Brown sets Budget day

This will be Mr Brown's fourth Budget

Chancellor Gordon Brown has announced that he will unveil his Budget - almost certainly his last before the expected spring general election - on Wednesday 7 March.

Mr Brown made the announcement in a written answer to the House of Commons on Wednesday.

The decision to deliver his Budget on a Wednesday rather than a Tuesday marks a break with recent tradition by the chancellor.

Apart from Mr Brown's first budget in July 1997 after Labour took office, all budget statements since 1980 have been on a Tuesday.

'No significance'

But a Treasury spokesman insisted that there was no significance in the decision to go for a Wednesday this time.

"It is a sensible time to fit in with various diaries and other engagements," the spokesman said.

The chancellor's Budget is expected to include a set of vote-grabbing initiatives aimed at attracting electoral support for Labour in the run-up to an expected May poll.

The decision to announce his Budget in March means the anticipated "sweeteners" will be able to feed through to voters' pockets before the election.

Pre-Budget speech

Mr Brown trailed many of the financial moves in his pre-Budget report last November.

These included a pledge to cut fuel duty and the cost of tax discs for trucks and smaller cars.

Mr Brown will also make up for last year's much criticised 75p-a-week increase in pensions, with an above-inflation rise this year.

Other measures include a £50 boost in winter fuel payments for OAPs and an £80 increase in children's tax credit.

The chancellor recently hinted that he may also introduce targeted income tax cuts to benefit families, pensioners, low-paid workers and savers.