YORK MP Hugh Bayley said the Budget was "good news" for families, pensioners and first-time buyers in York.

"This is a budget for hardworking families, and it shows Labour's long term commitment to improving the quality of life for pensioners in York.

"Gordon Brown has responded to what I've been saying about the problems facing first-time buyers in house price hot spots like York, with his decision to double the point at which stamp duty is paid."

Phil Willis, Liberal Demo-crat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said: "This was clearly a Budget geared to a General Election, which was little more than a sticking plaster over some of the big issues that continue to be ignored.

"The council tax refund is a fudge. Instead of reform, we get a one-year handout to pensioners which smacks of opportunism rather than long-term policy-making.

Anne McIntosh, Conservative MP for Vale of York, insisted the Tories had "trumped" the government by offering a more generous £500 council tax refund to pensioners.

Stamp duty exemption would have little impact in her constituency, where properties sold for more than £120,000.

Selby's Labour MP John Grogan said: "The highlight for me was the free bus passes for pensioners - that will affect 18,000 people in my constituency."