Philip Hammond claimed that “austerity is coming to an end” as he took advantage of better-than-expected tax revenues to promise a £30bn boost in public spending by 2024.

The chancellor used a 71-minute budget speech to announce immediate short-term increases in spending on universal credit, defence and equipment for schools.

Hammond also promised to introduce a special tax on Amazon, Facebook and other digital giants in April 2020 raising £400m a year although he warned that if the Brexit talks collapsed he would have to hold an emergency budget in the spring.



But the chancellor was immediately criticised by Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, who accused him of presiding over “half measures and quick fixes while austerity grinds on”.