Tomorrow is the start of Advent and whilst we all begin to wonder with increasing urgency what we can get our family and friends for Christmas, the Chancellor is busy preparing his Autumn Statement. We still remain in challenging economic times, with uncertainty in the Eurozone hitting our exports and business confidence. This limits what gifts the Chancellor can give.
Yet there are reasons for economic festive cheer. The UK economy has bounced back into growth, record numbers of people are in employment and interest rates remain at a historic low, helping 7.5 million mortgage paying families. There is more to do - it will be a generation until Labour’s debts are paid back - but we are making real progress.
Within these economic constraints, there are still some areas in which I hope the Chancellor will act in his Autumn Statement:
I have long lobbied for a cut in fuel duty. With 12 hikes in just 13 years from the last Labour Government the motorist has suffered enough at the pumps. Thankfully, since the election, we have cancelled Labour’s further planned 6 hikes, and delivered a 1p duty cut. It is expected that the Chancellor will freeze fuel duty, but I’d like to see a further cut. This would help the economy, motorists and consumer confidence.
With the challenge of online retail and home working, we need to reform business rates to secure the future of our High Streets and office blocks.
For too long the last Government hammered the beer drinker. I have supported CAMRA’s campaign to see action on beer duty that has so damaged our brewing and pub industry.
Since the General Election we have frozen Council Tax, supporting those on fixed incomes. However, the wrecked economy has meant tough decisions for Local Government too as adult social care costs rocket, shortly set to account for 70% of Swindon Council spending. We need cross party support for a long term solution to meet this cost.
This just scratches the surface of what we would like to do, however the pot is small. This is why it is so vital that we tackle tax avoidance. Everyone should pay their fair share and it is disgraceful that companies like Amazon and Starbucks pass on their tax burden to ordinary families. Our action to close loopholes will have protected £10bn of revenue by 2015. We are getting tough too on individuals or companies who dodge tax. Recent investigations and court cases have reclaimed a staggering £4bn from individuals and £9bn from companies. I wholly support this tough approach and the Chancellor must not stop until every penny of tax due is collected to support those in our society who most need it.
