Can Darling's Budget put wind in Labour sails?
was full of political pointscoring but short of giveaways.
Alistair Darling was determined to draw the battle-lines ahead of the General Election - how many other Budget speeches have mentioned Belize! (A pointed reference to Lord Ashcroft of course)
, but there were also some interesting regional snippets.
Plans to build offshore wind turbines at our former shipyards were given a boost. The Chancellor announced a funding package of £60m for interested ports.
Of course work is already underway to develop the Tyne as a centre for wind turbine production but the Tees may also look to benefit from the investment.
The Liberal Democrats will no doubt point out that Nick Clegg had already announced plans to invest £400m in coverting shipyards into turbine factories during a visit to Newcastle.
Alistair Darling also announced plans for a Green Investment Bank which could presumably also help develop renewable energy, as well as helping other green industries in the region.
It'll have a pot of £2bn - half coming from the sale of government assets like the Channel Tunnel, and half from the private sector.
But a lot of the Budget was about emphasising some of the decisions Labour have made. Decisions which Alistair Darling believes they got right.
Early in the speech, the Chancellor talked about how the Government's decision to nationalise Northern Rock had shown its ability to handle the banking crisis.
And he talked about the progress the bank was now making in terms of paying back the taxpayer.
And then later he talked about government support for Nissan, .
The big announcement on stamp duty will cheer local Labour MPs too.
Many of the first time buyers who'll now avoid stamp duty on house sales worth less than £250,000 are in the North East and Cumbria.
And equally many of the housebuyers who'll now pay 5% in stamp duty on homes worth more than £1m are in the south of England.
, and the lack of detail about how the budget deficit will be cut.
And of course some of the most crucial changes affecting people's pay packets in years to come had already been announced - the 50% tax rate, the rise in National Insurance and the freezing of tax allowances.
I'm Richard Moss, the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s Political Editor for the North East and Cumbria. Welcome to my irreverent - but hopefully insightful - northern take on reporting politics for Look North and the Politics Show.
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