At the same time, he also committed to review the Newstart unemployment allowance "from opposition" because it was inadequate.
Job: leader, Conservative party Age: 42 Industry: politics Salary: £138,383 (including £73,617 allowance as leader of the opposition) New entry David Cameron is the first Tory leader to make it into the MediaGuardian 100.
But his plans to withdraw housing benefit and jobseeker's allowance from some under-25s faces opposition from the Liberal Democrats.
Then came the Ministerial Code, which said: "With the exception of the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, cabinet ministers may each appoint up to two special advisers" – a 100 per cent increase in the adviserdom allowance from the heady days of opposition promises.
The Lib Dems announced £600m to spend on free school meals for all 4 to 7-year-olds, while dropping their opposition to the Conservatives' married couples allowance, which will also cost around £600m.
Students are staging a protest in Brighton in opposition to government plans to cut the education maintenance allowance (EMA).
They say they will fund most of the £800m childcare plan by abolishing the married couples' tax allowance, pushed through the coalition by the Conservatives despite Lib Dem opposition.
Mr Miliband sought to stir up trouble within the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, accusing the Lib Dems of betraying their progressive heritage.As Labour number-crunchers pored over the budget, the opposition homed in on clauses freezing pensioners' tax allowances, a money-saving change that will leave millions of older people worse off in real terms.
It has also strengthened its social safety net: the Universal Child Allowance, started in 2009 with support from both the ruling party and the opposition, gives 1.9 million low-income families a monthly stipend of about $42 per child, which helps increase consumption.
The opposition will urge the DPJ to abandon pledges to introduce a child-support allowance and eliminate toll-road fees.
