Budget 2021: key points from Rishi Sunak’s speech, alcohol duty overhaul, public sector pay rise
The Chancellor has delivered the second financial statement of the year, following the last Budget in March
Rishi Sunak has delivered the second Budget of the year, as well as a Spending Review which laid out government spending over the next three years.
The contents of his speech were widely reported in the days before the Budget.
Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons Dame Eleanor Laing criticised the “apparent pre-briefing” of the Budget to the media.
Sunak started delivering his speech at around 12:40pm, after Ed Miliband and Boris Johnson went head to head at PMQs. It lasted for around an hour.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was forced to miss PMQs and responding to the Budget after testing positive for Covid.
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves led Labour’s response, saying that struggling families will believe Sunak is “living in a parallel universe” following his Budget.
Here were the updates as they happened from the Budget.