The Shadow Chancellor - who dressed as Santa for the Westminster Kids Club Christmas party - was jeered in the Commons after declaring that the deficit was coming down before changing his mind.

Bassetlaw MP John Mann said the Shadow Chancellor’s response to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement had damaged Mr Balls’s leadership prospects – and made Mr Miliband’s position secure.

The rate paid by ETF providers is currently 0.5 per cent but this will be ditched in April 2014, Chancellor George Osborne revealed in his Autumn Statement today.

Hard-pressed motorists have been told that a planned 2p a litre fuel duty rise will not happen next September in the Chancellor's Autumn Statement today.

Experts had claimed that the lifetime limit could be capped at £100,000 – a figure that seasoned savers may have already reached - but that has not transpired.

George Osborne revealed that the 0.5 per cent stamp duty savers have to pay for buying shares in UK-based exchange-traded funds will be abolished from next April.

Many employers are hiring staff on contracts where they are classed as self employed, even if they are full-time employees.

Call for a freelancer limited company structure to be set up within the tax system and for training for a new career to be tax deductable.

Households up and down the country are hoping Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne will come up with a couple of ‘surprise’ announcements.

Annuities which come with death benefits can be passed to loved ones tax-free if you die aged under 75, the Chancellor announced in the Autumn statement.

Autumn Statement day is always a big one in the Commons year but yesterday the fervour was particularly felt as next May’s electoral reckoning looms, writes QUENTIN LETTS.

Geoff Parkes, teaching fellow at Aston Business School in Birmingham, said: ‘Thus far, the scheme has accounted for less than two per cent of all lending to small firms.’

IPSE, a body that represents the self-employed, believes the Chancellor could limit contracts to just a month for freelancers, after which they would be forced on to the client’s payroll.

Three major changes to pension saving are on the horizon, which will hit those helping to build a healthy fund for retirement. Now, the Chancellor faces calls to reverse a planned tax grab

The Chancellor has pledged to eliminate the record deficit racked up by Labour during the financial crisis and return the country to the black by the end of the decade.

Today George Osborne will reveal details of his Autumn Statement. We round-up what to expect, including his tax credit headache and the predicted pension changes.

Changes sparked a backlash as they were forecast by the Insitute of Fiscal Studies to take £1,000 a year off 3 million families. They have now been halted altogether.

Anyone with a household income of less than £80,000 in England will soon be able to buy a home through shared ownership, which has long been restricted to key workers.

The NHS, defence, foreign aid and housing are set to be the big winners, but the police, transport, justice and the environment will bear the brunt, with families braced for big hikes in council tax bills.

The climbdown means George Osborne (pictured) will breach his self-imposed welfare cap for the next three years, meaning a minister must explain and apologise to Parliament.

Draconian rises signalled by the Chancellor will see the average bill for a Band D household rise up to £320 by 2020/21. George Osborne urged town halls to impose increase to fund social care shortfalls.

HMP Holloway in north London, which has been home to some of Britain's most infamous killers, will be sold off as part of a £1.3billion government overhaul of the UK prison service

Theresa May has told Chancellor Philip Hammond to make middle and low-income families in the UK a priority in next week’s Autumn Statement.

Ahead of the Autumn Statement a study has warned that planned welfare curbs and rising inflation are set to deal a major blow to the 'just about managing' group - or 'JAMs'.

The Chancellor will use tomorrow’s Autumn Statement to pledge that two million homes in bigger towns and cities will get access to gold standard ‘full-fibre’ broadband, which can download TV shows.

While the OBR's chairman Robert Chote admitted there is a 50 per cent chance that the forecast is 'too gloomy', he is standing by his forecast saying predictions were made based on existing trends.

Few can defend the way that letting agents hit tenants with rip-off administrative fees. These firms cash in every time someone rents a new home, writes DAN HYDE.

Social care for older people is the responsibility of local councils across Britain, and its leaders say that savage cuts have already had to be made due to lower funding from Whitehall.

Philip Hammond said UK output would grow faster than in most EU countries, creating half a million jobs. He vowed to spend billions to boost productivity, build homes and improve transport.

Philip Hammond told MPs he would be compiling a major report into the impact that state spending on pensioners has on the health and social care of an ageing population.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s first – and last – Autumn Statement was very much focused on measures to keep the economy out of recession.

Currently, employees do not have to pay income tax or national insurance if their redundancy pay is under £30,000.

DOMINIC LAWSON: BBC Newsnight also cited the Depression of the 1930s as the nearest thing to modern Britain under the Conservatives.

Stoke City are finalising the transfer of Wigan Athletic's Nick Powell and are interested in Everton's versatile 24-year old defender Matthew Pennington.

Swansea City manager Steve Cooper is keen to sign Reece James from Chelsea. James is recovering from damaging ankle ligaments nd much will hinge on his rehabilitation timeframe.

Barcelona are showing an interest in Manchester City teenage prospect Kian Breckin. The 15-year-old attacking midfielder has caught the eye of the Spanish club's scouts in tournaments.

The Ecuadorian outfit confirmed the 32-year-old's arrival on Friday afternoon by posting a video of Valencia getting used to his new surroundings.

Crystal Palace tweeted a cringeworthy video to announce the £8million signing of James McCarthy from Everton. The clip shows James McArthur outside an internet cafe.

Hearts have secured the signing of Manchester United keeper Joel Pereira on a season-long loan deal.It will be the 23-year-old's fifth temporary spell away from old Trafford.

Derby County captain Richard Keogh (left) has been pictured on crutches for the first time since being involved in a horror car crash that could have ended his career.

ROB STEWART AT ASHTON GATE: Pedro Pereira's first Bristol City goal earned the Robins a late draw with Wigan in their Championship clash at Ashton Gate.

IAN WHITTELL AT THE DW STADIUM: The striker hit his fourth goal in as many games, levelling after home keeper Jamie Jones had been penalised for unnecessarily picking up a back pass.

IAN WHITTELL AT EWOOD PARK: Wigan Athletic climbed off the foot of the Championship table on Monday night after playing out a goalless draw with Lancashire rivals Blackburn Rovers.

While 2019 has proved to be one of the finest years of sporting achievement in living memory, it has also provided a few less stellar moments on and off the field.

A bumper set of FA Cup fixtures continues on Saturday evening with five 5.31pm kick-offs taking place. Follow all the action across the five matches HERE via Sportsmail's SAM MCEVOY.

Cardiff City are expected to make an improved bid for Wigan Athletic striker Kieffer Moore. An offer of £2.3million was rejected last week but Moore was left out of Wigan's squad against Bristol City.

The 20-year old has been recalled from a loan spell at Morecambe and was wanted by Championship strugglers Wigan Athletic before the ambitious Salford City swooped in.

The 32-year-old has been training with Salford this season after being released by Wigan Athletic last year. The midfielder was once viewed as a long-term replacement for Paul Scholes at United.

Robinson was left distraught when his £10m deadline-day move to AC Milan collapsed at the last minute in January. However, he could be set for a big Premier League move this summer.

Wigan defender Antonee Robinson has revealed he needs a medical procedure to correct an irregular heart rhythm before he can play again.