A Budget To Fuel Growth

Yesterday the Chancellor, George Osborne, set out his 2nd budget with plans to reform the economy, to create jobs and support families.

This Budget will put fuel back in the tank of Britain's economy.


Help for families:

- An immediate cut in fuel duty by 1 pence per litre and a delay of April's inflation rise in duty to next January. This means fuel duty is 6 pence lower than it would be under Labour. We are paying for this by putting up taxes on the oil companies while the oil price is high to create a Fair Fuel Stabiliser.
- An increase in the personal allowance from £6,500 to £8,100 over the next two years. This will mean £326 extra for working people and it will lift over a million low paid people out of tax altogether.
- £250 million to help 10,000 first time buyers get on the housing ladder.
- A freeze in Air Passenger Duty this year.
- Money for councils so virtually every council in England will freeze council tax next month.
- A new scheme to allow Gift Aid to be claimed on the contents of charities' collecting tins and street buckets, and support for largest donations with radical reforms to Inheritance Tax - if you leave 10 per cent or more of your estate to charity, then the Government will take 10 per cent off your inheritance tax bill.
- As well as helping in the short term we need to reform our economy to create growth and jobs in the future. The hard truth is that Britain has lost ground in the world economy.

Under Labour manufacturing halved, and growth depended on unsustainable public spending, debt and financial services. We need a new model of growth based on investment, manufacturing and exports - a Britain that makes things again. This Budget started that process, with measures that include:

- An additional 1p cut in corporation tax. In April this year corporation tax will fall from 28% to 26%. It will continue to fall by 1% in each of the following three years reaching 23%. Britain will be competitive again.
- Doubling Entrepreneurs Relief to £10m and sweeping changes to the generosity, simplicity and reach of the Enterprise Investment Scheme, with an increase in the income tax relief available from 20% to 30%.
- An extension of the small business rate relief holiday for another year.
- An additional £100m for new science facilities and more generous tax credits for small business research and development.
- 21 new Enterprise Zones with business rate cuts and new broadband to promote growth across the country.
- A review of the revenue raised by the temporary 50p rate of income tax
- 50,000 additional apprenticeships and 100,000 work placements for young people.
- £3bn for a Green Investment Bank, which will generate an additional £15 billion in private sector investment in green projects and low carbon energy.

Labour Are To Blame For Britain's Debts

Labour are very keen to blame the banks for the country’s financial problems.

Whilst the banks have a great deal to answer, for we shouldn’t forget that Gordon Brown’s reckless spending and borrowing from 2001 onwards is for the most part the reason for the Britain’s huge debts and budget deficit.

Despite this apalling legacy Labour still refuse to apologise.

There is no apology for the longest recession amongst the world’s biggest economies.

There is no apology for the deepest economic contraction in Britain’s history.

And there is no apology for the biggest deficit in the developed world.

Her Majesty's Guide to the Country's Debt

A tongue in cheek but very accurate guide to the county's national debt...

Tory petrol plans might see fuel cut by 10p a litre.

Petrol prices have now reached ridiculous levels, hitting families when times are tough anyway and making us all even more conscious of the amount of tax we have to pay every time we fill up at the pump.

Two years ago the Conservatives proposed a 'fuel stabiliser' policy. Effectively tax on fuel would fall when prices are high and rise again when they fall, thus avoiding huge spikes in fuel costs. Local Labour MPs poured scorn on it at the time but with petrol now a staggering £1.20 a litre, this policy would be a welcome relieve for families, perhaps saving as much as 10p a litre.

Labour has its policies on the economy all wrong

Labour has its policies on the economy all wrong. More taxes on jobs and allowing Britain's debts to continue to mount unchecked is not going to help the country out of recession. Instead Labour’s policies risk more unemployment and higher interest rates. Labour has failed to take the tough decisions on spending before the election and so there will be even higher taxes if they win the election.

The central measure in the Chancellor’s Pre Budget Report was a tax on jobs that hits everyone earning over £20,000. Labour’s hike in National Insurance is also a back door cut to the NHS. With £446 million coming from the NHS budget, Labour plan a real cut in health spending.

A Conservative government will protect health spending - because there are huge challenges facing the NHS in the years ahead - and we will try to avoid Labour's National Insurance rise. Of all Labour's tax rises, it is our priority to avoid their tax on jobs.

The Conservatives understand that people are struggling to find jobs because very few businesses are taking on new staff. To get companies hiring again we should have tax breaks for companies that create new jobs with cuts in National Insurance and Corporation Tax for small companies.

We need a government that will be straight with people on the economy. Last year the Chancellor told us he planned to borrow £38 billion and that the economy would grow 2.5% this year. He now tells us that he plans to borrow £178 billion and that the economy will in fact shrink by 4.75%.

Labour also needs to be honest about the state of the public finances. They are borrowing £1 for every £4 the government spends. Government debt is now over £800 billion and will exceed £1 trillion in the next year. The more debt the government builds up the longer it will take to pay back and the more taxes will have to rise. Unchecked borrowing will also push up interest rates, hitting businesses and homeowners.

By contrast Conservatives have bold plans to deal with the big problems the country faces. Labour are now the party of unemployment - we are the party of new jobs and new opportunities. To deal with Labour's Debt Crisis we have been honest with the British people about the tough decisions we need to take. Unlike Gordon Brown, we won't duck them and treat the British people like fools.

Labour's Spent

All Labour Governments eventually run out of money and last week this one proved that it was no different. The damage that Labour has done to the public finances is truly horrendous. They have saddled future generations with an unprecedented amount of debt; vastly more than in 1976 when Britain was forced to go cap in hand to the IMF and even more than in the aftermath of World War 2.

Gordon Brown once trumpeted that he abided by certain fiscal rules which included public debt not exceeding 40% of Gross Domestic Product. In fact he will end up with borrowing at a staggering 80% of GDP. To get back to his 40% figure may take up to 40 years! These crippling debts will have to be paid off not just by today’s generation but by our children as well, whose futures Gordon Brown has mortgaged.

In 2009 alone Gordon Brown says that he will borrow £175 billion. In last year’s budget he told us this figure would be only £38 billion. Independent analysts suggest that the true figure may exceed £200 billion.

The Government has a track record of getting its numbers wrong. Last year they said the economy would grow by 2.5%, now they say that it will shrink by 3.5%.

What is even more worrying is that the levels of planned government borrowing are based on some very optimistic assumptions about future economic growth. Gordon Brown says that the economy will grow by 1.25% in 2010 and 3.5% the following year. Considering how Labour got their sums so drastically wrong in the past and the fact that independent forecasters predict far worse figures for the future, we must surely worry at the actual amount of borrowing Labour will end up saddling the country with. The IMF predicts that the economy will shrink by over 4% this year and will shrink by nearly half a percent the following year.

Confidence in the economy will not come back unless the Government comes clean about the scale of the problem. It needs to set out a clear programme for showing how the debt will be repaid. Public spending restraint must be at the forefront of such a programme and the Government must prioritise. We cannot afford expensive and unnecessary schemes such as identity cards and we need to do away with the costly and unaccountable quangos that Gordon Brown has spawned. This would save billions.

The key failure in last week’s budget was the Government continuing to spin and deceive about the state of the public finances. No one believes the Government’s figures. This budget can be summed up in one word: Dishonest.

What Britain needs is some straight talking and honesty. I believe that this will only come with a change in government.

Conservative Action to Get Britain Working

Jeremy with Conservative Party Chairman, Caroline Spelman MP

A comprehensive programme to help get Britain's economy back on track was launched yetserday at Southampton Rose Bowl.

Conservative Party Chairman, Caroline Spelman MP and Southampton Parliamentary Candidate, Jeremy Moulton, were at the event to talk about the Conservative action plan to help businesses and families through the economic downturn and to listen to the views of Hampshire businesses.