Summary
Chancellor Gordon Brown yesterday drew the battle lines for a May 2005 General Election as he pledged to continue pouring money into public services while unveiling pounds 20bn of efficiency savings.
In a highly political Budget statement, Mr Brown steered clear of any damaging pre-election tax rises while promising to maintain Labour's record of investment in education, health, transport and the police.See the full content of this document
Extract
Brown Plays Early Election Card
At the same time, he stole the Tories' clothes by announcing the loss of 40,500 civil service jobs, limiting the Conservatives' room for manoeuvre as they seek to reduce public spending to fund tax cuts.
Althoug...See the full content of this document
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