Villiers: Labour's Budget fails to help people in Barnet cope with the recession

A few days ago, the Chancellor delivered the final Budget of this Parliament, setting out the Labour's plans for taxes and public spending. Chipping Barnet MP, Theresa Villiers, voiced her concern at the large tax rises concealed in the small print and the lack of a credible plan to deal with the crisis in the public finances.

Theresa said: “After the worst recession for 60 years, our economy is still in serious trouble. The economic recovery is very fragile. Many people are still out of work or worried about their jobs, families are still seeing their incomes squeezed and thousands of small firms across the country cannot get the support they need from the banks, despite the billions the taxpayer has spent on bank bail-outs.”

“I believe that most people across Barnet feel worse off than they did five years ago. Gordon Brown is carrying on the same old policies of waste, stealth taxes and debt. For every £4 pounds this Government spends, they have to borrow around £1, because their income is only £3. Anyone who manages their own family finances knows that is not sustainable. We need change to get the country back on its feet. We can’t go on like this.”

“A Conservative Government will set about the work needed to cut the deficit while at the same time protecting vulnerable groups by re-linking the state pension to earnings (funded by raising the retirement age), keeping the winter fuel allowance and free bus passes and protecting the lowest paid in our public services from the freeze necessary for other public sector salaries.”

"What we needed from this budget was real change and help for business and job creation. We need to cut the deficit to keep interest rates lower for longer and provide the economic stability needed to protect jobs, businesses and mortgages in Barnet. Other key reforms that a Conservatives would introduce to help the country recover from recession would be cuts in corporation tax rates. We would also scrap the taxes on the first ten jobs created by new businesses and create thousands of new apprenticeship and training places."