Guns were spiked, clothes stolen, foxes shot. Who would have guessed this was a pre-election Budget? When Michael Howard charged that Gordon Brown was inviting the nation to vote now and pay later, you could sense the anguish behind the Tory leader's anger. Pensioners, hard-working families, middle class savers, first-time home buyers, cross-channel shoppers, even sports clubs and parish restoration funds: the chancellor declared he had something for everyone. As he drew the political dividing lines for a May 5 election, Mr Brown was not about to let prudence get in the way of populism. The oil companies, financial services industry and one or two others will pay the bill.

There was a second purpose, though, to this the present chancellor's ninth Budget: personal as much as political. Mr Brown, every sentence shouted, is indispensable. He alone can rescue Labour's lacklustre election campaign. Tony Blair take note. Here we caught a glimpse of the second, unspoken set of dividing lines between the chancellor and prime minister. Though Mr Blair cheered every bribe and wheeze, Mr Brown was setting out his own prospectus for a third Labour term.