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One of Gordon Brown’s favourite speech writers is leaving Number 10 to return to the Treasury. That gives Brown the perfect opportunity to draft in someone who has the ability to coin the kind of phrases that chime with the electorate and stick in people’s minds.

To date, that is something Brown, whose dismal year in office was underlined on Friday with a humiliating fifth place by-election finish for Labour, has signally failed to do. Sure, Brown wanted to move away from the accusations of endless spin that soured the public mood towards his slick predecessor Tony Blair.

But the mantras Brown has chosen to repeat ad nauseum since he took up the mantle of Prime Minister have failed to stick. Stressing how many people Labour has taken out of poverty in the past decade, or the need to take “long-term decisions” just isn’t working.

People need reassurance over fuel and food prices, over crime and security, but perhaps more than anything they need to be convinced Brown understands — and cares.

Brown — nicknamed the Iron Chancellor during his decade at the Treasury — is right to focus on the long-term. He wants to ensure people can afford to buy homes, that the country slashes its reliance on non-environmentally friendly energy, and that taxpayers have access to good healthcare, education and welfare support.

But with voters feeling the pinch, it’s the short term that’s key, and if Brown wants his messages about the kind of place Britain needs to become longer-term to stick, he might need to think about the kind of sound-bite approach that Blair used so well.

Brown’s tried a more “man of the people” approach but that hasn’t convinced. Voters are not warming to the serious, unsmiling Prime Minister. And if Brown can’t change his manner, then he needs to change the kinds of words he uses.

Of course, he will also need some luck. No amount of “in tune” rhetoric is going to help if people continue to feel he’s not the man to lead them through the economic bad times. But at the moment, his language and demeanour seem to compound voters’ unease. The Iron Chancellor risks becoming the leaden Prime Minister of British history: dull, inert and potentially poisonous.

Tax: it’s all getting a bit of a drag. The number of people paying the highest level of income tax has almost doubled since Labour came to power, according to recent statistics.

“Fiscal drag” — a fancy name for failing to uprate tax thresholds and allowances in line with wage inflation — has meant that many hundreds of thousands of middle earners (such as higher-paid teachers, nurses, police officers and many civil servants) have been trapped into paying 40 pence to the Exchequer for every pound on some of their earnings.

Around 3.7 million people are estimated to pay higher-rate tax, up from just over two million in 1997.

That figure, estimates the Institute for Fiscal Studies, will rise to more than 4 million by the end of the current tax year, due to fiscal drag alone. Indeed, the individual taxpayer has borne the brunt of Labour’s tax policies, according to a report by accountancy firm BDO Stoy Hayward released to coincide with “tax freedom day” earlier this month.

Higher-rate tax now starts for many at 41,435 pounds (the personal allowance of 5,435 pounds plus the basic-rate tax band of 36,000 pounds). But with some careful planning those dragged into the higher-rate tax net could save some or all of the extra tax levied by paying money into a private pension — and pave the way for a rosier retirement.

You should always try to make a pension contribution which attracts higher rate tax relief. So, if you’re earning 50,000 pound per annum and make a contribution of no more than 8,565 pounds (50,000 pounds minus the starting point for higher-rate tax of 41,435 pounds), this will attract tax relief at 40 percent — boosting your pension contribution by 3,426 pounds that would otherwise have gone to the tax man.

There are other ways, too, to maximise the amount of pension contributions that receive 40 percent tax relief, says Malcolm Cuthbert, managing director of financial planning at independent financial services group Killik & Co: take into account other sources of earned pensionable income — such as bonuses, redundancy payments (if above the first 30,000 pounds, which is tax free), as well as holiday lets (although not rental income).

Most importantly, do not forget to claim back the entitlement for higher-rate relief annually on your tax return. Although basic-rate relief of 20 percent is paid at source on personal pension contributions, the other 20 percent of higher-rate relief must be reclaimed on your tax return.

“Making your personal finances as tax efficient as possible is a no-brainer that will help ensure your money lasts as long as you do,” says Cuthbert. “One of the smartest ways to achieve this is to claim higher rate tax relief whilst you’re working — and then engineer your affairs so you pay basic rate tax in retirement.” Now, that’s a nice little way of getting one up on the tax man.

The over-60s will be able to take a dip at their local council pool for free across England from next year under government plans announced on Friday.

The scheme is costing 140 million pounds over two years, although part of the money will also be available for lifting admission costs for children under-16 and for maintainance work on ageing facilities. A similar scheme is already operating in Wales.

It’s all part of the government’s plan to get 2 million people off their couches ahead of the opening of the Olympic Games in London in July 2012.

Critics say it’s too little too late as Britain heads for an obesity crisis, with the government struggling to meet its target of reducing the proportion of overweight and obese children to 2000 levels by 2020.

What do you think? Is free swimming a good idea? Or just another unnecessary burden on the taxpayer?

Roads into London and Cardiff are expected to be jammed with lorry convoys as part of a protest at the soaring cost of fuel.

Average prices have risen during the past month by their highest margin this century to 114.2 pence per litre of petrol and 126.7 pence per litre of diesel, the AA says.

In January, the national average petrol price was 104.3 pence per litre and diesel was 109.2 pence per litre.

The rise has mirrored the cost of oil as it recently breached $130 a barrel.

The government has staved off one planned increase in fuel duty, but a 2 pence rise is scheduled to go ahead in the autumn, affecting all motorists.

The government blames the rising cost of oil for forcing up prices on garage forecourts, but drivers say the Treasury should reduce levies.

Do you think the government, which was forced into a U-turn over the 10 pence tax rate last month, should be forced into another by reducing fuel levies to help motorists and the haulage industry?

If so, where else could it get its money?

And how would such a tactic fit with its so-called green credentials?

The Daily Mirror is alone among the papers in giving unqualified praise to Chancellor Alistair Darling’s 2.7 billion pound solution to the damaging 10p tax row.

“Once critical Labour MPs hailed it as a masterstroke,” the paper said. “Hopefully it signals the start of a concerted fightback by a prime minister who has been on the ropes for months.”

The Daily Mail says the original decision to scrap the starting 10p rate of tax was “A mistake, yes… but fatal? Hardly.” It says Darling and Prime Minister Gordon Brown “deserve credit for choosing the right means to help those who suffered,” by raising the tax threshhold.

But the Chancellor might want to avoid the rest of the dailies, especially the one printed on pink paper. Darling’s tax announcement “ has shattered any residual idea that Mr Brown’s administration can run an orderly fiscal policy,” says the Financial Times.

The paper concedes that “in policy terms, the plan to put up personal allowances makes sense.” However, it adds that the political cost is heavy — the government will no longer now be able to attack the Conservatives over unfunded promises of tax cuts. “This is a significant weakening of the election campaign armoury,” it says.

The Daily Telegraph, somewhat grudgingly, saying that the Chancellor “deserves congratulations” for doing precisely what the paper had urged last Friday. But it adds that Darling’s statement was “a purely political damage-limitation exercise”, timed “to save Labour’s bacon” in next week’s Crewe and Nantwich by-election.

On a similar theme, the Times suggests that the late MP Gwyneth Dunwoody’s final service to the Labour Party has been in death rather than life. “It’s hard to believe that Alistair Darling would have made the statement he did on the 10p tax rate yesterday if it were not for fear of a massive defeat” in Crewe next week, Dunwoody’s former seat.

The paper calculates that the 2.7 billion pound price is the approximate equivalent of cutting the basic rate of income tax by 1p in the pound.

The Guardian notes that Darling effectively announced an emergency budget that “gave more money away than any real budget since 2001.”

The Independent says the 10p tax saga has been “an object lesson in bad government“. “What began as a cynical attempt to curry favour with the middle-classes has backfired in the most explosive manner,” it says. The Daily Express agrees it is “no way to run a country“.

The Sun asks who will be picking up the tab for the change. Unless Darling raises the money elsewhere, it draws the inevitable conclusion –”We will all pay more tax“.

The papers are nearly all agreed that Chancellor Alistair Darling’s 2.7 billion pound fix for the 10p tax row is the day’s main story.

“Darling seeks end to 10p tax backlash” reports the Financial Times, noting that the move will still leave 1.1 million poorer households worse off following the abolition of the lowest tax band in last year’s budget.

For the Daily Mail the tax giveaway is a “2.7 billion pound gamble” to appease fury on the Labour backbenches over the scrapping of the 10p starting rate.

But the papers also find room for other stories: Drivers face a 185 pound tax to park at work, says the Daily Telegraph of a government push to cut traffic congestion. The paper reports that Nottingham city council will be the first to introduce the “workplace parking levy as an alternative to road pricing.

The Sun reports that Yorkshire ripper Peter Sutcliffe is making a legal bid for freedom from the secure Broadmoor hospital, claiming his human rights have been breached. It says Sutcliffe, jailed in 1981 for killing 13 women, wants to be declared sane and given a release date.

The Independent opts for an analytic lead, suggesting that “Britain could once again be haunted by the spectre of stagflation“. It says a combination of stagnant output and high inflation not seen for decades will dog policymakers for months if not years to come.

By contrast the Daily Express says there is “Now a race to cut prices“, reporting that supermarkets Asda and Tesco and mortgage lender Nationwide have all unveiled plans for a host of cost-cutting deals to help “Britain’s hard-pressed families.”

The Times publishes a revealing photo of Housing Minster Caroline Flint — exposing her briefing notes on the state of the housing market as she walked to a cabinet meeting. “Safe as houses? Not this minister’s private papers” runs the headline over the picture. You can see a magnified image of the notes themselves on the front of the Telegraph.

The Guardian reports that Spain is being forced to ship drinking water to Barcelona to cope with the effects of the worst drought in the country since records began 60 years ago.

The Daily Mirror leads with the arrest of a 19-year-old man over the weekend murder of 16-year-old Jimmy Mizen in a southeast London bakers, while the Daily Star says police are following a reported sighting of missing Madeleine McCann on a flight to Sao Paulo in Brazil.

Labour might appear to have calmed the storm over the scrapping of the 10 percent income tax rate for now. But new research shows the extent to which Britons are peeved about the level of income tax.

When asked what would be their key requests of Chancellor Alistair Darling, the largest proportion of more than 3,000 people polled for Unbiased.co.uk — 31 percent — said they’d like to see a cut in income tax. And, it seems, many Britons feel an obligation to help the less well-heeled: while 12 percent would like to see it reduced for everyone, 19 percent want a cut for less affluent sections of society.

The issue was, perhaps unsurprisingly, found to be the most pressing for younger generations — those with long working lives and greater earning potential ahead of them. Around 44 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds surveyed want a cut, compared to 19 percent of 55 to 64-year-olds and 13 percent of those aged 65 to 74.

But the requests do not stop there: almost a quarter would ask the Chancellor to provide a better level of state pension, 6 percent want increased pay for public sector workers, 5 percent increased support for carers, the same percentage an increase in the inheritance tax threshold to 750,000 pounds (from a current 312,000 pounds), and 2 percent want the stamp duty thresholds to be reviewed.

Others would implore the Chancellor to reconsider public spending: 5 percent want funding for the third generation of nuclear deterrent to be scrapped, 4 percent call for a four billion pound cap on the Olympic budget; and the same proportion want more spending on environmental issues.

It’s easy to see why: soaring house prices have pushed more people into the inheritance tax net and sent stamp duty bills soaring, “fiscal drag” — whereby thresholds fail to rise in line with inflation — is pulling people into new and higher tax brackets, and interest in “green” issues is on an upward trend.

But don’t forget that there are simple things we can all do to keep the taxman’s hands off our cash. The nation is wasting a whopping 9.3 billion pounds in unnecessary tax payments — from the likes of people not making use of their individual savings account allowance (a total 7,200 pounds this year, of which 3,600 pounds can be stashed in cash), wasting tax credits and not taking steps to reduce their taxable estate for inheritance tax purposes.

The crucial poll win in Pennsylvania by US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton came too late for many newspapers, who predominantly went instead with rising food prices and fears for a missing boy in Wednesday’s headlines.

THE INDEPENDENT: The Chilling Message From Zimbabwe’s Church Leaders

The paper runs a dramatic quote in red and black letters which says: “If nothing is done to help the people of Zimbabwe, we shall soon be witnessing genocide similar to that in Kenya and Rwanda.” Story here.

DAILY MIRROR: The Lost Boy

Fears were mounting for a vanished disabled boy whose devoted mother was found dead in woods near her home in Worcester. Story here.

DAILY MAIL: The Petrol “Profiteers”

Consumer groups accused petrol firms of profiteering after raising prices by up to 5p a litre in 48 hours, ahead of a planned strike at Grangemouth refinery, the paper said. Story here.

THE GUARDIAN: 1bln Pounds Package Would End Tax Row, Say Rebels

Frank Field, the architect of Labour’s 10p tax rebellion, said ministers must provide up to 1bln pounds in compensation for those affected by the changes before local elections next week, if they are to defuse the row, the paper said. But he insisted he did not want to bring the government to its knees. Story here.

DAILY EXPRESS: Shopping Bill Up 15 Pounds a Week

Soaring food costs are adding 15 pounds a week to supermarket shopping bills, research showed, in the latest hammer blow to hard-pressed family budgets, the paper said. Story here.

THE SUN: Wills Gets Chopper Out at Sandringham

The paper claims an exclusive on Prince William, who recently received his flying wings, taking another joyride in an RAF helicopter — this time over the Queen’s Sandringham home. The paper had earlier said he had landed a helicopter in the garden of his girlfriend. Story here.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: 800 Pounds-a-Year Rise in Family Grocery Bill

The paper used the same research on food prices to say families are having to spend almost 800 pounds more on their annual grocery bills as the highest rate of food inflation for a generation drives up supermarket prices. Story here.

THE TIMES: Era of Cheap Food Ends as Prices Surge

Experts warn the prices of basic foods will rise steeply again because of acute shortages in commodity markets, the paper said. Story here.

THE FINANCIAL TIMES: RBS Chief Faces Calls to Name Exit Date

Sir Fred Goodwin faces demands from leading investors to step down as chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland within a year after the bank launched a 12 bln pounds rights issue, the paper said. Story here.

A possible Commons rebellion by Labour MPs next Monday over the scrapping of the 10p starting tax rate has been averted but the episode has further damaged the standing of Gordon Brown.

In 2007, in his last budget as Chancellor, Brown abolished the 10p rate as he reduced the standard income tax rate to 20 from 22p and reformed National Insurance thresholds. Many backbench government MPs felt that hitting some of the poorest sections of the working population in such a way was an affront to their basic Labour principles.

Chancellor Alistair Darling at first rejected demands to compensate those worst hit, like the under-25s who earn less than 18,000 pounds or those who work fewer than 16 hours a week and who therefore do not qualify for tax credits. “I cannot re-wind the budget,” he points out.

But with local elections coming up on May 1, the need to head off rebellion was urgent.

Do you believe abolition of the 10p rate should ever have been considered by a Labour government?

By Francesca Lagerberg, head of the national tax office, Grant Thornton

Most Budgets have all the attraction of being slapped in the face with a wet kipper and sadly this one is unlikely to reverse the trend. As expected, from today up goes the cost of booze (4p on a pint) and fags (11p on a packet). Also for those who like driving larger less-green new cars there is a “showroom” tax coming in from 2009 that could cost them around 950 pounds.

However, for the entrepreneur there was a little cheer. After strong representations from business, Chancellor Alistair Darling has deferred the “income shifting” rules that were due to start from this April. These were a direct attack on family-owned businesses that include lower tax paying family members who take out dividends or profits but make a less significant contribution to the business. A case last year (Jones v Garnett) went against the government and it was looking to legislate to get the result it wanted. The proposals were wide-ranging and ill-targeted. A deferral will hopefully allow time to revisit this whole approach.

The working family got several name-checks in the Budget speech and this broadly amounts to an increase in child benefit (20 pounds per week for the first child) and the child element of child tax credit, but this will not take effect until April 2009.

There was no further change to the capital gains tax (CGT) regime so that from April 6 all individuals will be paying at a flat rate of 18 percent with the only hope of reducing the charge being a special entrepreneurs’ relief that has stringent qualifying conditions, but may help the smaller business to take their charge down to an effective rate of 10 percent. However, some others clearly benefit under the new regime. For example, those looking to sell a buy-to-let property after April will find that the new rules help them as the best tax rate they would get under the existing legislation would be 24 percent.

For non-domiciled individuals, the Chancellor provided further details on the radical changes taking effect from April 6. If they want to continue to get the tax advantages of being non-domiciled in the UK after then they will have to pay 30,000 pounds for the privilege once they are resident here for seven out of the past 10 years. However, for those who would not remotely be able to pay such a high levy remitting just small amounts of foreign income (2,000 pounds) will not be caught. This is a slight increase on the original 1,000 pound proposal. There is also a new test of where you were at midnight to work out what days you were really present in the UK, which may be more useful to internationally mobile workers than the rules we heard of last October at the pre-Budget report.

So, overall Darling’s first Budget was short on drama, but long on minor detail. A massive 207 pages of back-up notes support the Budget Red Book. For most people this event will provide little to cheer, but equally little to passionately dislike.