- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday March 15 2000 16.49 GMT
The Chancellor grabbed the headlines in last year's Budget with his promise of an extra penny of the basic rate of income tax. But a year later, as the promised 22p rate is about to be introduced into pay packets, the political judgement behind stealing the Conservatives tax-cutting clothes is starting to be questioned. Some on the left of the party are muttering that the cost of last year's tax cut - £2.5bn - would have been better spent on health or education.
Despite the conflict within the party, tax cuts could be on the cards again in the budget. Mr Brown needs to reduce taxes by between £2-3bn to refute the Conservative's charge that the tax burden - the proportion of national income which goes into the Treasury's coffers - has risen under Labour.
And the attractions for Labour of further reducing the basic rate should not be underestimated. Party insiders believe they lost the 1992 election because the Conservatives convinced the electorate a Labour government would drop a 'tax bombshell'. Mr Brown may yet surprise with further tax cuts - and there is something rather tidy about a three band tax schedule with rates at 10p, 20p and 40p.
