Rich get the bonus, poor get the beer

While any help to improve the financial plight of working people is to be lauded, to pretend that the token 
gesture of 1p off a pint of beer (paid for by a corresponding increase in the price of wine and spirits) is something 
to cheer about is, frankly, 
insulting.

No attempt has been made to help those shivering in fuel poverty by either imposing an additional tax on the power companies or creating a special payment to cover this since the existing £200 allowance is swallowed up on other day-to-day essentials like food and clothing.

On the same day we find that, once again, bankers, many of whom who help create the problem, have awarded themselves obscene bonuses. Perhaps the government should consider that the average pensioner finds it difficult to reconcile their lot against a backdrop of such selfish and profligate extravagance.

Brian Allan

Keith Street

Kincardine-on-Forth

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One piece of good news in the Budget was that Britain has become the first G8 nation to meet the historic commitment to the 0.7 per cent international aid target. However this is not the 
government’s achievement but Labour’s.

The path to today started on 1 May, 1997. It was a 
Labour government that set up the Department for International Development (DifD) as an independent department that secured the deal on debt relief, that trebled aid and set up the timetable to reach the 0.7 per cent target by 2013.

Millions more children are in school, mothers give birth safely and Aids sufferers have access to life-saving medicines because of decisions made by the Labour government.

Budget after Budget, international summit after international summit, the Labour government fought on the side of the poor and the marginalised and transformed their lives for the better – and established Britain as a leading force for social justice in the world.

But the news that the 0.7 per cent target set by Labour has been met should not distract us from a painful truth that the current government’s failed austerity policies means the UK aid budget is nearly £5.5 billion less than it should have been.

This results from a reduction in Britain’s income and a freeze on aid spending until this year and an underspend.

Tory support for maintaining this level of spending is very fragile, with many voices within their own party calling for cuts. We need to keep up the pressure to protect our record on aid.

Of course this could also be put at risk by a vote for 
Scottish independence.

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In return for being able to boast a Scottish aid budget of perhaps 9 per cent of the current UK budget, the withdrawal of all Scottish MPs would put at risk the chances of the UK having a progressive majority at Westminster to continue support for international development at a level that would make a real difference.

Alastair Osborne

Labour Campaign for 
International Development

Symington

Ayrshire

As the ink dries on the Budget papers and people have real concerns about how they will continue to make ends meet, we face the prospect of another 18 months in economic limbo until Scotland will get the chance to vote on independence.

As Alex Salmond continues his limbo dancing, most people I know are heartily sick of the political shenanigans and just want to get the vote over as quickly as possible.

During 2014 our emotional heartstrings will be tugged by the UK Government commemorating the start of the First World War while the Scottish Government will focus on the Commonwealth Games, Ryder Cup, Homecoming and whatever else can be dredged up to show how beneficial or not a break-up will be.

While these distractions take place, economic hardship will still be the harsh 
reality.

Bob MacDougall

Kippen

Stirlingshire

Wednesday’s Budget put the housing crisis at the centre of the UK government’s plan for economic recovery.

On the face of it, George Osborne’s Help to Buy scheme could be a welcome boost to our beleaguered housing market.

However, the devil, as ever with Budget statements, is in the detail. Time will tell if and how these schemes will operate in Scotland, but before we rush to roll them out we should pause to check what the impact of increasing the availability of mortgages will be.

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The Chancellor is right to identify that the greatest barrier for homebuyers is the high cost of deposits. However, simply injecting more cash into a housing market suffering from too few buyers for too few homes can only push prices up and put us back in danger of creating a housing bubble.

Instead, we should learn the lessons of the most recent housing crash in case we forget that in 2007-8, greater access to mortgages failed to trickle down into a greater number of homes.

Since 2001, the number of people waiting for a social home has risen by 15 per cent. Only long term growth in new build affordable and social housing working in tandem with the promotion of responsible lending can stabilise Scotland’s housing market.

That way, instead of leaving 157,000 people to languish on waiting lists, we can create a Scotland where everyone has a home.

Graeme Brown

Shelter Scotland

South Charlotte Street

Edinburgh