大象传媒

Nearly nine hundred thousand people who now pay income tax are likely to be taken out of tax entirely in the first budget to be offered by the Chancellor George Osborn in the commons at 12.30 today. It will be a working lunch for economists and many others who must try to make the wounded British economy do its stuff as they try to decode the Chancellor's attempts to cut Government borrowing and the whopping deficit. The economist Warwick Lightfoot, a former special advisor to the Treasury between 1989 and 1992 spoke to Rhod.

Washington insiders say Rahm Emanuel plans to leave his position as Obama's Chief of Staff following the midterm elections. The Daily Telegraph cites an unnamed leading Democratic consultant, who claims that differences in style and approach have led Mr Emanuel and President Obama to agree that the Chief of Staff should serve only a half term. Toby Harnden, the Daily Telegraph's American Editor, spoke to Rhod.