:00:15. > :00:19.A tax cut for Britain's top earners in George Osborne's Budget. Down 5p
:00:19. > :00:23.in the pound from next year. The Chancellor says the riches will pay
:00:23. > :00:28.five times as much in other taxes. Millions will see a big rise in the
:00:28. > :00:31.amount they can earn before paying tax.
:00:31. > :00:35.Together, the British people will share in the effort and share the
:00:35. > :00:42.rewards. This country borrowed its way into trouble, now we're going
:00:42. > :00:46.to earn our way out. I commend the Budget to the House. It is a
:00:46. > :00:51.millionaire's Budget, that squeezes the middle. Wrong choices, wrong
:00:51. > :00:55.priorities. Wrong values. Out of touch, same old Tories. Among the
:00:55. > :00:58.loses - millions of pensioners facing a squeeze on their
:00:59. > :01:04.retirement allowances. I don't think it's fair really because
:01:04. > :01:09.pensioners have paid all their life into the tax system. They seem to
:01:09. > :01:15.get penallised and left behind. From changes in child benefit to a
:01:15. > :01:19.drop in corporation tax, we'll have all the details. Also - a flight to
:01:19. > :01:25.freedom, the British woman released by her Somali kidnappers, with a
:01:25. > :01:29.message to her son. I don't know how he secured my release, but he
:01:29. > :01:33.did. I'm really happy. I can't wait to see him. French police corner
:01:33. > :01:38.the prime suspect in the Jewish school shooting. He fired back when
:01:38. > :01:42.they tried to arrest him. And the tookor who first treated
:01:42. > :01:47.Fabrice Muamba tells us the player was effectively dead for more than
:01:47. > :01:56.an hour. And I'll be here with Sportsday
:01:56. > :02:06.later in the hour on the BBC News channel as Tevez looked set to end
:02:06. > :02:16.
:02:16. > :02:20.his exile against the first team Good evening. Welcome to the BBC's
:02:20. > :02:23.News at Six. George Osborne has delivered what he's called a Budget
:02:23. > :02:26.for working families. Millions will benefit from changes to the tax
:02:26. > :02:31.system and the richest people in Britain will be better off. From
:02:31. > :02:34.next year, they will pay 5p in the pound less in tax. The Labour
:02:35. > :02:39.leader attacked the Chancellor, saying he had produced a
:02:39. > :02:44.millionaire's Budget. Among today's losers are pensions, millions of
:02:45. > :02:52.whom will -- pensioners, millions of whom will end up with less than
:02:52. > :02:55.they expected. There was the 50p rate cut. A significant allowance
:02:55. > :03:01.in the tax free allowance. Many families now will keep part of
:03:01. > :03:05.their child benefit. We'll have all the details and reaction. Our
:03:05. > :03:09.political editor has our first report tonight.
:03:09. > :03:14.It's a small box, it contained few surprises, but it has sparked a big
:03:14. > :03:16.debate. In a time of austerity, who should pay less tax and who should
:03:16. > :03:20.pay more? George Osborne left Downing Street this morning
:03:21. > :03:25.preparing to give with one hand and take with another. There was only
:03:25. > :03:28.one thing to ask. Are the rich going to pay their fair share,
:03:28. > :03:31.Chancellor? He hoped it would satisfy his Liberal Democrats
:03:31. > :03:35.colleagues and the country too, as he prepared to announce a tax cut
:03:35. > :03:40.for those at the top. In the Commons he told MPs his changes
:03:40. > :03:44.were fair and the wealthy would pay their share. This Budget rewards
:03:45. > :03:48.work. Britain is going to earn its way in the world. There is no other
:03:48. > :03:53.road to recovery. Maybe, but it was also a Budget
:03:53. > :03:59.that cut the top rate of tax from 50p-45p for those earning more than
:03:59. > :04:04.�150,000. No Chancellor can justify a tax
:04:04. > :04:09.rate that damages our economy and raises next to nothing. It is as
:04:09. > :04:13.simple as that. Labour MPs booed that, but the Chancellor had his
:04:13. > :04:17.answer. He was raising more than �9,000 the money most of us can
:04:17. > :04:21.earn before starting to pay tax. Taking another 800,000 people out
:04:21. > :04:27.of tax all together. Every working person on low or
:04:27. > :04:33.middle incomes will benefit. Millions... They loved that.
:04:33. > :04:38.Particularly Lib Dems who have long argued for it. Millions of working
:04:38. > :04:43.people will be �220 better off every year. For hard-pressed
:04:43. > :04:49.families there was no freeze on fuel duty, but a relief on child
:04:49. > :04:55.benefit. Those earning just over �42 will now keep it. Those earning
:04:55. > :05:02.over �50,000 will lose some and those over �60,000 all of it.
:05:02. > :05:09.750,000 families will keep some or all of their child benefit. 90% of
:05:09. > :05:12.all families will remain eligible for child benefit. Another 1p cut
:05:12. > :05:17.in corporation tax. All these tax cuts will cost money and someone
:05:17. > :05:21.had to pay. Pensioners will see their tax
:05:21. > :05:28.allowance frozen. The average existing pensioner losing �63 a
:05:28. > :05:31.year. I will freeze the cash value of the allowance. This will protect
:05:31. > :05:37.the existing level of allowance pensioners have, while introducing
:05:37. > :05:43.a new single personal allowance for all. It is a major simplification.
:05:43. > :05:50.It saves money. No pensioner will lose in cash terms. There was no
:05:50. > :05:54.new mansion tax, but... I reward tax evasion and indeed aggressive
:05:55. > :05:59.tax avoidance as morally repugnant. So he said as well as raising stamp
:06:00. > :06:04.duty to 7% for houses worth more than �2 million, he could cap tax
:06:04. > :06:08.relief for the wealthy. He claimed overall the rich would pay more.
:06:08. > :06:13.From midnight tonight, we will introduce a new stamp duty land tax
:06:13. > :06:16.rate of 7% on properties worth more than �2 million. In anticipation of
:06:16. > :06:21.the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan, the Chancellor
:06:21. > :06:25.said he would cut the emergency reserve put aside for the conflict
:06:25. > :06:29.by �2.5 billion over the next three years to help pay for his tax cuts.
:06:29. > :06:33.Together, the British people will share in the effort and share the
:06:33. > :06:37.rewards. This country borrowed its way into trouble, now we're going
:06:37. > :06:41.to earn our way out. I commend the Budget to the House.
:06:41. > :06:46.For Labour, there was only one question - why should the rich get
:06:46. > :06:52.a tax cut? The Chancellor spoke for an hour. One of his phrases was
:06:52. > :06:57.missing - there was one thing he didn't say. Today, marks the end of
:06:57. > :07:04.we're all in it together. Hands up in the Cabinet if you're
:07:04. > :07:10.going to benefit from the income tax cut. Come on! Ed Miliband said
:07:10. > :07:14.this was the wrong priority at the wrong time. Tax credits cut, child
:07:14. > :07:18.benefit taken away, fuel duty rising. What has he chosen to make
:07:18. > :07:22.his priority - for Britain's millionaires a massive income tax
:07:22. > :07:25.cut, each and every year. Just who will win and who will lose from
:07:25. > :07:29.this gambit may take time to work out. Some were already claiming the
:07:29. > :07:34.Budget had failed. It has failed to deliver on growth
:07:34. > :07:38.and on fairness. So the millionaires are being treated best.
:07:38. > :07:43.The poorest, middle earners are squeezed the most. The biggest
:07:44. > :07:46.concern for Wales is there is a clear framework to introduce
:07:46. > :07:56.regional pay. That will institutional Wales and the north-
:07:56. > :08:03.
:08:03. > :08:08.west and south-west of England as Well, let's take a look at some
:08:08. > :08:12.other measures announced today; for business and industry there'll be a
:08:12. > :08:14.package worth �3 billion to support new drilling for oil and gas in the
:08:14. > :08:18.new drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea.
:08:18. > :08:22.In the public sector, the Chancellor has promised to press
:08:22. > :08:32.ahead with regional pay rates for civil servants. There are no new
:08:32. > :08:40.
:08:40. > :08:46.changes to fuel duty. It will go up D So, with household budgets under
:08:46. > :08:50.pressure, how will the measures effect households? To get some
:08:50. > :08:56.views our correspondent has pent the day in Northallerton, in North
:08:56. > :09:00.Yorkshire. There is no other road to recovery.... As the Chancellor
:09:00. > :09:04.delivered his Budget today, nobody seemed too bothered in this shop in
:09:04. > :09:09.Northallerton high street, even though what he was saying affected
:09:09. > :09:13.most of the people outside. Was he coming up smelling of flowers by
:09:13. > :09:17.raising the personal tax allowance for millions of people? I think
:09:17. > :09:22.it's about time we had some incentives to work hard in this
:09:22. > :09:26.country. I don't really think it will make much difference to be
:09:26. > :09:29.honest. What about specifics? Sophie Hills is a 23-year-old
:09:29. > :09:34.graduate, what works part-time in local shops.
:09:34. > :09:39.She earns less than �10,000 a year. She could find herself lifted out
:09:39. > :09:42.of the tax system all together. Extra money is always good. It
:09:42. > :09:47.allows me to work a couple more hours without worrying about that
:09:47. > :09:56.coming off in tax, for example. Extra money, I can put it towards
:09:56. > :10:00.things I want, maybe pay off some debts. Not everyone is happy. Cliff
:10:00. > :10:02.and Edna today found out their tax- free allowance will be frozen. The
:10:02. > :10:06.Government says it is about simplifying the tax system. They
:10:06. > :10:11.are not sure. I don't think it is fair because pensioners have paid
:10:11. > :10:18.all their life into the tax system and they seem to get penallised and
:10:18. > :10:23.left behind. I don't think we should pay tax, to be honest with
:10:23. > :10:27.you. Charles Barker is the boss of an independent department store in
:10:27. > :10:32.the town. He is a 50% tax rate payer, but says cutting the rate
:10:32. > :10:39.was not a priority for him. Personally any reduction is welcome.
:10:39. > :10:43.What is much more important is that the lower threshold is raised. That
:10:43. > :10:48.will put more money into people's pockets. From our point of view it
:10:48. > :10:53.will be more people through the doors with more to spend. Lisa is a
:10:53. > :10:56.40% rate taxpayer. Until today the mum of one stood to lose all her
:10:56. > :11:01.child benefit. After today's benefit she will keep some of it.
:11:01. > :11:07.She is still not happy. I don't think it is fair that my neighbours
:11:07. > :11:17.could both have a joint income of �98,000 and could both bring in the
:11:17. > :11:20.full child benefit, where as me as one tax earner above the threshold
:11:20. > :11:24.will have that money taken from them. It is not a fair system.
:11:24. > :11:32.Which side of the Chancellor have you seen today? That depends on
:11:32. > :11:36.your income, interests and ideology. Well, as we have heard, today's
:11:37. > :11:44.winners include some parents who stood to lose child benefit and
:11:44. > :11:48.will now keep it. Among the louzers, although not all, some -- losers,
:11:49. > :11:54.although not all, some pensioners. With Budgets there are people who
:11:54. > :11:59.gain and others who get hit harder. A key Budget move involved
:11:59. > :12:04.increasing the tax allowance. The winners are basic rate taxpayers
:12:04. > :12:09.under 65, they will be �350 a year better off. There are losers too.
:12:09. > :12:12.The over 60s have a higher allowance. Around four million
:12:12. > :12:16.taxpayer pensioners will be affected because their tax-free
:12:16. > :12:20.allowance will be frozen. Pensioners have not been badly hit
:12:20. > :12:25.in sense of losing real money. Their expectations for the future
:12:25. > :12:29.will be managed. They will not get as such in terms of tax-free
:12:29. > :12:33.allowances going forwards. A key part was on the wealthy. There'll
:12:34. > :12:38.be a crackdown on avoidance, which should cover the top rate of income
:12:38. > :12:42.tax. The Chancellor said wealthier taxpayers found ways around paying
:12:42. > :12:45.the 50p rate and it was harming Britain's reputation as a place to
:12:45. > :12:49.do business. This will definitely pay off. You only have to go to
:12:49. > :12:54.another part of the world and look at Britain from a distance and see
:12:54. > :12:58.how damaging 50p tax rate was to doing business in the UK and from
:12:58. > :13:02.the UK. This will more than pay for itself.
:13:02. > :13:07.Union leaders were angered by the tax break for the richest in
:13:07. > :13:12.society. We get it reduce tods 45p because no-one was paying it. What
:13:12. > :13:16.we should do is make sure they pay it, instead of saying we will
:13:16. > :13:21.reduce it because they are not paying it. That is ridiculous.
:13:21. > :13:26.Convo ver thal plans to remove -- controversial plans to remove child
:13:26. > :13:30.benefit from some families have been amended.
:13:30. > :13:36.The threshold will be �50,000, after which families lose some
:13:36. > :13:39.benefit. From then on �1 will be lost for every �100 earned.
:13:40. > :13:43.Households with someone on more than �60,000 will lose all the
:13:43. > :13:49.benefit. Most parents are going to welcome this. It is a big change
:13:49. > :13:55.for many families. I think there is some unfairness in the system. You
:13:55. > :13:59.could earn �100,000 as a couple and receive it and earn �60,000 as one
:13:59. > :14:03.person working and that does seem unfair. The Chancellor said it
:14:03. > :14:08.would be a Budget for working households. Millions might agree
:14:08. > :14:12.with that. A good many pensioners might see it differently. Let's get
:14:12. > :14:15.some reaction from Robert Peston. We have heard a lot about what it
:14:15. > :14:20.will mean for families - what about business? Well the business leaders
:14:20. > :14:25.to whom I have spoken love this Budget. I is easy to see why. The
:14:25. > :14:29.corporation tax is being cut by another 1% on top of the 1% which
:14:29. > :14:34.was scheduled to happen on April 6th. That takes the corporate tax
:14:34. > :14:39.rate down to 24%, which is one of the lowest raitds within the
:14:39. > :14:43.developed world and the -- rates within the developed world. And the
:14:43. > :14:48.Chancellor sent a signal he would like to see rates reduced to 20%.
:14:48. > :14:55.Also,s I am sure you know, business leaders didn't like the 50p income
:14:55. > :14:57.tax rate. So, they are delighted it is going down to 45p in the pound.
:14:57. > :15:01.Delighted because of course it benefits them and they say it will
:15:01. > :15:06.make it easier to retain the sort of talent they need in the UK.
:15:06. > :15:09.But, the Government will now be looking to business to respond. If
:15:09. > :15:13.you look at the forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility,
:15:13. > :15:17.one of the things that is striking is that businesses haven't been
:15:17. > :15:21.investing as much as the economy needs for it to recover. So the
:15:21. > :15:24.Chancellor will now want to see business, in a sense repaying
:15:25. > :15:34.generosity, by investing more and hiring more people.
:15:35. > :15:36.
:15:36. > :15:40.Let's get the thoughts of our political editor, Nick Robinson -
:15:40. > :15:45.what about the politics of all of this? The Chancellor is desperate
:15:45. > :15:48.that people should focus on the tax cut for 23 million ordinary people,
:15:48. > :15:52.that those who thought they were going to lose their child benefit
:15:52. > :15:56.will tonight celebrate by saying they are not. But of course he
:15:56. > :16:00.knows that the risk is that it will be seen as a budget for
:16:00. > :16:04.millionaires. Why would someone who actually coined the phrase, we are
:16:04. > :16:09.all in it together, take that huge political risk? There have been
:16:09. > :16:12.plenty of theories, some people say he is rewarding his friends or
:16:12. > :16:16.playing politics, but there is another theory, that he actually
:16:16. > :16:20.believes in it. In other words, that George Osborne believes you do
:16:20. > :16:26.not get the economy going with a scheme hear what an initiative
:16:26. > :16:30.there, what happens is, you make cuts to taxes for businesses and
:16:30. > :16:34.business people, who then conclude that Britain is the place to create
:16:34. > :16:39.jobs and wealth. He believes that, but with equal passion, the Labour
:16:40. > :16:43.Party believes that he has, in one decision, thrown away the claim
:16:43. > :16:46.that the Conservative Party has changed and damaged the Liberal
:16:46. > :16:50.Democrats, too. They will remind people that while some millionaires
:16:50. > :16:56.are getting a big tax cut, and there are pensioners worried about
:16:56. > :17:03.tax allowances tonight, and people losing their tax credits, Ed
:17:03. > :17:08.Miliband is a gambler as well. So, who, between these two gamblers,
:17:08. > :17:14.George Osborne and Ed Miliband, is right? Forgive me, George, I am not
:17:14. > :17:19.confident enough to put a bet on it. For everything you need to know
:17:19. > :17:29.about the Budget, including our Budget calculator, you can go to
:17:29. > :17:31.
:17:31. > :17:34.our website. Our main headline - the Chancellor has announced a tax
:17:34. > :17:39.cut for Britain's top earners and a big increase in the mouth people
:17:39. > :17:45.can earn before paying tax. Coming up - the hospital doctor who ran
:17:45. > :17:55.onto the pitch to save Fabrice Muamba describes the crucial
:17:55. > :18:22.
:18:22. > :18:26.A British woman kidnapped in can you last September by a Somali gang
:18:26. > :18:31.who killed her husband has been freed. It is understood a ransom
:18:31. > :18:38.was paid by a private security firm working for the family. Tonight,
:18:38. > :18:42.Judith Tebbutt is recovering in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, from where
:18:42. > :18:48.our correspondent Will Ross reports. The dramatic rescue from Somalia,
:18:48. > :18:52.as a security official takes Judith Tebbutt away to freedom. But
:18:52. > :19:01.emotions are mixed. Minutes earlier, she held back the tears as she
:19:02. > :19:11.spoke of her husband's death. not know he had died until about I
:19:12. > :19:15.
:19:15. > :19:24.think it was two weeks, two weeks from my capture. I just assumed he
:19:24. > :19:29.was alive, but then my son told me he had died. The terrifying ordeal
:19:29. > :19:33.began last September, at this isolated, tranquil resort on the
:19:33. > :19:39.Kenyan coast. In the middle of the night, an armoured gang burst into
:19:39. > :19:43.the room, shots were fired, the gunmen bundled Judith on to a
:19:43. > :19:52.speedboat and headed to Somalia. Her husband was left behind and
:19:52. > :19:59.died from his injuries. Just before her flight out of Somalia, Judith
:19:59. > :20:07.Tebbutt spoke to the man who helped raise them and some, her own son.
:20:07. > :20:12.OK, Oliver! Mother and son have now been reunited in Kenya. On arriving
:20:12. > :20:16.here in Nairobi, officials from the British high commission stepped in
:20:16. > :20:20.to take care of Judith Tebbutt. The involvement of the British
:20:20. > :20:25.Government in trying to get her released had been minimal, because
:20:25. > :20:32.it opposes the idea of paying ransoms. Two people who know all
:20:32. > :20:40.about the horror of captivity in Somalia and the joy of being set
:20:40. > :20:43.free are Paul and Rachel Chandler. The process of release, you really
:20:43. > :20:50.get an adrenalin high, it is absolutely fantastic to realise
:20:50. > :20:57.you're free. As Judith Tebbutt puts it, now is the time to pick up the
:20:57. > :21:00.pieces and move on. The Ministry of Defence has announced that a
:21:00. > :21:05.soldier from the 2nd Battalion the Mercian Regiment has been killed in
:21:05. > :21:12.Afghanistan. The soldier died in an explosion in Helmand province. His
:21:12. > :21:15.family have been informed. The prime suspect in the killing of
:21:15. > :21:20.seven people in France is surrounded by a leaked police
:21:20. > :21:22.commandos tonight. Shots have been fired at the house in Toulouse
:21:23. > :21:27.where negotiators have spent the day trying to persuade the man to
:21:27. > :21:32.give himself up. Our correspondent sent this report. They swooped in
:21:32. > :21:36.the early hours of the morning. Intelligence gathered in the
:21:36. > :21:40.biggest manhunt France has known led them to an apartment in this
:21:40. > :21:46.quiet residential street. Inside was the gunman responsible for
:21:46. > :21:50.seven murders. His name is Mohammed Merah, a 24 yet French citizen who
:21:51. > :21:54.was arrested in Afghanistan and is known to the intelligence services.
:21:54. > :21:58.As they tried to force their way into the flat, there was an
:21:58. > :22:01.exchange of fire in which two policemen were shot and injured.
:22:01. > :22:06.The gunman's brother was arrested in a separate operation. His mother
:22:06. > :22:10.was brought to the scene to try to talk him out. We have no spoken to
:22:10. > :22:17.the man who yesterday afternoon handed police their key piece of
:22:17. > :22:21.information. 10 days ago, Mohammed Merah came to this Yamaha franchise
:22:21. > :22:27.to find out how to disable the tracking device on his powerful
:22:27. > :22:31.scooter, and how he could dismantle it to respray it. This man has
:22:31. > :22:36.known the teenager since he was a teenager. He seemed a normal kid, a
:22:36. > :22:39.bit more unruly than others, and he did have a criminal record, but
:22:39. > :22:43.there was nothing that made me think he was capable of such
:22:43. > :22:47.atrocious acts. The description of the repainted bike which was
:22:48. > :22:51.spotted at the scene reminded the bike dealer of the previous
:22:51. > :22:54.conversation, and immediately he phoned the police. The President
:22:54. > :22:59.has come to congratulate the police on a job well done, but serious
:22:59. > :23:03.questions will be asked. How did unknown fundamentalist who had long
:23:03. > :23:06.been under surveillance manage to kill seven people, and how did he
:23:06. > :23:09.gather such an extraordinary arsenal of weapons, which was found
:23:09. > :23:12.in the boot of his car, without raising the concerns of the
:23:12. > :23:16.surveillance teams that were following him? For the families who
:23:16. > :23:20.were today attending the funerals of the victims, in Israel and in
:23:20. > :23:25.France, there will be anger and frustration that maybe this could
:23:25. > :23:29.have been prevented. Two weeks ago, Mohammed Merah appeared in court
:23:29. > :23:32.charged with a minor driving offence. It was the last
:23:32. > :23:39.opportunity to stop the man who would soon become the most
:23:39. > :23:43.dangerous killer in France. The doctors treating the footballer
:23:43. > :23:47.Fabrice Muamba have described his recovery has remarkable. The 23-
:23:47. > :23:52.year-old had a cardiac arrest at Tottenham on Saturday, and is
:23:52. > :23:55.currently being treated at the London chest Hospital. Help from a
:23:55. > :24:00.cardiologist who ran on to the pitch from the stands may have made
:24:00. > :24:04.all the difference, as Dan Roan reports. He is the pitch invader
:24:05. > :24:09.who became a life saver. When Fabrice Muamba collapsed on
:24:09. > :24:13.Saturday, Spurs fan Andrew Deaner recognised all the signs of a
:24:13. > :24:17.cardiac arrest. He joined in the effort to help the midfielder and
:24:17. > :24:23.continued to treat him on the way to hospital. Today he told me what
:24:23. > :24:27.prompted him to act. As soon as I saw them starting CPR, something
:24:27. > :24:31.twitched in me. My brother said, go and help. We managed to persuade
:24:31. > :24:36.one of the stewards we know, because we sit in the same place,
:24:36. > :24:42.to take me down. One of the most promising young players in the
:24:42. > :24:46.Premier League, Fabrice Muamba remains in intensive care, but he
:24:46. > :24:52.has already had a conversation with the man who saved his life. I said,
:24:53. > :24:57.I understand you're pretty good footballer. He said, I try. To have
:24:57. > :25:03.Yuma, when you have been through 80 minutes of CPR, is phenomenal. I
:25:03. > :25:07.stood back and I had tears in my eyes. The plate of Muamba has
:25:07. > :25:10.united football, with messages of support pouring in from all over
:25:10. > :25:15.the world. The consultant now in charge of his treatment is
:25:15. > :25:18.optimistic. OK it is fair to say that his outcome has been
:25:18. > :25:23.extraordinary, and I'm sure that is because of the extraordinary care
:25:23. > :25:27.he received at White Hart Lane and from the ambulance service. These
:25:27. > :25:30.are still early days in his recovery, but doctors are adamant
:25:30. > :25:34.that it was the medical attention he received on the pitch and on the
:25:34. > :25:39.way here which has proved crucial in giving Fabrice Muamba the chance
:25:39. > :25:45.in giving Fabrice Muamba the chance of a normal life. Time for the
:25:45. > :25:50.weather. Once again we have seen a big rise in temperatures today, in
:25:50. > :25:54.the sunshine, but we are cutting back on cloud tonight, and with the
:25:54. > :25:58.clear skies, it will be a chilly night. There will be a touch of
:25:58. > :26:00.frost forming in many spots by the morning. There will be a bit more
:26:00. > :26:10.cloud across the north-west of Scotland and also the south-west of
:26:10. > :26:11.
:26:11. > :26:15.England, with a few showers here as well. But in between, clear skies.
:26:15. > :26:25.Some of you will be waking up to a frost in the morning, but for many,
:26:25. > :26:32.sunshine overhead. A little bit more cloud in north-west Scotland.
:26:32. > :26:41.Most areas will be dry. Inland, just some fair weather cloud, with
:26:41. > :26:45.long spells of sunshine. The major exception will be the eastern
:26:45. > :26:52.coasts of England and Scotland, there will be a chilly wind coming
:26:52. > :26:56.off the North Sea. This will limit to be just. Thursday night into
:26:56. > :27:06.Friday, a few showers working through Western areas, which
:27:06. > :27:11.continues into Friday. -- western areas. Friday will be a bright and
:27:11. > :27:16.reasonably mild day. Into the weekend, high-pressure building.
:27:16. > :27:23.For many it will be another dry and For many it will be another dry and
:27:23. > :27:27.More now on our top story, the Budget. The Chancellor has
:27:27. > :27:31.announced changes to the tax threshold, the top rate of tax and
:27:31. > :27:37.child benefit. Our economics editor, Stephanie Flanders, has been
:27:37. > :27:40.tracking every move. She is outside Number 11 Downing Street at the
:27:40. > :27:43.moment - where does this Budget leave the economy? It is
:27:43. > :27:47.interesting, it is one of those budgets where you could say that
:27:47. > :27:50.the big picture on growth and borrowing has not really changed
:27:50. > :27:55.since George Osborne gave his last statement, and it has not really
:27:55. > :27:59.changed since he sat down. All of those announcements, all of the tax
:27:59. > :28:02.changes which we will be debating in the weeks to come, have not left
:28:02. > :28:05.a very different situation, in the sense that at the end of this
:28:05. > :28:10.Parliament, the balance between tax and spending could be very similar.
:28:10. > :28:14.But that assumes that the tax and there -- Chancellor has not just
:28:14. > :28:18.given a big tax cut to the rich. His judgment that the reduction in
:28:18. > :28:22.the top rate will not cost him very much because wealthy people tend to
:28:22. > :28:27.change their behaviour wealthy, that's one that people will be
:28:27. > :28:30.debating, not just the politicians, but the experts as well. What we do
:28:30. > :28:34.know is that the Office for Budget Responsibility thinks it is a
:28:34. > :28:36.reasonable judgment, but an uncertain one. What we do know
:28:36. > :28:40.about basic rate taxpayers is that they will be paying less tax next
:28:40. > :28:45.year, and we know that many people will not be paying tax at all next
:28:45. > :28:49.year as a result of these changes. We also know, Susie afraid, that we
:28:49. > :28:52.are only halfway through a seven- year unprecedented period of
:28:52. > :28:57.austerity tax rises and spending cuts, which will be affecting all
:28:57. > :29:03.of us. And we found out today that it could involve another �10
:29:03. > :29:05.billion in welfare cuts after 2014. So, I guess, this debate about the
:29:05. > :29:10.top rate will light up the political landscape for a long time