POLL: Have pensioners been forgotten by Jeremy Hunt? YOUR VERDICT

She said: “'Was that it? This Budget was something of a non-event for older people, with very few announcements of much interest or relevance to them.

“The reductions in National Insurance (NI) will be welcomed by people in their fifties and early sixties who are in employment but do nothing for anyone working beyond their State Pension Age because they do not pay NI.

“They can be forgiven for feeling hard done by as a result, especially since many of them are working in their late sixties and beyond not because they want to, but because they simply cannot afford to retire.

“Nor will it help retired people with modest pensions that take them over the tax threshold who will face an increase in income tax rise because personal allowances remain frozen.

“Age UK had called for the Household Support Fund to be continued beyond April, to help people of all ages struggling on low incomes, and we are pleased the Chancellor announced a six-month extension.

“However, six months is not long enough and, crucially, this leaves older people on low fixed incomes without recourse to this extra help through the winter months, when high energy bills provoke so much hardship and fear.”

In an exclusive poll for GB News membership readers, an overwhelming majority (92 per cent) of the 774 voters thought pensioners had been forgotten by Jeremy Hunt, while just seven per cent thought they had not. One per cent said they did not know.

• Budget 2024: Hunt blasted for abandoning pensioners as he gives families child benefit boost and slashes NI by 2p
• Tax calculator shows how Budget 2024 announcements will affect you
• Budget was 'clear' in signalling lower taxes in future says Lord Hammond

The Chancellor said the Government is now in a position to deliver “permanent tax cuts”, and billed his financial statement as a “Budget for long-term growth”.

Hunt said: “Because of the progress we’ve made, because we are delivering the Prime Minister’s economic priorities, we can now help families not just with temporary cost-of-living support, but with permanent cuts in taxation.”

Hitting back at Age UK, Tory MP Robert Buckland told GB News his party is “proud” of their record.

Among the announcements made by Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor announced that National Insurance was to be cut by 2p in the pound.

He announced that child benefits are to be paid to households where the highest-earning parent earns up to £60k, up from £50k.

Hunt also announced a freeze on alcohol duty, which had been due to end in August, to continue until February 2025 as well as a new tax on vaping products from October 2026.

He announced the threshold at which small businesses must register to pay VAT raised from £85,000 to £90,000 from April and £1million for a memorial to honour Muslims who fought for Britain during World War One and Two.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer branded the Chancellor’s budget “the last desperate act of a party that has failed”.