George Osborne's comments while delivering the 2013 Budget revived his fortunes. But it was only a confidence trick. Now, with an election just around the corner, the Chancellor is in a bind.

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.

Live analysis, reaction, charts and data and what the experts and you the readers are saying in reader comments and on social media .

The Chancellor abolished air passenger duty on all flights for children under the age of 12. It will also reduce the cost of a holiday to Spain for a family of four by £26.

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

Chancellor George Osborne will use tomorrow’s spending review to announce that the Health Service will receive an extra £6billion straight away – rising to £10billion a year by 2020.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Theresa May has told Chancellor Philip Hammond to make middle and low-income families 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 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.

Defying Brexit doomsayers, the deficit came in at £4.3billion in October - below the £6billion expected. The figures emerged on the eve of Philip Hammond's Autumn Statement.

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.

The Chancellor reaffirmed the Conservative manifesto commitments to lift the personal allowance to £12,500 and the 40p tax threshold to £50,000 by accelerating progress to meeting the goals.

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.

Philip Hammond announced a further freeze until April 2018, which will keep fuel duty at 57.95p per litre, the level it has been at four more than five years.

The Chancellor has revealed an amended 'taper rate' for the welfare payments, which will allow low-paid workers to keep an additional 2p of every extra pound they earn.

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.

MPs have voiced deep scepticism after the Office for Budget Responsibility delivered a series of dire forecasts about the impact of Brexit.

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.

The announcement does mean there will be two full Budgets next year, in the spring and the autumn, as the new schedule rolls out.

Philip Hammond fulfilled his promise to be an un-showy chancellor today as his biggest 'rabbit' turned out to be a joke about his own abolition.

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.

The new Chancellor Philip Hammond forecasts that Britain’s economy will continue to grow and create new jobs in every year to the end of this Parliament, says ALEX BRUMMER.

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.

George Osborne, to his credit, was sitting on the backbenches yesterday to listen to his successor Philip Hammond deliver his first financial statement as Chancellor, says PETER OBORNE.

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.

Philip Hammond said Britain’s ‘productivity gap’ was ‘well known, but shocking nonetheless’. He told the House of Commons that the UK ‘lags behind’ the US and Germany by 30 per cent.

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.

A row has erupted in response to the tenant fee ban, with some landlord and agents reacting with fury to what they say are ‘unworkable’ plans that would have a ‘boomerang’ effect.

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 OBR forecast a £122billion rise in UK debt, with £58.7billion blamed on Brexit. That came as it said the UK would not fall into a recession, but growth would be lower.

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.