VAT is to rise from 17.5% to 20% in January after George Osborne unveiled the biggest package of tax increases and spending cuts in a generation.
He said his tough but fair Budget was unavoidable although he told MPs in the Commons there would be no extra tax on alcohol, tobacco and fuel.
Child benefit will be frozen for three years, public sector pay frozen and 25% cut from government department budgets.
Labour said the Budget was reckless and would throw people out of work.
Acting Labour leader Harriet Harman said it would stifle growth and hit hardest those who can least afford it.
But Mr Osborne laid the blame for the state of the nation's finances squarely at the door of the previous Labour government, saying: The years of debt and spending make this unavoidable.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/politics/10371590.stm
He said his tough but fair Budget was unavoidable although he told MPs in the Commons there would be no extra tax on alcohol, tobacco and fuel.
Child benefit will be frozen for three years, public sector pay frozen and 25% cut from government department budgets.
Labour said the Budget was reckless and would throw people out of work.
Acting Labour leader Harriet Harman said it would stifle growth and hit hardest those who can least afford it.
But Mr Osborne laid the blame for the state of the nation's finances squarely at the door of the previous Labour government, saying: The years of debt and spending make this unavoidable.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/politics/10371590.stm
