16/03/2016 BBC News at Six

George Osborne delivers his Budget, as latest forecasts say growth

In his red box today - the speech that has changed our

He says the storm clouds are gathering.

The outlook for the global economy is weak.

It makes for a dangerous cocktail of risks, but one that Britain

is well prepared to handle, if we act now, so we don't pay

He's failed on the budget deficit, failed on debt, failed

on investment, failed on productivity, failed on trade

deficit, failed on the welfare cap, failed to tackle

Mr Osborne announces a tax on sugary drinks.

It's his new plan to tackle childhood obesity.

But this is a tax for good, this is a tax that symbolic,

this is a tax that will have ripples across the world.

There are lower taxes for small business, and ways to make big

We'll work out what today's Budget says about the UK economy,

We are going to win, win, win, we are not going to stop. We will have

great victories for our country. In America - big wins

for Donald Trump in the race And coming up in the sport on BBC

News: A remarkable comeback He wins the Queen Mother Champion

Chase at Cheltenham, three years after heart

problems were detected. Good evening and welcome

to the BBC News at 6. George Osborne delivered his latest

Budget today saying that Britain faced a challenge, with "storm

clouds" gathering over There were changes that will affect

take home pay and help for younger savers, in what the Chancellor

called a "Budget for Labour called it

a "Budget of failure." Latest forecasts suggest that

economic growth is slowing down, but Mr Osborne said that

still leaves Britain ahead Under the changes on personal taxes,

you won't start paying income tax And, once again, there

was a big surprise. He's introducing a sugar

levy on soft drinks - More on that in a moment, but first,

our Deputy Political Editor James Landale watched the

exchanges in the Commons. The government likes to talk of

fixing the roof when the sun is shining. At Westminster and

elsewhere that is a long-term economic plan that is taking longer

than expected. The George Osborne's budget box it contained worse

economic news than he hoped, and therefore bigger cuts than he

wanted. Cuts he has to make if he is to get his Budget in surplus by

2019. But as he headed for the Commons he knew as well as the bad

news feel so needed some better news ahead of a referendum where he needs

the support of voters and Tory MPs if Britain is to stay in the EU. The

Chancellor of the Exchequer. So his statement to MPs was deliberately

cautious, no radical reforms but instead some tax cuts to soften the

worsening economic news. Financial markets are turbulent. Productive to

growth across the West is too low and the outlook for the global

economy is weak. It makes for a dangerous cocktail of risks. With

the economy and productivity growing slower than expected, he admitted he

missed his target of cutting debt as a share of national income and would

have to cut spending by another ?3.5 billion a year from 2019. Grim news

he tried to sweeten with the surprise. I'm not prepared to look

back on my time here in this Parliament, doing my job and say to

my children's generation I'm sorry, we knew there was a problem with

sugary drinks, we knew it cause disease but we ducked the difficult

decisions and did nothing. So today I can announce we will introduce a

new sugar levy on the soft drinks industry. A tax that will raise half

?1 billion a year to be spent on extra sport for primary schools. But

if Tory MPs liked that, somewhat less keen on the chance for using

his Budget to make a case for the EU. Britain will be stronger, safer

and better off inside a reformed European Union. I believe we should

not put at risk all the hard work the British people have done to make

our economy stronger again. But he cheered Tory MPs with a flurry of

tax cuts, raising the tax-free personal allowance to ?11,500 from

April next year. Raising the threshold for the higher rate of

income tax to ?45,000 at the same time and there will be a new ISA.

That was all, he said fuel duty would be frozen, corporation tax

would be cut to 17% by 2020 and small firms would get their business

rates cut permanent way. All good news for groups who often oppose the

EU. A typical corner shop in Barnstable will pay no business

rates. A typical hairdresser in Leeds will pay no rates. A typical

newsagency in Nuneaton will pay no rates. Mr Deputy Speaker, a ?7

billion tax cut for our nation of shopkeepers. But how will you pay

for this? By posing a massive tax rise on big firms, scrapping schemes

they used to avoid paying business tax. A ?12 billion crackdown on tax

avoidance and public sector employers will have to pay more

pension contributions. This is a Budget that gets the investors

investing, savers saving and business doing business so we build

for working people a low tax, enterprise Britain, secure homes,

strong in the world. I commend to the house a Budget that puts the

next-generation first. For a Chancellor with one eye on becoming

the next Tory leader, those were the cheers he wanted to hear. But for

all the talk of a bright economic future, Labour came out fighting,

saying it was a recovery built on sand. Failed on a Budget deficit,

failed on debt, failed on investment, failed an productivity,

failed on trade deficit, failed on the welfare cap, failed to tackle

inequality in this country. And inequality, he said, that was a by

the Chancellor's welfare cuts for the disabled. Half a million people

with disabilities are losing over ?1 billion in personal independence

payments, corporation tax has been cut and billions handed out in tax

cuts to the very wealthy. Outside Parliament, while some celebrated

the sugar tax, others were disappointed by what they saw as a

missed opportunity. This budget has very little for Wales. The bulk of

the announcements regarding Wales we either knew already or they actually

only affect England. It confirms the failure of George Osborne. Debt

deficit, borrowing, everything pushed back. The so-called long-term

plan wasn't, it has been abject failure from start to finish. The

storm clouds are gathering but the economy is fit for the future. We

will only know if he's right once the referendum is over and he has

cut all that spending. James Landale, BBC News, Westminster.

So let's look at George Osborne's new UK-wide sugar levy.

There'll be two bands - of added sugar in each product.

one for drinks like cordials and flavoured waters,

and another band for the sweetest drinks, like most colas.

Independent figures estimate that these drinks could go

up by between 18p per litre and 24p per litre.

The levy will be introduced in two years'

time, and in England the money raised will go

Our Health Editor Hugh Pym has more details.

It was a big surprise and it could affect almost every family. Today

the shoppers were working out what the new levy on sugary treat to take

effect in two years' time might the new levy on sugary treat to take

for them. I don't drink it often, it's only because the baby wants it!

I think it is a good idea, stop the the shop and buying fizzy drinks all

the time. And the cost of dentists. At the end of the day they are bad.

Enjoyable but bad. Some campaigners weren't hiding how they felt about

it. The celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has called for some time for a sugar

tax as part of the drive to reduce childhood obesity. It is all geared

to re-formulation. It is an anti-business. I would say is a

symbolic slap, and that is what we wanted. How fine is it that business

can do so well, be so prolific and have genuinely trackable marks, ill

health marks on our children? The levy will be on manufacturers,

excluding milk -based sugary drink. It is likely to be passed on to

retailers and consumers. The industry argues such a move is not

the way to tackle obesity. I think it is very fair and ironic almost

that the soft drinks manufacturers who have been in the vanguard of

re-formulation and making their products more widely available with

great choice, should be the ones penalised through this measure. The

Chancellor says the proceeds will be spent on school sport in England. It

is up to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland how to use their

shares. The move comes at a time of increasing concern about obesity and

the consequences for help. There is already a strain on the NHS and

problems often develop in the early years. About 10% of 4-5 year old in

England starting off in school are said to be obese. By the age of ten

and 11 that figure has gone up to 19%. And when it comes to adults,

25% are obese. Treating conditions linked to obesity costs the NHS in

England ?5.1 billion in the last financial year. To put that in

perspective, the cost of treating smoking-related diseases, including

lung cancer, costs 3.9 billion. All of that came out of a total health

budget of ?113 billion in England last year. The head of NHS England

says the new policy will help improve children's health, but he

says it is just one of the series of measures to be unveiled this year.

Is part of a much broader, contra Hanson strategy we need. Also we

will have to take a part -- account of promotions and food formulation.

Together we think these measures will severely, substantially tackle

the problem we have got of childhood obesity. Health campaigners hope

this is a game changing moment, but there is a lot of details still to

be worked out. Hugh Pym, BBC News. So as we've heard latest

forecasts for growth are down and George Osborne says

Britain faces a turbulent Our economics correspondent

Andrew Verity has been crunching The Chancellor's been preparing us

for bad news since at least January, when he talked about his dangerous

cocktail of risks to the economy, But what we found out is some of

those risks are just out there in the rest of the world, they are

happening here. Start with a cooling global economy,

add some turbulent financial markets, chuck in a slump in oil

prices are all the ingredients you need to make the world economy go

and little wobbly. But as we imbibe its effects, we are slowing down as

well. The Office for Budget Responsibility now thinks we will be

producing far less per person than it had hoped as recently as

November. The OBR slashed its prediction for economic growth this

year from 2.4%, to 2.0%, largely because of that slower productivity.

If that is not going up as fast as hoped, earnings won't go up as fast,

economy won't grow and tax revenues will come in. That is the thing we

ought to be talking about more than anything else. Because it really

matters, not just that the Chancellor, but for how well off all

of us are. Slower growth should mean less tax money for the Chancellor,

but somehow, say the official predictions, he is still on course.

He will still be spending more than his income, in other words running a

deficit until 2019. But that won't produce as quickly until the final

year, when it suddenly turns into a surplus of ?10.4 billion. That is a

huge swing in the last year of the Parliament of ?32 billion. And

what's more, he has somehow found the money for some big tax giveaways

like the lifetime ices and freezing fuel duty. Raising tax threshold

from next year except in Scotland will cost ?2.5 billion, and more

relief from business rates for small businesses will cost him ?1.4

billion. Giveaways to begin with and then take aways in 2019-20 and a

year after, those are the years for which the government has a target to

achieve a budget surplus. What is quite striking as we do have quite a

big squeeze taking place in 2019-20 itself. That big squeeze will mean

big spending cuts. ?3.5 billion in efficiency savings from government

departments, but not until 2019-20, making public sector employers pay

?2 billion more into pensions, but not until 2019-20. And making it

harder to claim money for special equipment if you are disabled,

saving ?1.3 billion, but not until 2019-20. Once it looks like

austerity would be front-loaded, with a feel-good effect later, but

now it has been back loaded, saving the big spending cuts and tax rises

until the last year before the next election. Careful with cocktails,

they can have a delayed effect. Well, among the other measures

announced by the Chancellor today were investments in infrastructure,

with backing for improvements There's an extra ?700 million

for flood defences. There was a commitment to introduce

new elected mayors for English And the Chancellor confirmed that

all schools in England are to become academies - taking them out

of local authority control. Well, let's pause for

a moment and take stock. In a moment the view

from Downing Street with our political editor, Laura Kuenssberg,

but first to Westminster Lots of big ideas in the Budget

today, but the Chancellor seemed to start out by thinking small fast.

Small businesses were definitely the winner. One of his ideas was lifting

many of them out of the business rates system, which is a big burden

on them. That and the corporation tax cut are expensive so, where is

he going to get the money well, this is where big business comes in,

their ability to offset debts against profits has been curtailed.

More bad news for the banks, because their ability to use losses in

previous years, and there is plenty of those, to shelter profits going

forward, has also been constrained. But big or small, the colour of the

sky is the same wherever you are in this economy. And what we have

learned, as Andy Verity was pointing out, is that the sky above us

economically has been darkening somewhat. Laura, eye-catching

measures like the sugar tax, but overall there are risks for George

Osborne? Certainly, maybe we should call this the hold your nerve

Budget. Compared to other countries we are doing quite well. But the

economy is certainly slowing down and the picture overall is much

bleaker than we thought. Hold your nerve, because George Osborne has

chose to keep on cutting public spending. He will do that all the

way through till 2020. The most sensitive cut of all, the biggest

cut of all, taking money away from payments towards disabled people.

And hold your nerve for George Osborne, because as well as doing

all of that, he has also made some big promises, trying to show that he

has not run out of big ideas. Whether that is tax cuts just before

the next general election for millions of people, big promises to

pass powers to regions around the country, away from Westminster, he

is trying to do big things whilst still having to deal with the

economy, which is recovering much slower than he had originally hoped.

The big truth which we cannot ignore is that fundamentally for all of us,

the country is less prosperous than we thought before today, and less

productive, too. For this Chancellor, who has staked his

reputation on fixing the colour me, all of those years ago, back in

2010, after today, it is clearly very much still a work in progress.

If you want to find out more about the Budget,

and how it affects you, you can use the BBC's Budget

Enter a few details and it will let you know if you're better

George Osborne has delivered his budget, as independent forecasters

say growth in the economy is slowing down.

I am live here at a hairdressing course at a college in Stockport,

asking if people feel better off or worse after the Chancellor -- after

the Chancellor's statement. Coming up in Sportsday

on BBC News... England have got their World T20

campaign under way. How would they get

on against West Indies? We'll have all you need

to know from India. In the American presidential race,

the Republican front-runner, Donald Trump, has warned

of riots if he is denied Mr Trump strengthened his position

after winning primaries in three states, though he lost in

the key state of Ohio. In the Democratic race,

Hilary Clinton extended Here's our North America

editor Jon Sopel. He is young, articulate,

telegenic and Hispanic. But Senator Marco Rubio

is also a loser. Last night the great

hope of the Republican establishment was crushed

in his home state of Florida While it is not God's

plan that I be president and while today my

campaign is suspended... ..the fact that I've even come this

far is evidence of how special Donald Trump made

impressive gains last night, winning nearly all the races

he fought and is now even further And he's achieved it

by bringing in new We have a great opportunity

and the people that are voting, Democrats are coming

in, Independents are coming in and very importantly,

people that never voted before. Donald Trump has had an emphatic

victory here in Florida. But perhaps the most striking thing

about tonight is what has happened It was to this man, the state

governor John Kasich, a moderate Republican who has now

vowed to carry on his fight We are going to go all

the way to Cleveland and secure the Republican

nomination. But the path is strewn

with more than confetti. John Kasich staying in the race

means the anti-Trump vote is now On the Democratic side,

things couldn't be Last night she won

all the contests that have been declared,

leaving her rival lagging So, Hillary Clinton's path seems

clear towards the Democratic nomination. On the Republican side,

it is more complicated. Donald Trump is way out in front, with over half

the delegate votes he needs. But to get an overall majority he would

have to perform exceptionally well in the remaining primaries. That

means we could have a situation where he arrives at the convention

ahead, but not with the majority, and would the Republican leadership

there to mount a kind of coup against him and his supporters to

get someone else in? If they did that, our has warned there could be

riots in the streets. And that is a threat which people are taking

seriously. George. A man shot dead by the police

in Brussels yesterday has been identified as an Algerian national

who was in Belgium illegally. The raid was linked

to the investigation that killed 130 people last

November. Police say they found

a Kalashnikov rifle and the flag of the Islamic State group

near the man's body. Two armed men who fled the flat are

still being hunted. Here are some other measures that

could affect families up They include an increase

in the limit for ISA savings Duty on beer, cider

and spirits will be frozen. But tobacco duty will rise

by 2% above inflation. My colleague Reeta Chakrabarti has

been gauging reaction to all of today's measures

at Stockport College in Greater Thank you. It looks like a hair

salon, but this is one of the class is going on here at Stockport

College. People here should be in an optimistic mood. The Chancellor

today described the north-west of England as having the

fastest-growing employment rate in the country. But for people here,

students and teachers, the young and not so young, it is not all that

straightforward. We are the builders,

declared the Chancellor. The young adults learning

the bricklaying trade 17-year-old Harvey

is keen to get on. He is interested in George Osborne's

proposed lifetime ISA, encouraging young people

to save by giving them a pound for every four they

put in, tax-free. You have got different

types of ISAs you can put your money away in so you can start

saving up for things that you need Just building up that money

to get you off in life. I now call the Chancellor

of the Exchequer... He is one of the Chancellor's Next

Generation, the focus of today's Budget and supposedly one

of its beneficiaries. 18-year-old Hayley has been

listening to the message, She is training to be a chef

while working part-time and she wants to own

her own business. She likes the idea of being

helped to save, but... The money I do make,

I have to use it for public transport and buying food

for myself during the week. At the end of the day

it is a good decision, but it is how are you going to start

saving if you don't have the money to start saving

with in the first place? For those further on,

who already have their own business, there was something

to cheer, with the Chancellor raising the threshold

at which they pay Good news for Karen,

who teaches at the college and runs I have had a rate relief

for the past two years and it has been able to sustain

and help my business growth, because we have been

able to keep the prices And if this continues,

and gets better for the area, then hopefully

the area will grow and my client But for car owners and anyone paying

insurance, it was a different story - the tax on premiums will go

up by half a percentage point, a smaller increase than expected

but coming on top of a bigger We are not happy at all

because that does affect me. I am trying to stand on my own two

feet, I have done all my life, Welding together

a vision for the country with people's personal ambitions

is what Chancellors attempt George Osborne will hope that

what he has produced is a suitably George Osborne will hope that

what he has produced is suitably So let's recap on some

of the main points in Latest forecasts suggest that

economic growth is slowing down, but Mr Osborne said that

still leaves Britain ahead Under the changes on personal

taxes - from next April, you won't start paying income tax

till you earn ?11,500. And he is introducing a sugar

levy on soft drinks, Just time for a last word

with our economics editor, We heard there from Reeta

Chakrabarti about some of the people affected by this Budget. But what

does it tell us about the big picture? I think it shows what

difficulties George Osborne is facing. He set himself three rules

on the economy, that there would be a welfare. That rule was broken last

year. That debt would fall as a proportion of national income. That

rule was broken today. It will now rise. And the final one, which

George Osborne has put his reputation on - there will be a

budgie surplus by 2020. Also, this productivity issue - the economy is

simply not performing as well as was expected. The cocktail of

difficulties is close to home and George Osborne will have to get

through some pretty tough conditions to get to that budgie surplus by

2020. He has missed two fiscal rules - will he get the third one right?

We will see over the next three years.

Time for a look at the weather, with Alex Deakin.

The dry weather persisting, but the sunshine does make a big difference.

Just a few hours later, the sun was out... Temperatures really

responding. Many of us saw some sunshine today. Across the south, we

are fighting against a brisk and cold wind, still in evidence

tonight. Most of us having a dry night. Increasingly misty and murky

around Easter Scotland. Temperatures will get down to freezing in some

rural areas. Elsewhere, any cloud should gradually break up. We have

seen a lot of sunshine over recent days across western Scotland. Subtle

change tomorrow, especially around the coast, it will be a bit more

dull. Again, quite murky on the eastern coasts. Central Belt should

eventually brighten up. Some cloud and a bit of sunshine across

Northern Ireland. Still a keen breeze in the far south, but perhaps

not as strong as today. Friday, again, largely dry and bright for

Wales and the south-west of England. Maybe a few spots of drizzle on the

east coast. The settled weather continues. High pressure controlling

things into the weekend. A lot of dry weather this weekend, but do not

expect huge amounts of sunshine. And it will still be on the chilly side.