Budget Expectations?

With the budget due to be revealed on March 24th, I was wondering what effect overall, it would have, if any at all, on the general situation of consumers suffering financial difficulty. What assistance can the country expect as a whole to help with the trade deficit and the economy? Of course, although the UK is now beginning to rise from the ashes of economic decline like a phoenix spreading its fiscal wings, the budget will hit the general populace in the pocket, as always.

Preliminary expectations are not looking good really.  From what we can gather so far, as well as the usual and expected raise in prices for cigarettes, alcohol, petrol, etc there will be some cuts in general spending on much needed public service although the government has pledged support in this regard.  I understand how this is all designed to line the coffers of the politicians, sorry, reduce the overall debt of the country and I can fully understand how this is all longer term going to assist us in definitively reducing the trade deficit but does it affect the man on the street in a good way? I mean financially, does it mean anything for the average family?  In my experience most, if not all budgets have only assisted in making the overall picture look as gloomy as it does today for man, woman and 2.4 kids.  No tax breaks, no increases in tax credits or income support and certain increases in prices, along with the recent return to the 17.5% VAT rate all combine to increase the misery and the general feeling that the Government has no idea as to what the average voter actually wants.  Oh well, as long as middle and upper class Great Britain are OK.

Most budgets are designed as a sop to the voting, middle class masses anyway and many of the incentives and good things that have come about in recent budgets have been designed to win votes but with this pre election budget Alastair Darling has decided that Labour can't look any worse than they do now anyway and any grand gestures will be seen as clearly trying to curry favor so don't expect much. With the fault of the economic crisis in the UK lying firmly in the lap of the Labour Government any big gestures would be futile in any case, it would simply be seen as too little, too late.  For the average working family this budget will hold very little in the way of making things look better and I can only see additional pennies on the pound coming out of your pay packet, stealth tax's on general living expenses and the obligatory price rises on the simple pleasures in life such as a good glass of wine! I will certainly be surprised if we come out of this budget financially better off than we are now.