Bingo and Boilers

I am still trying to work out what Chancellor Darling is trying to achieve with his Pre Budget Report today. It looks like a strange mish mash of proposals which don't tackle the heart of the deficit and upset the maximum number of people. Then there is the bingo tax reduction which is just bizarre! One thing is for certain, Mr Darling is avoiding the real pain that we will all have to take when measures need to be taken to cut deep into the budget black hole. Only he has put it off until after the election. He seems to be counting on voters not having a grasp of how painful this has to be, and there may be some truth in that. But the stuff unveiled today is incoherent and ill conceived. As Vince said today of the windfall tax on bankers bonuses, it is unenforceable. So, a feeble budget from a Government running on fumes. National Insurance rises? No attempt at fairness at all.....