Budget described as 'a virtual non-event, fiscally'
March 17, 2008
Despite Alistair Darling’s first Budget statement being described in the financial press as "a virtual non-event, fiscally," some of the environmental measures were acknowledged as noteworthy, particularly in the case of taxes on cars.
Richard Tyler, the Daily Telegraph's Enterprise Editor, said, "A quick glance at the Red Book and it is clear that this Budget is a virtual non-event fiscally… The big tax rises? Alcohol taxes raise £500 million and taxes on gas guzzling cars will raise £465 million from next year."
In a similar vein, the Director of Friends of the Earth, Tony Juniper, accused the Chancellor of merely having "tinkered in the margins" instead of putting "sustainability at the heart" of the announcement.
He said, "Mr Darling should have used this Budget to tackle climate change ― the biggest challenge the world faces ― by making it cheaper and easier for people to go green, including tax breaks for greening the home, and grants for renewable energy. He did announce a number of welcome green initiatives, such as a car purchase tax and an increase in aviation duty, but the overall package falls a long way short of what is required."
Continuing the theme of something of an economic anticlimax, Richard Lambert, Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said, "The Chancellor didn't set the Thames alight, but then he didn't have anything to set it alight with."
He welcomed the Chancellor’s postponement of the 2p fuel duty increase, but called the new air passenger duty "a very blunt instrument" and said it was "ineffective as a green tax".
He referred to the green taxes on new cars as "a sting in the tale for some manufacturers", while hailing the Government’s target that all new non-domestic buildings should be zero carbon by 2019 as "the right sort of ambition".
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