Budget Resolutions

Adam Jogee Excerpts

Wednesday 30th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Adam Jogee (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate on the first Labour Budget in 15 years. It has been a long and painful 14 years for my constituents. Families in my constituency have been struggling to make ends meet, and our services bore the brunt of a Government who did not value their work, slashed their funding, and created life-destroying waiting lists and response times. We heard a lot from the Conservative party today, but the one word we did not hear was “sorry”. I remain proud to have stood on a manifesto that committed to deliver the change working people need, and that is what we are doing today.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the mineworkers who powered our nation. For former coalmining communities such as mine in Newcastle-under-Lyme, the Chancellor’s fulfilment of our manifesto promise on the mineworkers’ pension scheme is so important. It gives the mineworkers the justice they deserve, and I know that the 838 former miners in Newcastle-under-Lyme will be grateful for it.

In recent years, I have made it a priority to visit local schools, and since the election I have comforted desperate carers and parents and made regular pleas to the Education Secretary, the Department for Education and Tory-led Staffordshire county council for action on the special educational needs and disability crisis in my constituency. I am very grateful to the Chancellor for listening to many of us across the House, acknowledging the crisis and committing a £1 billion uplift in funding for SEND provision. It is progress. There is more to do, but that is the difference that Labour in government makes.

I welcome the minimum wage increase. The minimum wage was introduced by the last Labour Government—opposed by the Conservatives at the time—and the new Labour Government have increased it for everyone of working age. That will help support people with the cost of living legacy left by the previous Government. It will help lift children out of poverty and put more money into our local communities.

The people of Newcastle-under-Lyme deserve a Government who take the tough economic decisions, not duck them, and who do not pull funding from our public services or destroy the hopes of future generations. They deserve a Government who have their best interests at heart, who will invest in our children and their futures and who will create wealth and equal opportunities for all. This Budget is the start of a new chapter for my constituents: an ambitious economic plan that invests in our people and communities, and turns the page on the failed Conservative policies of the past.

I echo the comments made by my hon. Friend the Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi) about the importance of supporting our farmers. On support with the cost of living crisis, we have seen an increase in the carer’s allowance, an above-inflation rise in the state pension, frozen fuel duty, an increase in local transport funding and the cutting of draught beer duty. We have ended the Tory fiscal drag, and we have scrapped the non-dom status that some people not too far from this House enjoyed.

Delivering on our promises to the country, this Labour Government will always be on the side of working people. I am proud to back my right hon. Friend the Chancellor in delivering on our pledge not to increase national insurance, income tax or VAT. All those who came to campaign with me in the election, will recall that our roads in north Staffordshire are shocking, not least thanks to the Conservative-led Staffordshire county council—my hon. Friend the Member for Warwick and Leamington (Matt Western) was there. I very much welcome the £500 million allocated to fix our potholes.

This is a Budget that delivers for working people, young people, local communities, public services and the good people of Newcastle-under-Lyme. I look forward to working with the Chancellor and my colleagues on the Government Benches to deliver the real change that my constituents voted for on 4 July.