BEER and cigarettes have been hit by Gordon Brown with the cost of a pint rising by a penny and cigs seeing an 8p rise for a packet of 20.

Below is minute by minute report of the Chancellor's main points.

13:30: Gordon Brown returns to his seat.

13:30: Almost two million pensioners will see winter fuel allowance increasing by £100.

13:28: The charge on pensioners in hospital would be abolished with immediate effect, Mr Brown said.

13:19: The chancellor said under new measures a couple with two children would effectively not pay tax until their income rose to nearly £20,000 a year.

13:13: Lone parents would receive an extra £20 a week if they actively searched for work through jobsearch

13:10: The government would contribute to training and wage costs so that employees could be released from existing jobs to improve their skills base

13:07: Mr Brown said funds would be provided for training, travel and particular measures to help Britain's ethnic minorities.

13:03: The chancellor said he would take a wide range of anti-avoidance measures on stamp duty, VAT and other taxes.

13:01: Stamp duty would be frozen, said Mr Brown.

13:00: Income tax and tax allowances remain the same.

13:00: Cigarettes will be going up by 8p per pack of 20.

12:59: There will be measures to encourage energy saving.

12:58: Car tax will go up by inflation but lorry and motorbike tax remains the same.

12:58: Bingo tax will be abolished.

12:57: A 4p increase in duty on wine and 1p on beer but freezing all duties on spirits.

12:56: He has said he will freeze rates on the climate levy.

12:55: Gordon Brown has promised to tackle red tape on firms with the support of the CBI.

12:53: Mr Brown said he would abolish automatic fines for late paying VAT.

12:49: British growth would rise by 3-3.5% in 2004-5 which was unchanged from previous forecasts.

12:46: Growth figures for the forthcoming year are estimated to be between 2-2.5%.

12:42: Gordon Brown has said that the target for the financial year was 2.5%

12:38: There would be 25,000 more doctors, 80,000 more nurses by 2008, said Mr Brown

12:36: Mr Brown has said that the UK will support plans for the re-building of Iraq after the war.

12:33: He has set aside around £3bn for the armed services.

12:32: Gordon Brown has emphasised the global economic downturn.