UK Budget 2015 Live Blog - Yahoo Finance
Get the latest 2015 UK Budget news, analysis and comment as Chancellor George Osborne's speech happens on Yahoo Finance's LIVE blog.
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Returning to the NHS during his response, Mr Miliband said it was a "glaring omission".
He said: "It was a completely extraordinary admission. Where was that discussion of the health service and public services? I think it is time we looked at the reality of this Government's spending plans because this is the Budget that can't be believed." -
#Budget2015 confirms the govt has failed at 1st purpose: eradicating deficit. Osborne can play games but he's doubled national debt.by Nigel Farage via twitter 3/18/2015 2:01:33 PM -
Addressing the Tory claim of "we're all in it together", Mr Miliband said: "The best thing you can say about the Chancellor and the Prime Minister is when the removal vans turn up, they will be in it together."
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Mr Miliband said: "Strangely absent from the Chancellor's statement - where was the action on stamp duty avoidance? It's costing well over a £1 billion a year.
"They cannot tackle hedge funds because they bankroll the Tory party. He can't act because they own him lock, stock and barrel, and the Conservative Party is just now a political wing of the tax avoidance industry." -
Mr Miliband said the gap between what the country owes and what it collects has increased rather than decreased. He said the Chancellor had not acted on tax havens - despite promises from the Prime Minister - HSBC or hedge funds.
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Last year, Osborne made optimistic job forecasts. This year, he smashed them. Pic (from small print of #Budget2015) http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAYnzijWcAAOZK7.png
by frasernelson via twitter 3/18/2015 1:59:48 PM -
Everyone knows Osborne is completely in Nathanial Rotschilds pocket.... -
He turned his attention to the North of England, adding: "Let's really test him out on whether he is a friend of the North - 75% bigger cuts to local government budgets in the North than the rest of the country."
He said 400,000 working families in the North West had seen their tax credits cut, adding: "That's more than any other region."
In the North East, he added, the Chancellor was spending £1 on transport for every £25 spent in London.
He said: "This Government is no friend of the North." -
Mr Miliband said: "Isn't it great, the Liberal Democrats locked in the boot of the Conservative Party."
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The Chancellor received three cheers from business leaders but was accused of offering "short-term bribes" by critics in wildly-differing reaction to his Budget.
Terry Scuoler, chief executive of the EEF manufacturers' organisation, said: "The Chancellor gets three cheers from manufacturers for the measures he's included to boost exporters.
"His decision to bring forward compensation for industries facing vast and uncompetitive energy costs, such as steelmakers, is a huge vote of confidence for them and for manufacturing more widely. In addition, he has committed to a stable and competitive tax regime, which we wholeheartedly support."
GMB general secretary Paul Kenny said: "Osborne has claimed more recoveries in the past five years than the RAC. Even a blind person would see the short-term bribes Osborne is offering.
"What he is planning, however, is the most draconian cuts in services that we rely on for a civilised way of life."
Public and Commercial Services union general secretary Mark Serwotka described the Budget as "another brutal assault on unemployed, sick and disabled people". -
osborne is a tory like all torys they lie .. if you are a rich tory you will believe every thing he says
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Osborne spoke for an hour and there was no mention of the NHS. Our NHS that they have cut and privatised. #budget2015 http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAYmxveWsAAiAOh.jpg
by Mr_Slater via twitter 3/18/2015 1:55:16 PM -
#Budget2015: Osborne introduces tax-free savings and Help-to-Buy ISAs - live updates gu.com/p/46m4k?CMP=pa… http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAYmTUdWAAAUNIs.png
by The Guardian via twitter 3/18/2015 1:54:11 PM -
He also criticised the Chancellor for "breaking the promise" of a £7 minimum wage by this year and mocked him for claiming to be a "friend of the North".
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The Labour leader also accused the Chancellor of creating a new measure of living standards because the Office for National Statistics model shows people are worse off under him.
He said: "People don't need a new measure which pretends they are better off, they need a new government to make them better off. That is the reality behind the Budget that can't be believed.
"You pose as a friend of the low paid ... you could not make it up." -
Mr Miliband predicted a rise in VAT if the Conservatives are in power after the election.
He said: "What's the lesson? Deny it before an election and then hike up VAT afterwards. -
Here are the main points of UK's #Budget2015: bbc.in/1x0ogpi http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAYmSjvWcAAOWGu.jpg
by BBC Breaking News via twitter 3/18/2015 1:52:03 PM -
The Labour leader added: "You chose to make a number of references to me today.
"Let me just tell you, we're not going to take lessons on fairness from the trust fund Chancellor and the Bullingdon club Prime Minister.
"And not for the first time, this is a Budget from this Chancellor that simply won't be believed.
"We support the changes on the personal allowance but on tax you give with one hand and you take far more away with the other." -
Mr Miliband set out the "inconvenient truth" of the Chancellor's record, claiming he had failed Britain's families by presiding over falling wages, not building enough homes and creating too many low-paid, insecure jobs.
He said: "People are £1,600 a year worse off, the next generation has seen wages plummet and tuition fees treble.
"You have built fewer homes than at any time for nearly 100 years.
"And it's certainly not a truly national recovery when there are more zero hours contracts than the population of Glasgow, Leeds and Cardiff combined.
"That is the reality of the lives of working people.
"These are the facts, these are the inconvenient truths of his record - it's a recovery for the few from a Government of the few." -
Miliband: "He's overseen the slowest recovery for 100yrs... This is just window-dressing" #Budget2015by BBC Business via twitter 3/18/2015 1:49:20 PM -
Miliband's #Budget2015 response why Cameron won't debate him on TV. Fluent, funny, punching holes in Osborneby Kevin_Maguire via twitter 3/18/2015 1:47:32 PM -
Ed's talking software seems to be glitching. #Budget2015by ajhmurray via twitter 3/18/2015 1:46:34 PM -
Miliband: "Even Dick Turpin wore a mask when he robbed people" #budget2015by Sunny Hundal via twitter 3/18/2015 1:45:35 PM -
The Leader of the Opposition continued: "And because of a Budget, most extraordinarily, that had no mention of investment in our National Health Service and our vital public services.
"It is a Budget people won't believe from a Government they don't trust.
"And this Chancellor has failed the working families of Britain. For the first time since the 1920s, people are earning less at the end of a government than they were at the beginning." -
UK Budget 2015: George Osborne Speech Transcript In Full uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/uk-budget… #Budget2015 #budgetby Yahoo Finance UK via twitter 3/18/2015 1:44:35 PM -
Mr Miliband opened the 2015 Budget debates to jeers from the Tories and was swiftly interrupted by Deputy Speaker Lindsay Hoyle who sought to calm the House.
The Labour Leader, who has to reply to the Budget having heard the details for the first time in the Chancellor's speech, told the Commons: "Never has the gap between the Chancellor's rhetoric and the reality of people's lives been greater than it was today.
"This is a Budget people won't believe from a Government that is not on their side - because of their record, because of their instinct, because of their plans for the future." -
Miliband: "The chancellor poses as a friend of the low-paid...but what happened to the promise of a £7 minimum wage this year?" #Budget2015by BBC Business via twitter 3/18/2015 1:41:37 PM
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Oh dear. If EdM is opening with “Trust Fund Chancellor” and “Bullingdon Boy PM” you know he’s got nothing meaningful to say. #Budget2015by danielbyles via twitter 3/18/2015 1:39:48 PM -
UK Budget 2015: Summary of Key Points uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/uk-budget… http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAYjx40WcAA6WfD.jpg
by Yahoo Finance UK via twitter 3/18/2015 1:39:25 PM -
by The Labour Party via twitter 3/18/2015 1:37:11 PM -
Big story in budget is faster reduction in debt as share of national income and easing up on Tory plans for austerity #budget2015by Robert Peston via twitter 3/18/2015 1:36:21 PM -
Labour leader Ed Miliband said: "This is a Budget people won't believe from a Government that's not on their side."
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#Budget2015 confirms Help To Buy ISA for first time buyers libdems.org.uk/helping-first-… http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAYiF-tWcAAQ2cn.jpg
by Liberal Democrats via twitter 3/18/2015 1:35:13 PM -
First £1,000 of interest tax free. At current top rate 3% (Santander 123) that's £33,000 savings tax free! #budget2015by Martin Lewis via twitter 3/18/2015 1:34:42 PM -
Declaring "this is the Budget for Britain, the comeback country" the Chancellor concluded his Budget statement at 1.31pm.
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Borrowing forecast for this year revised downwards to: £90.2 billion, then £75.3 billion in 2015/16, £39.4 billion, £12.8 billion in subsequent years - a total of £5 billion less borrowing than forecast in December. -
Osborne says "fixing the roof" - but not spending penny of government money on insulating homes #Budget2015by Natalie Bennett via twitter 3/18/2015 12:59:41 PM -
Deficit forecasts from Autumn Statement revised downwards to:
4% in 2015/16, 2% in 2016/17 and 0.6% in 2017/18. Budget surplus of 0.2% forecast for 2018/19 and 0.3% for 2019/20. -
Osborne massively reduces forecast surpluse in 2019/20, from £23bn to £7bn - massive reduction in austerity #Budget2015by Robert Peston via twitter 3/18/2015 12:58:04 PM
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by The Labour Party via twitter 3/18/2015 12:57:36 PM
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Squeeze on public spending to end a year earlier than planned, so that in 2019/20 spending grows in line with the growth of the economy - bringing state spending as a share of national income to the same level as in 2000.
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Debt as a share of GDP falls from 80.4% in 2014/15 to 80.2% in 2015/16, then 79.8%, 77.8% and 74.8% in subsequent years before reaching 71.6% in 2019/20.
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"Government has met its 2010 target to end this Parliament with Britain's national debt falling as a share of GDP."
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Chancellor out of touch on living standards - enormous cost of housing crippling, cuts to local govt funding hitting vulnerable #Budget2015by Caroline Lucas via twitter 3/18/2015 12:53:53 PM
