A £1BN stealth tax risks “neutering” the region’s 100,000 self-employed workers in a Budget that ignored the area’s strong export prowess and kept airport bosses guessing over changes to air travel levies.

Chancellor Philip Hammond has been criticised for overlooking key areas and leaving many questions unanswered, with detractors highlighting a void of information on foreign trade and air passenger duty policy and scant detail on £90m plans to address road “pinch-points” across the North.

However, he faced a particular backlash over a two per cent national insurance rise for the self-employed, which opponents say broke a 2015 Conservative manifesto pledge to guarantee “no increases in VAT, income tax or national insurance”.

Ted Salmon, North-East regional chairman at the Federation of Small Businesses, said those proposals fly in the face of Mr Hammond’s ambition to make Britain a home to start-ups.

He added: “We are deeply concerned about the sudden announcement of a tax rise on the self-employed.

“In the North-East there are approximately 100,000 self-employed who contribute £4bn to the economy.

They are a hugely important part of the region’s business community and need to be nurtured not neutered.

“The national insurance rise to ten per cent next year and 11 per cent in 2019 should be seen for what it is – a £1bn tax hike on those who set themselves up in business.

“This undermines the Government’s own mission for the UK to be the best place to start and grow a business.”

However, Stephen Herring, the head of taxation at the Institute of Directors, said that while Mr Hammond would take “a lot of political pain”, he was right to start creating a “level playing field” for employees and the self-employed.

Yet Nigel Mills, chairman of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, based in Gateshead, issued caution, saying some people may be put off from following their dreams.

He added: “The increase is designed to close a loophole.

“But for some aspiring entrepreneurs this is another reason not to take the bold step into self-employment and ultimately build a business, which in the future can employ others.”

Mr Hammond was also criticised for his failure to address exporters and give details on road improvements.

The North-East has long had a consistently positive balance of trade, far outweighing other areas of the country, yet Ross Smith, North East England Chamber of Commerce director of policy, said such achievements were seemingly lost on Mr Hammond.

He added: “The biggest disappointment was the lack of measures to support our exporters.

“They have delivered the best trade record in the country and given the uncertainty they face during Brexit negotiations, there should have been further measures to help them build on this success.

“There were also some positive signals on infrastructure, but we will be seeking more detail and pushing for the best outcome for the North- East.”

Mike Spicer, director of research and economics at the British Chambers of Commerce, reiterated the feeling on foreign trade, saying the Government missed a trick.

He said “There was a noticeable and disappointing absence of any new support for exporters.

“As we begin the Brexit process, it’s more important than ever to get UK businesses trading their goods and services with the world.”

Mr Hammond was also criticised for appearing to ignore appeals to deliver fresh support for English airports on air passenger tax to fend off increasing competition from Scotland, where proposals are focused on cutting and eventually abolishing the levy.

Newcastle Airport bosses earlier this week said hundreds of thousands of passengers could choose to fly from Scottish bases in the future if Mr Hammond fails to honour previous Government commitments that airports and regions wouldn’t be adversely impacted by the devolution of air passenger duty.

However, an airport spokesman last said it was hopeful ongoing talks will yield policy changes later this year.

He added: “The recent engagement we have had with ministers and officials leading up to the Budget has been very welcome.

“We hope to continue dialogue throughout 2017, with the aim of it announcing specific measures to support English regional airports from the impacts of air passenger duty devolution to Scotland.

“The impact of changes to air passenger duty in Scotland would be so great on both the airport and the North- East economy, that any plan to revisit the issue once the UK has left the EU will leave the region greatly exposed.”