Responding to the Budget announcements made by the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak MP, Ulster Unionist Leader, Steve Aiken OBE MLA, said:
“While the additional £410 million for the Northern Ireland Executive is welcome, as well as the continued temporary reduction in VAT in the hospitality sector, the increase in corporation tax to 25%, coupled with the continued absurdities of the Protocol, may act as a further disincentive to investment.”
“The Assembly spent several days debating and examining the Finance Minister`s budget for the Executive for the early part of this financial year and supplementary estimates. What has become clear is that even with an extra £3.3 billion from HM Treasury, the difficulties in managing that budget seem to be beyond the Finance Minister and some other members of the Executive. Even with this largesse we are looking at real cuts in policing numbers, we still don`t have support for many of those excluded from existing Covid support schemes and yet again our health service will be deprived of the resources it needs.
“We cannot continue with business as usual. As a matter of urgency, the Northern Ireland Executive should establish an Independent Fiscal Council on a statutory basis to help the Executive make the difficult decisions that have to be made. The recurring Sinn Fein mantra of ‘let’s blame it on the Brits’ doesn`t hold.”