Howard dismisses Budget
Michael Howard has dismissed Chancellor Gordon Brown’s “vote now, pay later budget”, warning voters that a re-elected Labour government would immediately put up taxes to fund its spending plans.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Howard said that this was “the last Budget this Chancellor will ever deliver”. The Conservative party leader claimed the Government and the Chancellor had “run out of solutions”, preferring “to tax, to spend and to waste”.
And the Government came in for further criticism from Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy, who attacked its council tax policy and hinted at future tax increases.
Referring to specific measures announcement in the Budget, Mr Howard pointed out that Gordon Brown had raised the cost of stamp duty in his first four Budgets, allowing for his latest concessions for first time buyers.
Furthermore, the Chancellor has repeatedly increased the threshold for inheritance tax, which has “dragged millions of people into the net of death duties”, he said.
Mr Howard dismissed the pledge to give pensioners £200 off their council tax bills, comparing it to his party’s promise of a £500 cut.
During a series of comments mocking the Chancellor with regard to the Duchy of Lancaster Alan Milburn’s management of the Labour party’s election campaign, Mr Howard said: “Carry on Alan, carry on.”
He then returned to attack Labour’s “crippling tax rises” and emphasised that in 2001, the Government cut taxes by £2 billion only to raise them by £8 billion in 2002.
“This dodgy Government who brought us the dodgy dossier is now publishing a dodgy Budget”, Mr Howard said.
The Tory leader also condemned the loss of one million manufacturing jobs, productivity growth rate going down by a third and the UK slipping from 4th to 11th in the world competitiveness league.
According to the Tory leader, “Britain needs a government that will get a grip on spending” and invest in frontline services.
There is a choice of “more waste and higher taxes under Labour and lower waste and value for money under the Conservatives”.
Lib Dem leader Mr Kennedy also criticised the announcement, terming council tax as “patently unfair” and calling for it to be scrapped and replaced by local income tax.
He dismissed the Chancellor’s proposals for a £200 refund as a “quick-fix”, pointing to the “ticking bomb” of council tax revaluation.
He also echoed Mr Howard’s warning about future tax rises, observing that the Chancellor had not raised income taxes in previous Budgets, but had increased other taxes to similar effect.
