Budget provides a real chance to repair debt (From Harrow Times)

Budget provides a real chance to repair debt

11:13am Friday 30th July 2010 in

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I refer to the recent letter from Gareth Thomas (‘People should feel let down’, Your Views, July 1).

Not even two months in and Gareth has already started making excuses for the Labour council. Why am I not surprised when he put in so much effort to attack the three-star award-winning Conservative council instead of pressing the Labour Government to improve local council funding?

Suddenly he now appears as the champion of Harrow Council.

I really doubt that Gareth cares about the council delivering better services, improving performance or delivering value for money. In a very tribal way, he’s only interested in it being Labour and nothing else.

His letter claimed that “child benefit will be cut and tax credits reduced for families on low and modest incomes”.

To help protect those who are most vulnerable and have the highest level of need, the budget announced that child benefit will be frozen for three years to help fund significant increases in the child tax credit. In another measure, the Government estimates that the 880,000 lowest income taxpayers will be removed from tax altogether.

He said: “Pensioners will be left empty handed.” Yes Gareth, Labour with their £5 billion a year pension raid having destroyed the final-salary pension scheme have indeed left pensioners empty-handed.

The budget however, announced that the basic state pension will be uprated by a triple guarantee of earnings, prices or 2.5 per cent, whichever is highest. That’s no more 50p pension increases.

Labour became addicted to borrowing money and spending it (to the tune of £150bn a year).

Public borrowing is, in essence, taxation deferred, and it is irresponsible and unfair to accumulate substantial debts to fund spending that benefits today’s generation at the expense of subsequent generations.

This budget will rescue the nation’s finances while protecting the vulnerable.

It is a chance to repair 13 years of financial mis-rule which has led to the largest post-war deficit and the largest post-war debt.

Pravin Seedher, Hawthorn Drive, Harrow