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'A return to spending' - but is austerity over?

Image copyright UK Parliament /Jessica Taylor

Philip Hammond's Budget will come under further scrutiny today after he declared the age of austerity is coming to an end. In a marked change in policy, the chancellor announced billions of pounds of extra public spending and brought forward tax cuts. Have a look at the key points here.

But shadow chancellor John McDonnell said it was clear austerity wasn't over as welfare cuts were continuing and public services could face a further squeeze.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg says this Budget marks a return to spending, but not an enormous splurge. A huge amount of the money will be gobbled up quickly by the health service, she adds, and after that, by some calculations, there simply won't be much to go around - and some departments might even still face cuts.

MPs will debate the Budget in the Commons later. In the meantime, find out what it all means for you. And use our calculator to see whether you're better or worse off.

Briton on bail in UAE

British academic Matthew Hedges, who's been accused of spying by the United Arab Emirates, has been released on bail. The 31-year-old Durham University PhD student, who denies spying for the UK government, was arrested in Dubai in May.

His wife Daniela Tejada tells the BBC he is "glad to be breathing fresh air" after his release. She says he is tired and "shocked by everything" but in a good mood. He's been told he must remain in the UAE until another court hearing next month.

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US sends thousands of troops to border

The US is to send more than 5,200 troops to the Mexican border to tighten security as thousands of Central American migrants head north. Donald Trump earlier said the "invasion" of migrants would find the US military waiting for them. The BBC's Anthony Zurcher says the move is the president clearly seeking to paint the refugees as a national threat he alone is willing to counter. What is the migrant caravan heading to the US and why does it matter?

Why did the council 'house' me in a tent?

By Emma Forde

Theo had just turned 17 when he became homeless. He turned to the council for help - but was given nothing but a one-man tent. "They were like, 'Load the car up with your bags, we're going to a campsite'," remembers Theo.

"It was a campsite in the middle of the woods. Very spooky. I remember hearing rustling in the bushes and I thought, 'Someone's there. I'm not going out of the tent'," he says. "I didn't get much sleep."

This was just the start of his troubles in the summer of 2016, which ended up with his admission to a psychiatric hospital.

Read the full article

What the papers say

Coverage of the Budget dominates the front pages. The Metro says it was a Halloween Budget of tricks and treats, but for The Sun, there were no tricks, just treats. The Mail says Philip Hammond unveiled a spending spree in a bid to end austerity and prepare the UK for life after Brexit. The Telegraph says it represents a genuine change of direction, a final rupture with the George Osborne years. According to the Guardian, the chancellor is seeking to shore up the morale of the fractious Tory MPs the PM needs to back her Brexit deal. For the Mirror, this Budget is a "great con job". The paper complains that the £400m for schools in England would not be enough to pay for even one teaching assistant per school. It adds that there was nothing to fight record crime levels - but there was another big tax cut for the richest.

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Lookahead

08:00 A book of condolence is being opened at Leicester's King Power Stadium after the club's owner and four others were killed in a helicopter crash

Today Uber appeals against an employment tribunal finding that drivers should be treated as workers rather than self-employed

On this day

1981 The secretary of the UK's pro-euthanasia group Exit, Nicholas Reed, is jailed for two and a half years for aiding and abetting suicide

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