MP reacts to Budget speech

THIS year’s Budget prompted Loughborough MP Nicky Morgan to air her views on Brexit.

She said the country must “retain the UK’s historic commitment to openness, to trade, to investment and to migration”.

“Global Britain must be a reality and not just a slogan. The economic case for leaving the EU has always rested and continues to rest on openness and we must not allow the Brexit process to mark the start of a descent into economic nationalism.

“It is only through productivity growth that the Chancellor has any hope of meeting the demands for additional spending on welfare, social care, prisons, the NHS, public sector pay and Brexit contingency measures without damaging the Government’s hard-won reputation for fiscal credibility.”

Mrs Morgan took a sideswipe at those who have promised a “pot of gold” under the Brexit rainbow.

She said: “For the avoidance of doubt let us for the thousandth time dismiss the idea that a Brexit-induced fiscal windfall will relieve the pressures on our health service.

“There are no easy choices and there is no pot of gold under the Brexit rainbow. Those who persist with this myth may win short-term approval from certain quarters of the media but at the cost of long-term damage to trust in politics.”

Mrs Morgan welcomed the Chancellor’s announcements on technology investment, tax and his handling of the public finances.