The Autumn Statement as it happened

Philip Hammond offered up few surprises in his Autumn Statement. As predicted, he said the minimum wage will go up (slightly), fuel duty will be frozen, letting agency fees will be banned and George Osborne’s welfare reforms will be partly softened, with the ‘taper rate’ for Universal Credit slowed down. But he did save room for one rabbit in the hat: this year’s Autumn Statement will be the last, the Chancellor announced. Instead, from 2018 there will be a ‘Spring Statement, Hammond said – and the main budget will take place in the Autumn. It was also revealed that the OBR’s updated forecast for next year suggests Britain’s economy will grow by 1.4 per cent – a fall from the 2.2 per cent predicted before the referendum. Here’s the Spectator‘s coverage of the Autumn Statement, as it unfolded:

1.30pm: The Chancellor finishes off his Autumn Statement by saying it’ll be his last – and that he will be scrapping the November announcement.