Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP

Last month, as Chancellor, I presented the Pre-Budget report to the House of Commons and set out public spending for the next three years.

There was more money allocated for health and education.   Both are essential.   People quite rightly have rising expectations in relation to the health service and with new technology and the fact that we have an older population the demands are likely to continue to grow.   And improving our schools’ levels of education are essential especially as we face the challenges coming from the likes of China and India who are turning out more graduates than the rest of Europe put together.  In Scotland, spending decisions for health and education lie with the Scottish Executive.  I have just allocated funding to the Scottish Executive which more than doubles the level available to the first Scottish Executive in 1999 so there’s no reason why substantial improvements can’t be made to health and education.

I was able to help deal with people’s concerns that rising house prices mean that they won’t be able to pass on what they had hoped for their children.   I have changed the way that the Inheritance Tax system works so that a widow for example could leave up to £600,000.00 and from April 2010 700,000.00 before paying the tax.   That will help many people especially home owners in Edinburgh where prices have risen dramatically over the last few years.   If you have any questions about that then let me know.

I was also able to make more money available to deal with terrorism and security and at long last have been able to help us meet our international obligations in UN targets for aid and development.

Finally, I welcome the raising of the legal age for buying cigarettes from 16 to 18.  Scotland has the highest rate of young smokers in Britain. This will send a message to young people that smoking is addictive and highly dangerous to health.