Live coverage of George Osborne’s 2011 budget. Let us know what you think by posting your comments using the form below.

13.29: That’s it – the Chancellor sits down to cheers from the Conservative and Liberal-Democrat benches.

13.28: A 1p cut in fuel duty will take place from 6pm tonight.

13.27: Inflation rise in petrol duty planned for next week to be postponed for a year.

13.25: Mileage rate goes up from 40p to 45p.

13.22: Tobacco duty to go up by two per cent above inflation. No further changes to rate of alcohol duties.

13.20: From April next year personal tax allowance will rise to just over £8,000.

13.19: £250 pay uplift for certain public sector workers earning less than £21,000.

13.17: New clampdown on tax avoidance announced. The move will raise £1bn.

13.13: Administration of Gift Aid to be simplified. Discount on inheritance tax for those who give to charity.

13.12: there will be a more automatic mechanism for future increases in pension age.

13.11: Another 40,000 apprenticeships will be created for young unemployed.

13.10: At least 24 new University Technical Colleges to be funded.

13.06: More incentives for investment in green energy. There will be more support for a green investment bank which will be launched in 2012.

13.04: 21 new enterprise zones to be created in England – they will include the Black Country and Birmingham and Solihull.

13.03: Extra £100m to help councils repair potholes.

13.02: Research and development tax credit for small companies to rise to 200 per cent this year.

13.00: £250m to help first-time buyers purchase newly built homes. New shared equity scheme will help 10,000 first-time buyers, says Mr Osborne.

12.59: Rate holiday for small businesses to be extended until October 2012.

12.57: Chancellor says 50p tax rate should be a temporary measure and will be reviewed in the future.

12.56: £50,000 charge for non-doms who have lived in the UK for 12 years.

12.55: Osborne: The default answer to development will be ‘yes’. There will a 15 per cent increase in the availability of credit to small business.

12.52: £350m of business regulations to be scrapped.

12.50: Corporation Tax will be reduced by two per cent rather than the planned one per cent. Bank levy to rise to compensate for this move.

12.49: Government to consult on merging NI and tax systems to make it “fit for the modern age”, says Chancellor.

12.48: Direct tax to be indexed by CPI from April 2012.

12.45: Osborne confident that his budget will greatly simplify the tax system. 43 different tax reliefs will be abolished.

12.43: Borrowing forecasts set to fall from £146bn to £29bn in 2015/16.

12.41: Inflation is expected to fall to two per cent by 2013.

12.38: Forecast for annual growth this year is 1.7 per cent. That’s down from previous forecast of 2.1 per cent.  Forecast for next year is 2.5 per cent then 2.9 per cent in both 2013 and 2014 and then 2.8 per cent in 2015.

12.36: In addition to publishing the red book the Chancellor is also publishing a route to growth.

12.35: Osborne: Britain has lost ground in the world economy.

12.34: Osborne: This is not a tax-raising budget – but one based on sound economic figures.

12.33: Chancellor says budget will be about reforming economy for growth and jobs in the future.

12.32: The speaker makes way for his deputy and Mr Osborne gets to his feet. We’re off and running.

12.30: Prime Minister’s Question’s is over – now for the main event of the day.

Don’t expect too much early in the speech – the first half usually outlines the general state of the economy. Expect news on cigarettes, alcohol, petrol and stamp duty towards the end of his speech.

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