Harlow MP Robert Halfon welcomes 'family-friendly' Budget

HARLOW MP Robert Halfon has hailed the Coalition Government's first full Budget as one that benefits "families, lower earners, jobs and motorists".

Chancellor George Osbourne’s spending plans, revealed yesterday (Wednesday), will see a 1p reduction in fuel duty, a £630 increase in the personal income tax threshold, a two per cent cut in corporation tax and a postponement of planned hikes to air passenger duty.

Harlow MP Robert Halfon

However, the UK’s growth forecast for 2011 was downgraded from 2.1 per cent to just 1.7 per cent, tobacco duty increased by two per cent and road tax increased in line with inflation.

Speaking after a fiery Budget meeting in the House of Commons in which Labour leader Ed Miliband accused the coalition Government of hamstringing economic growth by going "too far, too fast" in cutting spending, Mr Halfon said the spending plans were good news for hard-up Harlow residents.

"Despite the economic problems, the Budget has some good news for local residents.

"Most Harlow workers will save £200 a year as a result of the income tax threshold being raised, while the town’s 35,000 motorists will benefit from fuel duty being reduced by 1p.

"Since Gordon Brown’s recession our town has suffered from deep unemployment and rising costs - to combat this, we are investing £300m to create 100,000 work experience places for young people, while our firms will benefit from an extra 2p reduction in business taxes, creating thousands of new jobs."

He added: "It has been an extremely tough year, but our economy is at last moving in the right direction."