Danny Kinahan MP has responded to the 2015 Summer Budget. Welcoming aspects such as extra money for the NHS and the lowering of Corporation Tax, the South Antrim MP said that more detail was needed on how many families would be affected by the lowering of the Benefit Cap to £20,000 and called on Sinn Fein to stop stalling on Welfare Reform.
Mr Kinahan said:
“The Chancellor described this as a Budget for working people and we agree with the desire to move from low wage, high tax, high welfare dependency to higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare dependency.
“The Ulster Unionist Party wants to see Northern Ireland refocusing on wealth generation and closing the prosperity gap between us and the other regions of the United Kingdom. We need to balance the books not just nationally, but also locally. The most vulnerable of our citizens are our children and grandchildren, who some would burden with an eye watering, Greek style national debt.
“Whether you agree with what was outlined in the Budget today or not, at least this is a Government making decisions. Our DUP and Sinn Fein led Executive is incapable.
“On the face of it, there are proposals that deserve to be welcomed. The extra £8billion for the NHS will bring with it a very positive Barnett Consequential for Northern Ireland and the reduction in Corporation Tax would make dropping the rate locally to 12.5% much more affordable.
“However, there is also pain in this Budget, and for other aspects the devil will be in the detail. We need to see just how many families will be affected by the capping of household benefits at £20,000 outside of London. Then we can have a discussion about what we might be able to do under the Block Grant to mitigate that pain.
“We also have concerns about the potential for the National Living Wage to pose an existential threat to micro and SMEs, who are already struggling with the burden of rates. This measure could disproportionately affect Northern Ireland given they almost exclusively make up our Private Sector. However we agree that those who can afford to pay the National Living Wage should pay it.
“Now that the Budget has been announced it is time our efforts were refocused on sorting out Welfare Reform in Northern Ireland. The Stormont House Agreement provided a mitigation package to protect some of the most vulnerable in our society from its sharpest edges. Sinn Fein have to stop stalling.”