Budget Measures Could Hit Cornwall Hard

3.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 21st Apr 2009

Earlier today, all five Liberal Democrat Cornish MPs were in the House of Commons as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, announced his economic forecast for the coming year. As always, the true impact of what was announced will not be known until more detailed analysis has taken place. Nevertheless, if forecasters are correct, then the country as a whole and Cornwall in particular will suffer for years to come.

Speaking after the speech, Colin Breed, Liberal Democrat MP for South East Cornwall said,

"This Budget essentially forces higher taxes and reduced public services on Cornwall for the foreseeable future. There are welcome sweeteners for the unemployed, small businesses, pensioners and home owners in the short term, but these have to be reconciled with the inevitable medium term consequences. Public borrowing is astronomic and if interest rates rise, which they surely must, any Government is going to have great difficulty in servicing the debt let alone repaying it."

"Cornwall's economy is already fragile; pensioners are feeling the pinch and our young people are likely to have to leave to find employment. Fuel duty will increase motoring costs and the Chancellor has made no announcement concerning rate support grants to keep Council Tax bills low. This disastrous state of affairs will hit Cornwall hard and for many years to come."