Cost of Living Increases

Ben Bradley Excerpts

Tuesday 25th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Tulip Siddiq]

The hon. Member may want to sit down and hear the next bit because I am sure he is going to ask the same question.

However, we also recognise that people need help today. That is why, if Labour were in government today, we would freeze council tax this year to stop bills from rising above £2,000, paid for by an extended windfall tax on oil and gas company profits. Even though Office for National Statistics figures confirm that 2022 was a record year for North sea oil and gas profits—even though the ONS confirmed that—the Conservatives are again choosing to protect the energy giants’ windfalls of war.

[Ben Bradley (Mansfield) (Con)]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Tulip Siddiq]

I think the hon. Gentleman should listen, actually.

By refusing to backdate the tax to January 2022, end the investment allowance tax loophole and raise the rate in line with other countries, the Chancellor has left billions on the table, leaving working people to pick up the rising council tax bill. Labour would use the additional funds raised by a proper windfall tax to cut energy bills for domestic food manufacturers and processors, and we would cut business rates for small shops, paid for by properly taxing online giants, to bring down the eyewatering cost of everyday items. We would also reverse the Conservative decision to hand the 1% wealthiest pension savers a £1 billion handout and instead introduce specific measures to keep doctors in work. And we would close the non-dom tax loophole, so people who live and work here pay their tax here. We would use that money to fund one of the biggest expansions of the NHS workforce in history. Those are straightforward measures. The Government could introduce them today to show people they are on their side, but we know they will not because they have given up on Britain.

At the heart of today’s Opposition day debate is a simple question that everyone up and down the country will be asking themselves: “After 13 years of Conservative rule, am I better off?” The simple answer is no. People now have a clear choice: between a tired Conservative Government out of ideas, and a Labour party committed to forging a new partnership with British business to create good jobs and boost wages; between a Conservative Party that puts developers before first-time buyers, and a Labour party committed to the principle of home ownership and giving young families a start in life; and between the Conservatives, the party of high taxation and Government handouts to the wealthiest 1%, and Labour, the party committed to putting working people and businesses first, freezing council tax and cutting business rates to ease the cost of living. Only the Labour party has a serious plan for growth to improve living standards and wages for working people. [Interruption.] Those on the Conservative Benches can laugh all they want, but only the Labour party has a vision of a better life for the British people.

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[Ben Bradley (Mansfield) (Con)]

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak today, first to recognise the challenging times that we live in. Although Mansfield is increasingly affluent—average incomes have risen—there remain pockets of significant disadvantage and high levels of economic inactivity. In those pockets, poor health, poor housing and being out of the workforce contribute significantly to the challenges. It is not, as Labour would have us believe, a simple case of chucking a bit more money at people to fix it. These are complicated issues.

I am grateful for the wide range of Government support, including direct support for residents in the biggest welfare package in history, as far as I can tell. It includes increases in pensions, the halving of energy bills and the household support fund, which have helped a lot of people. We need to recognise that that is not sustainable. The Prime Minister is therefore right to look at reducing inflation and growing the economy. My community fundamentally needs better-paid jobs rather than subsidies. We need to make inroads into economic inactivity. I have spoken to the Department for Work and Pensions before about devolving powers to our local area to create packages that will support people into work that fits our local needs and priorities. I will see the Secretary of State about that shortly. At the very least, our new combined authority in the region should have the powers that Greater Manchester and the west midlands already have to deliver those packages. I have written to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities about that recently.

The Government are supporting growth in our region. Devolution is also an opportunity to boost life chances through jobs and infrastructure. In Mansfield we still have lower-paid employment than elsewhere. Transport links to other areas for jobs and investment, and attracting new jobs in growth sectors such as clean energy and advanced manufacturing, are key. I have spoken in this place a lot about the £20 billion STEP—spherical tokamak for energy production—fusion investment as an example of huge Government investment. Our combined authority will give us the ability to wrap a local skills and education package and transport links around that, so that kids in Mansfield can have amazing opportunities that have not existed in our area for decades. North Nottinghamshire can power the country again. In turn, we can change lives. That is a powerful intervention from the Government to support people.

There are all sorts of great projects across Mansfield, Nottinghamshire and our region, including the freeport, our development company, spherical tokamak for energy production fusion, investment zones and our combined authority and transport projects. We all want bigger, quicker and better support for these projects, but they will sit under our combined authority to help us drive private sector growth and bring funding back into the Treasury, as well as create opportunities, which are important. Rather than talking about doing things, the biggest role for Government in growth is to undo some things in order to help small businesses to get on with business and reduce the regulatory burden.

It is important to clarify Opposition comments about council tax. Residents are reading national leaflets in relation to local elections and getting the impression that if they vote for Labour next week, their council tax will be frozen, which is nonsense. It is highly misleading and almost as if the Labour party is trying to dupe people into believing that. People expect local campaigners and candidates who are worthy of their trust, but in this case Labour is leading people up the garden path. It is important to get that on the record. In truth, the Labour party does not know what the policy will cost or what its impact on public services will be, because it does not understand the issues. That is what residents need to know in a week’s time when they come to vote.

We all want to tackle rising costs, grow our economy and boost opportunities. Through the covid pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and other global events, the Government have continued to support people heavily through some of the biggest welfare interventions in this country’s history. Obviously, that is not sustainable forever but the Prime Minister is right to focus on economic recovery and growth.

Rather than seeking to paint an increasingly bleak picture of Britain, as the Opposition consistently do, and acting as though everybody in our country lives in abject poverty and misery, which does not go down well with most of this country’s voters, this Government are acting to help people who are struggling with the challenges of the cost of living and to boost growth and opportunity. While Labour Members pop up all over the place, pointing fingers and without any ideas of their own, the Prime Minister and this Government are actively supporting my constituents in an unprecedented way.

[Several hon. Members rose—]