----------------- ----------------- |  | | Last Updated: Wednesday, 9 April, 2003, 13:30 GMT 14:30 UK |
Taxes Beer up 1p Wine up 4p a bottle Cider and sparkling wine tax frozen Spirits tax frozen 8p on a packet of cigarettes Bingo tax to be abolished on 4 August Income tax stays the same Inheritance tax - threshold up to �255,000 Stamp duty frozen and a crackdown on stamp duty tax evasion Vehicle excise duty goes up by �5 on cars in May but stays on hold for lorries and motorbikes Bio-ethanol duty to be cut by 20p in January 2005 The 1.28p a litre rise in revalorisation of fuel duties deferred until October Iraq �3bn extra funds set aside for the UK military in the wake of the war with Iraq An extra �330m for additional domestic counter-terrorism measures Humanitarian aid in Iraq will get �240m Pledge to work for the reform of the European aid budget The economy Gordon Brown said the UK had enjoyed its longest period of sustained growth in 50 years Britain had its lowest inflation for 30 years Mr Brown said the target for the financial year for inflation was 2.5% The growth forecast for 2003-4 is 2-2.5% Fixed investment expected to grow by 4.25% to 4.75% this year Domestic demand expected to grow by 3% to 3.5% this year 2004-5 growth expected to rise to between 3% and 3.5% Employment 25,000 more doctors, 88,000 more nurses by 2008, funded by the National Insurance increase Britain's unemployment is lower than the total in Japan and Eurozone and the lowest in the UK for a generation Measures to tackle unemployment Jobcentres to get discretionary powers so they can adapt to the demands of their locality From next April, new housing benefit rules for people taking up jobs Unemployment benefit claimants to sign on weekly instead of fortnightly Young offenders will be offered training while detained and jobs on release in return for good behaviour Government will make �170m to help people to upgrade their skills and move up the employment ladder Where there are skills shortages new measures will be introduced to attract people from abroad with the appropriate training Lone parents looking for work to get an extra �20 a week to help with their job search Measures for business Tax relief for smaller firms including �56,000 VAT tax threshold Corporation tax was frozen by the chancellor IT investment allowances will be extended to include a total of 3m businesses A raft of regulation and redundant restrictions would be scrapped in consultation with business organisations Government borrowing �32bn surplus forecast over the economic cycle Net borrowing to be �27bn this year UK within the Maastricht criteria for borrowing and an assessment for the five economic tests for euro-entry would be published in June Child poverty Every child born from today will get a child trust fund worth �500 for the poorest children Parents and grandparents will be able to contribute to the trust funds The UK is on track to meet the government's target for a 25% cut in child poverty Mr Brown said that economic strength and social justice were met when parents could balance work and family life Pensioners Pension reduction during hospital stays abolished from today An extra annual payment of �100 to pensioners over 80, on top of the existing �200 winter fuel payment. All single pensioners with income below �139 a week and all couples below �203 a week will benefit from new Pension Credit.
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