Iraqis rushed into the streets of Baghdad today as Gordon Brown delivered his 2003 budget to the world. All this week people have been kept awake wondering what it would contain, and now there was no holding them back.

As the streets flooded with merry-makers, some smashed images of Saddam Hussein with their shoes, a symbol of their rejection of his fiscal management. Government buildings were ransacked as taxpayers sought complete audit paperwork and original receipts following years of non-transparent processes and unaccountable bureaucracy.

One ecstatic Iraqi man said, "In this climate of international volatility I had expected a much more pessimistic forecast, but Mr Gordon's estimate of 2 to 2.5% growth over the next 12 months has given hope to us all." He had looted a local TV shop, he said, to put something extra into his children's baby bond trust.