A fabulous view from Waterloo Bridge looking towards St Paul’s and the City

And a preview of efficiency-saving from Auto Windscreens

SO, today is the Pre-Budget Report (PBR), Chancellor Darling’s opportunity to update Parliament on the economy and any fiscal changes the Chancellor is planning. Quite what we’ll see from a government running out of time I’m not sure. However, Darling has certainly steered the Treasury with a firm hand since he took over from the thumping desk prudent one…who helped land us in much of this trouble.

There has been talk about an ultra low company car tax for ultra low carbon vehicles. Well, that would certainly create an aura of ‘greenness’ for the government, without really affecting much at all.

A tax on bankers’ bonuses are certainly on the cards, though. It was something we talked about over lunch yesterday with Nigel Davies and Anna Melton from Auto Windscreens.

While bankers’ bonuses appear reprehensible, how much do they see of the bonus? Around 35% we reckoned. That’s after 50% in topline tax, 15% NI – not a bad haul for the Treasury. And what about the bankers that weren’t implicated in the economic mess? It’s a tricky thing to start targeting specific people with taxes