Autumn Budget 2024

Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale Excerpts

Monday 11th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale (Lab)]

My Lords, I must start by drawing attention to my entries in the register of interests. I also want to start by congratulating the Minister on an excellent and very detailed introduction to this debate and on what I assume will be his stamina. If this debate does go on for about eight hours, to open and close such a debate is quite a feat and I wish him well for that.

I would also like to congratulate the Chancellor on her bravery and her strength in setting out a Budget in these very difficult economic circumstances. I am sure that we will have a long debate this afternoon and this evening, going through many of the details of that Budget, but no one can doubt her commitment to the economy and the people of this country, and I wish her well in the years ahead.

I am particularly pleased to see the level of increased investment in education, because education is undoubtedly the best investment not just for individuals, children and families but also for our economy and for our country. That educational investment contributes to a very sizeable increase in the resources available for the deployment of the Scottish Government. While I remain concerned about the continuing dependency in the relationship between Scotland and the rest of the UK, the level of investment in this Budget removes any excuse for the Scottish Government for the poor quality of public services in Scotland. They need to stop penalising taxpayers in Scotland and focus on delivery, whether that is in the education system, which has suffered so much at their hands over recent years, or even something as basic as delivering lifeline ferries to our islands.

In the middle of the pandemic, the previous Prime Minister, when he was Chancellor, cut the overseas aid budget by one-third. He did so at a moment when our interdependent world could not have been clearer, and when the world needed an integrated, comprehensive effort to secure global health provision and to preserve trade routes and other economic links.

The uncertainty over Britain’s development aid, over recent years, and the level of spending on refugees in the UK from that aid budget have diminished our reputation internationally and damaged the lives of many poor people around the world. So I have to say that it was with profound disappointment that I saw, in the Budget, that the new Government will cut the overseas aid budget from £15.3 billion in 2023 to £14.3 billion in 2025.

I do not think there is a moral case for spending a third of our aid budget, in country, on asylum seekers, refugees and the work of the Home Office and the borders agency. If we want to be a reliable partner internationally and to restore our global reputation, I believe that spending that money better and ultimately, eventually, spending more will be a central part of that. I hope that the Minister will be willing to take that message back to the Chancellor and that there will be a review in future spending rounds.

Finally, on the 11th day of the 11th month, today we all remember the impact of conflict. We remember that deeply. Many in your Lordships’ House have personal memories, in their families or even themselves, of that impact. For maybe 15 or 17 years, the United Kingdom has had a pooled approach to spending on conflict prevention, peacebuilding and peacekeeping. More recently, the last Government created the Integrated Security Fund from what was previously the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund—a development of Labour’s own Conflict Pool back at the end of the last Labour Government. It is not clear from the Budget what will happen to that Integrated Security Fund; there is an opaque reference to an amount that might be available in the FCDO budget, although the fund lies within the responsibilities of the Cabinet Office. So, in closing, I ask the Minister to spell out in more detail whether its budget has been cut. If so, when will we get a Statement on that and what will be the priorities of the new fund, moving forward?