Chancellor to announce special Brexit 50p to commemorate leaving the EU
He is expected to make the announcement during his budget speech in Parliament today (October 29).Â
The seven-sided 50p coin will be available on March 29 2019, the day Britain is set to leave the European Union at the end of the Article 50 two-year period.Â
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Hide AdThe Sun, who are claiming victory for the coin, reports that it will bear the inscription '˜Friendship With All Nations' and that it was officially signed off by the Queen as it features her head.Â
A source close to the chancellor told The Sun: '˜It's an historic moment which will rightly be commemorated.'
The chancellor is also expected to announce a £2 billion increase in funding for mental health services as he delivers what is expected to be his final Budget before Britain leaves the EU.
He is expected to respond to Theresa May's declaration in her Conservative Party conference speech that the era of austerity was finally ending with a cautious loosening of the public spending purse strings.
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Hide AdThe Chancellor goes to the Commons buoyed by an estimated £13 billion windfall due to better-than-expected Government borrowing figures.
It is thought he will announce extra cash for roads - with a £28.8 billion five-year programme of investment in major routes - broadband, social care and the armed forces, as well as help for small retailers.
The additional funding for mental health will be used to pay for the provision of support in every major A&E department, as well as more specialist ambulances and school mental health teams.
However the Chancellor was also at pains to stress that major decisions on future spending will not be taken until the spending review next year by which time it is expected the outcome of the Brexit negotiations will be known.
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Hide Ad'˜Once we get a good deal from the European Union and the smooth exit from the EU, we will be able to show the British people that the fruits of their hard work are now at last in sight,'Â he said.
Mr Hammond still also has to fund the promised £20 billion-a-year increase in NHS funding in England over the next five years announced by Mrs May in June.
While the improvement in the public finances has eased some of the pressure for tax increases, it is likely that the Chancellor may still have to find additional revenue from somewhere.
One option could be a raid on the tax reliefs given to pensions savers, although that would be likely to provoke a fierce backlash from Tory MP which the Chancellor and the Prime Minister may be anxious to avoid.