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Budget is an Omnishambles

Times are really tough right now, so its all

the more important that Government make

the right choices to make sure families,

pensioners and those who work hard and

do the right thing are supported. Sadly, thebotched Budget from the Chancellor has

made things worse, as three days of debate

on the Finance Bill showed last week.

Leading for the oppositionon the debate on the

Govts plans for Child Benefit, on Wednesday, I

highlighted how thousands of families will now

require to fill in self assessment tax forms, to

see if their Child benefit will be clawed back if

one earner pays higher rate tax. The planned

system is fraught with problems and leaves the

ridiculous situation where a couple with one

earner on 60k and another on 10k lose all

their child benefit, whereas a couple where

each earns 50k keeps it all! I called for the

Govt to look again at their plans, but despite a

number of Govt MPs rebelling, the vote was

carried.

I also voted against the changes in Personal

Allowance which brings in the Granny Tax

which will see, from next April, pensioners who

pay income tax losing on average 83 a year

while all those earning over 150,000 get their

tax cut and 14,000 millionaires stand to be

better off by 40,000 a year!

This is the wrong priority whilst the

Government is pressing ahead with changes

which will mean the average family is going to

be 511worse off this year.

VAT plans under attack

I was also at the Despatch Boxleading for the

Opposition in opposingthe Governments

plans for the pasty tax, and added VAT on

static caravans, hairdressers chairs and somebuilding work on churches and listed buildings.

Using the famous Killie Pie as an example, I

challenged the Government to explain how

they would decide on what would legally

constitute a hot takeaway snack. I also pointed

out that the plan to add VAT to hairdressers

chair rental would once again hit hardest on

Cathy Jamieson MP

eBrief from

23 April 2012

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women particularly those at the start of their

careers, or who are working part time because

of family commitments. We managed to

persuade a significant number of Govt

backbenchers to rebel on the votes, althoughnot enough to stop the plans at this stage.

The issues will continue to be debated, and a

PastyProtest is scheduled to march on

Downing Street!

More Palestinian Child Prisoners

Questions to

Foreign OfficeMinisters took

place during

Palestinian

Prisoners Day.

Iraised the issue

of the recent

rapid rise in

Palestinian

children detained in prison, and questionedwhat representations had been made by the

UK to Israel. The Foreign Office Minister

responded with information, and confirmed that

there were concerns about the treatment of

these children, some of whom have allegedly

been shackled and denied visits, in

contravention of international law.

Make it Kilmarnock Board Meeting

At the regularBoardmeeting we received an

update on plans for the new Kilmarnock

College Campus; a report on what has

happened to the Johnnie Walker workforce;

and a proposal for branding and marketing.

Along with other Board members, I raised the

need to tackle owners of vacant premises in

the town centre to keep premises in good order

and the need for a lasting legacy from Diageowhich includes job creation for the town.

UEF Pensioners visit Parliament

Along with Sandra Osborne MP and shadow

pensions Minister Gregg McClymont, I recently

met with a delegation from the UEFpensioners action group, led by East Ayrshire

resident Willie Riggans. Members lost out

massively when the former Stampworks in

Ayr went into Liquidation, and although the

previous Government stepped in to assist,

there are still ongoing legal battles being

fought.

Manufacturing Excellence 2012

Manufacturing is the economic backbone to the

UK and theInstitution of Mechanical Engineers

we are committed to helping UK manufacturing

and innovation thrive. The Institution is on the

lookout for the UKs top manufacturing

businesses and is offering companies the

chance to win free consultancy to help them

realise their full potential.

Last yearswinnersincluded mechanical

seals manufacturer AESSEAL, transit

packaging manufacturer Loadhog, train

manufacturer Bombardier and AgfaGraphics.

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