5 reasons why this will be the "boring" budget

A rolling guide - updated through the day - to the ways which Alistair Darling is trying to make today's budget as dull as possible

1. It'zzz called the "Stability and Opportunity Budget". Not nearly as sexy as "New Ambitions for Britain" (1998) or a crowd-pleaser like"Prudence for a Purpose" (2004)

2. Its Parliamentary title is even more stultifying: "Chancellor of the Exchequer: Debt and Reserves Management Report 2008/09."

3. A Treasury Official has already said: "this is not the time for a pulse raising budget".

4. It's been extensively pre-briefed so that anything controversial (alcohol taxes) wont take us by suprise.

5. Ken Clarke had whisky. Nigel Lawson had whisky with water. Gordon Brown had bottled water. Darling has trumped them by being even more dull: tap water.