24 March 2010 Budget Report

With the Finance Bill due for its second reading in the Commons today, the BBC is reporting that the government will abandon its plans to increase duty on Cider and the controversial proposal for a 50p levy on telephone landlines. With parliamentary time running short, clauses repealing the holiday letting rules will also be left the wayside. The Conservatives are claiming to have forced the concessions from the government to ensure the Finance Bill clears the Commons in time for it to be considered by the Lords and passed for Royal Assent by Monday 12 April. Treasury secretary Philip Hammond hailed the tax U-turns as a "major victory for businesses and consumers across Britain".

Published on 1 April with a general election hovering on the horizon, the first Finance Bill of 2010 was always going to be a race against time; many of the tax-raising measures set out in Chancellor Alistair Darling's "no news is good news" Budget statement on 24 March were deferred until a second bill to be introduced after the election.

At 250 pages and only 73 clauses, the Finance Bill 2010 was smaller than its predecessors and was all about putting into effect measures set out in the 2009 Pre-Budget Report. But with time running out before parliament is dissolved on Thursday 8 April, some of the more controversial measures had to be abandoned with the somewhat hollow promise that they would be reintroduced by a Labour government after the general election.

According to Treasury secretary Stephen Timms, the finance bill will help secure economic recovery by introducing targeted support for businesses and households. "Following its passage, around half the tax measures we have announced to halve the deficit will have been passed into law," he said.