so much for so little. we'll be looking at the measures in detail and the real—terms rise in spending for every government department. also tonight... us police say the actor alec baldwin was handed a gun containing a live round on a film set where a colleague was accidentally shot dead. and the australian professional footballer hailed as a hero worldwide for deciding to share the news that he's gay. and later in the hour, we'll have sportsday on the bbc news channel, with all the latest reports, results, interviews and features good evening. the measures announced by the chancellor in today's budget mean that the tax burden is at its highest since the early 1950s, and public spending is set to rise to the levels of the 1970s. rishi sunak explained he was setting the foundations for a vibrant economy emerging from the pandemic in what he called an age of optimism. on the big forecasts, inflation is likely to rise above 4% next year, but the government's own budget watchdog suggests it could be higher. economic growith is forecast to be 6.5% this year, but could then fall as low as 1.3% after 2023. 0n benefits, following the removal of the extra £20 universal credit, the chancellor has cut what's called the taper rate, which he says will help two million families, but critics say it doesn't make up for the loss. for some of the businesses hit hardest by the pandemic — hospitality, retail and leisure — business rates in england will be cut by 50% for a year, and taxes on some beers and sparkling wines will be cut. and just days before the uk hosts the global climate summit in glasgow, air passenger duty on uk flights will actually be cut, but will be increased for some long haulflights, and duty on fuel will not go up. labour pointed to a tax cut for banks, and said this revealed the government's real priorities, not those of working families. this report by our political editor laura kuenssberg includes some flashing images. will the real rishi sunak reveal himself? what were the secrets in his red box? the economy never stops, but its perpetual motion pushes politicians in unexpected directions. as he marches on from the worst of the pandemic emergency, would he use today's grand occasion to break with the course? our plan is working. cash isn't as tight as he thought, but he can't escape the fact money won't stretch as far. inflation�*s on its way to 4%. the pressures caused by supply chains and energy prices will take months to ease. it would be irresponsible for anyone to pretend that we can solve this overnight. but where the government can ease these pressures, we will act. and the chancellor wants you and his party to know he'd never now splurge cash without restriction. higher borrowing today is just higher interest rates and even higher taxes tomorrow. so we need to strengthen our public finances, so that when the next crisis comes, we have the fiscal space to act. today, i am publishing a new charter for budget responsibility. a new gimmick, but a return of rules to get national debt on the way down as a share of the economy, and for tax, not borrowing, to cover daily costs. but out in the real world, the damage to the economy from the pandemic is smaller than expected. so whether it is for the police, the courts, health, defence or any other kind of public service, whitehall�*s wallet will be more generous to every corner of government in the next three years. there will be a real terms rise in overall spending for every single department. if anybody still doubts it, today's budget confirms the conservatives are the real party of public services. quite the claim, given years of tory squeeze, and tension as the chancellor cut taxes on some flights and froze duty on fueljust days before the government hosts a climate conference in glasgow. but this seeming generosity isn't completely straightforward. there were wild cheers for the chancellor allowing some families on universal credit to keep more of their cash, even though it won't cover what many more have already lost. this is a £2 billion tax cut for the lowest—paid workers in our country. it supports working families, it helps with the cost of living and it rewards work. this was a high—spend, high—tax budget — not that you'd believe it from listening to this. government has limits. government should have limits. if this seems a controversial statement to make, then i'm all the more glad for saying it because that means it needed saying, and it is what we believe. my goal is to reduce taxes. by the end of this parliament, i want taxes to be going down, not up. this budget levels up to a higher—wage, higher—skill, higher—productivity economy, this budget builds a stronger economy for the british people and i commend it to the house. the commons, some back in masks, though, still stalked by covid. i was absolutely gutted this morning to test positive for covid... the labour leader stuck at home, the shadow chancellor a last—minute stand—in, even though it seemed like she'd been practising for years. at least the bankers on _ short—haul flights sipping champagne will be cheering this budget today. working people are being asked to pay more for less _ for three simple reasons —i economic mismanagement, an unfair tax system i and wasteful spending. each of these problems is down to i 11 years of conservative failure. i the smaller parties also showed big resistance. this budget could've been an opportunity to do things differently, to get a grip on the cost of living crisis and to kick—start a fair recovery. but this budget doesn't signal recovery, it signals that the chancellor is dragging us into another winter of discontent. liberal democrats had wanted an emergency budget for our children, but that has not been the — conservatives' priority. they have given less in catch—up funding in today's budget for our children than they have in tax cuts for bankers. that's not the right priority. but downing street's double act hopes there is plenty to toast. a tricky business, this... higher duties on stronger booze, lower charges on less heady brews. yet the teetotal chancellor pulled a pint without taking a sip. perfect. with plenty of pressure still ahead, reluctant to celebrate too soon. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. we will be talking to laura in a few minutes. as we've heard, the chancellor outlined a spending increase of £150 billion over three years, and the tax burden is set to reach levels not seen for 70 years. 0ur economics editor faisal islam has been looking at the detail. in just a few months the economic picture has changed spectacularly, and that can be seen on any high street. people have returned, some businesses have not, many that have can't get enough staff to deal with the rebound and prices are going up. that everyday picture is seen in all the charts and forecasts underpinning this budget and spending review. first, the state of the economy — it has rebounded faster than expected this year from the depths of the lockdown, but going forward, growth is forecast to remain pretty sluggish. the improvement in the forecast nonethless means the chancellor can borrow less money than he thought six months ago, with borrowing reduced every year, and getting down by 2025 to its lowest levels for a quarter of a century — a spectacular turnaround from the depths of the pandemic. the first job of any chancellor is custodian of the public finances, to show that they can keep borrowing under control. now, rishi sunak wasn't able to do that during the pandemic, so he's making up for it now. and yet, at the same time, he wants spending to increase on departments that otherwise would have been cut, and also to help with the cost of living issues, and that means, although a reluctant taxman, he's also a record one. this chancellor has also raised more in tax in 2021 than any chancellor has ever raised in a single year going back to 1993 when it took two chancellors, norman lamont and ken clarke, to raise as much tax in a single year as this chancellor has raised this year. 0r another way of looking at that is this chart showing the proportion of tax taken by the government after march's increase in corporation tax and last month's national insurance rise, reaching its highest levels since the post—war labour government of clement attlee. all that adds to a one year spike in inflation above 4%, amid record fuel and domestic energy prices. inflation is set to rise well above 4% in the first part of next year — the highest it has been for quite some time. put that together with slow growth, increases in tax and so on, and over the next four orfive years, i'm afraid on average we'll barely see any improvement in our living standards. that's after a decade of very poor increases. so i'm really sorry to say that actually we will not be feeling much better off over the next several years. so, the economy is doing much better than last year, but it's not back to normal and a long—term plan for a new era, new economy of high wages and high skills, is still a few years away at best. faisal islam, bbc news. laura kuenssberg is at westminster. the chancellor's talk of an age of optimism, how do we square that with such a high tax burden? there optimism, how do we square that with such a high tax burden?— such a high tax burden? there is alwa s a such a high tax burden? there is always a bit _ such a high tax burden? there is always a bit of _ such a high tax burden? there is always a bit of tension _ such a high tax burden? there is always a bit of tension between l always a bit of tension between government budget fanfare and how the measures add up in the real world, there is very often a clash between what all the budget measures add up to today and what they might mean tomorrow, but more than that tonight there is a real political contradiction between how rishi sunak likes to style himself as a chancellor who does not believe government has the answer to all of our problems as a country, as someone who really would much rather be cutting taxes and pulling back, and when you look at what the government is doing in practice, even after the worst of the pandemic emergency has passed, he is putting up emergency has passed, he is putting up spending year after year and the tax burden will hit record levels. even though he has been at pains today to try to make clear he would be much more comfortable taking a different tack, i think it undermines the politicaljudgment undermines the political judgment that undermines the politicaljudgment that he and, probably more to the point, borisjohnson have reached, they will not prosper politically in this era by shrinking the state but they will probably not win the next election if they try to move things back and go back to austerity that we saw under previous tory administrations. with that conclusion having been reached at number ten and number conclusion having been reached at numberten and number11, it conclusion having been reached at number ten and number 11, it has consequences for every decision they make, consequences for how the opposition are able to take them on, and more than anything else it has consequences for all of us. maw; consequences for all of us. many thanks, consequences for all of us. many thanks. laura — consequences for all of us. many thanks, laura kuenssberg - consequences for all of us. many thanks, laura kuenssberg with i consequences for all of us. many thanks, laura kuenssberg with that analysis at westminster. some of the main measures in today's budget had been announced earlier in the week, including extra money for the nhs, a rise in the national living wage, and public sector pay rises. but there were some other new announcements today. 0n schools, there was a surprise additional £1.8 billion for education recovery in england, although that's significantly less than the sum recommended by the government's former education adviser. £5 billion was announced for the removal of unsafe cladding for the highest risk buildings following the grenfell tower tragedy. -- £5 —— £5 billion was confirmed. £2 billion of that money will be raised through an extra levy on large construction companies. 0n housing, more than £11 billion was announced to build up to 180,000 affordable homes, with brownfield sites targeted for development. and on foreign aid, the chancellor said he expected uk contributions to return to 0.7% of national income by 2025. one of the major announcements today was on universal credit. the government has been under pressure since it ended the £20 temporary increase earlier this month. today the chancellor announced a cut to what's called the taper rate. that's the rate at which universal credit is reduced, once a claimant starts to earn above a certain threshold. currently, if you earn an extra £1 over the limit you lose 63p in benefit. that will now be cut to 55p in every £1, allowing people to keep more of their money as they start to earn more. but campaigners say the amount doesn't address wider issues of cost of living and those who can't work. our home editor mark easton has been talking to people in wolverhampton, and his report contains some flashing images. britain has among the worst inequality in the developed world. one person in six lives in poverty. so what do the chancellor's repeated promises to level up mean for those on low incomes in places like wolverhampton? giovanni nursed his mum until her death last april. now living alone, depression and stress have stopped him working. having seen the £20 covid benefits uplift removed, he is left with 60 quid a week to cover everything, as the cost of living soars. it's very, very hard. you know, i don't even put the heating on. i have to sit like this with my fleece on every day. you know, you're frightened to even put the water, run the water in the tap. low paid workers will now keep more of their universal credit, but that won't help giovanni, with the chancellor resisting calls to remove vat from fuel bills. the chancellor needs to address these things. why are you doing this? why? why are you making people suffer? for those on low incomes, this budget is relatively good news if you're working. those changes to universal credit and the national living wage. but for those who are unable to work or who are looking for a job, there's a hard winter ahead. it is a swings and roundabouts budget, but kerry, out with her daughter, jess, today, is delighted by the focus on encouraging people into work. currently on universal credit, she says the chancellor has made it easier for her to take the plunge and set up her own business. work, to me, i mean, it keeps me... 0ne, sane, it's great that i can treat my children, and you know, i just want to work. i'm pro—work. so, this change to the universal credit and to national living wage, good news for you? good news for me, good news. shukdev also believes in work. she has three part—timejobs, but her mental and physical health are not great, and she is worried she may not be able to carry on even though she needs every pennyjust to get by. i've been borrowing money off friends and that to keep a roof over my head. sometimes i don't sleep. i can't sleep, i'm thinking all the time. and sometimes my body is not functioning properly at work. i felt tired all the time. for shukdev, today's budget has made the option of working a bit less increasingly remote. you know you've got to get up and go. you've got no choice. if i don't go to work, i can't pay my bills. have you got your potatoes? you can microwave those. i it's very, very hard and they need to start listening to what we are trying to tell them. come down, experience what we are going through. get the chancellor to come here? get him to come, sit down, spend a week here. on your budget? on your budget, and see how you cope. for those on low incomes, budgets can be life changing, for good and ill. mark easton, bbc news, wolverhampton. the chancellor also promised record funding to the devolved administrations. there's an increase to scottish government funding in each year of an average of £4.6 billion. there's an extra £2.5 billion for the welsh government. and an extra £1.6 billion for the northern ireland executive. in a moment, we will hear from hywel griffith in cardiff and emma vardy in belfast, but first our scotland editor sarah smith in glasgow. that's £4.6 billion a year on top of what the scottish government was already expecting in the form of the block grant, and unusually, it includes direct treasury funding for projects in scotland, like upgrading some town centres, even an electric car grand prix in the western isles. and the chancellor specifically said this budget shows the financial value to scotland of remaining in the united kingdom. well, the snp say it was a missed opportunity, the money should have been spent on green projects, like a carbon capture and storage facility near aberdeen, and that the uk government's missing out on green economic opportunities, especially as, just over there, next week, glasgow will be hosting the cop26 environmental conference. in the welsh government building behind me, they'll be going through these numbers line by line, but one figure that stands out is the extra {2.5 billion a year that will come to wales. however, the labour ministers here say they already see gaps in the funding. they point to the lack of new money to deal with the problem of coal tip safety, a question really of who pays for wales's industrial past. then there's the row over european funding. the chancellor saying today that, over time, new money from the uk will match what was spent here. the question, really, isn't over how much is spent, though, but who controls it. under the european scheme, it was the welsh labour government. under the new shared prosperity fund, the cheques will be written in downing street, and the uk government is keen for people here in wales to know that. a headline for northern ireland is the cut in air passenger duty, something businesses here have been calling for for a while — the idea being that lower prices could improve northern ireland's flight connections with the rest of the uk. now, there's also money coming from the government's levelling up fund, which is going to pay for a range of projects in northern ireland, things like extending cycle lanes across belfast. now, stormont�*s department of finance is still trying to assess exactly what the impact will be of the extra £1.6 billion a year that the chancellor has said northern ireland will be able to spend on local services, but such is the concern here at the moment about the state of northern ireland's health service, stormont�*s finance minister is currently trying to persuade the executive that any extra funds should all go to health, even if it means other departments missing out. emma vardy there, ending that sequence. some of the most striking measures affecting business were aimed at retail, hospitality and leisure — among the sectors hit hardest by the pandemic. shops, pubs and gyms in england will be among businesses to get a 50% cut in their business rates. and the way alcohol is taxed is to be simplified, some drinks will be taxed more, but duty on draught beers will be reduced by 5%. 0ur consumer affairs correspondent colleta smith has the details. chancellors like making popular announcements about alcohol. a penny here, 5p there, but this budget is bringing in some much bigger changes, because the way that we drink has changed totally. prosecco and cava have made sparkling wine much more accessible and affordable, and that's a great thing. but at the moment, sparkling wine is charged at a much higher rate than normal wine. the amount of duty that we pay on different alcohol is a really, really complicated system, and today's plan is to simplify that. and it means that there will be less duty to pay on things like champagne and other popular drinks — wines, beers — but it could well mean that we end up paying more on some ciders and fortified wines. but will those savings be passed on to customers? i would hope that if there are significant savings, that they can be passed onto consumers, but there are other challenges we are trying to accommodate at the moment and, you know, the changes with just bringing wine into the country, it's becoming more expensive. wine is now the most popular drink in the uk, wherever it's drunk. so many deals at the supermarket, you don't really... it's not that expensive. it's starting to become a bit of a necessity for people, to relax. andy's bar, like lots of high—street firms, didn't have to pay any business rate through the pandemic, and he was worried about facing that big bill again. but today it was announced that hospitality and retail in england will only be charged half their business rates next year. nobody wants to work all day and night to not make anything. it's not why we do it. being able to know that you can have this reduction is good. it's very positive. there will be a lot of businesses relieved to hear that. changes in booze duty don't kick in until 2023, but those serving it and drinking it are hoping to pay less as a result. collette smith, bbc news, manchester. 0ur economics editor faisal islam is here. the chancellor has benefited from a better—than—expected forecast, so are you saying he has spent the existing games? 50 are you saying he has spent the existing games?— are you saying he has spent the existin: names? ., , ., , , existing games? so many measures in the buduet, existing games? so many measures in the budget. and _ existing games? so many measures in the budget, and so _ existing games? so many measures in the budget, and so much _ existing games? so many measures in the budget, and so much of— existing games? so many measures in the budget, and so much of it - the budget, and so much of it is underpinned by the change in the forecast and the treasury would go further and they would say that what they have seen today in the upgrades to the forecast is vindication for the rescue package, the unprecedented action we have seen, because the point of the package was to create a bridge so the economy could pick up again when normality came around, so the fact they can pick up and carry on is much better if it had not ? then if it pick up and carry on is much better if it had not? then if it had pick up and carry on is much better if it had not ? then if it had not beenin if it had not ? then if it had not been in place. borrowing is now less so they have had the money to spend as we have been describing, but it becomes more complex as you look 3a years out. growth is predicted to be quite sluggish ? three, four years out. disappointing by the standards of history and they say that the pandemic, it will still have an effect of about 2% of the economy over the long term, and they say on the basis of trade data, brexit will have a bigger effect, 4% on the long—term of the economy, and you put all that together and the long—term prospects in terms of the forecast are not as good as the treasury would hope. they hope the measures they are making will change that and the 0br it's been too pessimistic but it is notjust a hope, they need it is to be the case if they are going to have the space for the tax cuts they want.- for the tax cuts they want. thanks for the tax cuts they want. thanks for “oininu for the tax cuts they want. thanks forjoining us- _ if you want to find out the main ways in which today's budget could directly affect you, from universal credit changes to the price of a drink, visit our website — that's bbc.co.uk/news or you can use the bbc news app. let's turn to the day's other news. american police investigating the accidental killing of a cinematographer on a film set in new mexico, say they believe the weapon used by the actor alec baldwin contained a live round. mr baldwin had been told the weapon was safe. reports have now emerged about concerns over safety standards on the set, in the days before halyna hutchins was killed. 0ur correspondent sophie long sent this report from santa fe. it is now nearly a week since 42—year—old halyna hutchins was shot dead whilst she was doing herjob. these are the last pictures of the cinematographer alive on the set of rust. she is in the blue coat and headphones. you can see alec baldwin beyond the camera. he was holding the gun that fired the shot that killed halyna and severely injured directorjoel souza. we believe that we have in our possession the firearm that was fired by mr baldwin. the actual lead projectile that was fired has been recovered from the shoulder of mr souza. we regard this specific casing and recovered projectile to be the live round that was fired from the revolver by mr baldwin. when alec baldwin was handed the weapon by assistant director dave halls, he was told it was safe, what's called a "cold gun." the person responsible forfirearms on set was the armourer — 24—year—old hannah gutierrez—reed. she's admitted ammunition was not secure but says she checked the guns and found no live rounds. all three are cooperating fully with the investigation. all options are on the table at this point. i'm not commenting on charges, whether they will be filed or not, or on whom. so, the answer is, we cannot answer that question yet until we complete a more thorough investigation. the tragedy has left hollywood grieving and reignited the debate about whether real guns and ammunition should ever be allowed on film sets under any circumstances. this is an ongoing investigation but there has been significant developments. the sheriff said there was a complacent attitude to safety on set and since the press conference we have learned that dave hawes, the assistant director who passed the gun to alec baldwin, has told investigators he should have checked every round in the gun but he had not done so. no charges have been laid by investigators are not ruling out that possibility. thanks for “oininu ruling out that possibility. thanks forjoining us- _ let's take a look at the latest uk coronavirus figures — there were nearly 114,000 new infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period, down around 5,000 on the same time last week. it means an average of 43,959 new cases were reported per day in the last week. there were 8,801 people in hospital with covid as of yesterday. 207 deaths were reported of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. it follows unusually low reported figures over the weekend. on average in the past week, 144 related deaths were recorded every day. it comes as over 6.7 million people are reported to have received their boosterjab — this includes third doses for those with certain health conditions. let's take a brief look at some of the day's other news. a group of mps has heavily criticised the test and trace programme in england. the public accounts committee said it failed to break covid—19 transmission chains, despite costing eye—watering sums of money. the uk health security agency insists test and trace has played an essential role in combating the pandemic. almost 200 drink spiking incidents have been reported to police forces across the uk over the past two months. the national police chiefs' council said there have been 198 confirmed reports of drinks being tampered with in september and october across various parts of england, scotland, wales, and northern ireland — plus 24 reports of people being injected. the duchess of cornwall has paid tribute to people whose lives have been "brutally ended", as she called for action to prevent violence against women. speaking this evening at an event in london she said the names of women who'd died in violent circumstances including sarah everard, should never be forgotten. josh cavallo — a 21 year—old who plays professional football for adelaide — has become the only male player at the top level to announce that he's gay as our sports correspondent katie gornall reports. i'm a footballer and i'm gay. with those six wordsjosh cavallo, in a video released by his club, adelaide united, made a powerful admission and also international headlines. all i want to do is play football and be treated equally. cavallo's announcement was met with an outpouring of support, including the likes of gary lineker and clubs like liverpool and barcelona. today he said he wanted to be a positive role model for gay footballers.