I think this is a good budget in many ways - higher rate before income tax will help, dropping the 50p tax rate will actually retain wealth in the country rather than see so much of it going offshore and will attract big business to stay - don't forget that people who earn meag bucks are spending mega bucks in this country - they pay tax on everything the same as lower wage earners and so are putting more money back into the economy. this is then good for services and manufacturing.
Fuel is a bstard but the writing has been on the wall for years that we are going to be paying more for our