The people of Dudley talk about their hopes and fears for the forthcoming budget announcement.

Express & Star

Transcript

00:00This Wednesday the government introduces its first budget since it took over as

00:04government in July. I've been here in Dudley speaking to people about that

00:08budget, asking them what their expectations are, what their hopes are,

00:10what they want the government to do for them. So let's see what they had to say.

00:14I'm a man now saying it anyway. What do you hope the government's going to do?

00:19What would you want the government to do for you? Well they don't look after the

00:23pensioners enough, do they? I mean they took all the heat and limbs off us and it's

00:26took us years to get there, so how didn't you feel about that? Do you feel that in a

00:31way that they need to do more to help people like yourself? Yeah, they should do.

00:35I mean I've worked all my life, haven't you? And looking at it, I mean what would you like

00:41them to do? Give back the heating allowance or is there anything else

00:43that you'd want to see happen? Give back the heating allowance and look after the pensioners a bit more.

00:48Well let's wait and see I think to be fair and I'm not expecting anything to

00:55be easy in the budget. I'm expecting it to be a lot of, what shall we say, things

01:04against than more than positives really. Well they've been talking about tough

01:09times, they've been talking about not taxing working people. Running a market

01:14store, do you think that you're going to be positively or negatively affected by

01:17the budget? Positively. Everybody has to pay tax, you know, so regardless of

01:23whether you're running a small store or a big store or a big business, we're all

01:28going to be taxed at the end of the day in one form or another form.

01:31I suppose looking ahead, what would you want to see to benefit yourself? I'd like

01:38to say to think that the fuel has still come down a bit more. I'd like to see the

01:44prices will come down a little bit. I mean I don't mind paying a little bit

01:50more on National Insurance if it's going, you know, to the NHS and whatever. I don't

01:54mind that. Basically things can only get better, right? Yeah. I think that it's

02:00going to take more than one budget to turn this country around. You know, it's

02:07regardless of whoever has been in power for the last ten years, I think we've

02:12been in a right mess anyway, to be honest with you. No, no hope at all. I don't

02:17trust him as far as I could throw him, unfortunately. I think he's told a lot of

02:20porkies, a lot of lies and he's gone back on all of them. But looking ahead, do you

02:27think that if there is some positive news coming out of the budget, do you think

02:31that it could be a step in the right direction for the country? Hopefully, but

02:33it's all according if he changes his mind again because he's gone back on

02:37different things all the time. Things he said he was going to do, he's gone back

02:41on them and that's no good for the country. You know, I mean we're

02:46in enough trouble without him trying to make things and make them up and then

02:50not do them. So I'm not happy with him. I think people who pay tax need to be

02:57looked after because there is a tendency for the people who pay tax and

03:02who are highly qualified, highly skilled. If the government keep pressing them to

03:07pay more, eventually these people will leave the country and we'll have people

03:13who are supposed to be paying tax, they will not be here. So they should take into

03:17consideration the people who are paying tax and the middle-class people and

03:22they need a lot of attention from the government. Is there anything for

03:27yourself personally you'd want to see from Wednesday? Yes, because I'm a

03:32pensioner and I have to pay for television license. Besides that, the

03:40winter payments have been stopped. Now can you imagine somebody who has worked all

03:46their life and not having to pay, which was already paid to us

03:50initially, now they're taking it away, which is not fair. I think people who

03:55have paid their dues, now they are being taxed or they are penalized, which

04:01is not fair. And because in the old age you need extra help because you are at

04:06home, you're using the heating and lots of other things. So your message to the

04:11government would be do something to help me please? Absolutely, absolutely. Thank

04:15you very much. I would like the government to consider the need of

04:20the people who are paying tax and the need of the people who are retired.

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