GEORGE Osborne said no gimmicks, no giveaways, before he delivered his last budget before the election.

It has been common practice for chancellors to stash away cash in order to throw some sweets out to the voters in a pre-election budget.

While there were no big giveaways, there was cash, not much but some, from Number 11 Downing Street for select groups.

And those few are the people Mr Osborne thinks can still be persuaded to vote Tory in May.

If you are saving up for a deposit on a mortgage there was the Help to buy ISA, with 25% government contribution.

If you are a saver there was some change to tax on interest that will save money.

He continued with the increase in the Personal Allowance, which doesn't as is claimed, help the lowest paid but is a way of cutting taxes without reducing the tax rate.

So if you are able to save any of your income you might be a little better off.

If on the other hand you are spending what you earn to keep up with the increasing cost of living then George seems to have written you off.

If you work in the public sector, George seems to have written you off.

If you need the help of the welfare state for whatever reason, George has written you off.

And if you voted yes to independence, with his jibe about Scotland being unable to help the oil industry, George has certainly written you off.

So it was a budget for a very narrow section of the population. Those that Mr Osborne thinks could be tempted in marginal seats to keep the Tories in government.

His plan is for another £30bn of savings in the next three years.

He said he would bring in £5bn from new anti tax avoidance measures.

Another £13bn will come from government departmental savings, public sector cuts to you and I and another £12 billion from reducing the welfare budget.

That's social security cuts to the rest of us.

So, £5bn from the richest of the rich who need to be forced to pay their tax. That's if it works and clever clogs lawyers and accountants don't find more ever imaginative ways to exploit loopholes.

And £12bn from the poorest people who have no other means of support and will be forced to food banks in greater numbers.

Analysis of the budget showed the poorest will see their income fall by 2.5% more than any other.

The budget was no laughing matter but Mr Osborne littered his speech with attempts at jokes mostly at the expense of Labour and Ed Miliband, and his backbench cheerleaders loved it.

Maybe he has an alternative career after May as a stand-up comedian.