Budget 2024 - live: Hunt and Starmer ‘in conspiracy of silence’ as Britain faces hardest five years since WWII

We’re wrapping up our coverage of the Budget for today.

Join us again tomorrow for all the latest reaction and news from the world of Westminster.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your afternoon.

By mistake rather than design, Jeremy Hunt has done the right thing and imposed a stealth tax on the one demographic group that is most likely to vote Tory – rich pensioners, says John Rentoul.

Read John’s piece in full here.

Rishi Sunak has refused to rule out a May election as speculation mounts that he is eyeing an early poll.

The prime minister has previously said his “working assumption” is that he will go to the country in the second half of this year.

Full report:

Jeremy Hunt called the BBC “unworthy” during heated exchanges on the Budget during an interview on Radio 4’s Today programme.

The chancellor criticised programme host Amol Rajan after he called Mr Hunt a “fiscal drag queen” and said his plans to boost NHS productivity were “Soviet.”

Full report:

“Bad nerves” is not a reason to claim sickness benefits, a Tory former minister has said during a debate on the Budget.

Rachel Maclean said an unknown proportion of those claiming sickness benefits for mental health were citing “bad nerves”, which she described as a “totally meaningless” phrase.

Full report:

Citigroup has cast doubt on the sums in Jeremy Hunt’s Budget, describing the chancellor’s spending plans as “fiscally offside” by ?50-60bn.

The global investment bank said the chancellor’s productivity costings were overly optimistic and that his planned spending cuts were “undeliverable”, Bloomberg reports.

It added that tens of billions of pounds extra would be needed to plug gaps.

Lord David Cameron emphasised the “incredible unity between allies” when asked about the leaked call between German military officials.

The foreign secretary was asked whether he agreed with Germany’s assessment that trust among allies is unbroken after the officials were heard in the leaked audio suggesting UK service personnel were on the ground in Ukraine.

He told a press conference in Berlin: “I don’t want to play into the hands of some Russian narrative about divisions between allies. What I see … is incredible unity between allies, incredible unity in Nato.

“Of course, we’re going to have areas where we want to discuss what more we can do, what more we can help. And those are the sorts of discussions that good friends and allies with this unity have in private.”

Stabilising the UK’s debt is likely to require additional tax rises, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.

Speaking at the IMF’s regular press briefing on Thursday, director of communications Julie Kozak told reporters: “IMF staff will be analysing the announced policies in greater detail but the aim to continue the fiscal consolidation pursued since 2022 to reduce inflation and stabilise debt is welcome.”

She added that the national insurance cut and reform of the child benefit system had been funded by “well-conceived revenue-raising measures”.

Ms Kozak said: “Significant spending to protect service delivery, growth-enhancing investment and the appropriate commitment to stabilise debt are likely to require additional revenue-raising measures in the medium term.”

Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown told the Commons it was a disappointment that the tourist tax was not mentioned in Jeremy Hunt’s Budget speech.

The Cotswolds MP, who is campaigning against the tax, said: “If they can do it for the cut in capital gains tax, I say to them why can’t they do it for reintroduction of the tourist tax?”

He added: “This is huge stuff we are dealing with here, a huge potential benefit, and I cannot see why the Government won’t do a proper study into it, because what we know from our figures is that British businesses lost out by ?1.5 billion in 2022, and even more in 2023.

“It would benefit many big retail shops, hospitality venues, airports and cultural destinations, and particularly areas of high tourist destinations like the Cotswolds. It also shows that Britain is missing out on a ?10 billion EU market.”

Lord David Cameron said that peace will be achieved by “helping the Ukrainians deliver what they need on the battlefield”.

Speaking at a press conference in Berlin alongside his German counterpart, the Foreign Secretary said he and Annalena Baerbock discussed “what we can do in terms of medium and longer-range missiles”.

He said: “It’s a sovereign decision for every country. But in terms of what Britain has done, I know that what we have given to the Ukrainians has helped them to resist this appalling invasion.

“To all those in Germany and beyond and around the continent, around the world, who want to see an end to this conflict, who want to see a peaceful settlement, who want to see peace on our continent, I absolutely agree that you get peace through strength.z

“You get peace by demonstrating that Putin cannot win, you get peace by helping the Ukrainians deliver what they need on the battlefield.”