The Chancellor has outlined a budget which he says will "unite and level up" the country as it heads out from the coronavirus pandemic, with a confirmation that the furlough scheme is being extended, as is the stamp duty holiday on house buying.

He told MPs that he wanted to turn the challenge of coronavirus into an opportunity, and among other new initiatives announced the formation of eight new free ports, devolved business and financial investments in the regions, and help to turn the UK into what he called a " scientific superpower."

Key decisions announced included :

: A new re-start grant for businesses of up to £6,000

: A new recovery loan for businesses from £25,000 up to £10 million backed by a government guarantee

: Business rates still discounted by two thirds

: For hospitality, the five per cent reduced rate of VAT carries on until the end of September and it will not return to the standard rate until next April

: The current cut in stamp duty to be extended until June 30 and then tapered until September

: A new mortgage government guarantee to back 95 per cent mortgages, already pre-agreed by all the big home loan lenders

: Furlough will be extended until the end of September, with a "small contributions" from employers from the summer

: Another grant for the self-employed, tapered on the basis of how much their earnings have been impacted

: These new grants will be open to the newly self-employed, as long as they have put in a tax return as of yesterday (March 2) . The Chancellor says this will increase support to a further 600,000 individuals

: The Universal Income uplift increase of £20 will continue for another six months but paid as a one-off payment of £500

: Doubling incentives to any business willing to hire an apprentice to £3,000 - whatever the age of that apprentice.

The Chancellor told parliament that overall the government financial response to the coronavirus pandemic amounted to £407 billion, which has led to borrowing of £355 billion, 17 per cent of the national income, bigger in terms of debt than that created by both world wars. Earlier he told MPs that the Office for Budget Responsibility has reported that the economy has suffered its biggest fall in more than 300 years, although the economy is predicted to bounce back earlier than feared and unemployment will peak at 6.5 %.

So in what Rishi Sunak called " corrective action " he announced that it would be irresponsible to allow UK borrowing to go on unchecked so he also announced :

: Freezing personal tax thresholds until April 2026. The basic allowance will continue to go up to £12,570, as planned but then stay at that level for five years

: Other thresholds including VAT and inheritance tax will also be frozen

: From April 2023 the rate of corporation tax will increase to 25% from 19% for companies making more than £50,000 profit

: All planned increases alcohol and fuel duties are cancelled