Thirteen things you need to know about the Autumn Statement

The rise was announced by Chancellor Philip Hammond in his Autumn Statement speech today (23 November). That would be the weakest growth since 2009, according to International Monetary Fund data.

The British economy has remained resilient since the referendum, even as a cut in the Bank of England’s main interest rate to a record-low 0.25 percent has contributed to a slump in the pound. He said his goal was to get the economy “match fit” for the next chapter.

The new forecast is significantly lower.

But he and Prime Minister Theresa May have little room to raise public spending in a big way or cut taxes to help the world’s fifth-largest economy as it prepares to leave the EU. ‘To deliver on its ambition for Britain to become “the global go-to place for scientists” the government must match today’s positive announcements about R&D funding with an equally clear signal to reduce the current uncertainty about European Union researchers from outside the United Kingdom who are working here’.

“In principle, there should be a positive feedback loop between the UK’s need for infrastructure and the pensions industry’s need for assets but those assets need to offer the cashflows and inflation protection that schemes require”.

Chancellors uses the annual Autumn Statement to update the country on the government’s taxation and spending plans. “But there isn’t really enough money being spent here to solve these long-term problems – hardly surprising, perhaps, when there is so much uncertainty around Brexit”.

Lobby group the Internet Service Providers’ Association said it welcomed the move, but argued that “the government needs to make sure it compliments planned investments and look at additional steps to remove barriers and help deliver digital infrastructure”.

The government will need to borrow 122 billion pounds more over the next five years than it expected in March, about half of it reflecting the slowdown in growth that is likely to be caused by the Brexit vote, the official independent budget forecasters said.

While UK oil and gas revenues have fallen in recent years, the Treasury forecasts these will rise to £1.8 billion a year in 2019-20, before then dropping back in the two years after that.

For subsequent years, the outlook remains murky due to a range of uncertainties, including global factors like the election of Donald Trump to the USA presidency.

In April, low wage workers can expect the national living wage to rise from £7.20 an hour to £7.50.

But some advocates for these people were disappointed. John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, said it showed “the abject failure of the last six wasted years”.

“These improvements are measly morsels next to the almost £11bn of ongoing cuts announced previous year which will cut support for struggling families in 2020”, said Reed.

Due to the Government’s softening approach to eradicating the deficit – which will not be completed now until the next Parliament – debt will peak in 2017-18 at 90.2 per cent of national income, before falling again in 2019 to 89.7 per cent.

It said consumers would suffer a blow to their real consumption wage – a measure of wages adjusted for inflation – as weak productivity impacts earnings and the Brexit-hit pound pushes up the cost of living.