Moray SNP News

ANGUS ROBERTSON MP - "TORY BUDGET WILL HIT WORKING FAMILIES, POOREST AND YOUNG PEOPLE HARDEST"

Moray’s SNP MP says that the Tory budget presented this week by George Osborne “will hit working families, poorest and young people hardest”.

The local MP has heavily criticised the continuing austerity agenda, especially cuts to tax credits, announced in the UK Government’s budget on Wednesday.

Angus Robertson MP said:

"This Tory budget will hit hard working families, the poorest and young people the hardest. This continuing harsh austerity agenda - particularly the savage cuts in tax credits - at the same time as high earners get more tax breaks, is very bad news for those on low incomes. Any increase in the living wage is of course welcome, but the reality is that the good will be undone by the Tory cuts to the incomes of people who can least afford it and the living wage in Scotland is currently £7.85 - George Osborne is proposing to see it effectively lowered to £7.20.

"The Tories' cuts in the living standards of young people are particularly severe, including scrapping student grants. The SNP Scottish Government will continue to deliver grants for the poorest students in Scotland, demonstrating the benefits of having these powers in the Scottish Parliament, rather than in Tory hands at Westminster.

"There were measures which we welcome such as the freeze in fuel duty, but there was nothing in the Budget to encourage innovation or exports - in effect stagnating the economy while trying to squeeze money from the poorest.

"The UK Government are imposing this austerity Budget on Scotland on the basis of having a single Tory MP north of the border - the electorate in Scotland overwhelmingly rejected austerity at the election by returning 56 SNP MPs, and the Tories secured their lowest share of the vote in Scotland since 1865.

"This Budget underlines the need to have economic and welfare powers in Scotland, so that we can build a more dynamic economy to boost tax revenues, and a fairer society where policies benefit the many, not deliver tax cuts for millionaires."