The wonkish equivalent of a motherly lesson in life from the Taxpayers’ Alliance. Osborne’s suggestion that he would merge income tax and National Insurance two years ago has – surprise, surprise – gone absolutely nowhere. Hardly a shock seeing as the status quo lets him tax workers three times on the same income. It should be as easy as ABC…

The line Labour types will be pushing today, the January to March figures compared with the previous three months:

Unemployment was 2.52m in Jan-Mar, up 15k on Oct-Dec. Employment was 29.71m, down 43k—
Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) May 15, 2013

And the saving grace for Osborne, this month compared to last:

Unemployment rate falls from 7.9% last month to 7.8%.—
Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) May 15, 2013

Select as per partisan preference. Those figures in full here. Essentially little has changed…

Tory strategists could be forgiven for worrying that after three years of little or no growth and a £120 billion spending black hole this year alone, Dave and George’s reliance on blaming Britain’s economic slump on the last Labour government might be wearing thin with voters. Apparently not.

A study by media agency OMD of over 2,000 adults from across the UK has found that 53% still blame the previous Labour government for Britain’s ongoing economic problems, compared with just 39% blaming the coalition. 39% say Gordon is the main culprit, with just 27% fingering Cameron and 23% Osborne. Numbers Downing Street will be clinging onto…

Public sector net borrowing is barely changed from last year, down slightly to £15.1 billion. Crucially, after distortions, the drop in borrowing is a paltry £300 million. Osborne can still say borrowing is falling, but only just. Unemployment was up last week to 7.9%, as was the Retail Price Index to 3.3%. Public sector net cash requirement rising to £31.3 billion caps off a set of bad figures for Chancellor Zero. Unsurprising that the misery index is up. Will Thursday cheer us up?

N.B. stats bods can check Guido’s adding up here.

Quite a day for Osborne to join Digital Dave:

Today I'll present a Budget that tackles the economy's problems head on helping those who want to work hard & get on http://t.co/20nyTj0UCF—
George Osborne (@George_Osborne) March 20, 2013

Five minutes in and he’s already on the receiving end.

They’re calling it the Twitter budget…

UPDATE: Right on cue, unemployment is up by 7,000 this morning. Youth unemployment is up 48,000, though employment is also up by 131,000 and the number of JSA claimants is slightly down. Happy budget day…

With his precious AAA credit rating lost, three weeks until the budget Osborne could probably do with a drink. This morning the Taxpayers’ Alliance have launched a new campaign to freeze beer duty. Pubs up and down the country will play host to hundreds of thousands of beer mats telling punters just how much of what they pay for their pint goes to the taxman. Something Guido imagines the Chancellor will hardly appreciate. You can add your opposition to Osborne’s beer tax here…

It’s taken some time but it seems the Labour kickback machine is getting into gear. The dividing lines are being drawn over the whether or not Labour back the Welfare Uprating Bill that will apparently be published this side of Christmas. In the meantime a nice row is brewing over the so called “Mummy Tax”. After granny and pasties, hidden hits are de rigueur these days. A friend of Ed Balls tells Guido this morning:

“Osborne effectively branding mums, taking time out from work to be with their new baby, as work-shy benefit scroungers is a big political mistake.”

Guido is not sure how a reduction in hand-outs is a “tax”, but the issue is certainly potent. Mumsnet will be unbearable today…

Up and down the country millions of people are waking up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, petrified by the spectre that has haunted them throughout the early hours. And who is this terrifying figure? A poll for the Mail says that the celebrity most likely to appear in our nightmares is none other than George Osborne. Ouch.

The Chancellor, rather harshly, comes one place ahead of Gordon Brown, a man who no doubt still keeps those who worked with him in those dark days of 2010 up at night. The likes of Katie Price, Anne Robinson and Marilyn Manson also make the list, with shadow chancellor Ed Balls coming in at number ten. No Maggie era Tories strangely…

Yesterday’s Daily Star Sunday column revealed further details about Osborne’s Class A habit and why the BBC’s coverage of it was a little subdued:

CHANCELLOR George Osborne was left red-faced when he was accused of trying to get away with sitting in the first-class carriage of a train with a standard-class ticket. His spokesman and Virgin Trains deny an argument ever took place, even though a witness says his aide tried it on. Osborne does have previous on bending the rules. The same thing happened back in May when a ticket inspector was high-fived by other passengers for refusing to let the multi-millionaire sit in first class without the correct ticket. Strangely, BBC news all but ignored Friday’s incident. Nothing to do with the aide in the spotlight being Poppy Mitchell-Rose – a former BBC employee who is dating Ben Wright, the BBC’s political correspondent.

Guido’s favourite story was the Shadow Public Health Minister’s morning tipple:

LATE-NIGHT TV star and part-time Shadow Minister Diane Abbott was up for an award last week for the “Best Politician on Twitter”. Eyebrows were raised at the nomination, given that Abbott came very, very close to losing her job in January when she was embroiled in a racism row after tweeting blanket insults about all “white people”. There were even more eyebrows raised at the example set by the Shadow Public Health Minister who, upon arriving at the posh ceremony, immediately tucked into the champagne. At 8am.

You can now read the rest of Guido’s Sunday column online here.

After his vote winning booing at the TUC, Ed Balls has donned his bow-tie to butter up the CBI. Though he won’t say it on the airwaves, behind closed doors with businessmen the Shadow Chancellor is desperate to play up the resemblance between himself and George Osborne:

“George Osborne and I have some real differences but we also have some areas where we really agree. There is no doubt that a credible deficit reduction plan is essential… There have to be tough decisions on spending and pay and measures to kick-start the economy. We need action now for growth, jobs and confidence.”

It rolls off the tongue of the former City Minister.

And it’s clear where he has got his inspiration - Osborne’s Mansion House speech in June:

“My conclusion from that the balance of risks in the UK argues strongly in favour of credible deficit reduction… A time for decisions has come. The common challenge is [how to] create the conditions for sustainable growth and new jobs… I will take action [to] inject new confidence into our financial system.”

What is the point of the Shadow Chancellor if he’s just an echo? 

UPDATE: A source close to Osborne tells Guido:

“Looking forward to Balls announcing this deficit reduction plan at Labour conference, but not holding our breath. So where is this Balls deficit plan? Or is he adopting ours?”