Dai Havard

Labour Party | Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney

The Budget –Spend it Well!

Given world events and world economic conditions it is good to see that again Wales and its people will continue to benefit with a huge increase in the budget of the Assembly and Gordon Brown’s continuing push to re-distribute benefits to children, working families and pensioners.

The news that every household with a pensioner over 70 will get an additional £100 to help with Council Tax means that with the £200 winter fuel allowance, households with members over 60 will get £200, over 70’s will get £300, and over 80’s will get £400. These are just some of the measures that build on Child, Pensioner and Working Credits.
 
The increases in the Minimum Wage in October and its extension to 16 / 17 year olds is a move that the Labour MP’s on the Trade Union Group have campaigned for and is good news when coupled with the continuing drop in unemployment. I am also pleased that Gordon has continued to recognise the particular problems of areas like our Valleys with incentive schemes to grow employment and investment and encourage councils to help small businesses. 

As a Welsh Labour MP I have already voted to give massive investment to the Welsh Assembly, which will get an additional £219m by 2007/8 from this budget. But Assembly spending is only half the picture in Wales. Money for policing, defence, tax and benefits, jobs, business investment and incentive schemes, from UK Government Departments, effectively doubles the amount given to the Assembly. It is the Budget in Parliament that allows that.

As member of the Defence Select Committee I am pleased that Gordon has made pledges to defence and security spending as well as continuing with all the social, education and health spending. I thank Gordon for his confidence and continued investment in the people of Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney. It is vital that individuals now claim all their entitlements and that we use the total of UK government money to Wales to our best advantage.