Reality Budget or missed the target?
THE money the Chancellor has at his disposal must be spent as frugally as possible so, obviously, there isn’t enough to please everyone. Every demand could be met if we were all prepared for taxes to rise by 50 per cent, but who would vote for that? When I go to the shops, I spend according to what is in my bank account and not what I’d like in an ideal world. It’s called reality.
PHILIP MUNRO, Manchester.
SO Jeremy Hunt has given Scotland an extra £320million in his Budget, all very well – good, in fact – if we knew what the SNP Government will use the money for. However, with absolutely no accountability, I suspect that this ‘windfall’ will merely be spent on more giveaways in an attempt to claw back those lost Yes voters.
A.WRIGHT, Brechin, Angus. THE only way the country can earn more money in tax is for companies to thrive. So why has the Chancellor increased corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent? If companies go bust and fewer people are employed, the overall tax take will go down.
LORY CORdALL, Truro, Cornwall.
THE Chancellor has made a major mistake in raising taxes instead of cutting public spending. Huge savings could be made by dealing with waste and inefficiency in the public sector. By raising corporation, dividend and effectively income tax — by failing to raise thresholds in line with inflation — the Conservatives have put their re-election at risk.
dAVId KILPATRICK, St Albans, Herts.
DO people realise how long it takes and the hard work required to become a surgeon or consultant? I can understand why Jeremy Hunt increased the pension pot for surgeons, consultants, etc – to keep them working in the NHS. Hard work and striving to achieve is being rewarded.
SUzANNE FOSTER, Moray. THE Budget said nuclear energy is to be reclassified as ‘environmentally sustainable’, with the same access to investment incentives as renewables. Good. That will upset the green apostles and the Luddite Scottish Government who rely on unreliable wind and solar to keep the lights on.
CLARK CROSS, West Lothian. AFTER an inspired delivery of the Budget speech by the Chancellor we got the usual tirade from Sir Keir Starmer running down the country. If Labour wins the next General Election, what will happen to the economy? We’ll be sold out to the unions and the EU. dEREK HOWE, Buxted, E. Sussex.
WERE state pensioners mentioned in the Budget? Why are we seen as a non-productive burden to the capitalist economy? Doesn’t our lifetime contribution of work and National Insurance payments count for anything? At the General Election, we’ll pay back the Government in kind.