Welcome to our live summary of the Spring Budget. This page will be constantly updated throughout the event to guide you through all of the Chancellor’s new policies, just refresh the page for the latest.

Jeremy Hunt will seek to turn around Conservative electoral fortunes today as he places tax cuts for workers at the centre of his Budget.

The Chancellor is expected to announce a 2p cut to National Insurance, a tax levied on payroll employees.

This could save the average worker £450 a year, rising to £900 when combined with a similar reduction announced last autumn.

Mr Hunt may also be considering a surprise 1p cut to income tax, the website Politico reported this morning. 

Any tax cuts are expected to be paid for through a mix of tax increases elsewhere, potentially on business class airfares, owners of short-term holiday lets, vapes, an extension of the oil and gas windfall tax and a tightening of relief for wealthy non-doms.

However, other taxes set to be frozen include fuel duty and alcohol duty.

New “Great British ISAs” may also be announced that provide an extra £5,000 tax-free allowance for savings invested in British firms.

It comes as he faces pressure from Tory MPs to ease the record tax burden and turbocharge economic growth, with the Conservatives trailing Labour by 20 points in the polls.

How can I follow the Budget live?

Mr Hunt is expected to stand up and deliver his Budget speech in the House of Commons from around 12.30pm, following Prime Minister’s Questions.

You can watch it in our live blog, which will feature news and analysis alongside a livestream of the Chancellor’s speech.

Potential tax cuts

• 2p cut to National Insurance
• 1p cut to income tax
• Fuel duty freeze
• Alcohol duty freeze
• Savings tax cut via “Great British” ISAs

Potential tax rises

• Business class airfares
• Short-term holiday lets
• Vapes
• Oil and gas windfall tax
• Non-doms

National Insurance tax cuts

Some have called on the Chancellor to cut income tax instead of NI, as this would have also benefited pensioners and is better understood by many voters. 

However, Mr Hunt reportedly decided to press ahead with an NI reduction after new forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility downgraded his wiggle room for delivering tax cuts or extra spending.

Public spending

In addition to increasing certain taxes, it is thought Mr Hunt may seek to fund his Budget measures by constraining post-election public spending even more than previously planned.

For example, instead of increasing public spending by 1pc annually in real terms after 2025, he could instead only increase it by 0.7pc. 

Whatever the case, the Chancellor must meet a self-imposed rule of having debt falling as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2029.

Challenge to Labour 

With polls suggesting Labour is on track to win the general election, Mr Hunt will use the Budget to set electoral dividing lines with Sir Keir Starmer’s party.

He may also seek to corner Sir Keir and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves by adopting some of their tax policies, such as a crackdown on what non-UK-domiciled people pay – forcing them to find new ways to pay for pre-election promises. 

Labour has already claimed that any tax cuts announced by Mr Hunt today will be cancelled out by the Government’s continued freeze on tax thresholds, which drags more people into higher tax bands as their salaries rise. 

This was echoed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which said an NI cut will not stop taxes rising to about 37pc of GDP by 2028.

Check back for live updates throughout the day.