Speculation about a possible April general election was building at Westminster last night after the Chancellor, Mr Gordon Brown, confirmed that the Budget will be on Wednesday, March 7th.
A Treasury spokesman insisted there was no significance in the Chancellor's decision to break with the tradition of Tuesday budget statements. "It is a sensible time to fit in with various diaries and other engagements," he said.
And the Prime Minister's official spokesman swiftly confirmed that Mr Blair would be addressing an international event, in the UK, on Tuesday, March 6th.
However, some Tory insiders regarded the Budget date - one week earlier than some had expected - as a signal that Mr Blair could yet opt to go to the country on April 5th.
Pre-election fever was high in the Commons yesterday as Mr Blair repeatedly listed the government's achievements and taunted Mr William Hague and Tory MPs on their reluctance to question him on the government's handling of the economy.
And it will build further this weekend as the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and other senior ministers rally Labour troops at the party's spring conference in Glasgow.
One Tory source suggested Mr Blair might go to the country early "because budgets always look better in the headlines than in the pay packets" and because any informal local pacts between Labour and the Liberal Democrats in general election contests would come under strain in the run-up to local elections, also due in May.
Mr Hague was getting on with business as usual in the Commons yesterday, accusing Mr Blair of being "a soft touch" and turning Britain into "the asylum capital of the world".
Mr Hague claimed that Mr Blair had sunk to "a new low" after he stood by the statement from the Immigration Minister, Ms Barbara Roache, that the cost of supporting asylum-seekers was £664 million when an internal Home Office memo said it was £845 million.
Mr Blair said that the lower figure was the budget for asylum, while the larger was the actual cost, which would vary depending on the numbers seeking asylum.
The Conservative leader, meanwhile yesterday, was forced to admit making misleading claims about the distribution of public speaking fees through a charitable trust which had never actually been established in law.