Manufacturing bosses boo Budget

Chief executive Terry Scuoler said the Statement contained "some helpful measures on business taxation and, some signs of re-prioritising spending for growth but it still feels like a job half done". He continued: "The Chancellor had over £11bn of under-spending in his arsenal and should have done more to fire growth now, particularly through accelerating investment in infrastructure. With forecasts for business investment scaled back heavily for the next five years, the growth challenge we face is growing. "Looking to the Spending Review, with the Chancellor sticking to his fiscal plans, this can't just be about tighter spending controls. It must also be about a more radical of shift of spending towards growth." More specifically, EEF said: • Enhancing the R&D tax credit should help to attract and grow innovation • Boosting the Funding for Lending Scheme was a positive commitment • Extending support for Energy Intensive Industries were welcome, but the job was far from done • Exemptions from the Climate Change Levy would bring UK firms in sectors such as ceramics and steel into line with the same tax regime applicable to many of their EU competitors