Thank you Darling

Yesterday saw Alistair Darling deliver a tactical rather than inspiring budget, with a rise on tax for high earners.

For me it made a lot of sense that Labour would hit the elite to effectively dare the Conservatives to reduce the tax burden of high earners.

Last year George Osborne refused to play ball by saying that reducing the tax on the country's top earners would not be a priority for the Tories, but how high will Brown take it before Osborne gives in.

The reason Labour are doing this is surely due to the fact that they have no better alternative tactic to deploy to enable them to take the next general election. They will run their campaign along the lines of Labour supporting the masses opposed to the Conservatives helping the elite as everybody tries to recover from the current economic downturn.

I felt Nick Clegg summed it up well with his response to the budget suggesting that the country was in need of a strong and indeed radical budget to move us forward.

I can only see Labour tinkering and electioneering causing more problems than it solves and David Cameron could well be left holding the baby.

When all is said and done, however, according to this calculator I am almost £50 a year better off, which can't be bad.