![]()
Chancellor George Osborne has revised down the UK's growth forecast - and warned leaving the EU will put the economy at greater risk.
Unveiling his eighth Budget, he said the country was "well placed" to handle a "dangerous cocktail" of global economic risks if "we act now so we don't have to pay later".
Growth for 2016 will be 2% - 0.4% lower than predicted last year, he said.
Mr Osborne will seek to save £3.5bn by 2020 through extra spending cuts.
Follow all the action as it happens on Budget 2016 Live
In-depth coverage with the BBC's Budget 2016 special
Budget to set out plans for longer school days in England
Kamal Ahmed: The two Budget numbers to watch out for
James Landale: Why Budget is about more than just the finances for Osborne
But in a move that will have angered colleagues who think the UK would be better off out of the European Union, he cited the Office for Budget Responsibility's view that the UK will be "safer, stronger and more secure" if voters chose to remain in the EU in June's referendum.
Mr Osborne said the Office for Budget Responsibility had made clear its forecasts were based on the assumption the UK would remain in the UK and had warned that "there appears to be a greater consensus that a vote to leave would result in a period of potentially disruptive uncertainty".
Mr Osborne confirmed that he has failed to meet the rule of debt falling as a proportion of GDP this year.
But he said the UK was still on course to cleared by 2019/20 thanks to the extra spending cuts, with a budget surplus of £10.4bn in 2019/20 and £11bn the following year.
He will tell MPs: "Our economy is strong, but the storm clouds are gathering again.
"Our response to this new challenge is clear. A Budget where we act now so we don't pay later.
"In this Budget we choose the long term. We choose to put the next generation first."
Mr Osborne's package includes a £1.5bn plan to turn all state schools into academies and allow some to have longer days as the government seeks to show it can still deliver the changes it promised despite tougher economic times.
In his biggest Parliamentary test to date, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will deliver the Opposition's response immediately after Mr Osborne's speech.
The chancellor watered down planned tax credit and police budget cuts in his November Autumn Statement but sluggish growth since then has forced him to revise his calculations.
Speculation ahead of the Budget has centred on possible tax rises, including a claim by the insurance industry that another increase in Insurance Premium Tax is planned.
He could also capitalise on low oil prices to raise fuel duty, although this would be opposed by many Conservative MPs, and slap extra tax on tobacco.
There have also been calls for some tax cuts, with suggestions of an increase in the level at which the higher rate of income tax kicks in.
On the investment side, Mr Osborne is set to commit £300m for transport projects, with the government funding the start of work on the Crossrail 2 rail line and new High Speed 3 link across the north of England.
Almost half of the transport money committed was announced in the Autumn Statement.
The government has also announced a 'Help to Save' scheme under which would give low-paid workers a top-up if they put savings aside.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, for Labour, called for "straight talking" from the chancellor, with more focus on long-term investment and "no more press releases about infrastructure projects or housing projects that aren't delivered and aren't properly funded".
Under the education package of reforms, every state school in England will have to become an academy - meaning they are independent of local authority control - by 2020 or to have a plan in place by that date to do so by 2022.
The move would end the century-old role of local authorities as providers of education.
Schools will also be able to bid to be allowed to change their hours to suit their pupils' needs.
How do you think the Budget will affect you? Send your comments and questions to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
You can also contact us in the following ways:
WhatsApp: +44 7525 900971
Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSay
Text an SMS or MMS to 61124
