13:32 - Gordon Brown finishes speech.

13:31 - £190,000 for every secondary headteacher.

13:31 - £44,000 for every primary headteacher.

13:30 - Free national bus travel for elderly and disabled from 2008.

13:29 - Community support officers to rise from 6,000 to 16,000.

13:27 - Investment in schools to rise to £8bn per year.

13:26 - Investment in pupils to be raised to private school levels.

13:26 - £500m extra capital investment in education.

13:24 - Education up to A-Level standard free for those up to age of 25.

13:23 - Four Government departments to get budget reductions over next two years.

13:21 - Asset sales to reach £30bn by 2010.

13:20 - New office for voluntary sector to be set up the Treasury.

13:19 - £34m extra for new national sport foundation.

13:19 - Extra help to regenerate sport across the UK.

13:18 - Schools Olympics to be created, starting this year.

13:17 - £200m extra for training and facilities for sports stars of the future.

13:15 - £800m extra for forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

13:15 - New fund for victims terror at home and abroad.

13:13 - Inheritance tax threshold to rise to £325,000.

13:13 - Tax free winter allowance of £200 for pensioners this year.

13:12 - No VAT on food, books or childrens clothing.

13:11 - Beer up 1p per pint.

13:11 - Wine up 49 per bottle. [ - 4p a bottle according to the BBC and Browns speech - Serious]

13:11 - Spirit and champagne duty frozen.

13:11 - Packet of 20 cigarettes rise by 9%. [9p according to the BBC - Serious]

13:10 - Child care vouchers to rise to £55 per week.

13:09 - At least £250 extra for child trust funds at age seven.

13:08 - 300,000 children taken out of poverty.

13:07 - Child tax credit to be worth £88 per week.

13:05 - Petrol duty to be frozen until September.

13:05 - 3m motorists to pay £100 in car tax.

13:04 - £210 top car tax rate for most polluting vehicles.

13:04 - Zero car tax rate for low emssion vehicles.

13:03 - Car tax to be radically reformed.

13:02 - 250,000 more homes will be insulated.

13:01 - New energy research institute will be created.

13:01 - UK to be world leader in new energy technology.

13:00 - Developed countries must help developing nations with emissions.

12:59 - Climate change levy stays and will be indexed with inflation.

12:57 - Real estate investment trusts to be established.

12:56 - Training for working women to be doubled.

12:55 - British economy will need 14m highly skilled workers by 2020.

12:54 - 170,000 more people in work compared to last year.

12:54 - 2.4m extra jobs since 1997.

12:52 - British students to be funded at US business colleges.

12:52 - £100m extra for capital funds.

12:50 - Trade with China and India expanded.

12:49 - Business investment to grow by 4.5% this year.

12:48 - 3,000 more science teachers to be recruited.

12:47 - Medical research to be at least £1bn per year.

12:45 - Public investment rising to £29bn next year.

12:44 - Net borrowing will fall to 1.9% of national income.

12:43 - Net borrowing is £37bn this year.

12:42 - Investment in skills and transport has doubled

12:42 - £6bn investment in schools this year

12:41 - We have met our first "Golden" fiscal rule.

12:40 - Growth forecast for 2007 is 2.75-3.25%.

12:39 - Tenth year UK has grown faster than Europe.

12:39 - Exports to rise from between 5-5.5%

12:38 - Pay rises to average 2.25% this year.

12:37 - Office of National Statistics to be independent.

12:36 - Interest rates have averaged 5% since 1997.

12:34 - Interest rates lowest for 40 years.

12:33 - Britain enjoys tenth year of uninterrupted growth.

12:32 - Inflation is 2% and on target.

12:31 - Brown begins his Budget speech.

Looks fairly interesting in places, to be honest. Yes, I am a saddo...

heres the thing, we pay for the forces weither or not they are in an active service zone. this is for extra supplies they need. like ammunition, fuel, parts for vehicles, equipment like bridgebuilding equipemtn etc....


i dont begrudge our boys teh stuff they need because they wouldnt be able to do the job. remember it isnt conscripted labour.

50 pence on a bottle of wine is a lot.

some good stuff, ill beleive it when i see it though tbh.

looks like they are planning on sqeezing even more from the people who have the cheek to own a car.