Putting the next generation first. That was the key message of this year’s Budget which was delivered by the Chancellor George Osborne on Wednesday.
And what exactly, you might, ask is the Government doing to put the next generation first. To start with, we have created one of the strongest economies in the world thanks to our long-term economic plan. We took the difficult decisions needed to pay down our debts and reduce the deficit so that this burden would not fall onto the next generation.
Secondly, we are getting more people into work and allowing them to keep more of the money that they earn. In Swindon alone we have seen 8,300 more people get into work since 2010 and 91,136 people in our town have benefited from an income tax cut since 2010. To further assist working people, we have frozen fuel duty for the sixth year in a row, a saving of £75 a year to the average driver and £270 a year to a small business with a van.
It is by supporting businesses and enterprise that we are helping to create these jobs. For small businesses, the Chancellor announced that the Government will permanently double small business rate relief and increase the maximum threshold for relief, meaning 600,000 small businesses will never pay business rates. To ensure fairness, we are modernising our tax rules to close loopholes that have allowed many large international companies to reduce their tax burdens to close to zero.
Thirdly, we are introducing a new Lifetime ISA to help the next generation to save their hard-earned money. For people under 40, they will no longer have to choose between saving for a first home or saving for retirement – the Government is going to give them money to do both. For every £4 saved, the Government will give £1; meaning that if you put in £4,000 a year, the Government will give you £1,000 every year until you’re 50.
And finally my own personal highlight from the Budget was the pledge to double sports funding in primary schools and provide funds for longer school days in secondary schools so that pupils are offered a wider range of activities. This has been something that I have campaigned for tirelessly in Parliament and I am thrilled that serious steps are being taken to tackle childhood obesity and promote sport.
The Chancellor made it clear that we have to be prepared for the risks that are posed as we face an uncertain global economy. However thanks to our plan, we have an economy growing faster than any other major advanced economy in the world, a labour market delivering the highest employment in our history, and a deficit down by two-thirds and on course for a surplus. At the same time we’re cutting income tax for 31 million people and taking 1.3 million of the lowest-paid out of income tax.
This was a budget for the next generation. A budget to make Britain fit for the future.
