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.

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 new 'full-fibre' networks will have the capacity to reach speeds of more than 1Gbps, which it is claimed could allow users to download an entire Game Of Thrones series in less than a minute.

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.

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.

Until yesterday, Chancellor Philip Hammond was among the most dismal of doom-mongers. But as he delivered his Autumn Statement, he seemed transformed.

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.

Five million higher earners will be hit by a £200 'stealth tax on Middle England' because of changes to National Insurance Contributions buried in Treasury documents.

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.

Ministers spent £12.6billion more than they received in taxes and other income last month - but economists were pencilling in a figure of £11.6 billion.

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.

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.