Politicians clash over Budget

Oldham politicians gave predictably mixed reactions to yesterday’s Budget.
UKIP MEP Paul Nuttall welcomed the penny cut from beer duty and the scrapping of the beer duty escalator.

But he was disappointed nothing had been done to curb cut-price booze deals in supermarkets and off-licences.

Chris Davies, Oldham Lib-Dem MEP, said the Budget provided help for his constituents: “Two point six million of my constituents will get a £700 tax cut. The lowest paid are getting the benefit.”

But Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, said the budget was “too little, too late.”

She said: “Our economy is flatlining, prices are rising faster than wages, the deficit is going up and even our triple-A credit rating has been lost. On every economic test this government set itself, it has failed.”