REFLECTING on his four years as Chancellor Gordon Brown can rightly be proud of his achievements.

After inheriting relatively benign conditions from his predecessor he has overseen steady economic growth, with both unemployment and inflation at their lowest levels in a generation.

But beneath the overall national veneer of prosperity and optimism there are pockets of poverty and hardship.

Mr Brown must resist the temptation to use his £18bn surplus on a giveaway Budget ahead of a General Election and what he hopes will be a second term of office.

He needs to set aside narrow party interests for the wider national interests.

While there may be votes in the short-term by putting more money in the pockets of those who are enjoying the full benefits of a successful economy, in the long-term the country has more to gain by concentrating resources of those sections of society and those communities who are missing out on prosperity.

There is a growing divide in the economy between rural and urban areas, and between the North and the South.

The falling price of livestock, the lasting legacy of BSE and now the foot-and-mouth epidemic have all taken their toll on the countryside.

Mr Brown today needs to address the crisis facing farming and the rural economies which depend so heavily on agriculture.

It is not within the remit of the Chancellor to pour subsidies into farms. But it is his duty to offer extra support and assistance to set in motion an economic recovery in hard-pressed rural areas.

Equally, Mr Brown needs to signal the Government's determination to tackle the North-South Divide.

We have a two-speed economy, with the South going flat out and the North barely chugging along.

Manufacturing in the South-East is booming on the crest of a technological wave. As the recent Corus redundancies announcement clearly illustrate, traditional manufacturing industries in regions like ours are struggling to survive.

Our region does not seek special treatment from the Chancellor, merely fair treatment. Fair treatment by way of a reform of the Barnett Formula which currently means the North-East receives less money and investment from Government than Scotland or Wales.

In past Budgets the Chancellor has prided himself on redistributing wealth to the most needy in our society.

Today he must seize the opportunity provided by his £18bn nest egg for a more equal distribution of wealth for our manufacturing and farming sectors.