UK Battered With Budget

Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) warned that spending growth was "considerably slower" than in previous reviews and "might prove incompatible with improving public services and reducing child poverty".

 
Robert Chote, IFS director, said: "Growth in total public spending will roughly halve from the rates enjoyed in Labour's years of plenty."

THE UK government was last night accused of playing politics with Scottish farmers' livelihoods as it was revealed plans for an £8.1 million compensation payout for foot-and-mouth disease were mysteriously scrapped after Gordon Brown decided not to call an election.

 
The Scottish Government claims that in the run-up to the anticipated election announcement, the environment department was preparing to reveal the scheme.

Council tax will rise by £370 over the next five years for householders paying the average band D bill, the Taxpayers' Alliance has predicted.

 
The organisation, which campaigns for lower taxes, said the average band D bill would increase from £1,321 in 2007/8 to £1,691 in 2013.

The man trusted with ensuring public money is spent properly has come under fire after details emerged of the £365,000 expenses bill he racked up for a string of trips around the world.

The backlash against Alistair Darling’s revenue-raising mini-Budget intensified on Wednesday when it emerged that thousands of employees participating in company “save as you earn” schemes could be landed with bigger tax bills.

Accountants voiced fears yesterday of a flood of money leaving the London Stock Exchange's junior Alternative Investment Market in the wake of the Government's decision to axe "taper" relief on capital gains tax.

 
The move could have a significant impact on the AIM, which has been phenomenally successful as a venue for young and fast-growing companies that often found it hard to raise funds before the junior market came into being.

Whitehall funding for councils will increase by an average of 1 per cent in real terms in the three years from next April: 1.5 per cent in the first year, then 0.8 and 0.7 per cent. The Government claims that this should be sufficient to ensure improved services, enabling local government to keep council tax rises low, with “an overall increase of well under 5 per cent in each of the next three years”. This is well above the forecast 2 per cent annual growth in consumer prices over the period.

 
These figures do not look plausible. Local authorities complain that the Whitehall grant is not enough to provide new services promised by central government. Hence, the Local Government Association says: “Councils will be left with no choice but to raise council taxes by more than inflation.”

Families will be paying £2,600 more tax every year under Labour plans contained in the pre-budget report, a leading economic think tank says.

Almost a million extra people will get treatment for anxiety and depression under plans unveiled by the Government yesterday.
 
Health Secretary Alan Johnson pledged £170million to fund sessions with psychologists, which have proved to be more effective than drugs.

Mr Cameron launched a devastating assault over the PM’s refusal to grant a referendum on the EU treaty.

He declared: “We’ve got a Prime Minister who won’t talk straight about the election, won’t own up on inheritance tax and won’t keep his promises on an EU referendum despite a manifesto pledge. Never have the British people been treated with such cynicism.