Well – with the measures Alistair announced in the Budget – it is the country’s doom and Gordon will be dust! OK – so I’m never going to get employment as a sun headline writer – never mind.

This was an opportunity for the Government to have rebalanced the tax system – not by the 50p rate of tax (which is not going to bring in enough income) but by raising the threshold and taking £700 of the vast majority of people’s tax bills. And this would be paid for by really closing the tax loopholes and clamping down on exemptions that benefit the very rich and leave that majority of low or middle income earners paying proportionally more tax than the the top earners. That would help people who are struggling.

In the future, as we climb out of this mess, we will need a national debate about what the state can or cannot afford in the future. That way we will all have a stake in the pain that is to come and we can choose where that pain is best born to make the burden lighter.

I was, however, very interested in the Chancellor’s promise that every young person between 18 and 24 would be offered a job, training or education if out of work for 12 months. I want to know what jobs, what training etc and in Tuesday’s budget debate hope to catch Mr Speaker’s eye and get called. As youth spokesperson, I am very worried about the lost generation who will emerge from tertiary education in particular to nothing. The loss of confidence and the loss of talent from that cohort must be avoided. But there was no flesh on the bones of the announcement – so my mission is to find out exactly what the Chancellor means.