Budget 2016: George Osborne hits back at deficit critics

George Osborne says the UK will be back in the black by 2020 as promised - provided the economy keeps growing.

The chancellor was forced to revise down his growth forecasts and admit he had missed key targets in his Budget.

He blamed global factors - but Labour said his credibility was "completely shot" and said he was cutting taxes for the wealthy at the expense of the poor.

Mr Osborne insisted on BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he was still on course to clear the deficit.

But he added the proviso that it would happen "in normal times when the economy is growing"

Paul Johnson, of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, told Today the chance of Mr Osborne hitting his target was "only about a 50-50 shot" and he would need to impose "proper" tax rises or spending cuts if there was any further downgrade in public finances.

The chancellor also missed his target to get debt falling as a proportion of national income and his self-imposed cap on welfare spending.

Sugar tax

Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell say think George Osborne's credibility is completely shot. He has missed virtually every one of his targets. People are rightly sceptical that he will now miss his surplus target."

He said Labour would spend more to grow the economy but would have the "additional discipline that you reduce debt as a portion of GDP within the 5 years".

He also criticised Mr Osborne's "morally reprehensible" £1.3bn a year cuts to disability payments under the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) scheme.

He claimed Mr Osborne had "declared war on the disabled" - a charge which the chancellor denied, saying overall spending on disability was increasing and the government was making "sure we help the most vulnerable in our society".

Mr Osborne's headline grabbing announcement of a tax on sugary drinks to combat childhood obesity was welcomed by Labour.

But a Conservative rebellion is brewing over VAT on sanitary products, which is currently charged at 5%, the lowest rate allowable under EU law.

More than 300,000 people have signed a petition calling for sanitary items to be exempted from tax altogether.

In his Budget Mr Osborne said the proceeds of the tax would be distributed among women's organisations.

He has rejected calls from Eurosceptic Conservatives to to defy the EU by unilaterally scrapping the tax, telling the Today programme he expected to get agreement from Brussels on it "in the next few days".

Office for Budget Responsibility chairman Robert Chote told the BBC's Newsnight programme the organisation had not done any projections about the implications of a Brexit - and the chancellor was wrong to imply it had.

A number of economists had said there could be a period of uncertainty which could have implications for financial markets, which the report cited, "but we made no explicit judgement ourselves", he said.

The chancellor has staked his reputation on his economic credibility, even imposing a set of tight fiscal targets on himself. So far he's missed two; cutting debt as a proportion of GDP this year and capping welfare spending.

Now economic analysts warn he could struggle to meet his most coveted - a budget surplus by the end of the Parliament.

Today the Institute for Fiscal Studies will focus on the chancellor's ability to clear the deficit - particularly in light of changing economic forecasts and downward revisions in growth.

Mr Osborne said he was taking difficult decisions to provide long-term stability for the next generation.

He found money to cut income tax and business rates, help savers and invest in roads and schools - but some in the chancellor's own party are questioning his decision to cut disability payments.

And Eurosceptic MPs are threatening to rebel unless the government listens to calls to abolish tax on sanitary products - which is set by the EU.