George Osborne has unveiled a Budget he says puts the 'next generation first' as he revealed a sugar tax on soft drinks, a lifetime of tax free savings for the young and £1.5billion for schools.
The Chancellor announced grim figures on economic growth and the public finances and added the independent Office for Budget Responsibility had warned Brexit would only slow the economy.
The sugar tax, which is due to be imposed on the soft drinks industry in two years, was the surprise announcement in the Chancellor's package.
The delay is give manufacturers time to change recipes and slash sugar content but the new tax is still expected to raise £500million - money to be ploughed into school sport.
Mr Osborne said his 'lifetime ISA' was the 'equivalent of tax free savings into a pension.
In other major giveaway, Mr Osborne revealed a big rise in the threshold for the 40p income tax rate to £45,000 - lifting half a million people out of the higher rate and saving them £400 a year.
Some 31 million earners will benefit from a further rise in the personal allowance to £11,500 from next year.
In his other major announcements, Mr Osborne revealed:
£700million in new flood defences for areas hit by the winter storms paid for by an increase to the insurance premium tax
Hundreds of millions of support for infrastructure projects in the north including motorway upgrades, a new High Speed 3 rail link between Manchester and Leeds and a tunnel under the Pennines
Fuel duty will be frozen again after protests from Tory backbenchers about a possible rise after the collapse in the oil price
Beer and whisky duties will be frozen but wine and tobacco will be increased
Sweeping reforms to corporation tax which will see the headline rate cut to 17 per cent but loopholes closed to raise £9billion from multinationals. New tax breaks worth £7billion will be handed to small firms and shopkeepers
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