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23rd January 2008
Conservatives Change
Scottish Parliament Budget
Speaking in Edinburgh today (Wednesday)
North East MSP Alex Johnstone made it clear that the
Conservatives are making real progress by engaging with the
government in the budget process to the benefit of the whole
of Scotland.
The Kincardineshire based MSP continued
saying, "It is the duty of Parliament, and all its members,
to ensure that a budget is set, otherwise all our public
services and the function of Government would be frozen at
pre-election levels.
"The proposals set out in the Budget Bill
did not meet entirely with my approval and I made it clear
at an early stage that changes would have to be made before
I could support the general principals of the Budget Bill at
Stage 1.
"The process for making these changes is for
amendments to be moved at the Finance Committee and then, if
approved, for these changes to be moved as a single
amendment to the Budget Bill at Stage 1.
"At the Finance Committee, the Labour Party
and the Conservatives moved a range of amendments to the
Bill. During this process, Conservative proposals to
accelerate the reduction of the rate burden on small
businesses were approved when the Labour and Liberal members
abstained. Conservative proposals to significantly
increase the rate of police recruitment above that currently
planned were also approved, unanimously, by the Committee.
These proposals were then moved today as an amendment to the
Budget Bill in Parliament.
"It is worthy of note that the Liberal
Democrats, in spite of a number of promises, did not move a
single amendment to the Bill and that, when given the chance
to help small businesses, they sat on their hands."
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