One thing that most commentators are saying is that it was one of the dullest budget speaches ever given.listening to Ken Clarke on Radio 5 live earlier,he said that it sounded like the Chancellor had not seen before reading it out.
You can check out all the details HERE
Alan Cochrane asks
Was Alistair Darling's speech an absolute clincher in the argument for calling a halt to the annual budget statement, at least in its present form?
But back to basics and we seem to living in a parallel universe.On one side our economy is the most stable in the Western World,borrowing is under control and inflation is low.On the other we are teetering on the brink of bankrupcy and our incomes are being eroded by rising prices for food,housing and fuel.
What the budget did if anything was to show that this Chancellor once again is incapable of making a decision(Gosh he cannot even decide about taxing plastic bags).A major opportunity for taxing consumption has been lost as has one for controlling alcohol.(on that topic according to Fraser Nelson,a line of cocaine is now cheaper than half a pint of cider)
Perhaps most importantly as Adam Creighton says
Despite the sophistry of the Budget speech, the fact remains that Britain—after 10 years of solid economic growth—still has an enormous stock of debt, around 40 per cent of GDP. Moreover, it’s growing; this year there will be another £15 billion of borrowing to fund a bloated and enormous state. Darling made many comparisons to the state of British finances in the 1980s and early 1990s, but these comparisons through time are completely unfair given the different state of the economy then.
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