Critics say it’s a credibility gap, Darling

The adage that ‘‘the devil is in the detail’’ is never more true than of a government’s annual budget statement. The immediate reaction of media pundits and economic observers is based on the headline grabbing rises and cuts in taxation or expenditure. It’s only in the days that follow that a true picture of the impact on the economy can be gauged.Alistair Darling’s second budget began with the hype over the introduction of a 50p tax rate for high-earners and questions about his predictions on the speed of the recovery from recession. But these issues have since been superseded by claims of ‘‘the death of New Labour’’ and outrage that it will be more than two decades before Britain returns to pre-bank-bailout levels of debt.