British Chancellor would love to have delivered such a left-wing Budget

GORDON BROWN and Brian Cowen have a lot in common. They both gave budget statements this week.

When they rose in the House of Commons and Dáil Éireann respectively there was much anticipation about how they would perform not least because both are presumptive heirs to leadership of their parties - indeed it is almost assumed that each will lead government at some point within the next few years.

However, the budget speeches they delivered were very, very different.