BUDGET FAILES TO HELP LOCAL FAMILIES - GIDLEY

12.00.00am GMT Wed 12th Mar 2008

Southampton and Hampshire MP, Sandra Gidley, has expressed her disappointment with today's budget, which does nothing to help thousands of hard pressed local families and fails to tackle climate change.

Commenting, Sandra said:

"This is not a green budget. This is not a people's budget. The government has fudged it on green taxes and has failed to help those families in Hampshire and across the UK who are facing financial difficulty. I am extremely disappointed.

"We urgently need to switch the way Britain is taxed. We need to encourage people to live greener lives, so the more you choose to switch to greener living the more money you will save."

Sandra, who is the Liberal Democrats' Shadow Minister for Health, added:

"The government's announcements on alcohol taxation are scandalous. Rather than using alcohol taxation as a mechanism to change behaviour, they have placed large increases on all forms of alcohol. This is nothing more than a tax grab.

"This rise in the price of alcohol will only hit those who are less well off and wish to have the odd drink after work rather than tackling the serious problem of binge-drinking."

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg added:

"Today's budget is a green cop out which kicks the difficult decisions on environmental taxes into the long grass and offers no help to the millions of hard pressed families struggling to make ends meet.

"After 11 years in Government, Labour has completed its fiscal fusion with the Tory Party."

ENDS