THE Chancellor Rishi Sunak has laid out what the government's spending priorities for the next year would be in his budget statement today.
The budget included huge commitments to tackle coronavirus, measures to tackle climate change and fossil fuel emissions, and a large spending programme for roads and rail.
READ MORE about the budget's effects on Oxfordshire here
Spending included:
- A three-point plan to tackle the Coronavirus made up of a total of £30 billion, which includes resources for the NHS, support for people taking sick leave, and tax breaks for businesses. This included a business rate holiday for a year for most businesses with a rateable value under £51,000.
Mr Sunak said: “Let me say this: We will get through this together. The British people are worried but they are not daunted.”
READ MORE about the latest on the coronavirus in Oxfordshire here - Abolishing the 'tampon tax': which means VAT on all feminine hygien products will be scrapped
- A higher business rate discount for pubs of up to £5,000
- Environmental measures, including scrapping red diesel discounts for some industries, though agriculture will be exempt
- £120m to repair flood defences damaged by winter storms
- £640m for projects which use the natural world to capture carbon
- £27bn for large road building projects -- but the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway did not get a mention. Leading Oxford West MP Layla Moran to call the budget a 'wasted opportunity.'
What a wasted opportunity - Govt has not announced the cancellation of the Ox-Cam Expressway. They had an open goal and have missed spectacularly. We will keep campaigning until this massive motorway project is scrapped, and a fully electrified East-West Rail is a reality.
— Layla Moran 🔶 (@LaylaMoran) March 11, 2020
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