Budget fails to address important issues: Lamb

3.48.20pm GMT Wed 17th Mar 2004

Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk and his party's member of the Treasury Select Committee, has criticised today's Budget for neglecting a number of important concerns.

"The Chancellor has failed to address the vital issue of unfairness in the tax system," said Mr Lamb.

"Giving pensioners over 70 an extra £100 this year to help pay their Council Tax is merely a sticking-plaster operation. Instead, the Government should scrap the Council Tax altogether - it is inherently unfair, as comments from my constituency postbag demonstrate almost every day.

"Gordon Brown has also done nothing to tackle the problem of ever-rising consumer debt, which is due to reach the trillion-pound mark this summer. Bearing this in mind, I am very concerned about the potential impact of an increase in house prices."