Budget Resolutions

Beth Winter Excerpts

Monday 1st November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Beth Winter (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

In the build-up to the COP26 summit, which began today, I held three climate assemblies in my constituency, and I have sent our manifesto to the COP26 President. Cynon Valley is an old mining community suffering higher than average levels of poverty and ill health. While the people of our community are ready for and want change, they are also anxious to ensure that in the future-proofing of our planet, communities such as ours are not left behind, but this Budget and spending review give me no confidence that that will be the case. Indeed, yet again, the people of Cynon Valley and of Wales are being short-changed by this Tory Government. The Welsh Government’s budget in 2024-25 will be nearly £3 billion lower than it would be if it had increased in line with the economy since 2010-11. The Chancellor’s Budget offers Wales no help to deal with dangerous coal tips, although the whole UK benefited from the coal dug out from the south Wales valleys. Must we wait for another disaster before action is taken, given that a disaster becomes more likely as the climate crisis accelerates?

There is talk of levelling up, but losing £375 million of EU structural funds and replacing it with a £120 million levelling-up fund, most of which has gone to Tory-held seats, does not sound much like levelling up to me. To add insult to injury, this Government are bypassing the democratically elected Welsh Government in making their decisions about how to spend money in Wales. For my constituents—thousands of them—the decision to withdraw the universal credit top-up has been devastating, and there is no benefit for the unemployed and the most disadvantaged. The Budget and spending review have been celebrated by Opposition Members. Some say that the Tories have “stolen Labour’s clothes”; I am relieved to say that they have not stolen this socialist’s clothes.

We urgently need to reconfigure our economy and society. We need to reverse the effects of austerity on our communities. We must act now to reduce inequalities in our society, and that is not just about levelling up; it is also about levelling back down the extreme wealth owned by such a small proportion of our population—millionaires whose wealth has grown over the time of the pandemic. We need to introduce a wealth tax, which could raise more than £300 billion over a five-year period.

That money should be invested in developing a democratically controlled green new deal, ensuring that decisions are made by local people, communities and their elected representatives who best understand their needs. It could develop the green industries that we want, creating numerous well-paid green jobs in my community. It could help to renew all the public services, and generate community wealth along with the museums, libraries and theatres that we lost because of austerity. We could at last develop the kind of green rail infrastructure that we need, and with prices at a level that people can afford. Wales has already lost out on nearly £5 billion of investment because HS2 is being classed as a Wales and England project. When is the Chancellor going to rectify that?

I am proud to be a co-sponsor of the green new deal Bill—the Decarbonisation and Economic Strategy Bill—which is relevant today. Addressing the climate crisis must be embedded in everything we do from now on. It means prioritising the future of the planet in every decision we take, including budgetary and spending reviews. We need urgent action now, and it is my sincere hope that the world will come together at COP26 to save our planet. No, this Tory Government have not stolen my green clothes at all; they have given to the rich and made life harder for the poor. That is the opposite of what I stand for, and levelling up it most certainly is not.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

As Christmas is coming, the last two speakers have five minutes each.