GEORGE Osborne’s budget has been criticised as helping the rich while offering nothing for the less well off.

The Chancellor said he was helping working people with a number of tax and savings announcements.

He increased the personal allowance threshold for the basic tax rate to £11,500 and the higher rate to £45,000 and introduced changes to ISAs to encourage younger people to save.

However economic experts and anti-poverty campaigners said the moves benefit the richest the most.

John Dickie, chair of Child Poverty Action Group Scotland, said: “The Chancellor delivered some big investments for the better off but there was little here for hard-up parents trying to become better off by earning more. “

He said Universal Credit changes meant low paid workers will see more than half clawed back making the increase worth only £70 a year instead of the £200 it should.

He added: “Increasing the personal tax allowance is an expensive way to badly target help for the low paid. It is simply not a social justice measure when 85% of the £2 billion the Treasury spends goes to the top half and a third goes to the top 10%.

Economic think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research said the change will not benefit the lowest paid, instead will boost incomes of the richest families the most.

Catherine Colebrook. Chief economist at IPPR, said: “The problem with this policy is that it doesn’t boost the incomes of the lowest-paid workers in the UK and is very expensive. Over 80% of the gains will flow to those in the richest 50% of families.

"We estimate that the poorest 10% will see no change in their incomes, while the richest 10% of families will see their incomes rise by almost £200 a year.”

Politicians in Glasgow said Mr Osborne was taking cash for the poor to give to the rich.

Anne McLaughlin, Glasgow North East SNP MP, said: “Just last week, the DWP announced major changes to Personal Independence Payments. It is estimated that these changes will adversely impact 640,000 people, a large number of whom are Glaswegians.

“However, we know from today's budget that this has allowed the Chancellor to give a tax cut to top earners and pull hundreds of thousands of people out of the higher rate of income tax.

"Put simply, the Chancellor is taking from the disabled to give to his pals in the city of London.”