The government has missed an opportunity to raise more money to protect the poorest in the UK from spending cuts and VAT rises, and help tackle global poverty and climate change, says Oxfam.

The Budget got the big judgement about the economy wrong and cannot live up to substantial claims to be fair, says Trades Union Congress General Secretary Brendan Barber.

Leaders from the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches, together with Church Action on Poverty (CAP), have called on the chancellor to opt for fairer taxes today.