Sammy Wilson

The advantage of this House is that the Chancellor has brought forward a Budget, albeit one that is inadequate. In Northern Ireland, we are seven months into the financial year and the Sinn Féin Finance Minister has still not brought forward a budget for Departments in Northern Ireland, leaving people in the dark as to what money is available for health, education, roads and all the other issues. I welcome the fact that in today’s Budget we have got a £270 million uplift as a Barnett consequential, as well as the £750 million that was available under the review, and I hope that that will stop any further excuses for not having a budget declared in Northern Ireland. As far as the measures in this Budget are concerned, there are some that I welcome, although I think the Chancellor should have gone further. I welcome the fact that some pensioners at least will not be dragged into paying tax. I also welcome the support for people with their energy bills—although, as for other Members representing rural areas, 60% of people in Northern Ireland will not be impacted by it. They heat their homes using oil, and therefore will not be covered by the relief that has been made available. I think small businesses will appreciate the increase in business rates relief, although it is up to the Northern Ireland Executive as to whether they pass on those changes to businesses in Northern Ireland. The freeze on fuel duty is also welcome. However, in a place in the United Kingdom that depends greatly on road transport for both getting goods in and getting goods out, the price of fuel is prohibitive. Given that the Government have made billions from the additional VAT on fuel as a result of price increases, I believe they could have gone further.