Spring Budget 2024 LIVE as Jeremy Hunt announces National Insurance tax cut

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered his Spring Budget in the House of Commons this afternoon, setting out his latest plans for taxation and spending.

Mr Hunt announced a second cut to the rate of National Insurance, after the rate was cut from 12 per cent to 10 per cent back in January. The chancellor announced another cut of 2 per cent, which could save the average worker another £450 a year.

The chancellor appears to have landed on a cut to National Insurance instead of a cut to the basic rate of Income Tax. It was widely reported that Downing Street's favoured option was the latter, which would be a more expensive move but better understood by many voters ahead of this year's general election.

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Mr Hunt was said to have taken the decision after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) downgraded the amount of fiscal headroom available for delivering tax cuts or spending commitments, within the Chancellor’s self-imposed rule of having debt falling as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2029.

Labour has criticised the move, saying that any reductions would be cancelled out by the government’s continued freeze on tax thresholds, with more people being dragged into a higher band as their pay increases with inflation. Experts have also said that another National Insurance cut alone would not be enough to stop the tax burden reaching record levels by the end of this decade.

Other tax cuts announced in the Budget include the extension of a cut on fuel duty, a new levy on vapes, a tax raid