Budget Provides Relief for Workers, Savers, and Drinkers

Giles McNeill, Conservative West Lindsey District Councillor for the Nettleham Ward, has welcomed a the announcements in the 2014 budget statement today which will save money for local residents.

George Osbourne MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer

Earners will find the personal tax allowance will rise to £10,500 from April 2015, cutting taxes for 25 million people and taking an additional 290,000 people out of paying income tax altogether. The rises in the personal allowance since 2010, implemented by the Coalition Government, mean that by April next year a typical, basic rate, taxpayer will be paying £805 less in tax than they would have been, with 3,200,000 people taken out of income tax altogether. The 2014 Budget measures do not result in any additional higher rate taxpayers. The full benefit will be passed on to higher rate taxpayers – everyone earning up to £100,000 will gain equally and will pay less tax because of this tax cut.

Meanwhile, savers will benefit from merging the cash ISA and stocks & shares ISA into a single New ISA with an annual limit of £15,000. Over 400,000 ISA holders in the East Midlands could benefit from the New ISA. Savers will also be glad to hear the ten pence starting rate of tax for savings income will be eliminated and, this zero rate will be extended to the first £5,000 of savings income, benefiting 1.5 million low-income savers.

In the biggest reform of pensions taxation in a century, the Chancellor announced that no one would be forced to buy an annuity if they don’t want to and there will be no punitive fifty per cent tax rate if you try and take more than your tax free lump sum.

Drinkers will find savings as the tax on beer will be cut by a penny a pint, helping local pubs. Duties on Scotch whisky and other spirits will be frozen, as will duty on ordinary cider. The duty escalator for wine, meanwhile, has been abolished. Cllr. McNeill said:

"The budget contains real measures that are designed to help people across the country with their cost of living. Those in work will take home more of their pay, with the increase in the personal allowance. Those who save will find their hard-erned savings will be taxed less. The duty paid on beer has been cut by a penny on the pint for the second year running.  

"Whilst the economic situation is beginning to show real signs of improvement, the parlous state of the nation's finances - the legacy of the last Labour Government - mean that the Chancellor has and will continue to make the difficult decisions which benefit hard-working people across Britain and contribute to the long-term economic viability."

Budget 2013: Local Councillor Welcomes Tax Cutting Measures

West Lindsey District Councillor Giles McNeill, Conservative (Nettleham Ward) has welcomed the 2013 Budget delivered by Chancellor George Osbourne, particularly the bold set of tax cuts announced for businesses and employers in West Lindsey.

A new Employment Allowance will take £2,000 off the National Insurance bill of every employer – open to businesses, charities and community amateur sports clubs. This will help 60,000 employers in the East Midlands, taking 30,000 out of having to pay any tax on jobs at all.

 Employers will be able to hire one extra person on £22,400 a year, or four people working full time on the minimum wage, without paying any National Insurance.

A further corporation tax cut to 20 per cent in April 2015 will see the UK having the lowest corporation tax rate in the G20, which sends a clear signal that Britain is open for business. 

Stamp Duty on shares in companies quoted on growth markets like AIM and the ISDX Growth Market has also been abolished. This will benefit around 1,000 UK quoted companies – a transaction tax removed here as 11 EU countries are looking to introduce a sweeping financial transaction tax. 

Cllr. McNeill commented:

“This is fantastic news for businesses in the Nettleham Ward and across West Lindsey. The Employment Allowance will make it easier and cheaper for firms to hire people – an employer could hire four people working full time on the minimum wage without paying any National Insurance.  

“These and the other business measures in the Budget are exactly what businesses need to hire, to expand and to grow.”

The amount people can earn before paying income tax - the personal allowance - will rise to £10,000 in April 2014.

Hard working people in Nettleham, Greetwell, Riseholme and Grange-de-Lings will be over £700 better off every year than when this Government came to office. Almost three million more of the lowest paid will pay no income tax at all.

This tax cut will benefit an estimated 35,874 people in the Gainsborough constituency. In April 2014, 430 people will be lifted out of income tax, taking the total number of people in the Gainsborough constituency lifted out of tax by Conservatives to an 4,079.

Labour want to reintroduce the 10p tax band that they abolished. Conservatives in Government have now turned Labour’s 10p tax band into a zero pence tax band. Every person paying tax at the 10p rate when Labour doubled it, will now be paying no income tax at all on that income.

Cllr. McNeill commented:

“This Budget has delivered real support for people who aspire to work hard and get on. Around 2,000 people in the Nettleham Ward will be over £700 better off every year. With this landmark tax cut, Conservatives have cut tax bills for 24 million people”.

The Government will also make ex-gratia payments of £5,000 to Equitable Life policyholders who bought their annuity before 1992, the Chancellor has revealed in his budget statement.

The Government will also make an extra £5,000 available to those on the lowest incomes who are on pension credit. There is no legal obligation to make either of these payments.

Cllr. McNeill welcomed the news, saying:

“I am proud that two years ago Conservatives in Government set aside £1.5 billion to help so many of my constituents who had been let down when Equitable Life failed.

“Now we are helping another 9,000 people across the country.

“It took nearly a decade for the last Labour Government to own up to their responsibilities. We acted immediately. This will make a huge difference to the many older people who were affected in the Nettleham Ward and across West Lindsey.”

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has cancelled Labour’s planned fuel duty rise in the Budget, saving 2.7 million motorists in the East Midlands over £170 every year.

Because of the action we have taken, pump prices will now be 13 pence per litre lower than if Labour were in power. For a Vauxhall Astra that is £7 less every time families fill up the tank – or £9 less for a Mondeo. A van driver will save £340 per year and a haulier will save £5,200 per year.

Fuel duty will now have been frozen for nearly three and half years - the longest freeze in duty for over 20 years.

Cllr. McNeill welcomed the news, saying:

“This is a Budget that is delivering for families who want to work hard and get on in life.

 “Scrapping another of Labour’s planned fuel duty increases will make a huge difference to the 2.7 million drivers in the East Midlands region.

“This Government has frozen fuel duty for three and a half years - longer than any Government in the last two decades - and saving the average family £7 every time they fill up their car.”

Particularly welcome was the Chancellor of the Exchequer announcing he would scrap Labour’s planned increase in beer duty, and instead, go further, cutting the duty by a penny, meaning beer will be 1p per pint cheaper after Sunday night – 4p per pint cheaper than it would have been under Labour.

Cllr. McNeill welcomed the news, saying:

“Labour increased beer duty by sixty per cent and left our pubs fighting for survival. Nettleham is fortunate to have four pubs – the Brown Cow, The Black Horse, The Plough and the White Hart.

“We’ve not only scrapped Labour’s planned increase – we’ve actually cut it.

“It is great news for beer-drinkers, it is great for breweries, and it’s great for 4,525 pubs across the East Midlands.”

Chancellor Announces Funding for Lincoln Eastern Bypass

The Chancellor George Osbourne MP has announced, as part of his autumn statement, that the Lincoln Eastern Bypass is one of thirty-five infrastructure projects around the country set to receive funding.

A 'best and final' bid for £50m, towards the expected £98m cost of the Bypass, was submitted by Lincolnshire County Council to the Department for Transport in September.

Executive Member for Highways and Transportation, Cllr. William Webb, said:

"We are absolutely delighted to hear this news from the Chancellor. Our hopes and aspirations have finally been confirmed and so much hard work has been carried out with our partner authorities to try and bring the bypass to fruition. We have been working towards this for almost 20 years and it’s wonderful that we can start taking the final steps needed to make the bypass a reality.

"The announcement means that we have the additional £50m that is needed and that we have 'conditional approval' for the bypass. We look forward to seeing the full details, so we can start carrying out the additional work required to fulfil these conditions and understand the government’s funding timescale. It is possible that construction could start as soon as 2014."

The Lincoln Eastern Bypass was identified as the best solution to improve traffic flow in the city and it will have tremendous positive economic benefits for the county and East Midlands as a whole.

A bid for funding successfully made it through an initial ‘expression of interest’ stage in February. Lincolnshire County Council is making a contribution of £14m and, following an Executive meeting on Monday, 15th August, is acting as 'guarantor' to underwrite the £34m third party funded element. This meant that if the bid was successful, construction could start far sooner, without the authority needing to wait for details of the developer contributions. Cllr.Webb added: 

"The county council had already agreed this summer to guarantee the outstanding balance in the short term, so we could move forward more quickly. Today’s announcement by government confirms we are now in an excellent position to do this.

"We are of course still working towards solutions to improve the highways in other parts of Lincolnshire as well."

Chancellor Announces Reform of Queen's Accounts

The Queen's accounts are to be subject to full National Audit Office scrutiny and open to questioning by the Commons' Public Accounts Committee, in a radical reform of royal finances unveiled by Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne MP.  
Mr. Osborne said that his Sovereign Grant Bill will provide for the Sovereign Grant accounts to be audited by the comptroller and auditor general and laid before Parliament, where they will be subject to the Public Accounts Committee.

Public Accounts Committee Chairman, Mrs. Margaret Hodge MP described the move as 'historic', adding:

"It is hugely important for the future stability of the monarchy and its role in our constitutional settlement that we should modernise our structures, so that they are fit for purpose in today's world and properly meet the legitimate expectations of the taxpayer and the general public.

"This puts, for the first time, those parts of the royal finances that come directly from the taxpayer each year on a transparent basis, consistent with other public expenditure.

"The PAC has a long and well-established history in effective public scrutiny and we will, I am sure, approach these new responsibilities in our traditional way, working objectively and thoroughly on behalf of Parliament and the taxpayer."

Gainsborough Parliamentarian Edward Leigh MP, and Mrs. Hodges' immediate predecessor, said the committee had, under his chairmanship and that of Mrs. Hodge, fought to improve scrutiny of royal finances but added:

"I never thought this day would come."

"This will be tough for the royal household – there is no doubt about that – and there will be strong questioning in the committee, as there is on all these subjects, but that is absolutely right because that is what we are about: accountability. I think they have absolutely nothing to fear."

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls MP welcomed the change and remarked that it was vital Parliament should properly scrutinise such significant sums of revenue.

Conservative economic secretary Ms Justine Greening MP, an accountant, said the Bill brings accountability arrangements for the royal household into line with those for other government departments. She commented:

"Sovereign grant expenditure will be audited annually by the comptroller and auditor general and those reports will be laid before Parliament. Should it wish to do so, the Committee of Public Accounts will also be able to scrutinise grant expenditure and will be able to invite the royal household to give evidence."

West Lindsey Extend Business Rate Relief for Small Business

With Small Business Rate Relief eligible ratepayers pay no rates on properties with rateable values up to £6,000, with a tapered relief of between 100% and 0% for properties with rateable values between £6,001 and £12,000.

In the budget on Wednesday, 23rd March 2011, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the extension of the temporary small business rate relief to  Sunday, 30th September 2012 which was previously due to end on Friday, 30th September 2011.

The measure doubles the usual rate of relief so that ratepayers with rateable values below £6,000 pay no rates at all for the period, while ratepayers with rateable values between £6,000 and not more than £12,000 receive tapered relief from 100% - 0%.

There are no other adjustments to the scheme. For example, the eligibility criteria remain the same. There will be no changes to the multiplier so those businesses that do not fall within the eligibility criteria of the scheme will see no change in their bills. The government is making this change to the Small Business Rate Relief scheme to provide help with the fixed costs of starting and running a small business as the economy starts growing again.

Once the legislation has been put in place all those who currently receive small business rate relief will receive revised bills. In the meantime small businesses will need to carry on paying thier instalments. Current collection and enforcement procedures will continue to apply to ratepayers who miss scheduled instalments.

For more information you can phone the Business Rates Team on 01529 414424.

YouGov Poll Shows 83% Support For Non-Universal Child Benefit Measure

A poll by YouGov for The Sun seems to have excited people over the headline figure of 83% backing the child benefit changes last night.  However, the actual story is more nuanced.

The principle of limiting Child Benefit so that people on higher incomes do not receive it is hugely popular.  83% of respondents supporting it, with 15% opposed.  The question though, was about the principle of the policy.

YouGov asked about the practicalities of the policy, and the way that a couple both earning £30,000 would keep child benefit, while a couple where only one worked and earned £44,000 would not.  41% of people agreed that this was a fair compromise given the cost of fully means testing child benefit, but 46% thought it was unfair and that the policy should be based on a proper means-test.  So the principle of the policy is extremely popular, but people are split over the implementation of it.

A lot of assumptions are being made in the media and elsewhere that the 15% who oppose this measure are the same 15% or so of people who will be directly affected.  This is a lazy assumption. An assumption that is almost certainly not true.

Obviously in most cases people who suffer from a policy are more likely to oppose it and people who benefit from it are more likely to support it, but it is rarely if ever so clear cut. There are no income cross breaks in the YouGov table, but looking at the other cross breaks, 21% of Labour supporters oppose the idea, compared to 9% of Conservative supporters. 18% of ABC1s oppose it, but so do 10% of C2DEs.

Chancellor Announces Bold Changes to Child Benefit

© The Conservative Party

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne MP, has unveiled a bold plan to get Britain's ballooning benefits bill back under control, while introducing fair play into the financing of the welfare state.
Today in his keynote speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, the Chancellor announced that the Coalition Government will introduce a new £500 a week cap on welfare benefits, designed to ensure that workless households no longer receive thousands of pounds in benefits more than the average working family receives in pay.

At the same time, child benefit will be withdrawn from households paying tax at the higher rate, to ensure that people on low incomes are no longer taxed to provide child benefit for those with bigger salaries.

The changes mean that household benefit payments will be capped near the median earned income after tax and National Insurance for working families - around £500 per week by the time of implementation in 2013.

The cap will apply to combined income derived from benefits including Jobseekers Allowance, Income Support, Employment Support Allowance, housing and council tax benefits, Child Benefit, and Carers Allowance. Benefits like Social Fund loans and free school meals are not affected, and people with Disability Living Allowance and war widows will also be excluded.

The withdrawal of Child Benefit from higher rate taxpayers - saving an estimated £1 billion a year -will also apply from 2013, administered through the tax system. There are currently 1.2 million households where higher rate tax is applied which qualify for child benefit. The 6.6 million families with no higher rate taxpayers who receive the benefit will remain unaffected by the change. The Chancellor said:

"If the welfare state is going to gain the trust of the British people, it needs to reflect the British sense of fair play. So for the first time, we will introduce a limit on the total amounts of benefit any one family can receive; and the limit will be set according to this very simple principle: unless they have disabilities to cope with, no family should get more from living on benefits than the average family gets from going out to work."

As for child benefits, which cost taxpayers about £12 billion a year, the Chancellor declared:

"I understand that most higher rate taxpayers are not the super-rich. But a system that taxe working people at higher rates only to give it back in child benefit is very difficult to justify at a time like this.

"And it's very difficult to justify taxing people on low incomes to pay for the child benefit of those earning so much more than them.

"We have got to be tough but fair, and that's why we will withdraw child benefit from households with a higher rate taxpayer. When the debts left by Labour threaten our economy, when our welfare costs are out of control, this measure makes sense."

Edward Leigh & John PughTo Advise George Osbourne and The Treasury

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osbourne, has asked Edward Leigh MP and John Pugh MP to act as advisors on improving accountability to Parliament. They will provide independent advice, support and challenge to the Treasury and the activities it is undertaking that are aimed at improving financial management across government.

Their combined knowledge and experience from time spent on the Treasury Select Committee and Public Accounts Committee will be a great asset to the Treasury as it acts to strengthen financial discipline across the public sector.

Key areas of their remit will be:

• Input to the Treasury’s newly formed Financial Management Advisory Panel, which brings external challenge to the development and implementation of a new financial management strategy for central government;
• To act as champions for modernising the public spending information that Parliament receives in order to improve transparency;
• To advise on the Government’s approach to the management of strategic financial risks in public service delivery; and
• To provide independent assurance and advice to relevant projects as they are initiated and progressed.

Mr Leigh and Mr Pugh will provide an important independent perspective on how the Treasury is progressing against its long-term financial management strategy for government.

Press Give Verdict on Emergency Budget

The national newspapers have this morning given their verdict on chancellor George Osborne's emergency budget.

The Sun calls it a 'recovery masterplan,' whilst the Guardian says it promises 'pain now, more pain later.' The Daily Mail says that the middle-class will bear the brunt of Osborne's 'savage' budget, and the Financial Times says the package of spending cuts and tax rises is 'Osborne's kill or cure budget.'

Earlier, the Labour party seized on Osborne's decision to raise Value Added Tax (VAT) by 2.5% to 20% from Tuesday 4th January 2011 as evidence that the government's budget will hit the poorest hardest, accusing the Liberal Democrats of going back on pre-election campaigning against a possible rise in VAT by the Tories.

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne
and Prime Minister David Cameron

Writing directly to supporters, Prime Minister David Cameron, said:

"I'm not going to hide it from you - what the coalition has announced is tough. But let's be clear, it's also entirely necessary and entirely unavoidable. Never forget - Labour left us with one of the worst economic inheritances imaginable. They racked up one of the biggest budget deficits in Europe - with the government borrowing one pound for every four it spends - and they doubled the national debt.

"Giles, in this emergency Budget I believe you have the measure of this government. Will it provoke debate? Certainly. Will it cost our coalition some popularity? Possibly. But is this the right thing to do - for the health of our economy, for the poorest in our society, for the future of our country? I passionately believe it is."

Conservative Conference Video - Day 1 Highlights

'Nasty' Nick Clegg has Set-Up an Attack Unit to Challenge the Conservatives

As the Liberal Democrat conference opened yesterday in Bournemouth it emerged that Nick Clegg MP, the Liberal Democrat Leader, has established an anti-Tory attack unit.

Mr Clegg accused David Cameron of being a con-man:

“David Cameron is the conman of British politics," he will say, "He’s put the ‘con’ back into the Conservatives, just telling people what they want to hear.

"[H]e wants to fix the broken society, yet he’s promised tax breaks to the rich. He talks the talk on the environment, yet he seeks out climate change deniers as new allies in Europe. He claims he wants a new politics, yet he won’t even own up to whether or not his big donors pay full British taxes. He says he’ll balance the nation's books, yet his most eye-catching proposal is raising the cost of salads in the House of Commons canteen.”

Chris Huhne MP (Home Affairs spokesman) has been charged with attacking the Shadow Chancellor:

"George Osborne who, with the best will in the world, has never done a job, never run a budget, never hired nor fired. He’s someone who has clearly got a very good education but doesn’t actually have that experience of the real world that Vince Cable so evidently does have. His inexperience on the most important issue of the election is going to be a real weak spot for the Conservatives.”

A Liberal Democrat Freedom of Information request was behind Friday's Channel 4 News report that six flagship Conservative pledges would cost fifty-three billion pounds.

The volume of the Liberal Democrat attacks on the Conservative Party reflects an increasing fear that many of their parliamentarians will be ousted by Conservative Parliamentary Candidates next year. The Liberal Democrats leadership has clearly been panicked by the defeats suffered in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset in the local elections in June by an increasingly sophisticated Conservative campaign machine.

The overall strategy thus looks very confused. On Thursday it was reported they were targeting Labour voters but Vince Cable's assertive talk of deep cuts in public spending is unlikely to appeal to Labour's heartlands. Given the weakness of the Brown-led Labour Government it is surprising that they are not doing better.

Liberal Democrats activists are voting with their feet. On Friday James Keeley, formerly Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Skipton and Ripon joined the Conservatives. Fifty Liberal Democrat councillors have defected to the Conservatives since David Cameron became Conservative leader.

It is noteworthy that the Liberal Democrats are going nasty at the same time as Eric Pickles' strategy of 'lovebombing' Liberal/Conservative marginals bears such handsome fruit. Locally we have also seen the nastiness that has been allowed to develop in the Liberal Democrats on West Lindsey District Council which culminated in Jackie Brockway's defection and the Saxilby By-Election last month.

Surgical Scalpel not Chainsaw Massacre.

Today the Prime Minister Gordon Brown is going to address the Trades’ Union Congress in Liverpool. If reports that are leaking out are to be believed he is going to start talking about cuts to public services.

Shadow Chancellor, George Osbourne has been on Sky News this morning and said: “Let's remember for months after months I've come into this studio and had a good vigorous debate about why we need to cut spending.

“We have made the argument that the national debt is a huge problem, and this is the huge issue in the recovery - how do we get the debt under control and protect our front line services so we can get the economy growing again.

“It's been a hard fought battle but I think today after months of fighting Gordon Brown's about to give in.”

Labour are desperate to paint a Cameron-led Conservative government as a group who will slash and burn their way through Whitehall. Yesterday Lord Mandelson began to soften the ground for the Prime Minister’s Policy u-turn and lay out the new electoral battleground that Labour must believe they can win on. In an address yesterday to leading left-wing think tank Progress Mandelson said: “The Tories and their friends are yearning for people to think that because there is a need for public spending constraint in the future we face an era of deep, savage, indiscriminate across-the-board spending cuts whoever is in power. The Tories contemplate this with thinly disguised zeal because as a matter of principle they want to create a ‘small state’. We, in contrast, will continue to work hard to create the economic conditions that will enable us to maintain frontline service delivery.”

What a load of rubbish. I spoke to the Rt. Hon. Ken Clarke, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on Saturday afternoon and he affirmed that the Conservative Party would be surgical in their approach of bringing the public purse back under control, that the pledge to increase spending on the NHS, in real terms, by point two percent remained firm and necessary with an aging population. We discussed a number of other issues and I was very impressed at his grasp of what needs to happen, his understanding of the dangers presented by a ‘double-whammy’ of spending cuts from the Treasury and reversal of quantitative easing (printing money) by the Bank of England.

In the final analysis I trust the Conservative who delivered a tremendous economic legacy squandered by Labour in the last twelve years.

Sarkozy Slams Brown's VAT Cut & Economic "Mistakes"

Nicolas Sarkozy has become the latest world leader to condemn Gordon Brown’s decision to reduce VAT in an attempt to tackle the recession. The French President said Brown’s VAT cut had “absolutely not worked” and stressed he would not repeat Britain’s economic “mistakes”.

M. Sarkozy joins a host of high-profile figures who have condemned Brown’s economic policy, including the Chief Economist of the IMF, the Finance Minister of Germany, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, and the CEOs of Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencers.

George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, stressed,

“We said at the time that Brown’s flagship VAT cut would only make things worse and would be an expensive failure. That view is now echoed not just by British retailers, but by foreign governments, including France, Germany and Holland.

“Gordon Brown claims to have saved the world. It would appear that world leaders increasingly disagree.”

Labour's Debt Crisis Campaign Launched

The Conservatives have today launched a nationwide advertising campaign to highlight the human consequences of Labour’s Debt Crisis.

The campaign includes a poster and an online film and shows a four week old baby alongside the slogan ‘Dad’s Nose. Mum’s Eyes. Gordon Brown’s Debt’.

Gordon Brown’s answer to the crisis has been to borrow even more money, taking our national debt to record levels. As a result a new born baby will come in the world saddled with a debt of £17,000.

Speaking at the launch, David Cameron said:

“We’ve got to stop this Government before they bankrupt our economy and bankrupt our children’s future.”

And he added:

“In the Spring, they will have another budget. And I’m really worried they’re going to do it all over again.”

Download Labour's Debt Crisis Report.

Plans to freeze council tax for West Lindsey residents – saving £221

Conservative proposals to help families and pensioners from soaring cost of living

Hard-pressed local residents across West Lindsey could benefit from lower council tax, under national plans which have been drawn up by Conservatives. Taxpayers in Scotland benefited from a council tax freeze this year, thanks to a deal struck between Scottish local authorities and the Scottish Executive. But those living south the border were not so lucky.

The new Conservative proposal involves a partnership with local councils, giving them extra support to deliver a council tax freeze in the first two years of a Conservative Government.

• If a council keeps its council tax bill rise to 2.5% or less, then central government will provide sufficient additional resources to fund a further, additional 2.5% reduction in council tax bills.

• Each council will be completely free to accept or reject this offer. Those that accept the offer will be able to give their taxpayers a complete freeze, or even reduction, for two years in a row.

• Across West Lindsey the value of a council tax freeze would be equivalent to saving £221 over the two years. Under Labour, council tax has soared by 116% over the last ten years, taking the average Band D bill to £1476

The cost to central government of reducing council tax would be funded from savings from cutting central spending on public sector consultants and advertising, and not from the overall local government budget. The Labour Government is now the second biggest advertiser in Britain, spending five times more than Tescos. It has also been slammed for the irresponsible and expensive use of consultancy firms, on top of civil servants.

Giles McNeill said:

“Under Labour, council tax has soared across the country, pushing up the cost of living. Families and pensioners facing the economic squeeze cannot afford yet more tax rises from Gordon Brown.

“The next Conservative Government will work with local councils to freeze council tax for at least two years.

“Instead of rising council tax bills year after year under Labour, millions of families will get help at the time they need it most. Conservatives will not leave people to struggle with the credit crunch on their own.”

Video Blog No. 5 - Conservative Conference

A Two Year Council Tax Freeze

Conservatives will freeze Council Tax for two years.

Under Labour council tax bills have more than doubled.

In 1997 the average Band D bill was £688. This year the average bill is £1,374.

It’s time the Government tightened its belt like the rest of the country. Conservatives will slash wasteful spending on Government advertising and expensive private sector consultants – and with the co-operation of local councils, use the money to freeze your council tax bill.

Instead of rising council tax bills under Labour, millions of families
will get help at the time they need it most.

Conservatives policies to help families cope with the rising cost of living:

HELP AT THE PUMPS
We will introduce a Fair Fuel Stabiliser − when fuel prices go up, fuel duty would fall.

HELP FOR FAMILIES
As we save money on wasteful welfare, we will abolish Labour’s couple penalty in the tax credits system – giving 1.8 million couples an extra £2,000 a year.

HELP FOR FIRST-TIME BUYERS
We will permanently abolish Stamp Duty for first-time buyers on purchases up to £250,000 − nine out of ten first-time buyers will pay no Stamp Duty at all, saving an average of £2,000 each.

HELP WITH YOUR BILLS
We will cut the energy and gas bills of up to four million people by £100 by reforming Post Office Accounts to allow families without bank accounts to access cheaper tariffs.

HELP FOR MOTORISTS
We will oppose Labour’s new tax on family cars, which will hit 1 million owners of family cars bought up to 7 years ago with tax rises of up to £250.

Video Blog No. 4 - Conservative Conference

Bad news Budget: £110 extra in taxes on families across West Lindsey

Giles McNeill giveshis analysis of Government’s tax and spending plans



Giles McNeill, Nettleham Parish Councillor and Prospective District Council Candidate, this week delivered his verdict on the Budget which sets out the Government’s plans for taxes and public spending. Giles highlighted a series of areas where local residents across West Lindsey will lose out:

• Clobbering responsible drinkers: Instead of targeting irresponsible binge drinkers, responsible drinkers are being hit with inflation-busting increases in alcohol duties, raising £1.5 billion in extra taxes over the next three years.

• Little help for pensioners: The Winter Fuel Allowance has been increased for the first time in five years. But the increase is only a one-off for this year. Meanwhile, the burden of council tax bills is set to rise by another £1.2 billion this year, with council tax rises coming on top of hikes in previous years.

• Harder to get onto the housing ladder: This Budget fails to address the growing burden of stamp duty on first-time buyers - half of whom now pay stamp duty. More family homes will be paying 3 and 4 per cent stamp duty, as the thresholds are unchanged.

• Higher income tax and National Insurance for many: Tax changes on National Insurance and income tax announced in the last Budget are still to come into effect. Independent experts have calculated that 3.5 million families will be worse off as a result.

• Drivers face new stealth taxes: The Government is to fund new technology to impose controversial ‘spy-in-the-sky’ national road pricing taxes. Meanwhile, family cars face extra taxes of £735 million a year, but the tax cuts on small cars are only worth £15 million a year.

Giles McNeill said:

“The cost of living is rising fast, but Gordon Brown’s Government has added to it with a barrage of new stealth taxes. This is a bad news Budget that adds £110 a year to the tax bill for families across Lincolnshire.

“Any extra taxes on alcohol or cars should be offset by tax cuts elsewhere, but Labour has just used them as an excuse to raise more money for Gordon Brown’s coffers. Taxes and borrowing are up because the Government failed to use the good years to prepare for the bad years.”

Budget 2008: George Osbourne's Response

This is a bad news Budget. Alistair Darling is kicking Britain’s families when they are down.

- Darling has added £110 a year to every family’s tax bill. The tax take will be £2.8bn a year higher by 2010 – and if benefits are excluded, it will be £4bn higher.

- The new taxes announced in the budget will add up to £1.5bn extra on all alcoholic drinks, £1.6bn on drivers, and £1.7bn on businesses over the next three years.

Taxes and borrowing are up because Labour failed to use the good years to prepare for the bad years. After 15 years of global growth, Britain has the worst budget deficit in the developed world.

Even with the new taxes introduced in Darling’s budget, borrowing will be up £20bn over the next four years, including a £7bn rise next year alone.

The Government has no room for manoeuvre, so they are kicking families when they’re down.