Newspaper headlines: Hunt 'defies gloom' and 'Giveaway for the 1%'

By BBC News
Staff
Reaction to Jeremy Hunt's first Budget as chancellor dominates Thursday's papers. The Metro leads with the four areas Mr Hunt said he was focusing on in order to deliver economic growth: Enterprise, Employment, Education, and Everywhere. It adds that he hopes the measures laid out will help "demolish obstacles to work" and persuade up to 7 million people back into the workforce.
The Financial Times says a £9bn tax break for business, the expansion of free childcare for under-threes and the surprise abolition of the £1m cap on tax-free pension contributions made for a "defiantly upbeat Budget". The paper says Mr Hunt welcomed forecasts suggesting the UK was to avoid a recession by telling the Commons the "declinists are wrong", though it also quotes Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer calling the new pensions tax break a "huge giveaway to some of the wealthiest people in the country".
The chancellor is described as "resolute" on the front page of the Express. The paper says Mr Hunt resisted demands for tax cuts from some Tory MPs and insisted that the government's plan was "working".
"Tanks a lot!" reads the headline in the Sun. The paper says the chancellor has saved every driver £100 per year by scrapping a proposed 12p rise in fuel duty.
The Times highlights forecasts by the Office for Budget Responsibility suggesting that, by 2027, freezes to thresholds on income tax and national insurance will be equivalent to a 4p rise on the basic rate of income tax. The paper accuses Mr Hunt of "waving through" the biggest tax burden since World War Two.
Six million people will be affected by the "stealth" 4p rise in income tax, according to the i, though the paper also notes forecasts suggesting that inflation is expected to fall from the current rate of 10.1% to 2.9% by the end of this year.
The Mail says Mr Hunt delivered an "assured performance and eye-catching reforms" but that Tory MPs have warned him he now has to "move faster to cut a soaring tax burden". The paper reports that party strategists hope the "steady as she goes" Budget will begin a "fightback on the economy" ahead of potential tax cuts next year.
The pension changes in the Budget put the "wealthiest in line for an enormous tax cut" and amounted to a "giveaway for the 1%", according to the Guardian's front page. The paper says that someone with a pension pot worth £2 million will now get a tax cut of £275,000 when they take their tax-free lump sum.
The Mirror says the Budget gave the rich a "£3.8bn pension gift" but "snubbed key workers desperate for a pay rise".
Concerns about the health of Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse lead the Telegraph. The paper says that officials from the Bank of England held emergency talks with international counterparts after stock markets tumbled on Wednesday amid fears of a "potential financial disaster at one of Europe's biggest banks". It adds that Switzerland's central bank has pledged Credit Suisse will be propped up if necessary.
And the Star says that jockey Jack Andrews, who at 6ft 4in is thought to be the tallest member of his profession in the world, is hoping for a win when he rides at Cheltenham on Thursday. "It's a long shot!" says the paper.