Autumn Budget 2024

Lord Bach Excerpts

Monday 11th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bach (Lab)]

My Lords, in many years as a Member of this House, I have never dreamed of speaking in a Budget debate. Why have I changed my mind today? I want to say a few words because this Budget springs from a view of the world—an approach, or a political philosophy, if that does not sound too grand—that, rightly or wrongly, happens to fit in with my own beliefs or, as some opposite might say, my prejudices.

I am particularly excited by its emphasis on stability, combined with its emphasis on investment and growth—getting that balance right is everything. I believe this Budget succeeds here. It does not revert to austerity but is determined to move forward while protecting those who have the least. Its insistence on improving our desperate public services is an essential part of that crucial balance, which has been found successfully by the Chancellor. That balance has been difficult this year, given the economic legacy bequeathed by the last Government. They will have to understand that that legacy is widely and correctly criticised, and it explains the general election result to an important extent. My gentle advice to the Opposition is to stop defending their record, stop beating their heads against a brick wall and move on as fast as they possibly can.

Austerity as a policy is, thankfully, dropped. It did untold harm. I was a police and crime commissioner for five years and, every working day, I saw the effect of austerity on police numbers and on an excellent force’s ability to do the job it wanted to do. Neighbourhood policing suffered badly, and it followed, like night follows day, that anti-social behaviour and other crimes flourished. Austerity was a disaster for the poorest and most vulnerable—not least for the young, with the inevitable closure of youth clubs and other provision.

I am delighted by the plan set out in the Red Book for visible neighbourhood policing to be boosted by 13,000 neighbourhood officers and PCSOs. My concern today—here I remind the House of my declared interest as the chair of the board of trustees of the Leicester law centre—is about law centres and advice centres generally, which give vital legal advice to those who need it at the time that they need it. Given the effective destruction of social welfare law legal aid over the last 14 years, they will struggle to find the increase in employers’ national insurance. That advice, if given, can save money for the state, as well as protecting people’s lives, of course. Although I personally understand the importance of, and support, raising employers’ national insurance as a way of moving forward, I invite my noble friend to look again, if possible, at the issue as it affects the people I have referred to.

I repeat how proud I am of this Budget. I congratulate the Government on having presented a Budget that is both sensible and radical, and that represents the best hope for the future of our country.