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MP calls on Government to help businesses and households across the Kingdom
November 21, 2008 3:00 PM
Commenting ahead of the Chancellor's Pre-Budget Report, which will take place on 24 November, local MP Willie Rennie has called for targeted help to be given to small businesses and those on lower and middle incomes in the Kingdom.
Mr Rennie has called for specific tax cuts for those on lower and middle incomes, but has warned that the cuts need to be sustainable. He commented:
"My constituents on lower and middle incomes need all the help they can get in these difficult times. Rising mortgage bills, the fear of unemployment and high heating costs mean that the shockwaves of the financial crisis are being felt in households across the Kingdom. The Government should introduce significant and lasting tax cuts to help those worst affected.
"While the Prime Minister has indicated that he is considering tax cuts in the Pre-Budget Report, he has so far failed to give any indication that he is prepared to save money anywhere. The Government needs to be clear how they are going to pay for any tax cuts - otherwise, massive tax rises will need to take place when the economy starts to recover. Piling debts onto future generations is utterly irresponsible."
Mr Rennie is also becoming increasingly concerned about the banks' treatment of small businesses in Dunfermline and West Fife. He is being contacted on almost a daily basis by local businesses, which are facing massive hikes in the amount charged by the banks.
He is calling on the Government to use its position to insist that banks lend at the levels they agreed to as part of the bank bail out plan, and is pressing for a system of direct lending to be considered to help small and medium enterprises.
He said:
"The Government bail-out of our banks has certainly not helped our small businesses. Despite billions having been pumped into the banking sector, and the Government taking large stakes in some of our major banks, the banks are continuing to pull out of lending to viable businesses.
"In the past three months alone, the total amount of secured lending by banks fell by more than £22 billion, and almost half of small businesses report that it is now harder to gain access to finance.
"Government directors on the boards of part-nationalised banks must take an active role to ensure that banks lend to viable businesses, and a temporary system of direct lending must be seriously considered. However, the long-term priority must be to ensure that the banks are put on a stronger footing and regulated in such a way that they can resume prudent lending to small businesses and individuals."
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