THE Chancellor cut the price of beer and had some good news for taxpayers as he delivered his 2013 Budget.
But he also painted a gloomy picture for the economy, as the official growth forecast was slashed in half and George Osborne admitted the recovery was taking “longer than anyone hoped”.
He confirmed that September’s planned fuel duty rise has been scrapped.
He said a planned 3p rise in beer duty tax was being scrapped and replaced by a 1p cut on a pint of beer.
And he brought forward a rise in the personal allowance to 2014, meaning no income tax is paid by anyone on the first £10,000 of their earnings.
He also announced a new employment allowance which will take the first £2,000 off employer National Insurance bills for every company in the country - a move he described as “taking tax off jobs”.
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Chancellor George Osborne has delivered his Budget for 2013
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Whitehall's budgets will be cut by 1% after a £11 billion underspend this year, with protection for schools and health. The public sector pay cap of 1% would be extended by one year in 2015/16
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September's fuel duty increase has been cancelled
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A new Help-to-Buy scheme is to be introcuced for those struggling to find mortgage deposits
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The Government intends to take forward two major carbon capture and storage projects and offer new tax incentives for manufacture of ultra low emission vehicles
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Rise in personal allowance was brought forward to 2014, meaning employees will pay no income tax on the first £10,000 of their earnings
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From Sunday night, a pint of beer will be 1p cheaper. The planned 3p rise in beer duty tax was scrapped but planned rises for all other alcohol duties maintained
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Social care cost cap to come in in 2017 and protect savings above £72,000. The £144 flat rate pension has been brought forward to 2016
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Military personnel will receive their full recommended increase in May and all UK military and civil service personnel in Cyprus will be protected in full from any tax on their deposits
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An Employment Allowance of £2,000 a year towards employer National Insurance contributions will 'take tax off jobs' aimed at helping small businesses who wanted to hire their staff or expand their workforce
Labour leader Ed Miliband condemned the Mr Osborne's Budget, saying: ``All he offers is more of the same – higher borrowing and lower growth.
“A more of the same Budget from a downgraded Chancellor. He is the wrong man in the wrong place at the worst possible time for the country.”
But the Chancellor insisted today’s package was a “Budget for people who aspire to work hard and get on”.
He added: “Today, I’m going to level with people about the difficult economic circumstances we still face and the hard decisions required to deal with them.”
Mr Osborne delivered his Budget to a rowdy House of Commons in which the deputy speaker was forced to intervene repeatedly and some MPs apparently clutched the front page of London’s Evening Standard, which had helpfully been supplied with full details of the Budget in advance.
Mr Osborne said the economy would grow by just 0.6% this year - down from the previous forecast of 1.2% - and would be slower than forecast next year at 1.8% compared to the 2% forecast at the time of the Autumn Statement.
