Philip Hammond was heckled as he appeared before MPs to explain his U-turn over a planned hike in National Insurance Contributions (NICs) for the self-employed.

The Chancellor was repeatedly urged to apologise by his Labour counterpart John McDonnell, who claimed Mr Hammond should have spent less time writing "stale jokes" for his Budget speech.

Mr McDonnell added that Prime Minister Theresa May should also have spent less time "guffawing like a feeding seal".

Mr Hammond confirmed his U-turn over the planned 2% increase in Class 4 NICs, announced a week ago and intended to raise £2 billion, in a letter to Tory MPs.

Opposition MPs jeered Mr Hammond as he announced he would deliver a statement to the Commons about his policy on NICs.

One MP could be heard shouting "waffle" as Mr Hammond explained the background to his decision, including that the proposal did not meet the "spirit" of the Tory 2015 general election manifesto pledge over tax.

These pledges included no rises in National Insurance, VAT or income tax over the five years until 2020 under a Tory administration.

Mr Hammond told the Commons: "Reducing the unfairness of the difference of the tax treatment of those who are employed and those who are self-employed remains the right thing to do.

"But this Government sets great store in the faith and trust of the British people, especially as we embark on the process of negotiating our exit from the European Union.

"By making this change today, we are listening to our colleagues and demonstrating our determination to fulfil both the letter and the spirit of our manifesto tax commitments."

Shadow chancellor Mr McDonnell said: "This is chaos. It's shocking and humiliating that the Chancellor has been forced to come here to reverse a key Budget decision announced less than a week ago.

"If the Chancellor had spent less time writing stale jokes for his speech and the Prime Minister less time guffawing like a feeding seal on those benches, we would not have been landed with this mess."

Mr McDonnell described the policy as a "clear cut and cynical" breaking of a manifesto commitment, adding self-employed workers have been "put through the mangle" over the last week and left worried about the tax increase.

He went on: "Today, not a word of apology. Nobody should be too arrogant to use the word sorry when they blunder so disastrously."

Mr McDonnell questioned where cash for social care will now be found given that money from the changes to NICs was intended for this purpose.

In his reply, Mr Hammond repeated that he had listened to colleagues and the public before making his decision.

Mr McDonnell could be heard saying "how about an apology?" as the Chancellor spoke.

Mr Hammond added: "I hope you will agree that on the substantive underlying issue there is a significant degree of agreement across the House that there's a discrepancy here that will have to be addressed over time.

"There is a threat to the tax base that will have to be addressed over time."