Budget news - live: Sunak ‘to extend furlough’ as Sturgeon faces calls to resign over Salmond legal advice

Rishi Sunak is expected to extend the government's furlough scheme when he sets out his Budget in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told BBC Breakfast on Tuesday morning the extension is likely to come with "other measures" when Mr Sunak addresses parliament. Mr Kwarteng played down the prospect of immediate large tax increases but said Mr Sunak had acknowledged the country could not "go on spending money forever".

Meanwhile, Scotland’s Conservative Party announced this evening it plans to launch “a vote of no confidence” against Nicola Sturgeon over fresh revelations concerning the botched investigation into allegations of sexual harassment by Alex Salmond.

Redacted legal advice published by the Scottish government on Tuesday evening showed that lawyers advised them in September 2018 that there “is a real risk that the court may be persuaded by the petitioner’s case in respect of the ground of challenge based on ‘procedural unfairness’.”

A spokesperson for the first minister swiftly criticised the timing of the Party’s intention to rally against Ms Sturgeon, saying: “To call a vote of no confidence in the middle of a pandemic, before hearing a single word of the first minister’s evidence, is utterly irresponsible.”

The first minister will give her evidence before the investigating committee at Holyrood on Wednesday.

• What time is Rishi Sunak’s Budget announcement tomorrow?

• Foreign summer holidays at risk after arrival of Brazilian variant sparks criticism of government plans

• Long or short Covid? The true state of the UK economy

• Stamp duty holiday: Will it be extended beyond 31 March and how will it affect you?