James Cunningham

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MP Welcomes Budget

Jim Cunningham MP (Coventry South), today welcomed the Chancellor’s Budget as a commitment to economic stability, opportunity and security for all.

Mr Cunningham said, “The chancellor announced an additional one-off payment of £100 to the households of the over 80’s and £50 to over 60’s households, I believe this to be a step in the right direction”.

The 2008 Budget set out key measures to help lift 250,000 children out of poverty. Jim Cunningham added “Families will also benefit from the 2008 budget.

“The Chancellor allocated further financial support for children, allocated an extra £200 million to increase the numbers of children achieving 5 A* - C grades at GCSE and announced increases of child benefit.

“I also support the efforts the Treasury plans to make to encourage low-income families to save more by the introduction of the Saving Gateway”.

Alistair Darling showed his commitment to small and medium sized businesses. Mr Cunningham continued, “The Chancellor announced a package of access to finance measures including enhancing the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme and the Enterprise Capital Funds, which will support small firms in accessing the resources they need to start up and grow”.

The 2008 budget sets out new policies to reduce emissions across all major sectors of the economy and ensure the UK continues to lead the climate change agenda internationally. Mr Cunningham continued “I fully support the Government’s willingness to look at increasing our carbon emission target to 80%”.

Jim Cunningham concluded, “Alistair Darling has not only increased investment in public services but has shown his commitment to reform and improve public services, which I believe to be a central theme of this years budget”.