Darling's Budget - a missed opportunity
Giving an initial response after the chancellor, Alistair Darling, had delivered this year's budget, Serena Tierney, Parliamentary Spokesman for Mid Sussex Lib Dems said:
"The biggest disappointment in this Budget is its failure to sort out Britain 's unfair tax system or to put money into people's pockets to help them make it through this recession.
" Britain 's taxes are too heavy on those who can least afford it and too easy to avoid for those who know how.
"The new 50p rate will further encourage the very wealthy to avoid tax unless we tackle capital gains tax and other unfair loopholes they exploit."
"This is a budget full of missed opportunities and dressed up as helping the least well-off in our communities while doing little to address their real needs. I would prefer to have seen the Chancellor seize the opportunity to make radical changes to the tax system to improve the finances of lower and middle income families. Vince Cable's bold proposal to increase personal allowances to £10,000 would have put an extra £700 in the pocket of most families in Mid Sussex and lifted over 6000 out of paying tax at all.
"There are some small measures that will be of direct help to some people locally. I welcome the news that pensioners will be guaranteed a rise of at least 2.5% next year, even if inflation is well below that. Of course, it still does not restore pensions to anything like the level that they would be at if the last Tory government had not abolished the link to average earnings.
"The increase in the amount of savings that can be ignored when deciding whether someone qualifies for Pension Credit is not enough to compensate for the loss of interest on those savings, so it is small comfort. And it does nothing for those many more whose savings have reduced their income without but who do not qualify for Pension Credit.
"It is also helpful that the higher rate of winter fuel allowance is being maintained for another year. This will help the pensioners amongst the 14,500 people in Mid Sussex who are currently living in fuel poverty - spending more than 10% of their income on heating - but it does nothing to help the other, younger people who may be disabled, sick or have small children.
"I am also pleased to see that the caring responsibilities of grandparents of working age will now count towards their state pension but this does nothing to help carers with the loss of their Carer's Allowance when they reach pension age. This affects thousands of people in Mid Sussex and is one of the most frequently-raised issues in my postbag.
"I am most disappointed to see the government continuing to plough huge sums into Child Trust Funds that will deliver tiny benefits when the child reaches 18 rather than spending that money where it will make the most difference - in reducing class sizes in first schools.
"Nor will students or their parents welcome a budget that leaves them paying ever-increasing tuition fees and will see students leaving university with average debts of over £20,000.
"The investment in green technologies is welcome but these are very small sums by comparison with the money ploughed into the banks or into supporting the nuclear industry."
"The greatest contribution this budget has made to recycling is in the re-announcement of existing initiatives. What a shame the government will use so much fresh paper in doing so."