2016 United Kingdom budget

The 2016 United Kingdom budget was delivered by George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on Wednesday, 16 March 2016.

It was the second budget delivered by Osborne in the Second Cameron government, after the 2015 budget, and the seventh one delivered by Osborne overall

Background
In the November 2015 Autumn Statement, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility predicted that the UK economy would grow by 3.2% in 2016, with inflation of around 0.4%, whilst unemployment was projected to fall to 6.4% by 2017.

Budget announcements

 * Osborne will introduce a sugar tax on soft drinks from 2018, raising around half a billion pounds which will be used to fund after-school activities such as sport and art.
 * The predicted GDP growth for 2016 was lowered to 2.4% from 2.9%.
 * The 40p tax threshold will increase to £65,550.
 * There will be a new savings account, the Lifetime ISA, for the under-40s, with the government putting in £1 for every £4 saved.
 * The threshold for claiming tax credits was reduced from £3,850 to £3,050 from April 2017.
 * £115 million was allocated to tackle rough sleeping.
 * Public sector employers will be required to contribute a higher proportion to their workers' pensions from 2019–2020.
 * Tobacco duty was increased by 2%.
 * Hand rolling tobacco duty was increased by 3%.
 * Fuel duty frozen at 57.95p per litre.
 * VAT on tampons was to be cut from 5% to 0%, as soon as EU obligations allowed.
 * The halving of tolls across both Severn Bridges from 2018.

Reactions
The Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, described the budget as having "unfairness at its very core", singling out cuts to disability benefits and corporate tax for particular criticism. In particular he claimed that the budget "lowered spending on crucial public services to their lowest level since the 1990s", although this claim was challenged by Full Fact. However, he expressed his approval for the introduction of the sugar levy in his House of Commons response.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith, resigned two days after the presentation of the budget, describing planned cuts within his department "as a compromise too far".