Jeremy Hunt defends Budget amid £1bn tax giveaway for wealthy

Jeremy Hunt has defended his 'transformational' Budget amid accusations he is handing a massive £1 billion tax giveaway to the some of the wealthiest people in the country.

The Chancellor set out his plans to grow the UK's economy in the House of Commons on Wednesday (March 15), stating the measures will ease labour shortages which have been holding back growth. They include a major expansion in the access to state-funded childcare – a move that was broadly welcomed.

However, there was controversy over a tax break to discourage an estimated 15,000 high earners from leaving the workforce early, including the abolition of the £1.07 million lifetime pensions allowance. Labour said it was the 'wrong priority' and they would seek to force a vote on it in the Commons next week.

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The measure is primarily aimed at NHS consultants who have been leaving the health service because they say the pension rules mean it is not worth them carrying on. However, it faced heavy criticism, with the Resolution Foundation (RF) think tank saying it was 'hugely wasteful', costing around £80,000 per job.

It said a tax giveaway on such a scale could see some workers choosing to retire early, or using their now uncapped pensions savings to avoid inheritance tax. "It’s a big victory for NHS consultants but poor value for money for Britain," said RF chief executive Torsten Bell.

Appearing on ITV’s Peston show, Mr Hunt insisted he was 'systematically' removing the barriers to work, while the government was spending five times as much helping with childcare costs. "So that is one of the big things that the business organisations like CBI have been asking for, and that is a