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Pre-Budget Report 2009: Political reactions

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9th Dec 2009
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The chancellor has made his position clear, but what do other politicians think of today's measures? We'll be updating this feed of political responses to the Pre-Budget Report throughout the day, so keep your eyes peeled for updates.

Ken Clarke, shadow business secretary
Conservative Party

“The government's reaction to the worst of the credit crunch was slow, piecemeal and inadequate".

On the topic of a proposed 'supertax' on bonuses, he commented: "It;s all tinsel really - because they will pay themselves in other ways. It's just the sort of stuff that Gordon and Peter have insisted the chancellor, who they didn't want to be chancellor, put in"
 

Vince Cable, shadow chancellor
Liberal Democrats

"What we needed was a national economic plan but what we got was a weak party manifesto. There has never been a deficit like this and we need a sensible and coherent plan for dealing with it. The chancellor has ducked the hard choices on spending and cuts. Instead of facing up to reality he has chosen to move the goal posts by relying on fanciful growth forecasts. He could have used this Budget to make the tax system fairer, but instead people on middle incomes will be paying more tax while those at the top end continue to enjoy their loopholes.

“The bankers’ payroll tax is the worst type of gesture politics and a gift wrapped invitation to tax avoidance. The hidden costs of this budget will be borne by low paid workers who face a cut in real wages because of the 1% pay rise – which is lower than inflation. This is a good budget for bingo and boilers but not much else.”

John McDonnell MP
Chair of the Labour Representation Committee

"The two questions in this pre-budget report are 'who is going to pay for this crisis?' and 'who rules the country: the government or the City?' The City has run the country for the last 12 years under New Labour, but at long last there are signs that the government actually intends to govern and stand up to it after 12 years of prostration.

"We welcome the taxing of bankers' bonuses as a first small step towards rebalancing the taxation system. We now need a fairness-driven restructuring of the taxation system to tackle evasion and to redistribute wealth from high earners across the board.

"Public sector cuts – with the exception of ID cards, Trident and wasteful consultants and IT schemes – are entirely counterproductive and jeopardise the recovery. They will be met with resistance across the trade union movement and in local communities."

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