George Osborne has
unveiled his final Budget before the general election, telling MPs
"Britain is walking tall again" after five years of austerity.
He announced tax relief for savers and first time buyers and said a squeeze on public spending would end earlier than planned if the Tories win in May.
The chancellor cut 1p from beer duty, 2% from cider and scotch whisky - and froze fuel, wine and tobacco duty.
Labour leader Ed Miliband said Mr Osborne had "failed working families".
"This a budget that people won't believe from a government that is not on their side," Mr Miliband told MPs.
'Grown faster' Mr Osborne hailed slightly better than expected growth figures, which suggest the economy will expand by 2.5% this year, rather than 2.4% and described his economic package as a "Budget for Britain - a comeback country".
He said the government had met its 2010 target to end this Parliament with Britain's national debt falling as a share of GDP, meaning the "the hard work and sacrifice of the British people has paid off".
Read more - Budget reaction live and Budget key points at-a-glance
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Setting out his plans in the
Commons, Mr Osborne said: "We took difficult decisions in the teeth of
opposition and it worked. Britain is walking tall again.
"Five years ago, our economy had suffered a collapse greater than almost any country. "Today, I can confirm: in the last year we have grown faster than any other major advanced economy in the world."
He said he would use a boost in the public finances caused by lower inflation and welfare payments to pay off some of the national debt and end the squeeze on public spending a year earlier than planned.
In 2019/20 spending will grow in line with the growth of the economy - bringing state spending as a share of national income to the same level as in 2000, the chancellor told MPs.
The Budget was Mr Osborne's last set-piece chance to woo floating voters ahead of 7 May's general election - opinion polls have the Conservatives neck-and-neck with the official opposition, Labour.
He insisted that deficit reduction remained his top priority but also unveiled measures aimed at increasing the amount people can earn before paying tax to £10,800 next year and an above inflation rise to £43,300 by 2017 for the amount people can earn before having to pay the 40p tax rate.
He said 95% of savers would pay no tax on their cash savings if the Conservatives won the election, under changes to ISAs unveiled in the Budget.
He also announced a new help-to-buy ISA which will see the government add £50 to every £200 first-time buyers put away towards a deposit - in a move that will come into effect later this year.
He confirmed plans to scrap annual tax returns and replace them with "digital tax accounts", allowing people to manage their affairs using smartphones or computers.
Other measures include:
- Relaxing pension rules from April 2016 to allow up to five million existing pensioners to swap their fixed annual payments for cash
- A fresh crackdown on tax avoidance and evasion, which he said would raise £3.1bn
- Raising the rate of the bank levy to 0.21% to bring in an additional £900m a year
- A further boost for regional growth, including extending enterprise and housing zones - and plans for a tidal lagoon to generate green electricity in Swansea Bay. Severn Crossing toll rates will be reduced from 2018
- £1.3bn in tax cuts for North Sea oil exploration and continued production in older fields
The Lib Dems will unveil their own tax and spending plans for the next five years on Thursday, which are likely to feature greater tax rises than planned by the chancellor.
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