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And the latest betting odds suggest that won’t be the only bad news. At 1/3 the bookie’s odds also suggest there could also be a rise in beer duty although its 11/8 that the Chancellor offers a silver lining by mentioning "green shoots".

Darren Haines, spokesman for Paddy Power, said: "The betting certainly suggests punters are fearing the worst with a rise in income tax.

"As with the banks and the car industry the people who will have to bail the country out of the mess will ultimately be the British taxpayer – so a small flutter might be the only way any of us are going to make money out of Alistair Darling’s bleak budget speech."

The bookie is also betting on which phrase the Chancellor will use first in his speech, making "stability" the 9/4 favourite ahead of "economic growth" and "uncertainty" at 4/1 and 5/1 respectively. "Recession" at 8/1 is considered to be more likely than "green shoots" at 20/1.