Alistair Darling’s "gain now pain later" pre-budget report provoked mixed reactions across the county.

The Chancellor yesterday came up with a flurry of measures designed to ease the burden on business and individuals in arguably the worst financial crisis since the war.

But to do it, he has gone on a credit binge as bloated as the one that caused the crisis in the first place.

The country will go into hock to the tune of £118bn by 2009-10, and will only come back into balance - or so Mr Darling hopes - by 2015.

And for many people, the tax take in terms of increased income tax on higher earners and extra National Insurance will rise from April 2011 to pay for today’s handouts.

The headline grabber was the cut in Vat from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent. He urged shops to lower prices from next week. (1)

But the Federation of Small Businesses, which has 7,000 members across Kent and Medway, said it would be difficult and costly to implement by Monday.

In a statement, it said the re-pricing of all merchandise in shops (shelf edge cards, till reprogramming, menu re-printing, window displays) is a massive amount of work to be completed by next Monday. Many low value goods prices cannot be reduced by 2.5 per cent and rounding of prices to balance the discount is a major exercise for many small businesses.

The FSB denounced the decision to raise National Insurance Contributions by half of one per cent from 2011 and called for the decision to be reviewed.

But Roger House, the county’s FSB chairman, gave it a cautious welcome: "This Pre-Budget Report is a sign of the importance of small businesses to the UK economy. The Government’s Small Business Finance Scheme, which closely resembles the Small Business Survival Fund the FSB has been calling for, will provide a vital cash boost to businesses struggling with rising costs and a lack of credit.

"Many of these measures, such as giving businesses longer time to pay bills and offsetting losses, will give small businesses a welcome breather from the taxman and allow them to concentrate on sustaining their business, supporting their staff and growing the economy in the long term."

But road haulier Peter Carroll, leader of a protest against high fuel duty, was scathing, saying the effect of the Vat cut and rise in duty would widen the gap between Continental and UK hauliers.

The owner of Seymour Transport in Larkfield, near Maidstone, said the cut in Vat and increase in fuel duty would raise costs and widen the duty difference between Continental and UK hauliers.

"The Continental hauliers pay no fuel duty in the UK, no employment taxes in the UK and no road tax in the UK," he said. "The Chancellor’s move will further damage an industry that is the 6th largest employer in the UK. This proves that the Government has no understanding of our industry. Despite all the protests of the summer it appears that they have not listened."

David Seall, regional director of the EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, called on the Government to accelerate capital spending and direct it to British businesses.

"It is also vital that pressure is maintained on the banks to deliver support for lending," he said. "But business will be asking if this goes far enough and if it can be delivered in a timely fashion."

He added: "Looking beyond the current crisis business, will be concerned that the increase in national insurance contributions is not the beginning of a trend towards increasing taxes on business."