Key points - at a glance guide to Darling's measures

Follow the key points of the Budget speech live here from 3.30pm.

1. Pensioners and children with disabilities will gain an extra £60 to go towards energy bills from January next year. This will reach £120 for couples.

2. Pensioners on modest incomes will get increase in pension credit from £124 to £130 and for couples from £189 to £198.

3. Weekly pension will increase from £90.70 to £95.25.

4. Government will pay 50p for each £1 saved for nearly 8 million low-income savers.

5. New tax bands will be introduced on the excise duty on cars but it will be phased in. Will be introduced in 2010.

6. Tesco, Centrica and Royal Mail among businesses to work with Job Centre Plus to help train people. £1.3 billion in funding will help train people and get them back to work.

7. Government will extends its rapis response service for those that have been made redundant.

8. Mortgage rescue scheme will now be extended to those with a second mortgage.

9. £775 million will be brought forward to invest in new housing and modernisation schemes.

10. Major lenders agree today to wait three months before starting a repossession order against struggling homeowners. £15 million will be provided for free debt advice.

11. Panel to be set up to monitor lending levels to businesses and households.

12. Welcome Sir James Crosby's report that Government must back banks' mortgage-backed securities.

13. Government may introduce statutory powers to cut energy bills

14. Government will force energy companies to force down gas and electricity bills to mirror wholesale prices.

15. £100 million will be brought forward to help people to insulate their homes.

16. Air passenger duty will be changed to a four band system, so people who travel more will pay more tax.

17. UK on track to exceed emission reduction targets.

18. Government will defer increase in corporation tax for small businesses. Small businesses will gain £1 billion in export guarantees. Losses of £50,000 can be off-set on profits on last three years to allow businesses to "get through their current difficulties".

19. Banks will be given an extra £4 billion to help small and medium-sized businesses.

20. Darling says banks should follow RBS' example of not increasing overdraft charges to small and medium sized businesses.

21. Small businesses will be allowed to spread all business tax over a period they can afford "for as long as they need"

22. Personal tax allowance to be scrapped for people earning over £140,000.

23. People earning over £150,000 will see tax rate increase.

24. National insurance contributions will rise by 0.5% but earners under £20,000 will not pay additional costs.

25. Basic rate tax benefit will be increased from £120 to £145 a year and implemented on a permanent basis.

26. Vat will be cut from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent from next Monday until the end of next year after which it will return to original rate.

27. £3 billion funding will be borught forwards from 2010-11for motorway infrastructure and modernising schools.

28. Government will find additional savings of £5 billion in 2010-11. Will increase public spending by an average 1.2 per cent a year.

29. Borrowing will reach £78 billion next year and rise to £118 billion, which is equal to 8 per cent of GDP. Forecast to fall to £106 billion in 2011 before returning to balance in 2016.

30. Fiscal projections mean the Government will return to its current balance by 2015-16

31. Fiscal stimulus will reach £20 billion between now and 2010.

32. GDP will begin to recover in the second half of 2009 and the country will return to growth of 1.5p per cent and 2 per cent in 2010.

33. Growth is expected to be 0.75 per cent this year but GDP next year will fall between 0.75 and 1.25 per cent.

34. Inflation is expected to keep falling and last month's 150-basis point interest rate cut will put £100 in Briton's pockets.

35. Darling concedes that new lending has shrunk and is down by "a third" since March.

36. Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, says UK banks will have access to £100 billion under credit guarantee. Banks need to raise equity in a "faster and simpler" way.

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Comments

[Bernard]

A more potent incentive than income tax for companies to move from the City to Wall St is the mismatch in interest charged to banks for govt loans. The US charges its banks 5%; the UK charges 12%. Why should any international company deal in London rather than New York? And now more madness. Govt buys majority holding of ordinary shares in RBOS & gets a mythical dividend; HBOS pays 12%!!

[Rob Bacon]

Its too little too late, on borrowed money that we will all have to pay back later because Gordon jilted Prudence many years ago & spent the lot! As in USA its overdue time for a change...

[Natalie]

I'm guessing the only supportive comment so far has come from a Labour supporter and he is equally misguided. The temporary VAT cut will cost businesses thousands to implement - this will either jeopardise jobs or increase prices to customers as the money has to come from somewhere, so how exactly does this help anyone?
Actually the Tories suggestion of freezing Council Tax would have helped most people & put the burden on local authorities to spend more wisely - good advice in a recession! Even better would have been a cut in NI - this would instantly have put more money in everybody's pockets!

[Katy]

Cutting the VAT to 15% is no use to people who have no money to spend anyway! why not put back the 10p tax allowance - Brown admitted on the radio that to remove it was a mistake - so reinstate it!

[David]

I'm hoping by "find £5bn in savings" what the really mean is that they're going to give "Quangos" the old heave'ho. They'll also ensure that no MPs abuse the expenses system. Weeding out ineffeciencies in the public sector. Oh, wait a minute, yeah right they will!

[Pete]

AS I have always said. Vote Labour and you vote for a hole in the pocket. Never fails if you work to earn a reasonable living

[Ian Cooling]

I wonder if anyone had the same reaction as me on seeing the cover photo on the hard copy of the Times "Who is this scruffy oik claiming to be the Chancellor of the Exchequer"?

[robert marshall]

This a total joke designed to pretend that we will be better off when in 2 years we will be paying heavily.

Back brewery shares as theya re probably the only ones who will get any of the spend through their tills.

This is a statement written by people who have never run a business and haven't a clue what balanced books look like.

Teh voters won't buy ity because they know there is no such thing as a free meal from Labour

[Poor Old Joe]

Broadly this "pre-budget" was good, though I doubt if the VAT reduction will be as effective as hoped.
The Tory re-action was quite hopeless - not a single practical suggestion about dealing with crisis ...and laughing at suggestion that this is a worldwide problem shows infantile attitude.

[A.M.Williams]

Brown nor Darling could get the economic figures right just a few months ago (hence the current disaster) so why should we believe that their projections through to 2015 will be any more meaningful? They haven't got a clue.

[Stephen Gray]

The current highest rate of United States income tax is 39.6%, which starts at US$250,000 of income (about UK pounds 165,000). Once Britain raises its income tax rate to 45% on incomes over UK pounds 140,000, high-earning Americans living in the U.K. will be tempted to fire their staffs, close their offices, and go back to the United States. Higher taxes do not produce more tax revenue once taxpayers no longer feel that the rates are reasonable and fair. (For example, at a 100% rate of tax, no one works at all, and the government gets nothing.) A rate of 45% is not sustainable.

[Brian Edmonds]

So nothing for the workers, the Government is spending itself into another disaster.

[Chantel]

Pointless and damaging.

[Sebastian Cargutt]

My favourite line:
'Government will 'find' £5 billion extra in 2010.'

Yup, just like i'm going to find a million pound note down my sofa this evening.

[paul wells]

do these people in govenment realise that it would be better to issue £50.00 shopping vouchers,so that people would be more encouraged to spend, or is this to easy.