So the first part of my thoughts goes to Environmentally charged changes in the budget, potentially one of the biggest political areas in the budget that turned out to be more than a damp squib.

Green Taxes: Well they're pretty much non-existent really in the headline announcements. An indiscriminate taxation on cars that pollute more and yet another indiscriminate tax increase on air travel are all that exist. This is hardly ground breaking, especially with concessions being made elsewhere that don't exactly run parallel to a "green" government. Obviously it is not a good time to spend more money on the environment, something I'm sure the average household can fully sympathise with.

The trouble with the above that I have is the indiscriminate nature of the taxes. There is little relief here for farmers or those with necessity to use more powerful vehicles, and it just gives more weight to the idea that these taxes are taxes on those that can afford it yet are less likely to avoid it. What it shows in terms of the vehicle taxation is that the government really hasn't planned properly for fuel duty to to play enough of a part in tackling carbon emissions

I plan to write more about green taxes so I'll leave it there, but even if I were a proponent of green taxes I would be disappointed with the complete lack of vision shown by the government. It's not that nothing really has been announced, I can understand cautious activity in a hard financial period, but there were no aspirational announcements either surrounding environmental issues other than reiterating Kyoto progress.

Carrier Bags: Here we have limp threats of action on supermarkets that has been much propelled after the recent campaign by the Daily Mail. This feels completely like an empty announcement for the purposes of placating the green lobby and making some headlines in a positive manner. The reality is they are not going to do anything and would rather that supermarkets dealt with it themselves. The result of this, as I see it, is the government forcing supermarkets to increase their profits through bag sales (plastic or otherwise) rather than once and for all putting a tax on plastic bags which ensure the money goes towards green initiatives rather than company bottom lines.