Infrastructure Strategy, including more details of how the extra money promised by the Chancellor will be spent, has been delayed. | |
| And Mr Sunak will deliver another Budget in the Autumn, which is likely to be include more ambitious plans to "level up" the economy and deal with post-Brexit trading arrangements with the EU. | |
| The Budget comes in a week in which shares around the world - already hit by fears about coronavirus - suffered some of their biggest falls since the 2008 financial crisis. | The Budget comes in a week in which shares around the world - already hit by fears about coronavirus - suffered some of their biggest falls since the 2008 financial crisis. |
| Dubbed "Black Monday", indexes tumbled as a row between Russia and Saudi Arabia saw oil prices plunge, with declines in London wiping some £125bn off the value of major UK firms. | Dubbed "Black Monday", indexes tumbled as a row between Russia and Saudi Arabia saw oil prices plunge, with declines in London wiping some £125bn off the value of major UK firms. |
| Figures released by the Office for National Statistics found that the UK economy did not grow at all in January. | Figures released by the Office for National Statistics found that the UK economy did not grow at all in January. |
| What questions do you have about the budget? | What questions do you have about the budget? |
| In some cases your question will be published, displaying your name, age and location as you provide it, unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published. Please ensure you have read our terms & conditions and privacy policy. | In some cases your question will be published, displaying your name, age and location as you provide it, unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published. Please ensure you have read our terms & conditions and privacy policy. |
| Use this form to ask your question: | Use this form to ask your question: |