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Alistair Darling has not had the time to get worried about his date with destiny next Wednesday when for the first occasion in 11 years it will be him and not Gordon Brown delivering the Budget.

What with Northern Rock, capital gains tax, the row over non-domiciles and lost computer disks he has had plenty of practice in the Commons chamber in recent weeks. “I have not had a moment to think about what it will be like next Wednesday. One thing you find in the Treasury is that time flies,” he told The Times. He is not nervous, he said.

He will swiftly mark himself down as a traditionalist. Mr Darling has decided to bring back into use the Gladstone Box, originally used by the four-time Prime Minister and Chancellor, to carry his secrets into the Commons. Mr Brown used a new red box made by apprentices in his Scottish constituency for the task. Its frail predecessor, until recently on show in the Treasury, is being checked over to avoid any embarrassment when Mr Darling holds it aloft outside No 11.

As he began talking about his “test” next Wednesday it was obvious that extreme caution is the watchword in the Treasury as the Budget countdown begins.

“It is a time of great uncertainty,” he said. “My number one objective is to ensure that this is a Budget for stability. That is absolutely essential for the economy. It is essential for every family in this country. We have to ensure we support the economy in what are undoubtedly difficult times.”

The phrase “support the economy” was to return several times during the interview.

It means that as the economy slows and tax receipts fall over the coming months, Mr Darling will not add to the taxation burden but borrow instead. Environmental and other taxes seem certain to be announced next Wednesday, but their implementation may be delayed for a year.

Mr Darling went on: “My second objective is to prepare the country for the future. We have huge challenges to meet in terms of competitiveness, rapid economic change, things like climate change, which will change the way we think and the Government acts. Those are the two things that are foremost in my mind.”

He voiced confidence that Britain would emerge from the difficulties. “In Britain one of the things that will help us is that whereas in the past we have entered difficult periods with high levels of inflation, high interest rates, high debt and three million out of work we enter this period with low levels of interest rates and inflation, and the lowest level of unemployment since 1975. Our economy is resilient and strong.

Mr Darling’s other big challenge is to repair his relations with the City. He took a conciliatory line, yet stood by his £30,000 non-dom charge and the capital gains tax flat rate of 18 per cent. Those decisions, he felt, were right “but you can always do things better. You can always ensure you try and engage people more effectively.”

He went on: “The biggest thing that helps the City is stability of the economy. We have to ensure we have a competitive tax regime. The corporation tax cuts come in in April but also we have to make sure we have the right business environment.”

Imminent changes to banking regulation would be “proportionate”, he said. “They need to plug the gaps but we have to ensure that we don’t get into the kind of problems they had in America after Enron, where business ended up being taken away from America.”

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