What is a Labour budget anyway?

Much has been made of Brown's recent budget, with some promoting its virtues whilst others have been more mixed in their reaction.

Instead of a sweeping change that reduces inequality across the board, something that Brown could have chosen to do by making changes at any point of the taxation scale, he has merely fiddled within the margins.

Many are talking of working tax credits and family tax credits as an offset for the changes to income tax however it seems to miss the point, because the problem with tax credits as offsets is that they are a short term response to structural flaws in the income taxation system.

For example if the system was inherently sound and structurally progressive, then tax credits would not be necessary, unless they were being used as a mechanism to accelerate the reduction in the existing income inequality.

However because recent changes have resulted in lower income earners being worse off, they are being used as offsets to fix flaws in the system, but in reality they are ensuring that low income earners aren't going backwards.

In addition these changes act as a massive disincentive to work by creating high marginal tax rates for many low income earners, not something that is very sensible given the Government to shift more people into work and off benefits.

But what is the most disturbing aspect is that many people seem to be comfortable with the notion that it's ok for some low income earners to be worse off under a Labour budget.

To me a Labour Government should be encouraging working class people to achieve their aspirations, not forcing them to rely on handouts because of changes introduced by the state.