Darling bullish ahead of Budget
Updated on 19 April 2009
Alistair Darling has attempted to boost confidence in the economy ahead of the Budget.
The Chancellor was upbeat despite claims the UK is facing the longest recession since the Second World War.
As he worked out the final details of his tax and spending plans, to be unveiled on Wednesday, Mr Darling acknowledged there had been a "huge downturn".
But he insisted the "underlying strengths" of British industry would help the nation take advantage when the global economy emerged from recession.
Shadow chancellor George Osborne predicted the Treasury would forecast the longest recession since 1945 with Mr Darling forced to lay bare the "economic carnage" of the past decade.
Newspaper reports suggested Mr Darling will give the mortgage market a £50 billion boost by offering to underwrite billions in mortgage-backed securities to help lenders fund new loans.
In a YouTube video message, Mr Darling said: "I want to make sure that we do two things. One is to help people now, through this difficult time.
"But equally importantly, we've got to prepare for the future, to invest in Britain's future to ensure that we can take advantage of the upturn, of the recovery when it comes, and it will come.
"I'm confident about that because I think we have underlying strengths that we can play to and I want to build on those so there are jobs and good prospects for the future."
Mr Osborne said Wednesday's Commons setpiece would be a "day of reckoning" and urged Mr Darling to scrap the Government's "unrealistic" future spending plans.
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said: "Frankly I'm fed up hearing Tory politicians seizing on every piece of bad news economically.
"What cheers them up is to be able to point to and pounce on bad economic news."
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