Autumn Statement Key Points: Jeremy Hunt announces £55bn of tax rises and spending cuts

Jeremy Hunt has raised taxes on the wealthiest in society to fund retaining the state pension triple lock and increasing benefits in line with inflation.

Mr Hunt unveiled an Autumn Statement this morning which contained punishing tax rises and public spending cuts worth £55 billion.

The Chancellor reduced the threshold at which people pay the 45p top rate of income tax from £150,000 to £125,140, froze a range of tax allowances and also extended the windfall tax on energy giants.

The measures will mean the UK's tax burden will reach its highest level since 1948, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) confirmed. Disposable income will also see its biggest fall on record, the OBR added, plummeting back to 2013 levels as the cost-of-living crisis bites.

"Although my decisions today do lead to a substantial tax increase, we have not raised headline rates of taxation, and tax as a percentage of GDP will increase by just one per cent over the next five years," Mr Hunt told MPs.

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