Daily Politics

On Thursday 24th March, Claire appeared on the BBC's Daily Politics to discuss the 2011 Budget with Labour MP Rachel Reeves and Liberal Democrat MP Duncan Hames. The debt crisis in Portugal has reinforced the case for last year's Emergency Budget which was about rescuing the nation's finances and paying for Labour's mistakes. This Budget was about two things: reforming the economy to ensure jobs and growth for the future, and doing what we can to help families with the cost of living.

Claire believes the Government are helping families struggling with the cost of living by cutting income tax for millions of people; cutting fuel duty immediately; postponing Labour's planned increase this April; and taxing oil companies more to stop future above inflation rises in duty. The Government are boosting manufacturing, growth and jobs by cutting tax for businesses and entrepreneurs; scrapping burdensome regulations; radically reforming the planning system; investing in science and innovation; and providing more support for young people with an additional 50,000 apprenticeships and 100,000 work experience places. These plans are backed by the IMF, OECD and every major business body in Britain – to put the public finances back on track after Labour maxed out the nation's credit card. The fiscal plan is unchanged. Claire believes that the Government cannot go on spending £120 million a day on debt interest – more than they spend on schools or defence.

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