Vince Cable

In this week's debate on the budget MP Vincent Cable will - as his party's Shadow Chancellor - again lead for the Lib Dems, culminating in his reply to the budget on TV on Friday after the 10pm news.

Vincent Cable said: "This is Gordon Brown's 10th budget and my third reply. There is no major economic or financial crisis so the budget is not a dramatic event; indeed we are fortunate to have had a long period of stability. But there are big questions which the Chancellor needs to answer: where has the large amount of money put into public services, notably the NHS, actually gone? How is the long term pension crisis being addressed? How is the government going to create a system of local taxation which is fairer than council tax and enables councils to raise more of their own revenue".

"There are also a few local concerns which I have also been asked to raise: taxes on diesel used by river boats; the taxation paid by charities; and the impact of inheritance tax on local residents when almost every house in the borough falls inside the threshold".