Budget 2017 live - key points: Tories pivot to public spending in bid to keep out Corbyn
Follow all the latest updates as Chancellor presents his 2017 Budget
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Your support makes all the difference.Welcome to The Independent’s liveblog with coverage of the response to Philip Hammond’s Budget.
The Chancellor was forced to admit that growth and productivity forecasts had been downgraded, with the Official for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicting lower growth than at any time in its history.
It comes after the UK’s finances unexpectedly worsened last month after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector net borrowing – stripping out state-owned banks – jumped by £500m to £8bn in October.
Despite this, Mr Hammond used the Budget to announce a splurge of new investment, including £3bn set aside for preparing for Brexit, an immediate £350m cash boost for the NHS, a £2.5bn investment fund and £500m support for the tech industry. This can partly be seen as a response to Labour's shock performance at the polls earlier this year, which has forced the Tories to do more to address rising anger at inequality, and try to quell support for Jeremy Corbyn.
Follow the 2017 Budget as it happened below
A series of small giveaways had earlier been trailed by the Treasury, including extending discount railcards to 25-30 year-olds from next Spring and tackling overpayments of student loans.
This was a Budget in which Mr Hammond could not afford any major slip-ups. Tory MPs were nervous of a repeat of the excruciating U-turn on a key announcement in the Budget in Spring, where the Chancellor was forced to pull the plug on his plan to raise taxes for the self-employees through increased national insurance contributions after considerable pressure from Conservative MPs.
If there is any repeat of this, Mr Hammond's position in Number 11 will be very precarious indeed.
First blow landed by Theresa May, who fires back that she hopes it won't take 650 years before the Labour Party has a female leader. ..
Corbyn asks about the Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, claiming the UK government's Brexit policy has not been thought through. He demands the PM clarifies the Government's position on the Irish border, which is proving a key sticking point during Brexit negotiations. May responds:
We will not see a hard border being introduced. We've been very clear: we will not put physical infrastructure at the border.
Corbyn asks May if she agrees with Tory backbencher John Redwood, who earlier this month advised investors to withdraw their money from the UK.
The Prime Minister, unsurprisingly, dodges the questions.
Jeremy Corbyn refers to David Davis saying he wants to guarantee free movement for bankers. Why does the same not apply to nurses, doctors, teachers, scientists, farm workers and care workers, the Labour leader asks.
May accuses Corbyn of having "borrowed a question" from Lib Dem leader Vince Cable, who asked a similar question last week. "Perhaps he ought to pay a bit more attention", she mocks.
Jeremy Corbyn asks why the Conservatives won't guarantee workers rights post-Brexit, pointing out that Boris Johnson has previously described employment rights as "back-breaking".
Theresa May has her tail up. She responds:
We have guaranteed workers rights. We have introduced a bill in the House of Commons to guarantee workers rights and the Labour Party voted against it.
The Labour leader asks May if she will back EU proposals on tackling tax avoidance. Or is she still threatening to turn Britain into a tax haven?", he asks.
May says she'll "take no lectures from the Labour Party on dealing with tax avoidance and tax evasion".
She adds: "£160 billion more taken as a result of action taken by Conservatives in Government. 75 new measures to deal with tax avoidance and tax evasion."
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