Darling talks, UK growth slows
Global woes spread to Number 11
What you need to know about cloud backup
Budget 2008 Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, forecast slower economic growth in the UK this year when he delivered his first Budget speech in the House of Commons.
Darling said the turbulence in financial markets was having an impact all over the world. He said the problems, or total failure, of credit markets was a major risk to world economies. But he promised: "There will be no return to the interest rates of the early 90s.".
Darling said: "UK GDP growth is forecast to slow from three per cent in 2007 to 1¾ to 2¼ per cent in 2008, before picking up to 2¼ to 2¾ per cent in 2009."
Small business will get help to access finance made more difficult by current global problems.
Female entrepreneurs will benefit from an additional £12m fund.
Anne Glover, CEO of Amadeus Capital will investigate how to help private companies get more business from the public sector.
The government will spend £10m over five years on "Project Enthuse" to support the development of secondary science teachers.
The Chancellor warned that he would impose a tax on plastic shopping bags in 2009 if action was not taken by the supermarkets themselves.
More immediately, cigarettes go up by 11p per packet of 20, cigars by 4p per packet of five. Beer will cost 4p more per pint from midnight on Sunday, wine will rise by 14p a bottle and spirits by 55p a bottle.
The 2p per litre increase in fuel duty, due in April, has been delayed until October.
The full speech is available here.
Check back for more on the budget later today. ®
COMMENTS
I hate to say.......
Well, I don't really. But you (or someone dear to you) elected 'em and you keep 'em in power by just having a bit of a moan and then quietly bending over again.
Things never improve only as a result of p!$$!ng and moaning.
alcohol
Let's give the government some credit here. They've had some insight: They know that if they tax the hell out of booze they'll make a mint as more and more poor sods in this country turn to booze to drink away their worries about [crime/cost of living increases/lack of good jobs/booze duty rises/corrupt fatcat MPs] living in this fuckweaseled country.
@that's going to stop binge drinkers
I think you fail to see the point of the budget. from the bbc:
'In other announcements, alcohol tax will go up by 6% above inflation - and then by 2% above inflation for the next four years, potentially boosting Treasury coffers by £635m annually by 2010.'
raising the tax on alcohol is not there to stem it, if it were they wouldn't expect a constant return of that large a sum for the next 3 years, they'd expect it to go down... it's all about the small print
IT infrastructure monitoring strategies
Agentless Backup is Not a Myth
Steps to Take Before Choosing a Business Continuity Partner
Enabling efficient data center monitoring
Requirements Checklist for Choosing a Cloud Backup and Recovery Service Provider
