Budget rhetoric hides poor outlook & higher tax
Press Release :
14 March 2008
Alistair Darling gave a relentlessly upbeat assessment of the UK economy yesterday to a disbelieving parliament. His first budget speech, widely seen as a flop, painted a picture of rising investment and a robust economy, despite the fact that the government missed its key targets on inflation and borrowing and had to cut its outlook for growth.
Ahead of this year’s Budget, Robin Walker, Parliamentary Candidate for Worcester had called on the Chancellor to cut the main rate of corporation tax from 28p to 25p and to abandon the Government’s planned increase in the small companies rate. The Chancellor failed to do so, merely repeating a previously-made announcement that the rate would decline to 28p and but hiding away an increase in the rate for small companies.
Overall business taxes are going up by £1.6 billion and taxes as a whole are rising by £110 for every family in the country.
Commenting on the budget, Robin said:
“Once again we see Labour spin trying to cover their failure to deliver. Once again the British public has seen through it. People are not stupid enough to believe the shine that Darling put on his statement. We can see that the cost of living has gone up and we can feel the tension over the risk of economic recession.”
“Over ten years, Labour have raised our level of indebtedness, both the nation’s and that of people within it. They have increased the cost of the public sector and they have failed to use the vast sums of extra money to improve services – their bad management means that Worcestershire will still only get a 1% increase in government funding, despite inflation running well above that level.”
“Targets have become a nightmare for people across the public sector, who are doing their best to deliver for the public. This government’s endless target setting has tied the hands of the police, damaged the morale of nurses and made teachers’ lives a misery. Perhaps it is appropriate that targets should have become a nightmare for the government as well. They have set themselves targets on inflation, on borrowing and growth and they have failed on all of them.”
“When the global economy was strong, Labour claimed the credit. Now that it is weakening they are trying to plaster over the cracks. Instead of having a surplus to invest when things get tough they have borrowed to the hilt and instead of helping local business in Worcester by cutting tax on small business, they are pushing forward with yet another increase. Families and businesses will be paying more tax just as things get tough. This is the legacy of Gordon Brown’s decade at number 11 and perhaps the only good thing about it is that he will have less time at number 10.”
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