The budget: it's robbing hood Brown, says Tania Exley-Moore

12.24.06pm GMT Sat 24th Mar 2007

Gordon Brown's last budget is a catastrophe for the poorest in society, says Scarborough and Whitby Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate Tania Exley Moore.

"The abolition of the 10p rate of tax means that the lowest earners will be worse off. His meddling also increased costs on small businesses and did nothing to address the big problems of this area - lack of affordable housing and spiralling council tax.'

'This budget was about Gordon looking good and wrong footing David Cameron, not about the issues that a real leader would address, such as consumer debt, pensioner poverty, affordable housing and the crisis in the NHS.

'And worse still, he's made more people dependent on Tax Credits, and while they're a good thing, forcing people to rely on them is a bad. We want people to be able to gain qualifications, promotion and work their way to prosperity rather than rely on handouts from government paper-shufflers.

'Here in Scarborough and Whitby we needed a budget to help small business: it didn't. We needed reassurances on the NHS and didn't get them. We need urgent action to help keep our young people in this area and get them on the housing ladder and it wasn't there.

'And his tax hikes on 4x4s will make life even harder on North Yorkshire farmers at a time when we should be encouraging local production to reduce food miles.

'What is worst about this budget is that the lowest earners were hit with higher tax bills. Labour has lost its way and its moral compass.

'And furthermore, Gordon Brown set a very bad example to the nation's children by picking his nose on TV. Tony Blair should have slapped his wrist and told him to use a hanky.'