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.
This is the first time in a long while that Corbyn has used PMQs to attack the Tories over Brexit - something many of his MPs have long been urging him to do.
He finishes on a flourish:
They say they'll be no hard border but haven't worked out how. They say they'll protect workers rights but vote against it. They say they'll protect environment rights then vote against it. They promise action on tax avoidance but vote against it time and time again...Isn't the truth that this Government has no energy, no agreed plan and no strategy to deliver a good Brexit for Britain?
Big bit of pre-budget news as reported by Jon Stone, our Europe Correspondent. The UK has been removed from a list of countries with excessive budget deficits.
May seems bemused by a question from Labour MP Peter Kyle, who asks why she has not appointed a judge to the International Court of Justice.
Appointments are part of a UN process and judges are not appointed by the UK, she says.
Crispin Blunt, a former justice minister, asks about the decriminalisation of drugs.
Theresa May says those working with drug addicts agree with her that drugs should remain illegal. (Many experts support decriminalisation.)
"I think it's right that we continue to fight the war against drugs", the PM says.
Theresa May says the resignation of Robert Mugabe yesterday "provides Zimbabwe with the opportunity to force a new path free from the oppression that has characterised the past".
"We want to see that country rejoining the international community", she adds, saying the UK is "Zimbabwe's oldest friend".
Philip Hammond is up. To paraphrase Jeremy Corbyn's Twitter hacker, here were go...
NEW: Philip Hammond says he will set aside £3 billion over the next two years in preparation for Brexit.
"I stand ready to allocate further sums if and when needed. No one should doubt our resolve."
"We choose the future" says Hammond, with an eerie similarity to George Osborne in 2014.
The Chancellor lays out his vision for "global Britain":
A prosperous and inclusive economy, where everybody has the opportunity to shine, wherever in these islands they live and whatever their background; where talent and hard work are rewarded, where the dream of home ownership is a reality for all generations, a hub of enterprise an innovation, a beacon of creativity, a civilised and tolerant place that cares for the vulnerable and cares for the talented; an outward-looking free trading nation, a force for good in the world.
That is the Britain I want to leave to my children - a Britain we can be proud of, a country fit for the future.
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