:00:16. > :00:24.We have been asking you what you think of the Chancellor's eighth
:00:25. > :00:29.budget. You have been getting in touch with your views and questions,
:00:30. > :00:38.which we will seek to answer in just a moment, with two experts. First,
:00:39. > :00:45.let's take a look at some of them. That was a very interesting budget.
:00:46. > :00:50.Iser, youth and sugar. The sugar tax is probably a good thing. Doesn't
:00:51. > :00:55.seem like much of a sweetener for me. Unrealistic. I would give him a
:00:56. > :01:13.six. Four out of ten. To answer your questions, we have
:01:14. > :01:21.our personal Finance correspondent, and our senior -- and a senior
:01:22. > :01:26.personal finance reporter at the Telegraph. Lots of questions in
:01:27. > :01:31.relation to savings and other issues as well. Before we answer the
:01:32. > :01:36.questions, let's have a reminder of what the Chancellor announced in his
:01:37. > :01:44.budget speech. From April next year, I will increase the Iser limit for
:01:45. > :01:49.just over ?15,000, to ?20,000 a year for everyone. For those under 40,
:01:50. > :01:55.many of whom have not had such a good deal from the pension system, I
:01:56. > :02:01.am intra -- introducing a flexible way for the next generation to save.
:02:02. > :02:06.Young people can put money in, get a government bonus, and use it to
:02:07. > :02:13.either buy their first home or save for retirement. From April 2017,
:02:14. > :02:21.under 40s will be able to open a lifetime ISA and save up to ?4000 a
:02:22. > :02:28.year. For every ?4 you save, the government will give you ?1. Put in
:02:29. > :02:34.?4000, and the government will give you ?1000 every year until you are
:02:35. > :02:40.50. The government is giving you money to save for retirement and buy
:02:41. > :02:47.a house. That is what the government had to say about saving. Let's start
:02:48. > :02:52.with Chris via Twitter. How do tax-free Iser is -- ISAs help the
:02:53. > :02:58.less wealthy, who may not be able to save? There was an interesting
:02:59. > :03:02.spectrum of new saving products. There was something for the less
:03:03. > :03:08.wealthy in the form of a help to save policy, where you can save up
:03:09. > :03:13.to ?50 a month, and the government will give you a 50% bonus on top of
:03:14. > :03:18.that. For people on a lower in coming, it is only available for
:03:19. > :03:23.people on low incomes, on working tax credits, it is a good way of
:03:24. > :03:28.boosting their emergency funds if they need to move house and need a
:03:29. > :03:33.deposit to put down, or if they are in any kind of financial
:03:34. > :03:38.difficulties at all. It may be good for voiding debt. That was designed
:03:39. > :03:45.for people on a more modest income. But the tax-free Iser, -- ISA, you
:03:46. > :03:53.have to have the money to put into it. The question is about people on
:03:54. > :03:57.low income, are they better with the savings buffer, or do they have the
:03:58. > :04:03.money to put into that kind of scheme, or would they be better
:04:04. > :04:10.paying off debts? Connected to it, is there anything in the budget
:04:11. > :04:14.which affects young people. Students in particular, somebody asks
:04:15. > :04:22.anonymously. Students not very much, but young people enormously. This
:04:23. > :04:27.lifetime ISA is completely new. The idea there is a top up for people
:04:28. > :04:32.saving for their home or for a pension... They have a big decision
:04:33. > :04:37.to make. They put that money aside in a lifetime ISA, or in a
:04:38. > :04:42.traditional pension. If they haven't bought a home, they might think they
:04:43. > :04:46.will put the money in for that, but clearly if you don't save early for
:04:47. > :04:52.a pension, there may be problems down the line. As with all such
:04:53. > :05:00.dilemmas, people should seek advice. If they can afford it, that is! Eric
:05:01. > :05:06.via e-mail, white isn't it just people on low income and not
:05:07. > :05:11.pensioners given 100% savings on ?50. For the more wealthy savers,
:05:12. > :05:17.people who have several pounds a year to put into savings, the ISA
:05:18. > :05:25.limit, the tax-free limit you can put into an ice every year, is
:05:26. > :05:29.increasing. It is currently ?15,240 a year. That will benefit people who
:05:30. > :05:35.are high earners who have a bit more to save. Very interesting today
:05:36. > :05:40.about intergenerational furnace. It's been going on for a long time.
:05:41. > :05:48.Are people who are pensioners better off? Are people who are in their 20s
:05:49. > :05:53.essentially paying for a better life for their parents and grandparents?
:05:54. > :06:00.It's a very big issue, and one where the debate will continue. Yes, which
:06:01. > :06:07.generation has done better of late. Lots of ink were is about pensions
:06:08. > :06:12.as well. Peter Ellis, via e-mail, asks, why has women's inequality not
:06:13. > :06:16.been addressed in the pension statements, which is presumably a
:06:17. > :06:23.reference to when the pension kicks in and at what age. Talking about
:06:24. > :06:28.heated debates, this is one that's been going on recently. This idea
:06:29. > :06:31.that there are women in their 60s having to wait longer for their
:06:32. > :06:36.state pension. They say they were not aware of it, but the government
:06:37. > :06:41.says there was plenty of warning. There was quite a lot of speculation
:06:42. > :06:45.that something might be said in this budget, though the government has
:06:46. > :06:50.stood its ground for quite a while. There was nothing in this budget on
:06:51. > :06:56.that particular debate. I've already seen some reaction on social media
:06:57. > :07:03.asking where it was. Connected to that, Julie writes, I'm a
:07:04. > :07:09.62-year-old woman who has worked for 42 years. Why am I waiting until
:07:10. > :07:13.November for my state pension? There was a lot of confusion around the
:07:14. > :07:20.state pension. The pension age is now rising. The best way to check is
:07:21. > :07:25.to go online to the government's calculator, to find out when your
:07:26. > :07:28.state pension age is. There's a lot of confusion and some people are
:07:29. > :07:33.having to wait longer than they thought before they get their state
:07:34. > :07:39.pension. It's very difficult for some people who were not aware of
:07:40. > :07:44.that. Kevin Dean crone writes this, when are we going to hear about the
:07:45. > :07:49.release of pension pots for those already getting pension payments?
:07:50. > :07:54.This is reference to the pension reforms we saw a year ago. So people
:07:55. > :08:02.being able to access their pension savings. There was talk of going to
:08:03. > :08:07.pay for them between and the like, but in this case, this was closed
:08:08. > :08:12.for people who were already receiving their pensions. They were
:08:13. > :08:17.already in receipt of the money they had saved up, and it turned into an
:08:18. > :08:23.annuity. We had thought there would be more on that, but not in this
:08:24. > :08:27.budget. There were lots of things on pensions that were not referred to
:08:28. > :08:32.today. We understood for a long time that the government was planning a
:08:33. > :08:38.major tax relief on pensions, which it back away from just last week. We
:08:39. > :08:42.understood it was firmly in the firing line. There were various
:08:43. > :08:47.plans on the table last week. We understood there was a big
:08:48. > :08:52.government U-turn on that, for a number of reasons, including not
:08:53. > :08:57.wanting to upset the middle-class voters, who currently benefit from
:08:58. > :09:02.the pension tax relief they receive on their contributions. Nothing on
:09:03. > :09:07.that, and no further changes to pensions this time in the budget.
:09:08. > :09:13.There could've been a reduction in the annual and lifetime allowances.
:09:14. > :09:17.We could see in future budgets possibly after the Brexit
:09:18. > :09:25.referendum, possibly further changes to pensions then. A question about
:09:26. > :09:30.disability issues, which is a significant political debate at the
:09:31. > :09:36.moment. On this text message, what are the cuts to disability benefit?
:09:37. > :09:40.As far as the text is concerned, the Chancellor wasn't clear. This is to
:09:41. > :09:46.do with the debate on PIP, as it's known. Some people are saying it
:09:47. > :09:54.will be a reduction in what they can claim. The government is saying that
:09:55. > :09:58.he budget overall is going up. It is personal independence payment 's, a
:09:59. > :10:04.points -based system that determines the benefits that people receive.
:10:05. > :10:08.People who have disabilities. When we look at the numbers in the
:10:09. > :10:12.budget, it looks as though the Chancellor is saving a lot of money
:10:13. > :10:19.in this area, so the manner in which he is saving that money has led to
:10:20. > :10:27.this very loud political debate in recent days. And a lack of clarity
:10:28. > :10:32.in the minds of this correspondent. Yes, especially given that middle
:10:33. > :10:38.and high earners are being given tax perks at -- as well. Now for
:10:39. > :10:45.businesses. Some of the measures in this budget that were introduced by
:10:46. > :10:50.the Chancellor. Let's look at his comments on some of his business
:10:51. > :10:55.measures first. This is what he said about corporation tax. We are going
:10:56. > :10:59.to reduce the rate of corporation tax even further, the rate that
:11:00. > :11:06.written's buffet making companies have to pay. The evidence shows it
:11:07. > :11:12.is one of the most distorted and unproductive taxes there is.
:11:13. > :11:18.Corporation tax was 28% at the start of the last Parliament, and we
:11:19. > :11:25.reduce it to 20% at the start of this one. It will now fall to 17%.
:11:26. > :11:30.Britain is blazing a trail. Let the rest of the world catch up. There
:11:31. > :11:37.were other measures with regards to business, which we were talking
:11:38. > :11:42.about earlier. Simon asks, what has the Chancellor announced that will
:11:43. > :11:50.benefit small businesses? I will leave that to you! It was a budget
:11:51. > :12:02.that we have already heard from lots of small businesses that they are
:12:03. > :12:05.cheering. There are 630,000 -- -- a large number of small businesses who
:12:06. > :12:16.will not be paying corporation rates. There was a lot in here for
:12:17. > :12:23.small businesses. The burden of that, quite a lot of that, is to do
:12:24. > :12:26.with local government. Local government are bringing in these
:12:27. > :12:30.taxes. Will it mean there is difficulty for these local
:12:31. > :12:38.governments dealing with that shortfall? There's a whole array of
:12:39. > :12:46.other topics people are asking about. Stephen asks, if class to
:12:47. > :12:53.national insurance is abolished, how will the self-employed qualify for a
:12:54. > :13:00.state pension? I love this one! This is the technical question that...
:13:01. > :13:07.Yes. It was worrying when I first saw it, so I dug through the budget
:13:08. > :13:12.documents. A delightful document that we read as journalists so
:13:13. > :13:17.others don't have too. There is a change here, and aim to reform
:13:18. > :13:21.another part of the national insurance system, that means you
:13:22. > :13:25.will not miss out in building up for the state pension. Part of national
:13:26. > :13:31.insurance is unable for you to build up and then receive the state
:13:32. > :13:37.pension. Class two is going to be abolished, but there is a reform
:13:38. > :13:42.elsewhere that means you will not miss out on a state pension. I'm
:13:43. > :13:46.glad we sorted that out! Emma asks, what is the Chancellor doing for
:13:47. > :13:51.single parents and public sector workers? There wasn't anything
:13:52. > :13:56.specifically aimed at single parents, that there were things she
:13:57. > :14:01.may be able to benefit from, such as a rise in the personal allowance,
:14:02. > :14:09.which is the amount you can earn without paying tax, which is going
:14:10. > :14:14.up to ?11,500. He helped to save schemes as well, the increased ice
:14:15. > :14:20.allowances, all of these will help parents who are trying to build
:14:21. > :14:23.financial security for their children and themselves. A lot of
:14:24. > :14:29.public sector workers will talk about what is happening to their
:14:30. > :14:35.pay. It is only going up I 1%. We had some forecasts today, which said
:14:36. > :14:41.that inflation, which shows what the cost of living is going to be, it
:14:42. > :14:49.was forecast to be below 1% next year. So a real term pay rise for
:14:50. > :14:58.public sector workers, but the following one will be a real term
:14:59. > :15:02.pay cut for public sector workers. About public sector pensions, the
:15:03. > :15:06.cost of those will increase, but the government has promised that those
:15:07. > :15:12.costs will not be passed onto workers, and their pensions will be
:15:13. > :15:16.fully preserved. Let's break in with another burst of the Chancellor,
:15:17. > :15:22.with reference to what he had to say about tobacco. I'm told we can't
:15:23. > :15:29.bring you what he actually said about it, although we know it will
:15:30. > :15:38.go up by a similar amount that -- as it has gone up of late. There's
:15:39. > :15:47.always a similar amount in alcohol and tobacco taxes. Yes, a syntax!
:15:48. > :15:51.Alcohol is going up above inflation. Beer is staying frozen, as is
:15:52. > :15:57.whiskey, and wine is going up alongside inflation. Obviously,
:15:58. > :16:02.there are a lot of people who would be in every one of those brackets,
:16:03. > :16:06.and winners and losers at the same time. It makes a nice headline for
:16:07. > :16:14.things like beer and whiskey not going up in price. And we can add
:16:15. > :16:20.sugar to our sins now! There's going to be a bit of lead in time, but
:16:21. > :16:26.there's been some suggestions that this tax on sugary drinks could be
:16:27. > :16:32.passed on to shoppers, to consumers, and they could pay a bit more for
:16:33. > :16:38.sugary drinks. Let's see what the Chancellor had to say specifically
:16:39. > :16:43.on that issue. I'm not prepared to look back on my time in this
:16:44. > :16:47.Parliament and say to my children's generation, I'm sorry, we knew there
:16:48. > :16:51.was a problem with sugary drinks, we knew it caused disease, but we
:16:52. > :16:56.ducked the difficult decisions and we did nothing. Today I can announce
:16:57. > :17:04.we will introduce a new sugar levy on the soft rinks industry. We had a
:17:05. > :17:10.question about that. Kevin, you've gone there a bit, but Andrew says,
:17:11. > :17:15.instead of legislating against them, why is he taxing sugary drinks and
:17:16. > :17:21.passing the cost on to the consumer? The tax works pretty well for him,
:17:22. > :17:26.financially, because he would like consumers not to be buying these
:17:27. > :17:31.drinks, because further down the line, if people eat or drink more
:17:32. > :17:36.sugar, they are more likely to have diabetes or become obese, which
:17:37. > :17:41.presents a huge financial burden for the NHS. Billions of pounds a year
:17:42. > :17:46.is spent on treating those conditions. He is trying to steer
:17:47. > :17:55.consumers away from these drinks with these taxes. If they don't buy
:17:56. > :17:59.them, he doesn't get the money. He doesn't, but he is not going to
:18:00. > :18:05.spend it anywhere, because he has said he will spend it on school
:18:06. > :18:09.sport in England. Other nations will be able to decide where they spend
:18:10. > :18:15.the money. The Chancellor isn't saying he's doing it in order to get
:18:16. > :18:20.some more to help cover that national credit card, he's saying
:18:21. > :18:25.the money will go directly to schools sports, but just in England.
:18:26. > :18:31.It does raise an interesting question in terms of the role of
:18:32. > :18:38.taxation in this kind of area. Is it there to raise money or is it there
:18:39. > :18:42.to change bad habits? It is controversial, because they few
:18:43. > :18:47.pence added onto a can of Coke will not make a difference to a wealthy
:18:48. > :18:54.person, but for someone with fewer means, it creates an inequality in
:18:55. > :19:01.society, which is a controversial thing. As ever, we are on day one of
:19:02. > :19:09.the budget. It often takes several days for us to get all the details
:19:10. > :19:14.of it. It does. It is the joy of our job. We all get to look through the
:19:15. > :19:20.detail! Thankfully, there's also some economic experts, and the
:19:21. > :19:23.Institute for Fiscal Studies will be going through these numbers
:19:24. > :19:30.overnight, and will give us their take on it tomorrow. Often, that
:19:31. > :19:35.gives us a bit more indication of what's going on. There are things in
:19:36. > :19:39.there where people will have to look at the detail, certainly things like
:19:40. > :19:47.the lifetime I said, to see not just what is happening but how it is
:19:48. > :19:54.implemented. -- the lifetime ISA. A final thought for those watching
:19:55. > :20:00.this, trying to get a sense of what it will mean for them. There are a
:20:01. > :20:05.lot of solutions for savings. There seems to be a saving solution for
:20:06. > :20:10.everyone here to build security for the future. Some of those savings
:20:11. > :20:14.schemes, we need to look into the detail and see what they mean. Over
:20:15. > :20:20.the next few days, more stories around those will unfold. Thank you
:20:21. > :20:25.both very much indeed for answering all those questions, especially the
:20:26. > :20:29.one that you enjoyed as much as you did! Thank you both very much.
:20:30. > :20:35.Now, time for a look at the weather.