Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to unveil the full extend of the recession in today’s Budget.
Experts predict he will announce a £1 billion housing package which will fund the building of new council houses and inject cash into stalled building projects. It is also thought he will extend stamp duty “holiday” on homes below £175,000.
However, tax rises and spending cuts from 2011 are likely, according to reports. And it is predicted he will unveil soaring public borrowing as well as revealing the true cost of the banking bail out.
The travel industry has been fighting for a range of measures to help during the recession and ABTA chief executive Mark Tanzer has written to Alistair Darling calling for help in five key areas: Tourism taxation, Air Passenger Duty, financial protection for all air travellers, VAT and Visa costs.
Yesterday price comparison site Cheapflights called for APD to be scrapped, and travel e-commerce business Travelport issued support for the calls from ABTA.
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Homepage image: Jamie Wiseman / Daily Mail / Rex Features