24 March 2010
Budget 2010: Securing the recovery -
Earlier today the Chancellor Alistair Darling delivered Labour’s 2010 Budget to a packed-out House of Commons setting out the next steps in the government's plan to secure the economic recovery and build strong, sustainable growth.
In our first two reports from Parliament's West Midlands Committee, we emphasised the importance to our region of freeing up credit and effective mechanisms to boost investment in local businesses and to create jobs. I am very pleased that a lot of the Chancellor's initiatives today take up those themes in a positive and practical way.
We have also consistently stressed the importance of affordable housing to people in the West Midlands and Alistair's raising of the threshold for stamp duty was good news. The Conservatives seemed pleased by that announcement, but their smiles seemed to then drain away when the Chancellor said that this boost for first time buyers will be financed by asking people buying houses of £1m or more to pay a bit more. I guess that shows where their priorities lie. Maybe for the same reason they looked a bit crestfallen by the announcement that, in future, Britain will be sharing tax information with Belize - where Lord Ashcroft hangs out.
In his Budget, Alistair clearly set out Labour’s choices. We will secure the recovery – not put it at risk. We will build a future based on growth and jobs – not leave people to a decade of austerity. We have a clear plan to halve the deficit while protecting frontline services – the Conservatives refuse to match our pledge and continue to conceal their plan.
The message from Alistair was clear - we will make these choices in a fair way – standing up for the many, not the few. This is the choice that the country – and people here in Birmingham face in just a few short weeks time.
>>> Read more about Budget 2010 online here and here
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