When George Osborne stood up to deliver the Budget, the likelihood that he produced a basket of tax sweeteners was remote as there was little room for manoeuvre, but there were some neat measures for business with the escalation of the move to 20% corporation tax rate, effectively creating a single tax rate for business, and the new Employment Allowance.

For ordinary taxpayers, the increase in the tax-free threshold to £10,000 was welcome, indicating that the Lib Dems have been able to influence policy to a degree. However, there is a big price tag on this tax change, effectively £11bn over this parliament.