Paisley Daily Express Column

Paisley Daily Express Column - 30 June 2010

A Damaging and Divisive Budget that betrayed local people

Now that the dust has settled and the analysis has been done we can see the budget for what it really is: An all too familiar and all too worrying agenda. Far from helping families and businesses in Renfrewshire I’m angry that David Cameron and Nick Clegg served up broken promise after broken promise.

They said they would protect the poor; they said that they would govern in the interests of the whole country. Instead they produced a regressive budget that hit the poor hard. As I listened in the Commons Chamber I felt it was a budget that showed how little the Tories have really changed. Just like Thatcher in the 80s, Cameron has attacked public services and the people who rely on them.

And when you look at the small print of the Budget Red Book you can see the scale of the betrayal.

They tried to claim their cuts were “unavoidable”. But the previous Government’s plans to cut the deficit in half whilst protecting front-line services by 2015 already had the confidence of the money markets. Driven by their ideological dogma rather than economic reality, they chose to make £32 billion more cuts to public services over the coming years.

George Osborne tried to suggest the budget was ‘fair’. But cutting £6billion from benefits means those at the bottom will be hit the hardest. Making the poor pay the price for the mistakes of the rich is an outrage.

They said they wanted to lower unemployment. But even their own figures suggest this budget is bad for jobs. But they cut the Future Jobs Fund helping people back into work in Renfrewshire. We should be supporting our still fragile economic recovery, not pulling out the rug out from underneath it.

But perhaps most damaging of all is their VAT con. During the election, the Tories said they had “no plans to put up VAT”. The Lib Dems even campaigned against a VAT ‘tax bombshell’. And yet now they are in power, they have gone back on their promises and raised VAT to 20%. This will hit the poorest hardest by cutting into their incomes the most.

What would have been different? Well, to start with, the Governments’ four pounds of spending cuts for every one pound of tax rises is wrong. Even Mrs. Thatcher went for a pound of spending cuts for a pound of tax rises. We needed a fairer balance. If we need more tax lets look at measures like a Mansion Tax on £2m homes or charitable status on private schools, not VAT rises.

Looking back on the budget this week, I’m angry because people here in Paisley deserve better. I am angry that Conservative and Liberal leaders tried to use the language of fairness to mask a divisive and damaging Budget. Division, decay and mass unemployment is not a future I want for our community.

Summer Holidays

It’s that time of year again when schools in Renfrewshire are starting to get ready to break up for the summer holidays.

If you are looking for something to entertain the kids on rainy days during the summer break, why not take them along to Paisley Museum and Art Gallery right here in Renfrewshire?

Older kids might enjoy the Aspect art competition that is in the art gallery at the moment and features the work of top Scottish artists.

If art isn’t your thing then I’m sure the stuffed animal displays in the Museum will appeal to younger kids.

The Museum and Gallery have got plenty to keep the kids occupied for an afternoon.

I remember visiting the Paisley Museum in my own childhood and I like to return whenever I can to see the great new exhibitions that are held there.

Midnight Walk for Accord

Last Friday marked the 2010 Midnight Walk for Accord Hospice.

The walk took place over Erskine Bridge and was a fundraiser for the local hospice which cares for terminally ill people from across Renfrewshire at its centre in Paisley.

I know that the hospice provides a very high level of care, both physically and emotionally for the patients and families under its care but it relies on donations to do this.

In fact, Accord has to raise a huge £5000 every single day simply to carry on providing patients with the care that they so desperately need.

The local health board does provide some funding but the Hospice must raise £1, 400, 000 this year in order to carry out its vital work.

I hear that the Midnight Walk was a huge success and I would urge local people to think of Accord in the future.

Particularly at the moment when money is tight for everyone it is easy to forget that there are others in our community who rely on donations and fundraisers to provide them with essential services that they need. It is important that we remember those people and continue to offer support wherever possible.