As delivered by Alistair Darling on March 24. With “Mr Deputy Speaker” removed. Click on the image to see in full.
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Chancellor sits down at 13.30 – FTSE 100 unchanged at 5,673.26. Sterling is down 0.75 per cent at $1.4920 and the yield on the 10-year gilt is up 3.1 basis points at 3.94 per cent.
Please see www.ft.com/budget for all the news and analysis of the Budget – thanks for joining us.
A line-by-line summary of Alistair Darling’s Budget statement, with commentary from FT writers, will be available on the Westminister blog from 12.30 (or just before the Chancellor stands up). Follow the Budget with the FT. Jim and Alex will then be back as usual.
See the FT’s interactive guide to the shadow cabinet and key Conservative party advisers, including details of who the major players listen to and where the connections lie. The graphic includes profiles written by your very own Westminster blogging team. Visit www.ft.com/tories
Brooke Masters, chief regulation correspondent, talks about the future of regulation in the UK.
Update: For early reactions to Blair at the Iraq inquiry, read this post from the ftdotcomment blog.
5.16pm: That’s it from me and Alex. I think Blair had the better of this: a refined defence and one, says former Lib Dem leader Ming Campbell, that was aimed at his legacy.
Some of those who heard him will be far from happy, particularly at his decision not to voice regret. Sky reporting Blair was jeered as he left the inquiry: “You are a liar,” shouted one person. “A murderer,” shouted another. Those who wanted to hear regret, says the BBC’s Nick Robinson, will be disappointed.
5.14pm: Well, there you have it. He’s sorry – for being divisive – but firmly believes the war was right. Sure, some things could have been done better (the intel and the planning), but with or without WMD, toppling Saddam was the right thing to do. We’d all be worse off if he was still there, not least because of the growing threat from Iran.
2.56pm: OK, we’ve slowed the refresh time on the post and will set up a new window for rest of coverage. Should make it easier to read. Give us a minute. Click here to read Live blog: Tony Blair at the Iraq inquiry – part 2.
2.54pm: Blair says what he needed to know from him [Goldsmith] in the end was what was his conclusion? Was this lawful? “Incidentally, he wasn’t alone in international law for coming to that conclusion. As I say, if you read 1441, it was pretty clear this was Saddam’s last chance.”
2.52pm Classic politician’s trick from Blair: how can you not believe me? “When you go back and read 1441, it’s pretty obvious you can make a decent case for this,” he says, inviting agreement. Sir Rod will not be drawn. “Let me not pass judgment on this. I’m asking questions. I don’t have an opinion to state on this.”
Three FT experts give their views on Alistair Darling’s pre-Budget report. With Chris Giles, Nick Timmins and Patrick Jenkins
For more on the pre-Budget report, see the FT’s special page
Chris Giles in the FT’s banking editor
Nick Timmins is the FT’s public policy editor
Patrick Jenkins is the FT’s banking editor
UPDATE: Summary of the main points of the pre-Budget speech
The following is a summary of the chancellor’s pre-Budget report; most recent statements at the top:
[Chancellor sat down at 1.18pm]
Raise starting rate on National Insurance to ensure that no one earning less than £20,000 will pay extra
All National Insurance contributions up by 0.5 per cent from 2011
Spending on overseas aid will rise to 0.7 per cent of gross national income by 2013
Further £2.5bn for military operations in Afghanistan
All public sector pay rises to be capped at 1 per cent from 2011
We will have live coverage of the PBR here from 12.30pm.
In the meantime, here’s the latest on Alistair Darling’s speech:
Schools, health and police spared in PBR
What to expect from the chancellor’s speech
| About this blog | Blog guide |
Jim Pickard joined the lobby team in January 2008. He has been at the Financial Times since 1999 as a regional correspondent, assistant UK news editor and property correspondent.
Kiran Stacey is an FT political correspondent, having joined the lobby in 2011. He started at the FT as a graduate trainee in 2008, working on desks including UK companies and US equity markets before taking over the FT's Energy Source blog.
Elizabeth Rigby, the FT's chief political correspondent, joined the lobby team in September 2010. Elizabeth has worked at the FT for more than a decade and was most recently its consumer industries editor.
Helen Warrell is the FT's UK reporter, covering home affairs, crime and policing. She joined the FT in 2008 and has spent time as a reporter in the Brussels bureau and more recently, editing the paper's Asia coverage on the world news desk.
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