Budget 2008 - as it happened
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These are the main points of the Chancellor's first Budget. Major announcements appear in bold type
At a glance:
Fuel duty: 2p per litre increase scheduled for April put back to October, extra 0.5p per litre from 2010
Alcohol and cigarettes: Beer up 4p a pint; wine up 14p a litre; spirits up 55p a bottle; cigarettes up 11p for a packet of 20
Environment: Laws to make supermarkets charge for plastic bags from 2009. Also plans to overhaul the Vehicle Excise Duty system and introduce a new 'showroom tax' to hit the drivers of the most polluting vehicles.
Families: Child benefit for a first child up from £11 to £20 a week from April, 2009
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13:25 - The Chancellor commends his speech to the House.
13:24 - the Winter fuel allowance is to be raised for over 60s from £200 to £250, and for over 80s from £300 to £400.
13:23 - Cigarette duty is up 11p per pack and 4p for a pack of cigars.
Alcohol - the average bottle of wine costs £4.45. From Sunday wine is to rise 14p a bottle. Spirits will rise 55p a bottle and beer 4p a pint. Alcohol will continue to increase above inflation in coming years.
13:21 - From 2009, the Chancellor proposes a major reform of vehicle excise duty to encourage people to drive clean cars.
Low-polluting cars are to pay no car tax from 2010 while high-polluting cars are to pay more.
13:18 - £26m will be spent to reduce carbon emission in the home.
New homes are to be carbon neutral from 2016, but the Chancellor wants all non-domestic buildings to be zero-carbon by 2019.
Low-carbon cars and new technologies will cut emissions further, according to Mr Darling. manufacturers need to be encouraged to make vehicles more efficient, but the Chancellor believes the road tax system should do more.
13:15 - From 2009 plastic bags are to have a charge imposed on them, with the money raised to go to environmental charities. As this wasn't done voluntarily, the Government felt the need to implement this.
13:13 - "The greastest obligation for the future must be to tackle climate change."
The Chancellor says the UK was one of few developed countries to meet Kyoto target.
He will use an £800m environmental warchest to fund clean technologies.
This is the "first Government in the world to implement carbon emission reductions, but we believe we should go further - we should raise our target, not to 60% but to 80%."
There could be more than 1 million jobs in environmental industries.
There are, the Chancellor says, three key steps to take now: build an emissions trading scheme with the rest of Europe; instead of auctioning 7% of allowances, 100% should be auctioned; triple renewable engery by 2015.
13:10 - The Chancellor says we need more housing to support demand and a growing economy.
There are 1.5m more homeowners since 1997.
95,000 now own their own homes through schemes such as shared equity schemes and the Chancellor wants to develop 70,000 new homes for nurses, teachers and first-time buyers.
Shared ownership home buyers will not have to pay stamp duty.
More peopole will have the choice of long-term fixed-rate mortgages.
The Government will, Mr Darling says, help more people get on and stay on the housing ladder and the Chancellor will report back on this in next year's Pre-Budget Report.
13:08 - "We must reduce congestion on our roads, but we can't build way out of congestion."
There will be new funding to test road charging technology.
13:05 - £10m will be spent over next 5 years, plus more from private sector, to build a science fund to help improve the science on offer in schools.
There will be an extra £60m to help people gain the skills they need to enter the workforce.
By 2010 the Government will be spending more than £6bn/yr to support science and innovation.
13:03 - Non-doms will pay a charge to live in the UK; this new charge will be implemented in April - and won't change from £30,000.
13:01 - On Small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs): 30million people work in them and there are now 750,000 more SMEs than in 1997.
Mr Darling wants to simplify the process for small business owners to prepare their tax returns and ease access to finances they need; small loans are to increase by £60m next year.
Tax relief under Enterprise Incentive Scheme - up to £500,000 - will also provide capital fund of £12.5m to encourage more female entrepreneurs.
The aim is for small firms to win 30% of public sector business.
12:58 - The Government will continue to promote open and competitive markets - the goal is to continue to have most competitive corporation tax - the lowest in the G7.
"Next year it will fall from 38% to 28%."
12:55 - "The Chancellor says since 1997, 600,000 fewer people are living in relative poverty, and the Government has halved the number in absolute poverty.
"We intend to eradicate child proverty by 2020."
Low income families will gain an extra £17 a week, "bringing 150,000 out of poverty".
Child benefit for first child up from £11 to £20
A family with 2 children earning up to 28,000 will be £130 better off.
The Government will be investing £760m next year and £950m the following year to combat child poverty, an extra £125m over next 3 years."
12:53 - "The focus for the next decade must be preparing genuinely world-class services, while spending at a sustainable rate."
"Since 1997, 10% fewer people have died from cancer."
"Every child must have best possible opportunity to go as far as they can. we must eradicate child poverty in Britain."
12:49 - The Chancellor says health spending will almost double, while education spending is to rise by 58%.
The Government will spend £2bn more on defence this year, including £900m on military equipment.
Mr Darling also paid tribute to men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Chancellor has confirmed the reduction in main income tax rate, down to 20p in the pound.
"Public sector employment has fallen over past year, while private sector continues to grow, highlighting strength of British economy.""
12:46 - "The net borrowing forecast is £36bn - £1.4bn less than forecast in Pre-Budget Report."
"Borrowing was 7.8% of national income by 1993; next year it will be 2.9% of national income."
"The 'golden rule' for a Budget in surplus over the economic cycle will be met."
"National debt level is forecast to be 38.5% in 2008, meeting the golden rule."
12:44 - There will be a further increase in fuel duty of 0.5p in 2010.
12:43 - Fuel duty was due to increase by 2p in April - the increase will be postponed to October.
12:42 - "Fiscal policy, like monetary policy, is designed to support stability, to keep debt low and stable... to deliver sound public finances."
"Borrowing is much lower than it was in 1997, and so too is debt."
12:39 - "Japan is predicting 1.4% growth, Europe and USA 1.6% and Canada 1.8%. Despite the slowdown in 2007, the UK grew by 3%, the fastest growth in any major country."
"The growth forecast for the UK is 1.75 - 2.25% in 2008.
"2.5-3% growth forecast is by 2010.
"There will be no return to inflation rates of mid 90s, but inflation will rise in short term but will return to target by 2009."
12:37 - "In the early 1970s and mid-90s the UK was one of least stable economies in G7, now unemployment is lower than Germany, France and Italy.
"Reforms since 1997 - independence of Bank Of England, tough fiscal rules, and others mean the UK is now more equipped to deal with global rapid change.
"High tech manufacturing has grown 30% in the last 10 years.
"Average income has gone from the lowest amongst G7, to second only to the USA."
12:35 - "The British economy will continue to grow through this year and beyond and the Labour Government will continue with its long-term aim to confront child poverty and environmental concerns."
"Economies have benefitied from globalisation and world growth, but we see too how problems in one part of the world, including global financial markets, can impact many markets across the world."
"This poses a major risk to the world economy - we welcome the steps from central banks across the world, including the Bank of England, to address these problems yesterday."
12:32 - "Britain, with low inflation and record low levels of unemployment, is well-placed to deal with the slowdown."
12:30 - The Chancellor rises to cheers from Labour MPs. He says the core purpose of his Budget will be fairness and opportunity.
12:25 - Members of Parliament wait in the chamber of the House of Commons for the end of Prime Minister's Questions to hear this Labour Government's 11th Budget.
