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Added on the 18/03/2015 17:23:47 - Copyright : Reuters EN
With the UK's foreign-born population rapidly rising, support has surged for the anti-immigrant UKIP party, threatening to split the conservative vote in the upcoming election. Vanessa Johnston reports.
UK Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt poses outside 11 Downing Street with the red, leather-covered box containing his speech before leaving to present the spring budget to parliament. Britain's Conservative government is expected to use the budget update to unveil tax cuts for millions of workers, in an attempt to woo voters before a general election. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's party, which has been in power since 2010, is well behind the main opposition Labour party in opinion polls and looks likely to be dumped out of office. IMAGES
Key British ministers arrive at 10 Downing Street for a cabinet meeting ahead of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announcing the Spring budget. Britain's Conservative government is expected to use the budget update to unveil tax cuts for millions of workers, in an attempt to woo voters before a general election. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's party, which has been in power since 2010, is well behind the main opposition Labour party in opinion polls and looks likely to be dumped out of office. IMAGES
In his first speech of the year, UK opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer says an election is "one thing that we can be sure is coming", adding that he is "ready for it" as the Labour leader outlines his party's election year pitch. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to call a general election at some point in 2024, but exactly when is becoming a source of increasingly fevered speculation among political observers. SOUNDBITE
Britain's economy will rebound this year and not shrink as initially thought, but will grow far less than expected next year, finance minister Jeremy Hunt says as he presents his Autumn Statement to parliament. Gross domestic product will expand 0.6 percent in 2023, Hunt said citing the Office for Budget Responsibility fiscal watchdog, upgrading its prior forecast of minus 0.2 percent. GDP is then set to grow by 0.7 percent in 2024, which was sharply down from previous guidance for a 1.8-percent expansion. SOUNDBITE
The first official budget figures since Britain voted to leave the EU show a smaller-than-expected budget surplus. As post-referendum data continues to trickle in, attention is turning to what sort of access Britain will seek with its main trading partners in the EU. Kirsty Basset reports.