But Mr Brown's other big tax-hike, sharp increases in fuel duty, have proved to be much less stealthy.
Mr Brown's speech was taken as a sign that he favoured more taxation powers for Holyrood.
Mr Brown made the funding announcement as he unveiled the shortlist of bidders for the contract.
But Mr Brown said the UK government had cut Scotland's capital budget by 30%.
Despite heady speculation about a coup, Mr Brown is probably safe in his job, for now.
Mr Brown died in September after being knocked off his bicycle in Vincent Road, Luton.
The jury had heard how as teenage schoolboys Mr Beckford and Mr Brown had been friends.
When he sees Mr Brown he attacks his shoes which are now full of holes.
Mr Brown predicted the multi-million pound work would lead to improved safety and faster journey times.
Mr Brown has been campaigning for the past two years for answers over his stepdaughter's death.
But Mr Brown's scheme, which focuses exclusively on administrative costs, addresses only part of the problem.
ECONOMIST: New plans to cut red tape address only part of the problem
Even so, Mr Brown's comparison with North Sea oil highlights risks as well as rewards.
Mr Brown has reasons other than his surprising popularity to want to call an election now.
With opinion-poll ratings like these, Mr Brown's Labour would seem a shoo-in at an early election.
If they do, and he loses, Mr Brown may have reached his own limit.
Mr Brown said: "Lets see the reality match up with the rhetoric for once".
Mr Brown said departments concerned with education and urban regeneration would also be involved.
Mr Brown will also ruffle business feathers with his plans to toughen-up competition law.
"I just wish that I could have done more, " Mr Brown told the Chronicle.
Mr Brown is raising money and awareness for Neuroscience Research Australia and The Alzheimer's Society.
The floods and the rest gave Mr Brown an early chance to quash it.
ECONOMIST: It might win Gordon Brown an election. But then what?
But they fear David Miliband, the foreign secretary and the bookies' favourite to replace Mr Brown.
ECONOMIST: The trade unions are not as fearsome as they look
What is clear is that Mr Brown is now in a position to dictate terms.
Given that Mr Brown is not stupid, it must be that pensions don't really interest him.
It is that Mr Brown is an incumbent where Mr Obama is an insurgent.
Replacing the bitter, divisive Mr Brown with the calm, well-liked Mr Johnson is an attractive prospect.
Of the two, Mr Brown's book is more immediately timely, but also more problematic.
Yet it may seem to Mr Brown's supporters that the need for restraint is fading fast.
Hence the second reason why next year's budget is so important for Mr Brown's chancellorship.
The Conservatives accuse Mr Brown of planning a "borrowing bombshell that will become a tax bombshell".
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