Election plea

ALISTAIR Darling used the budget to highlight the political dividing lines for the general election expected in six weeks’ time.

The chancellor said Britain stood at a “crossroads”, and much of his hour-long statement was devoted to trying to persuade voters to take the Labour route of continued spending to support the economy and not the Tory path of immediate cuts to bring down borrowing.

Mr Darling repeatedly contrasted the recent recession with downturns under Conservative administrations in the 1980s and 1990s, in which unemployment, business failures, interest rates and home repossessions were higher.