New tax year giveth for the rich, but taketh away for low earners

While millions will gain from personal allowance rise, benefits are to be cut in real terms

Millions of workers will enjoy significant tax cuts as the new financial year begins, the chancellor, Philip Hammond, has said, claiming it is “thanks to our careful management of the public finances”.

But there is a darker side to the new financial year for many others – another 12 months of real-terms cuts to benefits, increases in national insurance contributions and a big rise for pension contributions.