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.

The stinging criticism from former Home Office minister Jeremy Browne came after the deputy leader shunned Wednesday’s Autumn Statement.

Critics argue these initiatives would not be necessary if the banks were doing their job instead of persisting in their reluctance to lend to small companies.

Whether you are earning the minimum wage or raking in millions, the amount of tax that disappears from your earnings is likely to change to some extent.

The big omissions from a Budget or an Autumn Statement are always revealing. It used to be help for savers. This week the missing element was the squeezed middle. Not households, but firms.

As analysts digested the detail of the Chancellor’s ‘mini-Budget’ the ramifications of reforms to stamp duty, business rates and the North Sea tax regime became clearer…

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.’

Profits made from the sale of assets such as property or shares, which are called capital gains, rose to £32.1billion last year, up from £23.5billion in 2012-13, marking their highest level on record.

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

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.

Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed the basic state pension will rise by £3.35 to £119.30 a week from April, while the starting rate for the new single-tier version will be £155.65.

UK Sport has been handed a shock 29 per cent increase in funding, handing a boost to British athletes preparing for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo four years later.

We bring you the latest the analysis, reaction and charts from the experts and our own journalists from throughout the day.

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.

Public funding - known as Short Money - given to opposition parties to prepare to become an alternative government is to be slashed by 19 per cent, in line with Whitehall departments.

The Prime Minister took a few seconds out from the 65-minute brief to subtly unravel the treat and pop it into his mouth like a mischievous schoolboy.

To raise £18billion in spending cuts over the five years, George Osborne slashed departments by up to 37 per cent but the NHS, defence and international development are the big winners.

The Autumn Statement contained some good news for entrepreneurs as George Osborne pledged to carry on exempting micro companies from paying business rates.

George Osborne showed himself a master of his political trade in yesterday's Autumn Statement - but seems to have abandoned his early enthusiasm for slimming down the size of the state.

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.

Chancellor George Osborne landed buy-to-let and second homes a huge shock by announcing a stamp duty surcharge on property purchases from April.

George Osborne hit the buy-to-let dream with a big stamp duty hike yesterday, but landlords still have a tax trick they can pull to claim it back.

Part-time students have been handed some good news in today's Autumn Statement with access to maintenance loans to help with living costs during their studies from 2017/18.

He has repeatedly slashed domestic spending, but the Chancellor remains committed to funnelling 0.7 per cent of Britain's GDP into an array of dubious overseas aid projects.

In his Autumn Statement and Spending Review, Mr Osborne claimed he is tackling the 'crisis in home ownership' head-on with the 'biggest housebuilding programme since the 1970s.'

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.

The National Audit Office (NAO) warns today that the health service’s ‘endemic’ financial problems have left it so short of cash that it is having to raid building projects to pay for day-to-day services.

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.

Things appear to be changing for the better for the economy - and just in the nick of the time for the Chancellor as he prepares to give his first major report later today.

Insurers have slammed the rise which has pushed the tax up to almost double what it was in 2015 and they predict it will lead to an increase in the number of uninsured drivers on the road.

The analysis, reaction and charts from the experts and our own journalists from throughout the day.

As John McDonnell stood up for his big moment to respond to the Chancellor's spending plans, Labour's MPs were much more interested in their mobile phones than his rambling speech.

In its five-year forecast the Office for Budget Responsibility predicts net migration will only fall slightly as the UK adopts a tighter migration regime. Net migration is currently 327,000 a year.

Delivering his first fiscal package since the historic EU referendum vote, the Chancellor insisted the government understands the fury of those who have not shared in the wealth generated by the economy.

Tom Birch, 43, from Bath, earns £100,000 a year in his financial services job and receives extra life insurance, dental cover, and critical illness cover through a salary sacrifice scheme.

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.

As Hammond speeches go, the Autumn Statement was short and reasonably un-glum. He kept it to 45 minutes. By his own morose standards he was almost skittishly optimistic in places.

Hammond has backed recent HMRC proposals for a crackdown on using the loophole for smartphone and gym contracts, buying cars and TVs, or private medical insurance.

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.

John McDonnell insisted today that Labour MPs were listening to his response to the Autumn Statement yesterday despite most of them being seen busy on their mobile phones.

The Chancellor said the government was treating the estimates from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) as a 'signal' of what might happen.

It was not the kind of Autumn Statement we had come to expect under George Osborne – all fire and brimstone – but Philip Hammond’s debut was not without its nasty side.

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

Former health secretary Stephen Dorrell, who is now chairman of the NHS Confederation, said Philip Hammond (shown) had made a ‘mistake’ by failing to find extra funds in last week’s autumn statement.

The Flat Rate Scheme for VAT, designed to cut bills and red tape for small firms, is being overhauled in a measure the Chancellor said would stem abuse of the scheme.

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

Professional golfer Paige Spiranac hit back after the LGPA released new dress code guidelines banning plunging necklines and short skirts, which she says is discriminatory against female players.

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.

Marco Silva wants new faces this summer with Zaha the top of his wishlist before the window closes. And after drawing a blank against Wigan Athletic, Silva is unlikely to renege on his desire for forwards.