The Pre-Budget report that Alistair Darling gave yesterday doesn’t contain any economy-boosting tax-cutting measures. Rather, it’s a tax increasing budget for most of us – now, and then again in a few years time.

What is he doing now:

• Raising duty on alcohol
• Raising duty on tobacco
• Raising duty on fuel
• Increasing borrowing exponentially to half a trillion pounds.
• Cutting VAT by 2.5%

A reduction of 2.5% in VAT means that if I spend £100 – except on alcohol, tobacco, petrol or food – I will save £2.50.

£2.50.

That’s down-the-back-of-the-sofa change.

And since the things that most people buy are alcohol, tobacco, fuel, and food – and in the credit crunch aren’t spending hundreds of pounds on other things – this will cost us money. Yes, I know the point of the VAT cut is to stimumlate the economy, but it won’t because it’s not enough. And many businesses won’t pass it on – after all, what’s the point of reducing something that is 99p to 97p or £9.99 to £9.77?

To actually achieve a stimulus this way, they would have as good as abolished VAT entirely. But of course, they can’t under EU law.

Since it is not possible to give us the right stimulus through VAT, they should have given us more money in our pocket. Either through reducing the income tax rate or increasing the personal allowance.

This way we get more money in our pocket and are ale to spend it as we wish. And boost the economy in the process. But Brown and Darling are economic retards, and so haven’t figured this out.

And then they’ll drop a tax bombshell on us.