John Healey: “You know what defense needs. You made the argument for this powerfully in your speech at the Munich Security Conference…”

Economic growth is my and Burnham’s number one mission in government.

People recognise these times that are tough for everyone, and what they do expect of a government is to manage with the budgets we've got, deliver the public services they need, and that's the challenge.

We will meet those fiscal rules, and I think one of the hallmarks of the IMF’s backing of our fiscal plans is recognition that there isn’t just a forecast for the future, but there’s some evidence of performance already.

I want the budget to be a budget that gives Britain a bit of breathing space – but also reinforces the strength of our fiscal plans and the strength of our resilience and our economy for the future.