Oh, dear. It seems that the average British family will continue to be fleeced by the government. At a time when we should be looking for changes in ministerial behaviour, Alistair Darling’s first major Budget speech as Chancellor ensures that will not happen. Tax rise after tax rise, increases in spending here and there… all without telling us how and where it’s going to be spent.
Here are some of the main points of the Budget:
- Cigarettes UP by 11p a packet
- Five cigars UP 4p
- Beer UP 4p a pint
- Wine UP by 14p a bottle
- Spirits UP by 55p a bottle
- Cider UP 3p a litre
- Car fuel duty: 2p per litre rise postponed until October this year, but will go up again by 0.5p for ‘environmental reasons’, in 2010
- Proposed new ‘plastic bag’ tax in 2009
- Winter fuel allowance (to help pensioners pay their bills will go up to £250 per year for the over 60s, and to £400 per year for the over 80s
- Families currently on benefit will face cuts from October 2009
- Child benefit will go up to a measily £20 per week from April 2009
- All those on incapacity benefit will in future be forced to attend ‘return to work’ schemes
- Corporation tax for larger businesses will be cut from 30 per cent to 28 per cent in April
- Extra £2billion to be spent on the military
Government borrowing will also rise to around £43billion in the next financial year. It seems that Darling will find the money to fund the nationalisation of Northern Rock bank, and paying for the collapse some of the public-private partnerships imposed by his predecessor, but there will be nothing for the rest of us. It’s not surprising that most people see the Budget as one big rip-off.