Budget 2016 - watch it live here, 12.30pm!

[KateMumsnet]

Chancellor George Osborne will introduce his eighth budget at lunchtime today - he's expected to announce fresh spending cuts of £4bn, as well as a radical shakeup for schools in England, with every school becoming an academy by 2020, effectively ending local authority control. He'll also announce new funds to finance a longer day for secondary schools, with heads able to bid for funds for additional school activities and overtime pay.

Join us here to watch live at 12.30pm - and do let us know what you think of his announcements here on the thread.

He is speaking about sugar now - a topic close to my heart, nasty stuff.

Sugar tax??

Sugar levy on the soft drinks industry to be started in 2 years. To hit manufacturers. Milk and pure fruit juice exempt.

Ooh sugar drink tax, I quite like that actually. Im sure they will just lower it a bit and avoid it however.

So we will all be fed sugar substitution instead?

Tax on the sugared drinks companies will not apply to fruit juices! Yet those are just as bad. Smoothies are pure sugar. I can see litigation coming out of this. Give children only tap water to drink.

dont care about the sugar tax,not a bad idea imo

Credit where it is due. This is good. The sugar levy.

As a business owner, the business stuff was good too. I'm a Tory at work and a socialist at home... ;-)

"Volunatry for schools, compulsory for pupils"

Am i having a blonde moment here?

Why is he saying the govt will fund 25% of secondary schools to stay open longer? How is that fair?
I bet that will be in Tory areas and not up north.
I bet some MPs have a vested interest in academies

What about those who don't enjoy "sport"! It isn't realistic to assume all can or will participate.

So far he's given a lot of money away and only taken it from sugary drinks.

The money from sugar tax will go towards funding the extended school day.

So if all the manufacturers either remove sugar or people refuse to buy them, who is going to fund the extended school day and sports days this money is meant to be going to?

Fuel duty frozen. Still worrying as so far he's either frozen duty or given money away in tax cuts to companies or corporations. Where is it coming from?

Oh god. "We are the party of the working people" Inequality soaring. Where do these filth get their fucking nerve??

Perhaps he will scrap trident?

TheR - he has specific measures to try to do something about the growing difference between exam results in North and South.

coffeeisnectar - he has't finished yet. There's lots of time to take money off people.

How can 75% of schools stay open longer with no extra money - oh, it'll be okay, we'll turn them all into Academies!

Like the Sugar Tax. Nothing else.

So if the schools go for this scheme then the pupils have to use it? I see parents getting fed up with the restrictions on term time holidays and now longer school days being enforced. It's bad enough for working parents who barely see their kids Monday to Friday. I can't see this going down well at all.

However, some will see it as unfair and say that those schools are giving free childcare and their kids either go home alone or they have to pay for someone to look after them. What a mess.

Don't worry, coffee there is still time to fund tax cuts to corporations by squeezing poor people even harder

Fux ache

Tit woman is Theresa May I think

coffee I realise my post might have sounded like you didn't care / approved.
Not what I meant at all.

Yes young people don't save because pensions are 'complicated'. Not because they are not entitled to in work benefits or even the full not a living wage.

Oh, and more point scoring.

20k isa. Great I can barely save 3k a year.

Ha, its almost like national insurance