PC 12: Shadow Budget(s)

User avatar
Sir Nicholas Mountstuart
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2021 4:31 pm
Constituency: Penrith & The Border
XP: 5
Trait(s): None
Discord username: Max

Re: PC 12: Shadow Budget(s)

Post by Sir Nicholas Mountstuart »

Responding to Becky Flair's comments on my joking about Calvin Ward.

I know they say that the Scots are a dour bunch, but maybe it's just the difference between an Aberdonian, not known for their humour - and the gaiety of two lowlanders enjoying a bit of banter over our national drink - whisky. In true Edinburgh-Glasgow style, Calvin Ward and I are the best of enemies; we regularly enjoy a bit of rough banter at each others expense, and Calvin gives as good as he gets. Can I gently suggest that Miss Flair needs to lighten up? She's quickly getting a reputation in Westminster as a bit of an old scold - it's a most unattractive look, and not one that I'd say would appeal to the voting public.
Rt Hon. Sir Nicholas Mountstuart Bt QC MP
Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition (2001-Present)

Member of Parliament for Penrith and the Border (1997-Present)
User avatar
Clarice Ashbridge
Posts: 49
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2020 10:55 pm
Constituency: Eastwood
XP: 3
Trait(s): None
Discord username: LegolasRedbard

Re: PC 12: Shadow Budget(s)

Post by Clarice Ashbridge »

I've held off on commenting on Becky Flair's botched budget for a while now, just in case someone at the Lib Dems decided they were going to change it on the fly again. But looking at her radical proposals, which prioritise prisoners over the public and offer no clear long-term plan, it would probably have been better for her if this one had ended up in the bin with the rest of the first draft.

They're promising record investment, a huge real terms increase, and a "shakeup" of the Home Office. It sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? It is. Whilst they would flood the Home Office with a cash injection, the Lib Dems would fundamentally fail to address the people's priorities. Unlike the Conservatives, they won't commit to a measured long term plan to level up the left behind police forces of our nations, with a hiring programme over the term of the next parliament to build up rural and small town police presence. Unlike the Conservatives, they won't pledge to protect our borders through the formation of a new and expanded Border Control Agency, or crack down on those who exploit the benefits system with a new Fraud Squad. And unlike the Conservatives, they'll spend the majority of this new increase in funding on criminals, expanding prisons way beyond any reasonable proposals and splurging millions on "rehabilitation reform" rather than the fight against crime

Becky Flair's "hug a hoodie" mentality may go well in the Aberdeen Liberal Club or with the academic elite who run the Labour Party: but for the vast majority of decent, working people in this country, they will see nothing but a spit in the face. The Conservatives will put the victims of crime and our police first, rather than funding pottery classes and satellite TV for criminals.
The Hon. Clarice Ashbridge MP, Lady Ashbridge
Scottish Conservative and Unionist
Shadow Secretary of State for the Home Department (October 2001 - present)
Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities (June 2001 - present)
MP for Eastwood (2001 - present)
User avatar
Rebecca Flair
Posts: 172
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2021 8:15 pm
Constituency: Westmorland and Lonsdale
XP: 0
Trait(s): None
Discord username: DylPickle

Re: PC 12: Shadow Budget(s)

Post by Rebecca Flair »

I have a fair amount of respect for Clarice Ashbridge, it must be hard to be a Shadow Minister with Calamity Croft forever changing his mind and messing up his lines, equally it must be difficult to be a female MP in Shadow Cabinet with some of the barbs thrown around at women MPs such as myself by the likes of Nicholas Mountstuart, I can only imagine what he's like when the cameras are not pointing at him.

That being said I will not allow her blatant mistruths to stand up without any scrutiny whatsoever because the fact of the matter is that the Conservative Party are well and truly being left behind by the Liberal Democrats in every area of the Home Office Budget. She claims that we won't commit to a long term plan to level up police presence, which is strange because I've committed 20,000 police officers in five years at a rate of 4,000 a year precisely to increase police presence in our rural areas and towns, a figure dwarfing the Conservative Party's one off injection of 2,500 officers this year. We have also pledged £100mn for procurement and maintenance, a fee matched by the Conservative Party and investment worth up to £75mn in immigration and security services. Finally she wants to accuse me of "hugging a hoodie" when in actuality that is also not true. The Conservative Party fund the construction of 3,000 prison spaces, the Lib Dems fund the construction of almost double that but we also recognise that simply locking them up, letting them out, and then locking them up again is a frightful waste of taxpayers' money so we invested in rehabilitation while the Conservatives advocate continuing the trend of incarceration, release, and rearrest.

It is painfully clear which party can be trusted to work for our communities and protect our neighbourhoods, on the evidence of the Shadow Budgets it is obvious that the Conservative Party have no clue and no plan, only the Liberal Democrats can be trusted to keep you safe and protect your precious freedoms.
Rebecca Flair
MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale 2010 - Present

Leader of the Liberal Democrats 2015 - Present
User avatar
Rebecca Flair
Posts: 172
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2021 8:15 pm
Constituency: Westmorland and Lonsdale
XP: 0
Trait(s): None
Discord username: DylPickle

Re: PC 12: Shadow Budget(s)

Post by Rebecca Flair »

Clarice Ashbridge and I are both proud to represent Scottish Constituencies in Westminster, or at least I presumed Clarice was until I saw the Conservative Party's Shadow Budget because now I'm not so sure. Under the Tory Party's plans spending in England would increase, in real terms, by billions of pounds, but money devolved to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland would be frozen in real terms. Such is the Conservative Party's disdain for devolved government, for the peoples of Scotland and Wales, they would completely ignore them when it comes to giving out the cash leaving the peoples of Scotland and Wales to fend for themselves. This is a United Kingdom, we are all parts of a family of nations, it is about time we started treating Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland like it and started to stand up for their interests just as much as the Tory Party stands up for their donors' interests.
Rebecca Flair
MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale 2010 - Present

Leader of the Liberal Democrats 2015 - Present
User avatar
Rebecca Flair
Posts: 172
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2021 8:15 pm
Constituency: Westmorland and Lonsdale
XP: 0
Trait(s): None
Discord username: DylPickle

Re: PC 12: Shadow Budget(s)

Post by Rebecca Flair »

Mr Mountstuart has said that the Conservative Party are the party of cutting taxes, he has staked his credibility on it, and while it is true that he cuts taxes more than the Government it is simply not true that he is the tax cutting guru that he thinks he is. Under Conservative Party plans you will pay tax on every penny you earn over £4,000, under Lib Dem plans that number is raised to £6,000. Under Conservative Party plans the mooted Married Tax Allowance has been binned because they would rather spend that money on cutting Capital Gains Tax for a small subset of investors over a nation full of married couples in need of support. And under Conservative Party plans VAT will remain high at 17.5% where the Lib Dems would cut it to 15%, making your money go further. Every way you look at it where it matters most the Liberal Democrats are cutting taxes for the vast majority of the nation, the Conservative Party meanwhile are cutting taxes for the vast majority of their donors. There is a World of difference even if Mr Mountstuart would rather pretend that there isn't.
Rebecca Flair
MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale 2010 - Present

Leader of the Liberal Democrats 2015 - Present
User avatar
Sir Jack Anderson
Posts: 105
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2020 10:22 pm
Constituency: Southampton Test
XP: 7
Trait(s): None
Discord username: TrashPotato#4034

Re: PC 12: Shadow Budget(s)

Post by Sir Jack Anderson »

When crafting my budget, I had three key aims: fairer taxes, investment in our public services and fiscal responsibility. On those aims, I have succeeded where the Conservatives have failed.

Where we've implemented sustainable, fair tax cuts the Conservatives have gambled the economy on unaffordable tax cuts for their donors that will see inflation spike, eat any growth they'd have incurred and leave us without the fiscal resilience to deal with the consequences. Where we've invested in public services we've seen the Conservatives cut investment into our economy, put no money towards improving NHS waiting times and build schools without any programme of maintenance like Labour's Future Classrooms programme. And where we've been fiscally responsible, the Conservatives have been reckless. They have chased feelgood headlines and played a numbers game, being unable to say no to anything and leaving Britain more in debt in the process.

Britain does not need an ideological crusade that repeats the boom and bust mistakes of the past. It needs responsible, competent leadership that invests and leaves us able to confront the challenges of the future - that is Labour's promise to the British people.
Sir Jack Anderson
Labour Party.
Member of Parliament for Southampton Test
Chair of the Treasury Select Committee. (2000-2001)
Chancellor of the Exchequer. (2001-)
First Secretary of State. (2001-)
Dame Patricia
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2020 6:09 pm
XP: 2
Trait(s): None
Discord username: Dan

Re: PC 12: Shadow Budget(s)

Post by Dame Patricia »

The Conservative Budget put forward by my friend Mr Mountstuart not only slashes unnecessary red tape but makes the right investments where needed. The Conservative Party are clearly the party of law and order and you can see that in our Shadow Budget, 2,500 just in the first year, ensuring we have more police on the frontline to protect the British public against crime. The government haven’t even come close when it comes to investment in our police. This labour government’s approach to our police is just a classic case of the government talking the talk, but not walking the walk.
Fred Sackville-Bagg
Posts: 43
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2020 10:04 pm
XP: 9
Trait(s): None
Discord username: Kinbote

Re: PC 12: Shadow Budget(s)

Post by Fred Sackville-Bagg »

When Mr Mountstuart was appointed as Shadow Chancellor I commented that he was a true friend of the pound. He is so much a friend of the pound that he wants you all to keep more of yours. Labour do not, but then Labour are not a friend of the pound, nor are they a friend of the country.

They do not care about homeownership as they are quite willing to tax the living daylights out of people who want to buy a nice house. They want to price nice houses out of the reach of people by hiking up stamp duty. They want you to keep a little bit of your money by increasing the personal allowance but when it comes to actually allowing you to pay a lower percentage tax - they just won’t do it. We will and we have proven that.
User avatar
Will Frost
Conservative MP
Conservative MP
Posts: 285
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2020 3:22 pm
Constituency: Tatton
XP: 6
Trait(s): None
Discord username: Croft

Re: PC 12: Shadow Budget(s)

Post by Will Frost »

In his latest round of press statements, the Chancellor has dismissed the Conservative Party's Shadow Budget as an, "ideological crusade." I don't take any offense to the suggestion - I am a man motivated by principle, by a core of set of values, and by a moral commitment to return power back to the British people. Britain needs a crusade of low taxes, financial deregulation, and aggressive wealth creation in order to ensure the long term success of public services like the NHS. Where the Chancellor seeks to give this country more of the same, tepid growth and indecisive action, the Conservatives want to chart a new course entirely.

For us this budget is more than a series of spread sheets, it is an opportunity to send a message about the sort of country we believe that Britain ought to be. A country that allows people to keep the lion's share of their income, not because it sounds good politically to do so, but because we fundamentally believe as a society that the state should not be robbing people of what they earn. A country where small business can be the engine of economic growth and opportunity that powers us forward. And a country that rewards work, and encourages a sense of personal responsibility for every individual.

The message we are sending is simple: the Conservative Party believes that Britain's best days are ahead of us. With our Shadow Budget, we aim to turn that belief into a reality.
Will Frost MP
User avatar
Andy Edwards
Posts: 90
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2020 7:30 pm
Constituency: Ellesmere Port and Neston
XP: 6
Trait(s): None
Discord username: aboltik

Re: PC 12: Shadow Budget(s)

Post by Andy Edwards »

The Leader of the Opposition's "crusade for wealth creation" sure isn't focused on the working class or families in Britain. For working parents, he doesn't think you deserve benefits or access to child care... but he sure does want to make sure to give tax relief to his investor friends in the City. For those looking for work, he wants to scrap the New Deal that funds training and job placement services and instead give more handouts to businesses. For those struggling with rent or finding affordable housing while they work he doesn't want to make it any easier to buy a home or get support... but he wants to make sure that the wealthiest in this country can buy yet another summer home.

Britain doesn't need the Leader of the Opposition's false crusade. We had that under Thatcher- and it was working people who paid the biggest price for it. Recession after recession, higher unemployment, higher uncertainty. Those days are gone, and rightfully so, with a Government that's going to invest in workers and in their families rather in the most well-to-do in Britain. We're increasing spending to help out low-income families, we're expanding childcare, we're investing in housing schemes.
Andrew Edwards MP
MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston (1992-) | Labour
Secretary of State for the Home Office (2001-)
Locked

Return to “Marked Press Cycles & Speeches”