The Latest Breaking News from the Office for Budget Responsibility

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as UK’s budget surplus doubles year-on-year… and BT Tower is sold to hotel chain

Treasury looking at reducing projected rise in public spending from 2025, FT reports citing insiders

The Chancellor faces further analysis from the Office for Budget Responsibility on the autumn statement.

The Office for Budget Responsibility has reduced its forecast for electric vehicles’ share of new car sales in 2027 from 67% to 38%.

The UK chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, as announced a raft of changes to the tax and benefit system as part of the government’s autumn statement. They included:

National Insurance cut; pensions and benefits increased. But is that enough to distract from sluggish growth and the rising cost of living?

The starting gun for the next general election campaign may have already been fired, but today’s Autumn Statement represents an intensification of hostilities. The Chancellor took some of the fiscal headroom handed to him by the Office for Budget Responsibility and sought to give voters — not least Tory backbenchers…

Watch as the Office for Budget Responsibility holds a press conference following Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement.

The Chancellor said high employment taxes ‘disincentivise hard work’.