Keep saying it and maybe we'll all believe it

'We're all in this together' is the Chancellor's mantra. He, like most of his Cabinet colleagues, is a multimillionaire.

He delivered his first budget yesterday. Do his decisions reflect our collective sharing of the burden?

Er, no.

Losers - us
Pay freezes in the public sector, regardless of inflation = pay cuts.
VAT up to 20% - this will hit the poor hardest.
Housing benefit capped at £400 per week for 4 bedroom houses, £280 per week for 1-bed. This sounds like a lot, but if you live in London or one of the more expensive cities, this is way less than the going rate. Currently in London, a 1-bedroom flat will cost you a minimum of £650. So if you're made unemployed, or you're a low earner, you are going to be made homeless.

The government's promise to cap housing payments at £280 a week for a one-bedroom property and £400 a week for a four-bedroom family home could make many properties unaffordable, especially for people in areas such as inner London.

Shelter's chief executive, Campbell Robb, said nearly half of tenants already found their housing benefit payments did not cover the rent. Most benefit claimants were pensioners and low paid workers, and many would end up in debt in an attempt to remain in their property.

Robb said: "If this support is ripped out suddenly from under their feet it will push many households over the edge, triggering a spiral of debt, eviction and homelessness."

Government department funding cut by 25% - e.g. services massively cut. Except for nuclear weapons.
Child benefit frozen = effective cut
Pensions linked to CPI not RPI = effective cut
National Insurance contributions - increased. Just another tax, as it's not ringfenced for pensions.
Sure Start maternity grant for poor mothers - abolished
Pregnancy health grant - abolished

The Winners
Capital Gains Tax up from 18% to 28% - speculation is still taxed at far less than income, so if you become a rackrent landlord rather than working at a normal job, you'll be highly rewarded for your attack on the community. Oh, and the first £5m is exempt for 'entrepreneurs', which is totally disgraceful. Still, the hedge fund traders will be happy.
Corporation Tax reduced 1% for each of the next four years. This stunned me. This really is evil. While the poor (see above) pay more and more, big business gets tax cuts to 'encourage investment'. This is, obviously, utter bullshit. They operate offshore, they avoid tax anyway, and they won't invest in this country, they'll pocket the extra cash. I'm toweringly angry about this one.

So in the end, it was a classic 1980s Thatcherite budget: more cash to business and the rich, paid for by cutting the services we all want and need. Fuck the poor, Up the Toffs.