Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government will be hamstrung by Britain's perilous financial situation when it delivers its annual budget on Wednesday _ a key moment in its battle to win voters ahead of a national election, according to AP. The country's hesitant emergence from its worst recession in decades means that the ruling Labour Party won't be following the time-honored tradition of offering electorate-friendly giveaways in what may be its last spending plan in power. Labour's difficult task will be to instead show voters that it has a plan to get the economy back on its feet _ while not scaring them off by being too explicit about the future spending cuts that will be necessary to slash the country's record debt levels. Lagging behind the main opposition Conservative Party in the polls for an election that is expected on May 6, the government is trying to spin its hands-tied position into an example of steady stewardship in times of austerity. «People want to see a sensible, workmanlike budget,» Treasury Chief Alistair Darling said over the weekend. What they are unlikely to see is any great detail. Darling has promised not to increase retail sales tax, which rose back up to 17.5 percent at the start of this year after a 2.5 percentage point yearlong reduction, but other potential measures remain deliberately hazy. Analysts speculate the government might find some money behind the sofa to spend on politically sensitive areas such as health, education and defense. Cuts in corporation tax are also possible and Darling is tipped to announce the creation of a 2 billion pound ($3 billion) «green bank» to fund environmentally friendly public sector projects and impose an 80 billion pound lending target to businesses on the two banks bailed out by the government at the height of the financial crisis. -- SPA
