As it happened: Autumn Budget 2021

In his second Budget of 2021, Rishi Sunak faces a balancing act. On the one hand, he feels that the high levels of spending which got the UK economy through the Covid-19 pandemic, paying for furloughs and emergency business funding, must now be recouped somehow.

But on the other hand prime minister Boris Johnson has made clear he wants to "level up" Britain, which means investment in infrastructure, training and health to address the disparities in education, health and productivity between north and south. Johnson also wants to address the issues facing the NHS after the pandemic, with the short supply of nurses an issue he has previously cited.

So how will Sunak square this circle? There have been rumours about changes to the inheritance tax treatment of pensions and changes to capital gains tax. But with an interest rate rise supposedly in the pipeline, inflation on the up and an increase to National Insurance already announced, will more tax increases be feasible?

Follow our live blog to get the latest updates and analysis on today's announcements with our panel, which consists of:

• Claire Trott, divisional director for retirement and holistic planning at St James's Place
• Chris Down, private client manager at RSM UK
• Lewis Tompkins, tax director at RSM UK
• Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at AJ Bell
• Ian Biggs, head of product performance at Coventry Building Society

Send us your questions via Twitter @FTAdviser using the hashtag #Budget2021 or post questions using the commenting facility on the right hand side of this page.