It was reported that his parliamentary aide personally urged him to drop the "granny tax" and "pasty tax" on the eve of the budget, saying they would be wildly unpopular.

he was undertaking the U-turn on charities in part to focus his attention on the eurozone crisis. 

It has been reported on the Home website that as reported before the budget, they wanted to cut the top rate of tax down to 40p but was blocked in the final negotiations by deputy prime minister.

The Bank of England may sanction a further round of quantitative easing this week if service sector figures slide further this week.

The poll also shows who is blamed for the U-turns: 31% of those who see the U-turns as a sign of weakness or incompetence blame him for them. That compares with just 18% who blame the sherif and 15% who blame the deputy