The Chancellor has delivered the 2012 Autumn Budget. The main message is that we are successfully dealing with the deficit – it’s falling in this year and every year. However, the economic situation is tough; a lack of global confidence, problems in the Eurozone and rising factory prices have all contributed to lower growth forecasts. To boost growth we have once again extended the small business rate relief and cut corporation tax again to the lowest rate in any Western economy. Our support for business is paying dividends, with a million new private sector jobs created since 2010.
The cost of living is a real concern for local residents, and we have taken decisive action. I am delighted that we have scrapped Labour’s planned 3p rise in fuel duty - a huge relief to motorists who saw 12 fuel duty hikes in 13 years under Labour. This is an area I repeatedly campaigned on, as the cost of fuel has such an impact on both hard-working families and small businesses. We have once again increased the Income Tax threshold, meaning those on the minimum wage will see their income tax bill halved. In addition, the basic state pension will increase by £2.70, a rate greater than inflation.
The need for fair taxes was also paramount. We have increased resources in HMRC to clamp down on tax evasion, with an 80% increase in prosecutions and thousands of tax loopholes closed. We are also leading on international efforts to tackle the high profile cases of multinational companies such as Starbucks, Amazon and Google. Interestingly, Starbucks this week announced they would change their arrangements and pay their fair share of UK tax - a reflection of the power of consumers who stayed away from Starbucks and forced them to act.
We inherited a record deficit and thanks to the tough action we have taken, we have saved a staggering £37bn in debt interest payments - the equivalent of what we spend on our entire defence budget. The economic recovery is taking longer because the damage is worse than we feared. But the economy is healing. The last thing we should do is put all this progress at risk by borrowing more to spend more, which seems to be Labour’s prescription. We cannot turn back now.
On a lighter note, I would like to wish Jahmene Douglas the very best of luck in this weekend’s X-Factor final. On Wednesday we saw amazing scenes with his visit to Swindon to turn on the town centre Christmas lights and then to Asda Walmart in North Swindon where he worked until this summer. The whole town has got behind him and he certainly is making Swindon proud!
