In the run-up to the government's 'emergency budget', the overwhelming political consensus, parroted each day by the BBC’s economic correspondents, is that ’balancing the budget’ and ’slashing the deficit’ is now a national priority.

What do yesterday's announcements mean in terms of tackling the economic crisis, its main victims, and the climate change challenge? Here is my more or less immediate response to Alistair Darling’s final budget.