We think Alistair Darling has three big tasks to pull off in his Pre-Budget Report tomorrow:

First, he must do nothing to endanger economic recovery by taking premature action on the deficit. Unemployment is still rising and the economy remains fragile.

Second, he must do more to help the jobless, particularly action to prevent this generation of school and college leavers being scarred for life.

And third, he must show that those who brought about the crash and did so well out of the boom years will pay the price of putting it right. A windfall tax on bank bonuses should just be the start of building a fair tax system and reforming finance.

We need a finance system that once again serves the rest of the economy, not just itself.

 Print  ¦  Filed under: Pre-Budget Report