Budget passed - eventually

Great news to hear that the budget has been passed. I was surprised to hear that even Labour had voted for it as well. No dought this will put the SNP in a strong position, perhaps even at the next election as it will be difficult for Labour to criticise spending plans, as they voted for those spending plans. Once again, I am disappointed with the media for their coverage of the budget being passed. For one thing, it wasn't the main story, and secondly they didn't even mention one thing that is inside the budget! They seemed to be more interested with the budget being voted down than when it is passed, and when it is eventually passed they fail to mention one thing that the budget be doing! So for those of you who were wondering what's in the budget, here is the fantastic list of what is going to be delivered by the SNP:

- Help for households to beat the credit crunch, providing extra funding for councils to freeze the Council Tax for another year.
- Another cut in the cost of single prescriptions from April, down from £5 to £4... with 12-month pre-payment certificates cut by £10 to £38.
- Business rates for 120,000 small businesses will be abolished, helping shops and local firms cut costs and protect jobs in these tough times.
- £230 million of accelerated infrastructure spending to keep the Scottish economy moving and support 4,700 jobs. - Extra funds to help train 1,000 additional police officers, to put more bobbies on the beat and improve safety on our streets.
- £15 million to help provide home insulation for 90,000 homes - targeted on those most in need. - £16 million to recruit 18,500 new apprentices. PLUS: - - £300 million more for the NHS. - £70 million more to invest in affordable housing. - £60 million more for town centre renewal. - £40 million more in funding for free personal care for the elderly.
- A total of £1.8 billion in additional expenditure - securing a total of 35,000 jobs!

Sounds good, eh! Back soon.