The budget

What do I think? Well, it could have been worse.

I don't pay income tax (as I do not earn sufficient income) but the cut to 20% will no doubt be welcomed by the wage slaves - though I suspect that the abolition of the 10% rate will claw back most of the benefits. The two point cut in corporation tax has rather dished the tories but again it will be clawed back by other changes eg in allowances. I can live with an extra penny on beer (although I am inclined to wonder why the Chancellor bothers) and the whisky duty remains unchanged. 11 pence on the fags is a bit of a shocker. I don't have a car so he can increase petrol and car duty as much as he likes - and for the sake of general greenery he should probably have been a bit more punitive. (I mean, who cares about the feelings of Chelsea tractor owners?)

The increased spending on education and health (if it is real, which is a big if) should have consequentials for the Executive's budget, enabling it to go on throwing its money around like a drunken sailor.

More interestingly, the Chancellor seems to have effectively destroyed the emerging tory tax policy. If I were young Gideon Osborne, I would be wondering where I went from here. Married couples' allowances, flying taxes, corporation tax cuts - they have all been shot down or adopted. Not for the first time, I rather think Big Gordon has been under-estimated.