UK BUDGET DOESN'T HELP PEOPLE IN ABERDEENSHIRE

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 22nd Apr 2009

Liberal Democrat Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland has condemned the UK Budget as failing to deliver the measures needed to help people in Aberdeenshire through the recession.

Commenting after the Chancellor delivered the Budget, Mrs McInnes said:

"The chancellor has failed to deliver any of the measures that we needed to help people across Aberdeenshire who are struggling in the face of the recession. The chancellor's dire forecasts for the economy still look optimistic compared to independent assessments, so we can expect things to get worse in the coming months.

"As families and individuals struggle through the recession, we needed to see tax cuts for people on low and middle incomes. Liberal Democrat proposals would put £700 back into the pockets of the vast majority of Aberdeenshire families. There was a lot more that could be done to raise money from the wealthiest and clamp down on tax avoidance - all that money should be used to cut taxes for the majority.

"We also needed to see a fuel duty discount scheme for the North East of Scotland. A car is a necessity here and a lower rate of duty here would have reflected that. Instead we will see rises in fuel duty across the board without any relief in remote and rural areas.

"The budget will do very little to create jobs. He should have reversed the VAT cut and put the £8 billion still available into housing and green jobs. It is not clear whether the green measures announced today will actually help the renewable energy industry in the Aberdeenshire area.

"The Chancellor had an opportunity to give practical help to people in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire during Labour's recession. It is deeply disappointing that he failed to take it."