The Sun

You’ve got to love The Sun for finding a silver lining amongst all the Budget bad news. Its front page leads with "At least it’s sunny".

Flick back to p5 where its Budget coverage begins, and the lead story starts thus: Chancellor Alistair Darling hammered the nation with painful tax hikes yesterday to pay for the gaping black hole in Britain’s finances. To give the Sun its dues, it has discovered that the Budget measures will hit the bingo industry with an extra £5 million in new taxes.

George Pascoe-Watson’s political column flags the end of Labour’s term in government.

For those curious about what today's Page 3 Girl thinks: Keeley, 22, from Burnley fears that hard-working, low-earning Brits will be victims of yesterday's Budget. "Those battling to pay the bills will be hit further with tax hikes on small luxuries like the odd drink at the local."

The Times
The Times leads with the headline “Red all over", and the picture is of Darling with red eyebrows. It’s one of the better headlines of today’s coverage referring both to the extent of public borrowing and the return to old Labour policies of taxing the rich.

The focus is on those 350,000 people who earn more than £150,000 a year who will be paying a higher rate of tax, will see their personal allowances wiped out and their pensions tax relief reduced to 20%.

MPs “gasped”, it writes, as Darling revealed that Britain’s debt will amount to 79% of GDP in 2013/14 at £1.4 trillion. Even these dire figures were "based on a gamble". Growth predictions, it points out, “were dismissed as over-optimistic by the City and dishonest by the Conservatives”.

One of the leads dismissed the Budget as “a terrific Budget for Switzerland” (implying that highly paid bankers could just move there) and claims that Darling failed to explain how public finances could be restored.

Daily Mail

The Mail’s headline is “Alistair in wonderland” and says that Darling has "gambled Britain’s future on a 1970s-style tax raid against the rich and a wildly optimistic forecast of economic recovery".

The tabloid’s headlines make it personal, which is a trait of the Mail after all. It writes of "scorn at Darling’s optimism", how Cameron condemns "Labour’s living dead" and stoops to taking issue at personal appearances: the premier apparently, has a "goofy visage" and a “vast banana grin".

That about sums up the Mail’s considered political commentary.

Daily Mirror

There was some good news for Darling in the Mirror: "Robin Good" screamed the front page next to an image of Darling in Lincoln green with a bow and feathered cap. "Alistair Darling's Robin Hood Budget will help the poor – by taxing the rich," the front page story explains.

Lindsay Lohan, Frank Lampard's ex, Emma Watson, Bruce Grobbelaar and Simon Cowell all have stories about them (along with one on MP expenses) before the Budget coverage resumes on page 6.

The Mirror is true to its roots and looks for positives in the Budget. A "Just the Job" headline for the unemployment measures; "The Robin Hood chancellor aimed a few well-placed arrows at the rich"; "Saving the day" screams a two-page spread on pages 8 and 9.

Is there any criticism at all? Well, there's a bit of anger about the "booze and cig" prices, green groups "slam" the £1bn as not enough and on the front page it mentions "debt set to soar to £175bn" . But it's hard to escape how out of kilter this coverage is with everyone elses.

The Telegraph

Labour’s broken election promise of raising taxes for those earning more than £150,000 signals a return to class warfare, the front page lead says.

The loss of tax breaks on pension contributions also hits Britain’s high earners and the Telegraph reckons these tax grabs on high earners will bring in £5.5 billion for the government. Many of our high earners will pay up to 61% tax on their earnings, with concerns of a "brain drain" – the departure of our best paid and brightest workers to countries with more relaxed tax regimes – mentioned in the commentary.

In other coverage, The Telegraph says the Budget was "the last will and testament of a defeated man", sounding the death knell for Darling and indeed Labour at the next election.

The Guardian

The Guardian’s focus is on public spending on Darling’s “great squeeze”. Squeezing the rich for £7 billion along with a “brutal freeze on public spending” was Darling’s method of dealing with “the worst year for economic growth since 1945".

While Darling has brought forward public spending as part of a “£5 billion boost to the economy this year”, future plans for spending are “more severe” than under Margaret Thatcher with spending growth at just 0.7%.

With the level of national debt where it is, the Guardian points out, the government will be paying more than the entire schools budget just on interest repayments. It's a telling point that's made in other papers as well.

The Guardian goes on to outline how some of Darling’s measures will help young unemployed, pensioners, the car industry and help combat climate change. But the lead story on its Budget supplement delivers the final judgement on the Budget, stating that "this package delivers a poison pill to the next government".

The Independent

"That's rich!" (their exclamation mark and underlining) screams the front page of The Independent, following it up with "PM tears up New Labour script with 50p tax rate for highest earners".

Inside there's a piece on the "Seventies revival? From Healey to Darling – the life and death of New Labour" on pages two and three. The "battle lines" are now drawn for a general election, the paper's political editor states. Darling's speech is described as a "going for broke" Budget. Borrowing figures, the 50p tax rate and the pensions changes for the rich are also featured heavily.

Page four has a piece on the chancellor's growth predictions: "IMF punctures chancellor's optimism". Britain's recession will last deep into 2010 and Alistair Darling is hopelessly optimistic, IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard is reported as saying.

Economics editor Sean O'Grady has his say on page 5, in a piece headlined: "Our new world: borrowing billions before breakfast". "Shock" and "disbelief" are said to sum up the City's reaction to yesterday's Budget. Shock at the borrowing figures and disbelief at the predictions for recovery.

The Independent also has a 20-page Budget 2009 special. This has policy detail and a couple of features – including Jeremy Warner's Outlook: "A bogus Budget that ducks the inevitable pain of spending cuts".

Financial Times

The Financial Times calls the “austere” Budget a “gamble on growth” and devotes much of the front page to Labour’s “broken pledge” on taxing the wealthy.

It also devotes a lot of space to the Lib Dems and the Tories’ dismissal of Darling’s "absurdly optimistic growth figures".

It points out that economists have predicted that “levels of borrowing were so high that Britain would be at the mercy of government bond markets for the whole of the next parliament".

It devotes 28 pages to the Budget with the key focus on how the measures will affect businesses.

Daily Express

"They’ve ruined Britain" wails the Express. It writes of how Britain was "braced for a decade of merciless tax rises", of how pensions have been "plundered" to foot the bill for the "rampant borrowing of Labour that has ruined the country".

Cue the Express editorial staff moving to Marbella then. After a few paragraphs of this, it tells you to turn to pages two and three, as if we needed telling what to do with a newspaper. On the other hand, you could not turn to pages two and three, that would be ok too.

- “You can grow your way out of recession you can’t cut your way out of it,” says Darling, closing his Budget speech.

- Tax-free ISA limit to rise to £10,200 for over 50s this year and for everyone else next year.

- Pensioners with £10,000 in savings to get interest tax relief.

- Winter fuel allowance increase to be maintained for a further year to support pensioners.

- Child element of Child Tax Credit to rise by £20.

- Darling says Budget  underlines vision of a “confident and successful Britain” and the need to offer people support now and hope for the future.

- £525m for new offshore wind power projects.

- New Carbon Budget aims to cut emissions by 34 per cent by 2020.

- New £750m investment fund.

- UK government to extend broadband access to “almost every community” as part of recovery plan.

- Darling offers oil industry tax changes to promote exploration and extraction of smaller North Sea fields and also conversion of North Sea fields into energy stores, carbon capture and wind power generation.

- £500m to fund stalled housing projects.

- Strengthening the banking system is crucial to recovery, Darling says.

- Darling says determined to retain London as a major financial centre but with a new and more effective regulatory regime and reduce impact of failures.

- Government to realise up to £16bn in property and other sales of assets, Darling says.

- Public sector to deliver additional efficiency savings of £9bn a year by 2013/2014.

- Fuel duty to rise 2p per litre from September.

-  Alcohol duty to rise by 2 per cent from midnight. Tobacco from 6pm today.

- Top rate of tax to rise next April to 50 per cent for those earning over £150,000, Darling says. Scrapping personal allowance for those over £100,000.

- Pension tax relief to be restricted for those earning £150,000 to the 20 per cent offered to others.

- Government to gain £1bn in extra revenue from closing loopholes and cutting tax avoidance, he says.

- UK borrowing to hit £175bn this year, next year £173bn, then £140bn and £118bn and £97bn in following years, Darling tells parliament.

- Darling says to cut deficit faster would “prevent us helping people now and choke off recovery”.

- UK economic easing to amount to 0.5 per cent of GDP, turning to a tightening over the next few years to halve the budget deficit within four years, Darling says.

- Darling says government economic support during recession will amount to around 3.5 per cent of GDP.

- £2000 “scrappage” subsidy for cars over 10 years old traded in on new vehicles until March 2010 – Darling

- Darling extends small business ability to write-off current losses against future profits.

- Stamp Duty holiday on homes under £175,000 extended to the end of the year.

- Major UK banks to increase mortgage lending by around £20bn supported by new debt backing from government.

- Darling to fund 54,000 further places in sixth form and higher education colleges in the next year.

- From January everyone unemployed for more than 12 months under 25 will be placed in a job or training.

- £1.7bn extra funding for Job Centres, plus more for those out of work for 12 months or more and for young jobless.

- Budget deficit to halve within four years, Darling says.

- Darling forecasts RPI-inflation of minus-3 per cent by September this year, returning to 0.0 per cent next year.

- Inflation target for Bank of England to remain at 2.0 per cent, he says.

- From 2011 economy will continue to recover with growth of 3.5 per cent “from them on” – Darling.

- Darling says expects economy to shrink around 1.6 per cent in the first quarter of this year, around the same as the last quarter of last year.

- UK economy to decline by 3.5 per cent this year but growth to resume by the end of the year, Darling says.

- Darling: “no quick fixes, there is no overnight solution” to recession but government will work to restore confidence, save jobs and bring the economy out of downturn.

- Average family with a tracker mortgage is now saving £230 a month thanks to lower UK interest rates to deal with recession, he says.

- VAT cut will remain until December, Darling confirms.

- Darling says UK Budget against background of global recession with spiralling unemployment and falling trade and a financial sector crisis in all countries.

- “I expect the economy to start growing again towards the end of this year,” Darling says.

- Darling says Budget guided by “fairness and opportunity” and a determination to “invest and grow our way out of recession”. He says is the downturn is the worst in 60 years.

- Darling says Budget will support investment for the future, protect investment in schools and hospitals and work to rebuild financial services.

- Chancellor Alistair Darling stands to deliver Budget speech.

- “Our decision is to invest not to cut,” says Gordon Brown, moments before the UK Budget speech.

- Few minutes to go before Darling stands to deliver Budget speech.

- Brown, asked by Tory MP at the centre of the email scandal to apologise, says such emails have “no part to play in the politics of this country. It is wholly inappropriate and unacceptable”.

- Brown says “you cannot cut your way out of this recession” and affirms that the government will “invest in the future”.

- Opposition leader David Cameron says Brown “as well as bringing the country to financial bankruptcy, he brought his party to moral bankruptcy” in a reference to the Downing Street e-mail scandal.

- Brown says government is prepared for extra borrowing to support homeowners and businesses, says UK debt levels lower than the United States.

- Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking ahead of the Budget, says government is “prepared to spend money where necessary” to tackle increasing level of unemployment.

- House of Commons in restive mood ahead of PMQ and the Darling “Recession Budget”

- Darling to speak after Prime Minister’s Questions.

- Have your say on the Budget and what it means for you on the MSN Money Budget message board. 

- Darling arrives at Westminster – Budget speech due to start at 12.30.

- Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling leaves 11 Downing Street carrying 2009 Budget in the “Gladstone” red box.

The Conversative repsonse:

- “What on earth is the point of another 14 months of this government of the living dead,” Cameron asks, taunting Brown with the prospect of the next election.

- Past Labour governments had left the dead unburied, this government was leaving the debt unpaid in what Cameron called a “decade of debt”.

- “This prime minister has written himself into the history books…he has written a whole chapter in red ink,” Cameron.

- Budget was a missed opportunity to move from borrow and spend to save and invest, Cameron says.

- “There is not one country with a bigger budget deficit,” Cameron says. “They didn’t fix the roof when the sun was shining”.

- Conservative Leader David Cameron derides forecast of recovery, saying “this won’t  be a u-shaped recovery it will be a trampoline recovery”.

You can follow MSN Money on twitter: http://twitter.com/msnmoney

Full coverage on our Budget special, including the latest articles, previews news and analysis. MSN Money's full coverage of Budget 2009.

And if you've got a couple of minutes to spare check out our Budget fun page: Can you tell the difference between quotes from Darling and Yes Minister's Jim Hacker? Do you know your eyebrows? How would you fare as chancellor? Find out all this and more: Budget fun.

          del.icio.us Tags: Interest rates, Bank of England,Monetary Policy Committee,MPC,Alistair Darling,0%,Budget