Howard dismissive of 'vote now, pay later' Budget

Chancellor Gordon Brown had aimed to help out home buyers by raising stamp duty to £120,000, increase the inheritance tax threshold to £263,000 this tax year, to £275,000 from next month, £285,000 next year, and £300,000 the following year. Families receiving maximum Child Tax Credit will pocket £63 a week for the first child and £111 a week for two children. Mr Brown again pledged to cut business red-tape.

However, Conservative leader Michael Howard was underwhelmed by what he dubbed as a "vote now, pay later" Budget Speech. He said this was the last Budget that Mr Brown would deliver: "The simple fact is that if Labour get in again, taxes go up again. This Budget is not about what's good for the country - it is about the interests of the Labour Party."

Mr Howard claimed that the Government had "run out of solutions" and said the "dodgy Government" that had produced the "dodgy dossier" had produced a "dodgy Budget based on dodgy numbers".

Mr Brown will borrow some £168 billion over the next six years, which Mr Howard claimed was more than previous forecasts had predicted.

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy was a little more upbeat in his assessment of the Budget Speech but warned that the £200 council tax refund for pensioners was little more than a "sticking plaster" for an "unfair and discriminatory" taxation system for local revenue.

Commenting on the Chancellor’s announcement that all pensioners and the disabled will be entitled to free off-peak bus travel from April 2006, Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, John Thurso welcomed "the fact that the Chancellor has taken on board yet another Liberal Democrat proposal".

He said that the Liberal Democrats had been arguing the case for off-peak bus travel for pensioners and the disabled since before the last General Election and have actually ensured its introduction in Scotland.”

Business organisation, the CBI had a somewhat warmer welcome for the "balanced" Budget which it said looked beyond short-term political concerns to "the genuine long-term needs of UK plc."

CBI Director General, Sir Digby Jones, said: "This is a measured Budget which has been crafted to ensure that economic stability is maintained. The Chancellor has avoided the temptation of pre-election risk taking, targeting help only where it is needed most."

(SP)