IF ever there was a time for a political budget this is it.

I expect Gordon Brown to grab the opportunity with both hands to offer the electorate some pre- election "sweeteners".

Gorden Brown"s spring budget last year was also a highly political affair representing as it did the first step towards the general election.

The chancellor froze income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, stamp duty and inheritance tax which in bald terms meant very little to the person in the street.

This time I believe he will take the chance to do a few things which will make the same person stop and take notice and perhaps even feel a little better after the chancellor sits down on the completion of his budget statement.

One area which the chancellor needs to address is that of inheritance tax.

The escalation in house prices across the UK and in particular here in South Wales means that many more people are caught in the inheritance tax threshold.

I"d like to see the current threshold of £263,000 boosted by say fifty per cent to at least £400,000.

I"d also encourage the chancellor to have a look at the current threshold for stamp duty paid on property purchases, currently levied at 1% of the purchase price above £60,000 and 3% above £250,000.

I see no reason why the chancellor couldn"t double the latter threshold to £500,000. He could also look at some system of index-linked stamp duty so the threshold rises in line with house prices.

I would also suggest that the chancellor looks at reducing personal taxation by increasing personal allowances along with a reduction in National Insurance contributions.

The chancellor could also introduce measures to force small and medium sized enterprises to train their staff.

The re-introduction of 100% allowance against tax for three years for capital investment in IT software and hardware would be welcome.

Women need encouragement to become economically active and to start up businesses on their own.

There exists a huge source of untapped enterprise among half the population, which needs to be exploited. I"d like to see the chancellor address this.

To do this he will have to go some way to helping ease the burden of childcare and elder care which is more often than not shouldered by women.

And I"d like to see a simplification of the child tax credit scheme so it becomes more transparent and more easily understood.

I"d like to see the introduction of some form of tax relief on corporate entertainment, marketing and business promotion, to encourage more firms to grow their businesses in this way

And finally I"d like to see changes at the Severn crossings. I"d either like to see the tolls abolished or at the very least a system put in place which allows people to pay tolls by credit card.

I don"t know if these powers extend to the chancellor but I"m sure he"d get a resounding cheer from South Wales businesses if he could make any changes on this front.