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Gordon Brown's budget is a kick in the teeth
for the rural community
James Irvine
Teviot Scientific, Cultybraggan Farm, Comrie,
Perthshire
Filed 23 Mar 07
©www.land-care.org.uk
Gordon Brown's 11th budget showed him to be a
man who has honed deviousness into a fine art. "Smoke and mirrors"
some people call it. Ever looking for a striking and favourable
headline, whilst concealing the truth, this effort was a fine example
of just how far he has come.
"The basic rate of tax is reduced from
22p to 20p in the £".
That set his fellow labour MPs cheering and waving
their papers. But then in a quieter tone, he announced that he was
doing away with the 10p in the £ initial tax level which he
himself had introduced in an earlier budget in order to help the
less well off. The 20p in the £ rate now kicks in rather earlier
in terms of income than its 22p predecessor, That means those who
earn around £17,500 per annum will be paying significantly
more tax. The very ones who can least afford it.
But they would be looked after, he assured us,
by tax credits: a cumbersome way of reclaiming tax for those who
may be entitled to it - particularly those with children. But who
isn't entitled to such tax credits, awkward as they undoubtedly
are, with some 15% of those eligible not taking them up?
One category of person who isn't eligible, and
who will be significantly worse off, is the young person who wants
to start up his/her self-employed business in farming. He/she may
feel that they have not yet earned enough to start a family - single
parent or otherwise. His/her income tax will go up. And that for
a person who can least afford it.
But the situation is worse than that. The budding
young agricultural entrepreneur, who is willing to work hard over
long hours in order to try and make a go of it, will be further
hit by a rise in the tax on the fuel for the 4x4 vehicle that he
has to have to carry out his business. Not only that, but the road
tax that he/she will be required to pay for his 4x4 is set to rise
substantially. The Chancellor is already making a killing on fuel
tax. The higher the cost of fuel per barrel the more tax the Chancellor
takes. The cost of fuel is already significantly higher in rural
areas, compared to that in Scotland's centra belt with which Mr
Brown is more familiar.
If that was not enough, there is also the rise
of 3p in the £ in corporation tax for small businesses should
our young entrepreneur manage to make a reasonable profit. Two thirds
of all businesses in Scotland are small businesses.
What is all this tripe that Gordon Brown has been
talking about, when he claims to want to encourage young people
to make a go of things - to make something of themselves.
When asked during an interview on TV about the
effect of his increased taxes on small business, he answered glibly
that there are investment incentives, so that
"a small business making a profit of £100,000
would get investment relief on part of that".
"there is concern that some larger companies
are forming smaller ones to avoid the higher rate of corporation
tax. I wanted to close that loophole."
So he did it at the expense of the young person
wanting to start up a business.
But, Mr Brown, you will be aware that Scotland
has a poor rate for new start-up businesses lasting more than 3
years - if that. Or ever reaching sufficient financial turnover
that they qualify to be VAT registered. So why treat them in such
a shoddy manner?
Clearly, for all their talk, Mr Brown and his
labour party are not seriously concerned about the welfare of young
people who are willing to try to set up on their own rural businesses.
Nor do these devious politicians care about the rural community
which is so dependent on farming for maintaining the fabric of the
countryside. After all, in their view, the countryside is only there
to be a playground for the rich. who might want to visit it, and
relax in it, once in a while.
All this seems very odd for what is generally
perceived to be labour party principles. But who is interested in
principles any more, if there is a striking headline in the offing
which might help to smooth the path of the Chancellor to become
the next prime minister?
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