Full support for the Budget proposals of Chancellor George Osborne has come from 49-year-old Devizes MP Claire Perry, who has revealed that the House of Commons “simmers like a saucepan coming to the boil” when the Chancellor rises to her feet.
Wearing a bright red jacket, Mrs Perry sneaked herself into prime position for that very moment yesterday (Wednesday) by leaving her customary back row seat and sitting on the gangway steps just three people away from Mr Osborne.
And she could be seen in TV coverage of the Budget smiling applauding Mr Osborne’s announcements.
Mrs Perry, now an assistant chief whip in the coalition government, has much to thank Mr Osborne for.
“She went to work for him when she came back from her job as a banker in New York,” one of her constituents told Marlborough News Online. “He supported her ambition to become an MP and that undoubtedly helped when she was chosen as the first time candidate for the safe Devizes seat in 2010.”
This followed the surprise retirement from the Commons of Michael Ancram, the former Tory Party chairman, after he became the first MP to become embroiled in the MPs’ expenses scandal unveiled by the Daily Telegraph.
“There were some important economic changes to welcome and then a whole parade of juicy morsels to savour by the time a somewhat hoarse George Osborne sat down,” mother of three Mrs Perry reveals in her local newspaper column and on her website.
“A big cheer greeted the announcement of tax free childcare worth up to £2,000 per child, which will be available for almost half a million children in working families in the South West next year.
“And also the plan to raise further the tax free personal allowance to £10,500 in 2015 which will benefit more than two million people in our region.”
She adds: “A strong, comprehensive package of support for British business was also warmly welcomed, including a £7 billion package to cut the cost of industrial energy bills, which will help us at home too, a doubling of the Annual Investment Allowance of £500,000, which mean that almost every business will pay tax upfront when they invest, and more help for exporters with the most competitive export finance package in Europe.
“Stronger businesses mean more jobs and the certainty of a pay packet for more families, as well as corporate taxes which help to plug the deficit in Britain’s finances, which we heard is shrinking faster than in any other major economy.”
Dramatic help for savers, Mrs Perry points out, will help those hardest hit by the low interest rates needed to secure the country’s recovery.
She supports “the scrapping of the annuity system that forced pension savers into a one-size-fits-all model” and declares: “It is good to be part of a government that trusts people to save and invest their own money.”
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Pension reforms are a real game changer declares Marlborough’s Brewin Dolphin chief Praise for the Chancellor’s major Budget changes in pension rules has come from the Marlborough office of Brewin Dolphin, the finance and investment company. Stephen Depla head of Brewin Dolphin’s local office, told Marlborough News Online: “Like a phoenix from the flames, Osborne’s policy sees the British pension rise from its deathbed, freed from fears over stealth taxes and over complication. “This is a total game changer, and will result in the almost immediate death of the annuity – for which we have long called for. It is a huge change in the flexibility of the pension system, with lower taxes and higher lump sums. We welcome the fact that the government is willing to trust people with their own finances and await clarification on how the vast amount of necessary advice will be delivered. “The Chancellor has removed the nanny knows best aspect of the ISA – allowing a far broader range of products, and the ability to switch from shares to cash and back again. With a massive increase in the amount that can be sheltered in an ISA wrapper, as well as the inclusion of peer to peer lending and shorter dated retail bonds, the ISA is now a far sharper tool in the tax planning toolkit.” |
