Sunak also says there will be a 100 per cent Business Rates Holiday until the end of June; thereafter business rates will be discounted by two thirds up to a maximum of £2m for larger businesses. However, Corporation Tax is to rise sharply from 2023.

Other measures announced today include:

– Furlough to be extended until the end of September, with higher employer contibutions from July;

– 600,000 more self-employed people will be eligible for help as access to grants will be broadened;

– £20 uplift in Universal Credit to be extended for another six months;

– Minimum wage to increase to £8.91 an hour from April;

– No changes to rates of income tax, national insurance or VAT BUT…thresholds to be frozen, meaning long-term ‘stealth taxes’;

– Personal income tax allowance to be frozen at £12,570 from 2022 to 2026;

– Higher rate income tax threshold to be frozen at £50,270 from 2022 to 2026;

– Corporation tax on company profits to soar from 19 to 25 per cent in April 2023, although some relief for smaller companies;

– Apprenticeship grants to rise to £3,000;

– VAT reduced for hospitality firms to be maintained at five per cent until September;

– Interim 12.5 VAT rate to apply to hospitality thereafter, to the hospitality sector, for the following six months;

– Business rates holiday for firms in England will continue from April until June;

– No rise this year in fuel or alcohol duties;

– Re-opening grants for non-essential businesses of up to £6,000 for most premises, and £18,000 in exceptional circumstances;

– Another £400m to help arts venues in England to reopen and £300m for professional sport and £25m for grassroots football to reopen;

– An additional £19m for domestic violence programmes and £40m for Thalidomide victims;