Commenting on today’s Budget, MP for Newcastle North and Shadow Treasury Minister, Catherine McKinnell, said:

‘George Osborne has absolutely nothing to offer Newcastle and the North East.

‘This region has been let down time and again by the Coalition – on jobs, on living standards and on infrastructure.

‘We hear about a Northern Powerhouse, yet Osborne remains completely oblivious to the fact the North stretches some way beyond the Pennines – despite what our fantastic region has to offer the rest of the country. Today’s announcements on this include just one token reference to Newcastle.

‘People in the North East won’t be taken in by this Budget – they know that Ministers have spent the last five years deliberately shifting funds away from Northern cities to wealthier parts of the country, that wages here are down and unemployment in our region remains the highest of anywhere in the UK.

‘And – particularly concerning for our region – is that we still have no further details on how the Chancellor plans to mitigate the impact of devolving Air Passenger Duty to the Scottish Government. This threatens to have a major impact on Newcastle Airport and the North East’s economy and, despite a vague promise of a ‘review of potential options’ last month, there is not a single mention of this in the Budget.’

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