The highlights of the budget include: 

• Getting rid of stamp duty first-time buyers on properties up to £300,000
• At least £44 billion of capital funding, loans and guarantees to support the housing market.
• Plans to hike road tax for diesel cars
• £3 billion to prepare for Brexit
• £1.5 billion package to cut the waiting period for Universal Credit payments

Andrew Selous, Conservative MP for South West Bedfordshire, told Premier several announcements pleased him.

He said: “The reduction of stamp duty for young people, the extra £ 44 billion going into building all the houses we need, boosting the national living wage, these are all much needed things.”

However, there was some criticism of the budget.

Alex Cunningham, Labour MP for Stockton North, told Premier this is still a worrying time for the UK economy because business investment, growth forecast and productivity are down.

He added: “Apart from tax allowances there was nothing for struggling families at all.

“We want to see investment through local authorities into local services.

“We want to see very decisive action taken on public sector pay and there was nothing there about public sector pay apart from a review into the pay of nurses.

Listen to Andrew Selous speaking with Premier’s Alex Williams here:

Listen to Alex Cunningham speaking with Premier’s Cara Bentley here:

In a statement, the Bishop of Birmingham, Rt Revd David Urquhart, who speaks on behalf of the bishops in the House of Lords, welcomed some of the measures but raised concern of some of the issues that were missed.

“The Chancellor’s Budget has gone some way to deal with the immediate problems facing our economy, housing and NHS,” he said. “But it could have gone much further to help the many at the sharp end struggling to get by.

“Across the country churches support and are in touch with those who experience poverty or financial difficulty as a result of low pay, illness, or debt.

“The Budget statement provided an opportunity to make a difference to the lives of the most disadvantaged at a time when the cost of living is rising.

“The country faces substantial financial challenges and the growth forecast downgrades are worrying. But whilst the Chancellor has limited room for manoeuvre, there is more that could have been done to alleviate the situation of those who are struggling to manage.”

Meanwhile, Christian charity CARE raised concern that families haven’t been prioritised in the budget.

CARE’s Chief Executive, Nola Leach said: “Once again the Government has failed to take account of the tax burden that one earner families face in our current tax system. New research shows it is the highest amongst OECD countries, and this budget has done nothing to reduce it.

“Today was a missed opportunity for change, instead of prioritising struggling families in the…

Forty items from the Holy See’s collection of Chinese bronzes, ceramics and paintings will tour four cities including Beijing and Shanghai in March next year, in return for 40 pieces being lent to the Vatican’s museums.

Zhu Jiancheng, head of the Chinese government’s China Culture Industrial Investment Fund told a Vatican news conference he hoped the agreement would cement friendship, foster mutual trust and “contribute to the normalisation of diplomatic relations”.

While China severed ties with the Holy See in 1951, both Pope Francis and his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI have been keen to improve relations.

Diplomatic efforts between Beijing and Vatican City have remained strained over resistance to the Vatican’s insistence that the Pope should have authority to name Chinese bishops, a move China views as an infringement on its sovereignty.

There is speculation among academics and human rights campaigners that China’s President Xi Jinping will take a tougher stance on religious freedom, following his appointment to a second term as leader of the ruling Communist Party.