Snakes & Adders

Next weeks budget, will place two big pressures on Alistair Darling . The first will be the fear of the markets; the second is fear of the voters.



Fear of the markets means Darling will want to make it crystal clear how he plans to tax more and spend less to bring down the deficit and get public finances back on an even keel.

Fear of the voters means that he will not want to talk too tough in terms of squeezing an already cash strapped electorate by promising further tax rises and cuts to their services, particularly with an election less than a year away.

Stand by, we are in for the Duplicity Budget
.