Chancellor Alistair Darling turned into Robin Hood by attacking the rich to help fund the few giveaways in his Budget armoury as the clock counts down to the General Election.

Having already pledged to charge 50p in the pound on those earning £150,000 or more which is due to come into force next month, he revealed those with houses worth £1m will have to pay five per cent stamp duty when they sell up.

And there will also be major cuts in tax relief on the pensions of top earners.

The move has led to one financial expert predicting that many richer people will be packing up and leaving the UK altogether.

Chris Mundy, tax partner at Botley-based accountancy firm Grant Thornton, said: “More of the very rich will be leaving the country.

“We have already seen a trend and that is worrying because it could lead to a brain drain as some of these people are successful business owners who run companies that are important to Oxfordshire.”

The biggest giveaway was raising the rate of stamp duty relief on properties worth up to £250,000, but it will only be available to first-time buyers.

Jobs guarantees were extended to 18-24-year-olds who have been out of work for six months, while pensioners will benefit from another year of a higher rate winter fuel allowance.

There was a one per cent rise in tax on tobacco, while duty on beer, wine and spirits went up by two per cent but rose a massive ten per cent on cider as Mr Darling looked to cash in on the renewed popularity of the drink and to cut back on binge drinking.

David Doughty, chief executive of the Oxfordshire Economic Partnership, said: “This will have a detrimental effect on pubs in rural communities.”

Mr Doughty was also concerned about Mr Darling declining to alter his plans to increase National Insurance contributions (NICs) by one per cent from April 2011.

He added: “NICs are another tax on businesses and employment and affects companies across the board.”

But he welcomed the extra £270m to help fund 20,000 more university places, particularly in science, technology and maths from September as it will be a major benefit for Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University.

Another boost for the county came with the announcement of a £35m capital fund to support innovation and start-up companies while entrepreneurs will also benefit from an extension of relief on capital gains tax.

Mr Mundy said: “It means that entrepreneurs will be keen to invest in small businesses as the risk they are taking will be rewarded by lower taxation.”

One universal benefit in the Budget was Mr Darling’s announcement that £100m would be spent on repairing roads damaged by the winter weather.

But generally experts agreed that the Budget was firmly focused on the upcoming General Election and there is still uncertainty as many of Mr Darling’s announcements could be undone by a new government.

Ian Wenman, chairman of the Oxfordhsire Institute of Directors, said: “This was a political budget when a business one was needed.

“There was tough language used but not enough detail about future cuts — we haven't yet seen the hit on our public sector employees which is a major employer.

“But at least we can repair the roads.”