“Budget delivers for the North” says Farron

South Lakes MP Tim Farron has welcomed todays Budget announcement, and news that the UK is now the fastest growing of any advanced economy in the world.

Tim welcomed the news that the personal tax allowance will rise again to £11,000 by 2017. In the North West it will lift 416,000 people out of income tax altogether and 2.91 million people will see an average real terms gain of £552. A typical basic rate taxpayer will be £ 905 a year better off in 2017-18 compared with 2010-11.

The national minimum wage will increase by 20p an hour to £6.70 from October, and for apprentices it will go up by 20% - or 57p - to £3.30 an hour.

There was also positive news about the roll out of superfast broadband. The Chancellor announced that Britain's remotest communities - who have had to wait the longest for broadband - will be among the first to get "superfast" connection. Commenting, Tim said: 'This is a great start. But we need to make sure that all rural communities are served. Too many residents tell me that they cannot work from home, because they cannot rely on their internet connection. We need to ensure that people in the South Lakes can run their businesses with the reliable and rapid connection we should be able to expect in the 21st century. This is vital to keep our rural communities flourishing.'

Tim also welcomed news that the Government has agreed to extend the period over which self-employed farmers can average their profits for income tax purposes from 2 years to 5 years. This will help protect farmers by allowing them to spread volatile profits over consecutive good and bad years.

Commenting on the new measure Tim said: 'This is fantastic news for farmers. This year, for example, dairy farmers are being hit with a huge tax bill from last year's profits, whilst right now they're struggling with a huge drop in milk prices. Allowing farmers to average their earnings over five years will help to shield them from these dangerous spikes and troughs in income and help them to budget wisely for the sustainability of their business into the future. This is something the NFU have called for and I've pressed for in Westminster so it's great to see it announced today.'

There was also a boost to Tim's rural fuel poverty campaign. The fuel duty increase for September has been cancelled, and there is now a further freeze on fuel duty which equates to a saving of £10 on a tank of fuel over the course of this Parliament.

Other top lines from today's budget included:

- Help for lower and middle income earners by increasing the Personal Allowance by a further £200 so that from April 2016 it increases to £10,800 and from April 2017 to £11,000. By 2017-18, 27.2 million individuals will have benefited from increases in the personal allowance and we will have lifted over 3.7 million out of income tax altogether.

- Help for children with mental health problems by providing £1.25 billion of new funding over the next five years to treat 110,000 more children with mental health issues, and provide rapid access to treatment for new mothers.

- Help for savers by creating a new savings income allowance so that 95% of individuals can now save completely tax free.

- Help for pensioners by introducing Steve Webb's proposal to give people who have already bought an annuity greater flexibility over how they access its value.

And it is all fully paid for by delivering on Liberal Democrat policy:

- Paid for by reducing the lifetime allowance for pension contributions that benefit from tax relief from £1.25 million to £1 million - affecting only the top 4% of wealthiest individuals.

- Paid for by increasing the bank levy which will raise £4.4 billion over the next five years.

- Paid for by cracking down on off-shore tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance on those who are serial avoiders.

- Paid for by ensuring capital gains tax entrepreneurs' relief is well targeted and only available when someone is making a meaningful withdrawal from that business.

Commenting on the Budget, Tim said: 'This has been a budget bringing welcome support to areas often overlooked: it's about balancing the north-south divide, spreading prosperity beyond London and the southeast; it's about safeguarding our food producers; it's about supporting small businesses up and down the country; and it's about helping to sustain rural communities.'