“The economic recovery is taking longer because the damage is worse than we feared. But the economy is healing. The last thing we could do is put all this progress at risk and attempt to borrow less by borrowing more. We cannot turn back.
The Chancellor has today announced critical measures that will be welcomed across Dumfriesshire. The personal allowance will rise further, meaning people will keep more of the money they earn before income tax kicks in and even more people locally on the lowest earnings will pay no tax at all.
I particularly welcome the fact that the Labour Government’s planned 3p fuel duty rise has been cancelled. I lobbied the Chancellor on this very subject and am delighted at this decision. Fuel is 10p a litre cheaper than it would have been under Labour and that makes a real difference in this rural area, where a car is a necessity not a luxury.
I believe that overall the measures announced today will help the cost of living for local households and unlock growth for our businesses and industry with corporation tax cuts and investment incentives. The Scottish Government will receive more than £300million in extra funding and it is time this area saw some serious investment by them in infrastructure, particularly the roads network. They have no excuses now in going ahead with planned projects such as improvements to the A75 and A76”