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So the 2007 budget was delivered with typical aplomb, with the suspected big bang announcement at the end: A 2% cut in income tax, as well as a rise in the lower edge for higher rate tax. Whilst this is welcome, the corresponding dropping of the 10% band offsets a lot of the savings (and could unfairly hit many lower earners not able to claim or understand the complicated tax credits system) and tweaks elsewhere make this appear to be a ‘neutral’ budget in terms of money raised, but with some headline changes that are sure to be welcomed by many.

Is it just me, or are these big set pieces of politics starting to sound more like a stand-up comedy show than serious politics? The chancellor was simply milking the commons with his deferring the 2% income tax cut until the end, and the wry smile on his face as he ‘considered but rejected’ opposition proposals all too obvious. It was an admirable performance by David Cameron - he has no advance notice of the contents of the speech, and must respond to it on the hoof. Much of his criticism was based on the established record and prepared in advance, but it must be one of the toughest asks for the leader of the opposition, and I suspect Tony Blair and Gordon Brown must remember their time on the opposition benches.

But both Cameron and Brown are, in my view, diminishing themselves with the almost childish relish with which they joke. Humour is a good thing in small amounts (especially on the dry subject of economics), but when the country’s future is the subject, I wonder how seriously these politicians really are addressing their tasks. It felt much more personal and more light hearted than it really should have.

I’m disappointed by the rise in small business taxation. This is the tax band that my own company is in, and the claimed intention to reduce what the chancellor calls tax avoidance through small limited companies (the area in which I broadly fit), will only serve to discourage genuine small businesses. I actually find it almost insulting to be indirectly accused of tax avoidance, when I look at the total amount of money my business sends the way of the exchequer in terms of VAT payments, corporation tax, national insurance contributions and, because of my classification with ‘flat rate VAT’, outgoing VAT payments. I pay more tax now than I’ve ever done in the past, and I struggle to see how that can be called ‘avoidance’.

More detail is sure to be forthcoming with the ‘red book’ publication and analysis. This is often where the real changes are to be found. I’ll be getting reports from various sources, not least my accountant, the Professional Contractors Group, and tomorrows newspapers. Initially at least it seems a good budget from my perspective - small company tax rate withstanding - but I’m left with serious concerns that this was more about the Brown Prime Minister bid, and next general election, than the genuine good of the British economy.