Bluster or bold?

Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, today delivered his tenth and possibly last Budget. He identified education and the environment as the priorities of Labour's third term but was largely silent on other public services. He also failed to make any significant changes on the contentious issues of stamp duty and inheritance tax although he did freeze fuel duty and announced reforms to road tax.

Critics have already accused the Chancellor of delivering a Budget long on rhetoric but short on detail. What did you make of the Chancellor’s speech?

Have your say below.

For full coverage of the Budget click here

Comments

[greig hepburn]

Here's hoping he nevers gets into number 10. Every motorist is a easy target. I do not believe that only 1% of the motoring public will pay the higher rate. Also if the government are receiving £14m in loans should they not be taxed on this because if it was you or me they would have this as a taxable benefit.

[Daniel Rawley]

The Chancellor trumpets tax credits as a more efficient use of money than tax cuts but he doesn't take into account the administration costs and inevitable errors with such a complex system. Tax cuts are simpler and create a greater incentive to work and earn.

[Jessie McArthur]

Why does the Chancellor not vastly increase the tax on cars and 4x4s with high co2 emmissions? Anyone who can afford a 30k 4x4 is not going to be put off by having to pay an extra £40 a year in road tax.

[Phoebe Smith]

I notice no mention of health matters.

[PAUL BETTELEY]

My, Land Rover Discovery is converted to run on gas so does that mean cheap tax?
I also live out in the sticks on top of a steep hill with poor roads so the vehicle is more than just a fashion statement or a hobby.
Not all country dwellers are wealthy individuals. I suspect this government does not know the difference between a 4x4 and a hunter. (the hunter has hooves)

[Tony WALKER]

The points that he should have covered, such as the OAP's - ignored! Other money squandered. Crime and Crime Prevention - squandered. Our deficit - increased. God help us if he ever becomes Prime Minister!

[claire]

My car is a 4x4 and in the book it does 35miles to the gallon, in reality it's more like 28. The govenment already gets lots of tax from petrol so how much more do they want to take! We need our car for work as my husband is a builder and often has to work off road, a normal car just couldn't take the tracts.

[Mark V-H]

I live in a small rural town called Wainfleet in Lincolnshire to which there is more pot holes and mud from tractors on the road than tarmac. Why should I pay more road tax? Is it true that tractors do not pay any road tax what so ever, yet it is these making the roads the state in which they are in. The main A52 into Skegness is marked a red route. No surprise with the amount of mud, bends, and 1.5 metre drops either side into a field. 2 lorries struggle to pass each other when travelling in opposite directions to which 1 has to go on the grass verge (bearing in mind there is approximately 10 inches of mud before the drop into the field).

[trevor harvey]

Its a black day for Brown. Nothing for the Pensioners, I think this just about sums up Labour's time in office, blow you jack I'm alright!!!!

[J. Hastie]

Yet again Brown has delivered a disgraceful budget. Labour, once, was not only the party of the working man but the "caring" party in terms of old folk. What has Brown done for those old folk? Nothing -- not even a continuation of the £200 council tax payment. Let's hope he never reaches No 10

[jamie]

This budget is the worst one i have ever seen , what does Brown do?Pluck figures from the air and make them sound good. The British public should kick the Labour goverment out.

[B Dorken]

Has anybody really looked at these new car tax rates? I think a lot of people are in for a shock. According to my registaration document my Vauxhall Meriva (1.6) is now in the same group as a Freelander at £190. This is a very crafty move. I also live in rural Lincolnshire where my nearest Asda is 15 miles away. Why am I suddenly overnight a gas guzzler?

[audrey]

Hi,I really wish this government would abolish inheritence tax instead of putting it up slightly each year.Perhaps people will be discouraged to buy these 'gas gussler' vehicles if they know they have to pay more road tax,but if they have enough money to buy them in the first place they probably won't care.Vote Cons next and see what happens.

[Mark Bowker]

So... Looks like the Scots have finally brought England to her knees!

[Michael Parkinson]

Please find "Maxwell Brown" a yacht before the OAPs get him!!

[Sam & Anne Highway]

We feel the pensioners of this country have been totally let down with very little help as bills go spiralling out of control, and the prospect of a deterorating Health Service and Care system. Are we all invisible?

[Mark Bowker]

Anyone got the following for sale?:-
1x tandem with 2 baby seats and a trailer for the buggy
1x very large cardboard box (with or without running water)
1x dodgy passport so I can get my hip replaced quicker
1x time machine to skip the current governments term!

[RICHARD]

I live with my wife in the UK. She is resident here but an American citizen and whatever we do will be considered domiciled there by both US and UK authorities for several years. It is invidious that because of this as a British citizen I will at my death not be able to pass all my assets to my wife free of IHT. This would have been the case if she was considered to have British domicile. She would thus have to sell our family home to pay tax should I die before her. This should be addressed with much of the other changes which a fair rather than a petty stealthy approach to replacing IHT would need. One could argue the example I quote is "racism,"

[Sarah Fontes]

This was not so much a Budget, more a 'wish list'. Wait for the detail to learn the bad news.

[roy stevens]

No mention of NHS dental sevice in the budget. Almost unnoticed this Government have increased prices for this NHS treatment as of 1st April 2006. That is of course if you can even find a dentist offering NHS treatment!!

[Rob]

So Gordon Brown is going to indiscriminatly tax all 4x4's? well aren't the Farmers going to be happy, i suppose that thats their fault somehow, and that GB thinks that they should all be doing their work on horseback.

[Fred Litten]

It is a budget for the young and the better-off, not pensioners like me and my wife. But we are part of a growing demographic, which will deliver its own verdict on Mr Brown and his party at the next local and general elections. I have a feeling that our verdict will not be influenced by any pre-election budget bribe that will no doubt be offered, whether or not Mr Brown himself delivers it.

[jacki wachowski]

Another great budget where the people who bother to get off their backsides and go out to work, have a decent standard of living and own a half decent car end up paying for the ones where the main aim of their life is to recieve the maximum amount of benefits.

[Mr C Brown]

I drive an older Land Rover Discovery and My Wife a Land Rover Defender.Both are Diesels (2.5 Tdi's)
However,Neither of us do very high Mileage,The Discovery is used predominantly for long journeys in carrying camping gear,our dogs etcThis makes for a very comfortable journey.
Collectively Both vehicles amass something in the order of 12,000 miles per year.
My comment is that many larger cars (including 4X4's) do much higher mileages than ours as a single vehicle.Sometimes up to 35,000 miles a year.
Therefore would it not be fairer to agree ,yes a higher rate of Road tax because of vehicle emissions but with a dividing factor with respect to the mileage covered annually ?.
We already pay tax too on fuel.
It is also worth baring in mind that a 1.6 litre petrol vehicle (if it were to cover say 25,000 miles per year) could equal that of a 4X4 2.5 diesel doing 12,000 miles per year ?.
It is an unfair tax from this point of view.
Sorry Gordon unlike your fellow MP's and company directors I cannot afford a new £67,000 Range Rover! so I make do with my pride and joy.A £5000 Discovery that is now 10 years old!.So just because I own a 4X4 does not mean I am a big earner !

There is much much more to Pollution than just what comes from a cars exhaust.

Oddly enough I recall an article in the Times recently reporting that a certain MP from The Labour Party (I believe representing Thanet in Kent?) recently said in parliament he wants to reduce emissions over the years to come and yet I read on the Labour Party's Thanet webpage that the said MP is at the same time is pushing for Manston airport to be used by more airlines ?.
What is that going to do to his local electorates air quality ??.
Not a great CV for someone with an "Emissions Policy" is it ?.

[Tom G]

Increasing IHT Exemption Allowance from £275000 to £325000 over 4 years is only a
4.25% per year increase; Stamp Duty from £120000 to £125000 a 4% increase. Does anyone think house prices are only increasing at this rate, and if he does, is he fit to be running the economy!

[Garthwaite Watts]

May we assume that, in the light of Gordon Brown's new found affection for the environment, all government ministers will now be using something like Ford Kas or Nissan Micras? I suspect not.

[David Pooley]

Taxing gas-guzzling vehicles is a good idea in theory, but it has to be done fairly. Every car owner should be taxed based upon their annual mileage. This makes sense from both environmental and road wear perspectives. Why the hell should I pay the same as someone with the same make and model that does five times the mileage?

[Ken Collins]

Yet again the Elderly are ignored by Gordon Brown with no real increase to cover for the recent huge increases in Utility Bills and the year on year above inflation increases in Council Tax . Perhaps he expects the ELDERLY to keep warm on free BUS RIDES, go to the Salvation Army for FREE MEALS and Charity Shops to buy clothes.
In addition the huge increase in PSBR is just storing up huge debts for the UK which have to be met in the longer term

[D.King]

When will we have a fairer system of tax for motorists,I run a 1973 4x4 because I need it to tow a small 2 berth caravan so my wife and I can have occasional holidays and as we got stuck in snow one xmas at our daughters decided this was the answer.I only travel approx.5000 miles a year and this is the only way we can afford a holiday, if the government would stop playing with figures and just put the tax on fuel,then I like lots of other retired people who are trying to manage on a small income, would be quids in.

[Stephen Foster]

He seems to be completely incapable of looking at the bigger picture - I thought these politicians were supposed to be intelligent?!!!!

The sad fact is that although Labour should be unceremoniously booted out, the Conservatives and Lib Dems are as bad, and there is nothing to choose between them. The British Public deserve to have the choice to vote for a more radical party who will tackle the sickness endemic in our society.

[D.Ingram]

Hardly any MP's are interested in how the working classes are going to sustain themselves in their retirement years. Gordon Brown once again does nothing to help existing or prospective Pensioners. Why not allow people more flexibility in where their contributions go? Experience has shown that far too many of those who rely on their employers, let alone the Government, rarely get what they expected!

[Duncan Grieve]

I live in the country and drive a Honda CRV (2 wheel drive unless 4 wheel drive required by surface conditions) as the most sensible compromise vehicle for my circumstances.

As a resposible driver I suspect my emmissions are considerably less than some of the appauling driving I see that the police no longer feel necessary to reprimand as they are too busy criminalising other motorists for slightly (but generally safely) exceeding the speed limit or parking a few minutes over the limit.

On a wider note when will this self important chancellor see the light. He chooses to redistribute tax on the basis it will help people out of poverty.

Sorry he has got it wrong - give people goals to aim for and they will work hard to achieve. Give them hand outs and they will take the money and run.

[B Geatrell]

Very disappointing:- no help for pensioners. Many people who got Brown where he is today are now pensioners and are struggling not trying to buy luxuries but paying increased energy costs and council tax.
Why yet another increase in the duty on wine but spirits escape yet again?

[Ken Travis]

Mr Brown may believe himself to be a great Chancellor, but not too many of us do!
Car tax - he knows perfectly well that people with a 4x4 will not sell it for the sake of another £40.00 tax, (I wouldn't), so it's a real insult in that he thinks we don't see the ploy & sop to the "environmentalists" (who are also not stupid either), we all know it will make absolutley no difference to fuel consumption, we all know he'll be the main beneficiary!
IHT, another serious insult to our intelligence and a great indicator of his literal inability to understand ordinary people who have a seriously legitimate greavance. Does he again think we are stupid ? he certainly does! Well we have only one weapon to deal with this arrogant man - let's show him at the next election just who is the stupid one - not even the Duchy of Anywhere would be daft enough to want him !!

[Gary Robinson]

This is the first time in my seventy years that I have heard a pre-election budget in mid-term. Nothing of any substance of course, that is characteristic of this government, but a tiny carrot and a hint of better things there in an attempt to be all things to all people. Aren't I just the goodie goodie guy you would like to be your next prime minister?

[jess]

Disappointed about the level of stamp duty as most first time buyers have to pay this tax & its hard enough for them to get on the property ladder. Puzzled by the car tax issue concerns surely if a person owns a car with the high CO2 emissions they can afford the extra tax - it will not apply to the majority of car owners,only those who emit over 250 not usually your average family car.

[Thomas Tudor]

Great Budget

[M Riley]

Youngsters in receipt of Child Trust Funds are to receive a further £250 or £500 at the age of 7 Whilst those kids who have had nothing still get nothing.
Would it not have been fairer to give this money to those born earlier?
Where is the logic?

[Dr. B. M. Levy]

The budget is as bland as Mr. Brown himself.

I have read much of the feedback on this page with bemusement. Why on earth do people think that the government cares what they think? The goiverment's only game is image management... it is about making careful calculations about how to get back in next time... that is all!!!

If the government was genuinely interested in the environment it would not be spending millions on waste in the NHS... I have two totally practical suggestions that guarantee to save vast amounts of money (and perhaps do the environment some good as well). The first is to control the overheating of NHS premises (I sat this afternoon with the radiators on full and with the window open and the air conditioner on to reduce my consulting room to a reasonable temperature). The other suggestion is to get rid of the countless mangement consultants employed on countless government projects. The money wasted on these useless people is a national scandal!!! Give the NHS back to the clinicians to run, give the army back to soldiers, give classrooms back to teachers etc., etc., etc...

[Gloria Egan]

Mr.Brown and his Prime Minister can sit and smile knowing full well they won't be affected by this budget - just claim more expences - that should do it - what about our N H S and the hardworking doctors and nurses - and the pensioners who have paid taxes all their lives and are taxed to the hilt when they are dead. Figures spouted out look good but, when do we see them come to fruition.

[Robert Peake]

The Pensioners are a growing group and greater voting power. Mr Brown you have failed to help.

[Les Orrin]

Brown is giving free travel for pensioners!! knowing full well that very few will be able to take advantage of it. No rise in pensions how are we expected to pay for increased Council tax? increased fuel bills? and increased food bills?

[Tony Broom]

Once again, the increase in fuel tax 'delayed till September'. Is this man serious? He is already getting billions in extra revenue from the inflated oil price, but still keeps this ludicrous increase in reserve. Doubtless he is waiting for the price of oil to fall back to pre-Iraq levels. Dream on.

[Sue Humphreys]

Agree children need help but why should the tax payers fund those people with large families. Child benefit and all the extras should have a limit of say 3 kids per family. If people want larger families they should fund them themselves. Then maybe there would be more money for the pensioners.

[G Perkins]

Dear Whoever
This budget was rubbish because you know that everything that comes out of his mouth wil be another tax on the working class, I say lets show these people whos boss next time they want to reaply to run the country lets get some backbone in us and do like the french do they always seem to get results so come on you Brits stick together like in the war years //come on\\

[C.MCMASTER]

I,m a mother given up career to look after 4 children,still no pension help,even though families are supposed to be a priority!I drive an old battered people carrier to fit them all in,will my tax go up?I,m not rich!I also can,t understand why stamp duty isn't staggersd like our income tax?

[Ghis]

Whilst you can never please all of us with a budget I do think taxing gas guzzlers is a great idea. I just wish Gordon Brown would have really gone for the big cars and hit them hard enough for it to make a difference. I don't think a few quid a year will part people from their polluting status symbols. However, there are people who do genuinely need 4x4 vehicles because of where they live so perhaps there also needs to be some kind of exemption for them!

Personally I would like to have seen more incentives for environmental initiatives such as a replacement for last year's grants towards wind turbines. There are many of us out there concerned about the environment and our part in the global problems but unable to do more because of the costs involved.

Lastly, do the armed forces really need so much more money? Isn't it time they were scaled down and made into 1 combined entity fit for the 21st Century. Surely modern technology has replaced the need for so many actual personnel!

Off my soapbox, time to do some work :-)

[Gail]

This government has insiduously and consistently set policies that have not only undermined the structure of this country, but also the hearts of the people themselves. The budget is not only a political tactic gone wrong, but a waste of space. When will we, the people, wake up to what is happening?

[George Kania]

Like Phoebe Smith & many other 4x4 owners, I've had my vehicle (a Isuzu Trooper) converted to LPG, resulting in vastly-reduced CO/CO2/NO/Hydrocarbon emissions. Done at not insubstantial personal cost in recognition of the benefits of LPG to both my pocket & the environment (see http://www.autogas.co.uk/benefits1.php among others) am I now to get further penalised for taking this initiative ? Again, we also live in the wilds of Chillingham where on a 'good' day the mud on the 5-mile often-rutted single-track approach road is either washed off with heavy rain or else frozen solid, otherwise... We moved here to a barely-habitable farmhouse, are doing it up as time/resources allow, aren't the 'landed gentry' and aren't interested in making a sad 'fashion statement' as the majority of 'Chelsea tractors' are - we need this 4x4 capability! Surely the tax should be based on the actual (LPG) emisssions rather than factory-fitted petrol engine ? Yes, petrol is used to start the vehicle, but that is only for 2-3 mins until the system warms up & then switches over to LPG automatically, running on that exclusively until switched off again. Hence vastly lower emissions than some of the smaller smokers we often end up behind...

Rgds
GK

[Robert Haggitt]

My wife and I have justhad to re-register with our dentist who is leaving the NHS in April.Here in North Devon, NHS dentists are few and far between. As a retired teacher, living on a pension, this is additional expense which I can ill afford. Further evidence of Mr Brown ignoring the needs of pensioners.

[patricia chalk]

I am disgusted with the budget, has this government forgotten about Snr Citizen's, no increase in pension at all! They expect us to work until we drop!

The sooner Labour are out the better!

[Mike Dyer]

Insult to injury - If I make any realistic attempt at saving for my children's university education, I have to pay 40% tax on any interest above £100pa. At least allow all parents to save in a child trust fund, even if you do not give them hand outs!

[Stuart Axtmann]

Why oh why doesn't someone in the Government or opposition come up with a simple plan that is fair to ALL motorists regardless of what they choose to drive, how they drive an how many miles they cover. Well here's one to chew over.
Average mileage @ 10,000 miles divided by the highest tax band @ £210 = 2.1 pence per mile.
Add this to the cost of a gallon (sorry don't understand litres). Average cost of a gallon last year = £4.00. The increase to the motorist is only 0.5%.
By adding the cost at the pump, no one can escape (even our foreign friends who might be visiting). You will pay tax based on how large, small or efficient your engine is. How many miles you do a year. How well you drive your chosen vehicle.
This means if you just do a few thousand miles a year in a small car, you'll only pay a few pounds in road tax as opposed to someone driving a large car doing 30,000 miles a year who'll pay proportionate to the time spent on the road and the way they drive.
There is no escape and everyone will pay according to what they drive, how far, how well and how fast. This surely is a vote winner, isn't it?
Another benefit is that the Government only has to collect duty from the Petrol companies (something they do already) and stop wasting millions in chasing tax dodgers).

[Adriana Simpson]

Yet again Mr Brown punishes the hard-working people who decide responsibly not to have children at 16, pay for their own houses, safe for their retirement and have a decent glass of wine after a long day in the office! And by the way, I would be grateful if Mr Brown would advise where can I find a house for £125k - under the stamp duty treshhold, in the South East?

[J S JAQUES]

The extra road tan that 4x4 owners will have to pay is probably less than it costs them to fill their tank up once. For those that can afford a 4x4 will just laugh their heads off!

As for the invidious Inheritance Tax - it remains an unfair levy on already taxed cash that prudent families have built up to help their offspring. The result is that my two thirty somethings and their families will be penalised because we, their parents, have tried to safeguard their futures as our parents did for us.

Beware the ballot box Mr Brown.

[ed corbett]

This was not a budget speech but a spiel from Gordon Brown to cement his ascent to PM "asap Tony"
.
There was no real content other than the regurgitation,as usual, of facts and figures of no relevance to the UK.I am not interested in how wonderful we are compared to France etc,I am interested in how I am going to get Dental Care now that my dentist has just informed me that if I take out Dental Insurance (£168 p.a.)he will take me on as a private patient.He will of course charge me for most of my treatment other than the examination and hygiene treatment.The increase in my OAP will not cover the insurance and the forthcoming increase in Council Tax will be an added burden.
"HELLO GORDON" are you listening.
PS Please do not ask for my vote next time round

[Christine Corben]

Same old waffle - no substance.

When it comes dealing with any money, percentages are fueling differences.

No wonder the rich are getting richer, and pensioners poorer.

Roll on a Lib Dem government to get rid of Council Tax for a local income tax, then at least it would depend on ability to pay.

[Robert Chapman]

Well there goes another budget, and the opportunity to sort out many problems in this country ha been missed. The list increases by the day. The NHS is in dire straits, despite throwing billions at it.

Council taxes continue to escalate, capping is no answer, it just delays the bitter cuts to follow.

Fuel prices out of control, and seemingly no solutions here.

Free bus passes for the elderly nationwide,but National Express not included, looks like we need a few more Norwich Union's coach and horses, now thats progress.

Well Gord, moving from No. 11 to 10, can't be that expensive, can it? unless of course you know something different !!!

[S WOODS]

When will the government stop paying out to families on benefits, why are their children getting £500 and all the other families who have to work for a living lose out again! Stop being 'pc' about it, cut the benefits and get the young single mums out to work. No-one has the right to sit at home with a child, we have paid for all these girls to be educated, now get them to put something back. We have a mortgage and have to work but earn just too much (before the vast outgoings) to get any help for us or our children doing A Levels. Stuck in the middle again!!

[SHEILAH RAMSEY]

I find it incredible that pensioners were not mentioned in the budget. I understand that we have now lost the £200 that we were given to offset council tax last year. The rates for our property have just come in and we live in a small cottage and they are £1150, how are people on fixed incomes to manage. The rises in the pension do not keep pace with the cost of living so every year we have less and less to live on. A sorry state of affairs for the 3rd/4th richest nation.

[Alison Holder]

So if you work hard and try to provide for your future, don't smoke, hardly drink, pay for your children's education and take out private medical insurance you are penalised when it comes to retirement. I looked after my children full time until the youngest one was 8 and then returned to work, as a result I won't get a full pension but my sister who has never worked gets more than I will, even though I have contributed. Why does Mr Brown think that those of us who are prudent should be treated less well than those who are not?

My council tax is £2000 for a 3 bedroomed house, how am I supposed to pay that out of my pension? I live in Surrey, where every house is worth more that £300k, why should the proceeds of the house we have worked so hard to buy go to the government instead of our children? No, we were not born middle class, my father in law was a bus driver and my husband comes from a council house, we have just worked hard and been prudent and are penalised for just that!

[Shaun Fleck]

Tax and spend, tax and spend ......is there no end to this cycle? Which cycle? Economic cycle. When did that start? It depends. Depends on what? When Gordon thinks he may eventually balance his books. This government produces so much spin I am dizzy and need to lie down in a darkened room!

[phil cooper]

The country wastes billions every year on road developement, rail infrastructure and fuel.

Scrap road tax and fuel tax, then tax income on the basis of the distance people comute to work.

If you dont like it move closer to work!

[Tim Hutchins]

Has anyone not noticd that there are NO cars that fall into the new zero rate bracket? Even on the govenrments official website there are no cars in current production at rate A. So what's the point apart from trying to please environmentalists? If you are going to make the effort, why not lift the new rate G to soemthing worthwhile, like £400-500, maybe it would then make an impact.

[Alan Jones]

Now we know that the £200 for pensioners to help with their council tax was indeed a bribe last year.

Council Tax has almost doubled since Labour came to power. It is obvious that they do not care anymore for pensioners and the elderly on fixed incomes.

I have done what Harold Wilson suggested in the 1960's and put a note on my mantlepiece to remind me never to vote for a dishonest party again.

[John Harman]

Once again Gordon Brown confuses throwing our money at a problem with taking carefully considered and costed action. His proposed expenditure on education will no doubt produce the same remarkable improvements we have experienced with health and the pensions systems.

[Robert Leach]

My wife and I are retired. Most of our income comes from the state pension. This, togethew with a small occupational pension, an even smaller annuity and interest on savings gives us a total income of approx. £12,000 per year.

In the six years since I retired, our state pension has increased by 18 % while our council tax has increased by 80%. This year we are not even going to receive last years pre-election bribe of £200 to help with the payments.

Pensioners were completely forgotten duting the budget, but we won't forget Gordon Brown at the next election.

[Jeffrey Ellis]

The budget sounded like a throw back to the targets of the centrally planned economy of the Soviet Union or North Korea . – And about as meaningful. Brown is a control freak that wants to micro manage every last detail, from bringing up children in state communes to how pensioners spend there allowance, bus passes instead of hard cash. Like earlier “free” TV licences, but it is not free, way not give them the cash? Ah they cannot be trusted may be they will spend it on cigarettes! All this restricts choice, as the inmates of Kim’s workers paradise know to their cost.
How on earth can he guess how many unskilled jobs there will be in 15 years time? He has no idea how many there are now, with illegal aliens, the black economy and unreliable statistics.
Full of spin and double talk, for example 50% of cars will have a reduced or the same road tax as before. But that means the other 50% will have an increase in road tax.

[Katy]

Only pensioners read the Times? Or they have the time to comment?

None of these people above have any grandchildren going to schools? Or ALL of them are in the independent sector?

Spending 34 billion Pounds on education is totally unimportant to ALL above commentators?

Beyond me!

Or they are just selfish, egotistic and grumpy oldies who don't even care for their OWN grandchildren, one bit!

Not even a passing postive comment about it.

And they say, with age one becomes wiser! Can't wait!

Katy, Holland

[Barry Goodchild]

Concern steadily increasing over global warming and greenhouse gases, congestion getting ever worse, yet Mr Brown is still too afraid of upsetting the Clarksons of this world to increase fuel duty. On the other hand, if you just like a glass of wine with your meal, perhaps for health reasons as well as for enjoyment, the duty goes up with every budget. Yet if you have the time and energy to cross the channel for your low-duty continental booze you're allowed to bring in absurdly large amounts "for personal consumption." Where's the sense in that?

[Richard Bates]

The guy is obviously now completely out of touch with the man in the street and totally arrogant. This year he has only fiddled about in a very old-fashioned manner and to my mind simply doesn't care: No increase in the winter fuel allowance, despite the wacking increases in fuel. An insignificant increase in the stamp duty threshold despite the hard times first time buyers are having, this is a real kick in the teeth for them. Nothing done about council tax which once again is higher than inflation - what do councils buy that the rest of us do not?! And as soon as I am dead he will take a chunk out of my already taxed estate because my quite ordinary 3 bedroom house is worth about £280,000. I hope those who voted labour at the last election now feel as guilty as hell!

[Gareth Jones]

I wonder how many of your readers have noticed that Gordon Brown has announced a revolution in the way medical research is funded in the UK. By merging the budgets of the Medical Research Council and the NHS, not only will basic medical research come under direct political patronage and manipulation but it is likely to lead to a reduction in the amount of high-quality research funded by the Government. After all, if you had to decide between spending money on patient care or research into some obscure protein, which would you choose if you had an angry public to face?

[Steve]

Will someone in government please wake up to the fact that road tax needs to be abolished and the tax added to the cost of fuel, thereby ensuring that the gas guzzlers and the high mileage motorists pay a fairer proportion. I bought a low emission diesel, <150gm/CO2, over four years ago so I pay the lowest rate of duty. When I bought the car the price of diesel was less than the price of unleaded. That did not last, within a few weeks I found the price of diesel more than that of unleaded. Why? Because demand for diesel had increased. I try to be environmentally friendly and get penalised in the process.

[Steve]

Good news from the budget? Has the chancellor actually increased IHT thresholds? Yes, to £325000. At last a chancellor who recognises the iniquity of this tax. Wait a moment. Ah an increase over four years. Now I know the chancellor is not keen to raise the threshold but surely there is a fair chance that, by 2009, it would rise to £325000 anyway? Oh Happy days!!!!!!

[Rev Dr John Cameron]

How ingenious of our dear Chancellor to tackle obesity by stealth in his Budget. Asked to decide between heating and food, my poorest OAP parishioners will have no option but to choose heating in the harsh Scottish winters. Thus the obesity problem amongst the elderly working class in the North is solved. The city of Dundee salutes the next Labour Prime Minister.

[Alice]

So once again first time buyers have been ignored...Raising the stamp duty by just £5,000 to £125,000 is insulting. I'd have rather that he hadn't touched it all. Given that the average house price in London has now reached £300,000, what help is that? People like me are going to stay out of the housing market for a long time to come. I think this government has compelely failed to realise the housing crisis that is beginning to unfold. It's hard enough to pay your deposit, let alone stamp duty. First time buyers (the lifeblood of the housing market) are finding it increasingly hard to get on the property ladder, and with that comes delaying plans to have a family, trying to save for a deposit rather than a pension...I could go on. Why won't this government wake up and do something about it? Abolishing stamp duty for first time buyers would be a start...

[Maddy]

Annual budget for my husband and I:

Total Income: £9,600

Taxation:
Council Tax (Band A) over £800
Car Tax £100
Petrol tax £500+
VAT £unknown
Insurance taxes etc. £unknown
Total taxation £1400+ at least 15% of income (note, we don't earn enough to pay income tax or national insurance)

Annual sight test (I have a predisposition to glaucoma but don't qualify for a free sight test because no near relatives have it) £25
Prescriptions £100+ (we both have chronic illnesses but earn "too much" for free prescriptions)
Dentist (haven't been able to afford to go for 3 years)
Car & Petrol £££(rural area with no bus service)

No children, so we don't qualify for child tax credits or any of the other help given to "families".

Working hard trying to build up a small business. We'd be much better off having kids...

[Paul Fissenden]

Hi. I am dumbfounded by economic commentators and the public alike. What is borrowing. It is the opposite of saving. The New Labour theory of borrowing is just that - borrowing from the future to pay for the present so they will look good and stay in power. IT WILL have to be paid back and not by New Labour - by the future people of the UK. Everyone is forgetting this accept the people who live outside of the UK - The World Bank, IMF, EU, OEDC etc. To borrow to pay people's salaries in the public sector is very much like a private company going into receivership albeit slowly. New Labour spend money like its water - because it is not their money. It is the public's. But the public THINK it is the governments - completely mad. £100Billion in one year of debt. £40B from the Public Purse. £60B from the private sector. Does anyone have the slightest idea that this is more debt than the US is mounting up per capita? No is the answer. Have another pint!

[Alison Price]

As usual, us middle earners are hit the hardest and also the people who have paid tax all their lives and who have managed to scrimp and save for their old age. But the inheritance tax still remains at a ridiculously low rate. Anyone who lives in a middle sized house in the south east has a house worth upwards of £250,000 so that alone almost eats up the IHT allowance. Also the stamp duty is pathetic. You cannot buy much of a house down south for anything less than about £150,000. It seems that the budgets are always geared to those living north of Watford!!
Also why bring in this Child Trust Fund. I have 2 children of 13 and 17 and never got a penny piece for them - why should people just be given money now when they have children. Surely this will make people more irresponsible and have more children? I am also a person who has missed out on the ridiculous EMA for my daughter currently studying A Levels because we "earn" too much. This stupid amount just encourages children to stay on to do A Levels and pocket this "pocket" money instead of pursuing a paid part time job as my daughter has to. Why should we pay them £30 a week for being at school plus a bonus if they have good attendance. Half these people have no intention of going on to further education, they just want to sit around at school and waste 2 years and be paid for doing it just to keep Labour's unemployed numbers down!!

For goodness sake, let's get rid of these pathetic Labour government and instal a new government who will look to us middle earner bracket. After all, with Labour what is the point in saving for old age or for helping our kids? You only get penalised for being prudent!!!!

[hazel]

I am a pensioner and a widow, I drive a renault scenic 1.9 diesel. I chose this car as the driving position is more comfortable. I chose a diesel to do my bit for the environment. diesel now costs more that petrol. I was under the impresssion that using diesel was also be cost effective, no chance. I think that it is very unfair some cars will be exempt from road tax. surely if you use the roads you contribute through road tax to the repair and maintenance of our roads. I have driven 4.500 miles in my 54reg car so I probably use the roads less that some exempt cars so why should I pay more. perhaps the road tax should be on the amount of mileage we do. hazel

[Wendy Skliros]

I am a diabetic heart patient. Diabetics are exempt from NHS drug charges, why are they expected to pay the full NHS dental charges, when they are forced to visit their dentists more often due to their illness? Also, a diabetic does NOT pay for an eye check up but still has to pay the full price of glasses. This is unfair when they have to visit the opthalmist at least twice as often as anyone else and their illness often causes them to have a change in lenses. This budget has not taken into account OAP's having to face all this on a reduced pension not to mention the ususal increasing expenses of Council Tax and cost of living.

[Tony D.]

I drive a Freelander (diesel) rated at CO2 205g/km. Why does the Td4 attract a higher VED than the 1.8(petrol) version of the same vehicle that produces CO2 248g/km?
Look deeper and you will see that this is not the only anomaly in an unfair, ill thought out tax.
I’ll try and drive more miles from now on to get my extra £30 worth out of the badly surfaced roads. The state of many of our expensive roads requires a 4x4 to safely transport us across the potholes, bumps and cracks.
I have voted Labour at every election, but New (blue) Labour will not be getting my vote ever again. Trouble being which shower of incompetents do I vote for next time?

[John Eaton]

It's all very well for Culpability Brown, who, as the walking embodiment of "The Man in Whitehall knows best" (especially when it comes to the question of when to sell off our Gold reserves, or how to squeeze £5 billion a year out of all those nice fat juicey Pension Funds) is adept at spending OPM (Other People's Money). Sitting there securely on his taxpayer-funded, guaranteed, inflation-proofed Public Sector Pension, he is uniquely placed to be able to tell other people how to spend their money. But if he REALLY wanted to save £82 Billion of waste, he could do so by spending under £10 and buying that brilliant book "The Bumper Book of Government Waste" by Matthew Elliott & Lee Rotherham - truly a "Must Read" for any thinking person - which unfortunately therefore excludes the Chancellor and his minions.

[Robert Leadbetter]

How many of the letter writers above were traditional Tory voters up to the last Tory government? When traditional Tory voters deserted and abstained or actually voted Labour this led to "Cool Brittania".
So cool down folks as we have a government that we let in. The Red Politburos have always screwed their workers and artisans and we are no different.

[David Ball]

Brown is the Stafford Cripps of the 21st century without the latter's renowned sense of humour.

[Duncan Grieve]

At least your correspondence proves I am not alone in my despair of our Chancellor.

I fully agree with those who express there distaste of his control freakery and meddling targeted benefits. Not only are they inefficient - I suspect the cost of getting £1 of benefit to its target costs us taxpayers several times that in administration and bureaucracy. But even worse are the messages it sends out; creating a class of person who sees benefit receipt as a career path.

Mr Brown must remember profit has to be created before it can be taxed and that moral standards will eradicate inequalities far more effectively than chucking money at it.

£2000 to convert my Rangerover to LPG with virtually 0 emissions. My address, distinctly rural. My reward; to be punished for the irresponsibility of town dwelling poseurs.