Morning Report: March 23rd

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Morning reportHere we are then. Budget day. The day when many of our worst suspicions about this government are likely to be confirmed. Ed Balls has launched his pre-emtive strike on the budget in today’s Mirror. Although as Sunder Katwala notes over at Next Left, we already know what’s in the budget, don’t we? Today’s spin will be that the chancellor is giving everyone a tax cut by increasing income tax allowances, but he’s giving with one hand and taking away with the other. We’ll be keeping an eye on how inaccurate Osborne’s claims our in our budget day liveblog, from 11.

Elsewhere today, Libya continues to dominate the headlines, but there seems to be real confusion about who exactly is in charge of the mission there. Is it Nato? No. It’s “Natoesque“(£). But if it looks like Nato and smells like Nato, then it’s probably Nato.

And Lord Mandelson has said that most aid given to Africa over the past five years has been “wasted” as far as growth is concerned. Mandelson continues to find himself in the papers, but that’s hardly surprising with imagery like “professional beggars”. That’s just catnip to the Daily Mail…

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