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Gordon Brown has defended the small print of his 11th and certainly final Budget amid accusations by the Conservative party that the chancellor has pulled a "tax con not a tax cut".

The prime minister elect surprised MPs and commentators in the denouement of his announcement to the Commons yesterday by reducing the basic rate of income tax by 2p in every pound.

But the Tories said last night that he is simply funding the concession by doing away with the 10p lower income tax rate, as well as increasing national insurance contributions for professionals.

Conservative leader David Cameron had initially responded to Mr Brown's Budget by saying that the chancellor had "finally given us a tax cut", but as the details sunk in the party has changed its tune to dub the announcement as the "stealthiest tax yet".

"Let me tell you what the chancellor's real problem is: it is not that he is a Stalinist who holds all his colleagues in contempt - although I have to say that probably doesn't help. It is that he has wasted money on an industrial scale," Mr Cameron said yesterday.

The Liberal Democrats also attacked yesterday's apparent tax cuts, with leader Sir Menzies Campbell saying the 2p reduction income tax was a "cut for the wealthy dressed up as a tax cut for the poor".

"Those on low incomes will now experience even higher rates of taxation and this will do nothing to increase incentives to work," he added.

Speaking this morning however, Mr Brown insisted that he was "trying to do the right thing".

"That's absolute nonsense," he told Sky News in response to Sir Menzies' accusation. "There is £2.5 billion extra going into the personal tax system.

"We wanted to make sure we had a modern tax system for business and for individuals and it is the biggest tax reform for 20 years."