Budget day set for 9 March

BUDGET DAY will be on Tuesday 9 March, it was announced yesterday. Responding to questions in the House of Commons, Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, named the day for his third Budget statement and said the government would continue to be disciplined on public spending.

The Chancellor reaffirmed that the Government would meet its golden rule of only borrowing to invest. He insisted Britain would not rejoin the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, despite claims by the Conservatives that this would be a condition of eventual entry to the euro.