On Wednesday 20 March, Chancellor George Osborne will make his 2013 Budget statement to Parliament. As the Budget approaches I thought it might be helpful to set out the progress the Coalition Government has made on the economy since coming to power and the next steps which are necessary to overcome Britain’s debt problem in the best interests of Sutton Coldfield.
As a result of Conservative economic policies this Government has already cut the deficit which we inherited from Labour by a quarter, ensured that people across the UK have benefitted from low interest rates and created the economic circumstances to secure over a million new jobs in the private sector. These positive steps have allowed for the introduction of policies that have helped households and businesses across the UK and in Sutton Coldfield during these difficult economic times. We have cut Income Tax, frozen Council Tax and avoided two and half years of unpopular fuel rises planned by the previous Government.
Times remain difficult for families in Sutton Coldfield and elsewhere and we have further to go to deal with Britain’s debt problem. The Chancellor’s Budget will stick to the course of putting our house in order and take the next steps to build a stronger economy. Following discussions with my Treasury colleagues I am confident that when the Chancellor delivers his Budget Statement later this month he will deliver his main aim of keeping costs low for families and businesses.
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I know from correspondence that many of my constituents will have welcomed last week’s migration statistics which show the effect Conservative reforms are having on net migration to the UK. Official figures from the Office for National Statistics show that new immigration into the UK has fallen by almost a third since the last General Election.
I think that these latest figures show that our tough but fair reforms are having an impact in all the right places – we have tightened the routes where abuse was rife and overall numbers are down as a result. I want to assure my constituents and readers of the Observer that the Government will continue to work hard to reduce net migration by many thousands by the end of this Parliament.
Please visit my website to find out more about my work in Sutton Coldfield