Alistair Darling unveils bank accounts for the poor

Budget moves to hit banks with a legal obligation to provide basic bank accounts for the poor won cross-party backing today.

Alistair Darling will unveil the new law in his third Budget in a move to promote fairness and stop low-income families being frozen out of the on-line society.

In an unusual move, Tory leader David Cameron pre-empted the announcement by indicating he would support the measure. "It does seem to me worth proper examination," he said.

Some 1.75 million adults have no access to banking, some because they were turned away from the high street banks for having no permanent address to write on the application form. Half of the total are among the poorest 20 per cent of the population.

"The Chancellor will take action to promote fairness and social inclusion and to prevent people from missing out on the benefits in employment and money-saving that a bank account brings," said a government source.

Tomorrow's Budget is expected to be relatively low-key, with no major new tax rises.