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The Budget – 8 in the morning, March 24th

8am

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

* Budget measures will seek to unlock private investment to boost jobs and help harness wind and nuclear power for the future.

* Darling has promised a “workmanlike” budget with few surprises.

* But says his plans will “get growth going.”

* Growth figures in today’s budget could prove too optimistic, experts say.

* WATCH: Alistair Darling on the eve of his Budget.

* Join LabourList, Left Foot Forward, Liberal Conspiracy and ToUChstone later today for our budget livechat.

* Leading doctors have called for a ban on smoking in cars.

* About 30,000 civil servants in Scotland are due to go on strike today in action called by the PCS over cuts to redundancy pay.

* The Telegraph dominated last night’s British Press Awards for its expose of the expenses scandal.

* Jack Straw will unveil plans later today to curb “libel tourism”.

* In an interview broadcast on Channel 4 last night, David Cameron completely fell apart over his party’s position on gay rights.

* Two new polls last night both show Labour as the biggest party in a potential hung parliament.

Darling Budget 09

Alex is the founder and CEO of The Cares Family. He was editor and first director of LabourList in 2009-2010, during which time he established the site as the number one Labour blog, and later an aide to Ed Miliband.

View all articles by Alex Smith
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