Taxes

Debate between Bradley Thomas and Joe Powell

Tuesday 15th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Joe Powell]

I thank the hon. Member for that intervention. Of course, the Conservatives tanked the economy, and when there is such a dramatic decline in growth, increasing it from a very low level to a slightly higher one is relatively straightforward. The economic growth figures for the first quarter of this year, as we know, are the highest in the G7.

The Government are trying to fix the mess, including through measures worth over £20 billion a year—measures aimed at repairing our public finances by addressing the black hole and investing in public services that were wrecked by austerity, poor management and wishful thinking. The Conservatives have a nerve to pretend that they would do things differently now. My constituents tell me the same. Indeed, a local resident, George, has been vociferous about the lack of a credible economic plan from the Conservative party, and will not stop sharing his views on the airwaves. Yes, even the former Chancellor of the Exchequer thinks that the Conservatives have no answers to the fiscal challenges that the country faces. There is plenty that George Osborne and I disagree on, but he is absolutely right on that.

At every turn, the Conservative party is backing the blockers and preventing a plan for economic growth, whether it is the Leader of the Opposition blocking new energy infrastructure in her own backyard or the shadow Business Secretary, the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Andrew Griffith), signing letters to delay vital transport infrastructure. It is no wonder that our economy has been held back for so long.

The other parties, too, have nothing to offer. Reform wants Liz Truss’s reckless economics all over again—the same failed experiment of unfunded tax cuts that crashed our economy and left our constituents paying the price. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats promise all the benefits of tough decisions with no way to pay for them. It is pure fantasy economics. I am glad that the Government have committed to not repeating those mistakes. It will fall on the Labour party to fix this mess, rebuild our economy and deliver the secure growth that Britain needs.

Nowhere is the cost of failure clearer than in the broken housing system. London boroughs now spend £4 million every single day on temporary accommodation —a massive waste of taxpayers’ money. The Conservatives also locked us into paying billions for over-inflated asylum hotel contracts. That is another egregious waste of taxpayer money that we inherited from them. That is the direct result of not planning for investment or for the long term; it is the price of short-termism and a failure to plan for the future.

Let us look at housing—one part of our plan. We have ambitious planning reforms to deliver the greatest impact on growth at no fiscal cost. We have the biggest investment in social and genuinely affordable homes in a generation. We have leasehold reform, protection for renters and a new decent homes standard, which are all opposed by the Conservative party.

This Government are making tough choices to raise revenue. The Conservatives talk about businesses; I meet businesses all the time, and I understand the pressures that they are under. They tell me that it is vital that NHS waiting lists fall, so that their employees can access the treatment that they need; that we have modern infrastructure in Britain, including transport and energy; that their staff can afford housing options; and that we agree an EU youth mobility scheme to support our hospitality industry.

[Bradley Thomas (Bromsgrove) (Con)]

When businesses in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency make people redundant, do those employers explain to his constituents that they have to do that for the good of the NHS?

[Joe Powell]

I am glad that business confidence is at a nine-year high—that is from an independent assessment. The decisions that the hon. Gentleman refers to are already making a difference. Does he oppose the 4 million extra NHS appointments that this Government have managed to secure so far; the three trade deals with the US, India and the EU—deals that the Conservative party failed to get over the line—the four interest rate cuts; the efforts to close the tax gap; the fact that wages have grown more in our first 10 months in office than under the last 10 years of the Conservative Government; the rise in the national minimum wage to support low-paid workers; and the expansion of free school meals to half a million children, which also lifts 100,000 out of poverty?

The motion before us offers no ideas and no credible plan. If the Conservative party were serious about economic growth and tax, it would do some reflecting on its record, apologise to the British people and get behind the Labour plan to get Britain’s economy booming again.

--- Later in debate ---

[Bradley Thomas]

I will not; I have been generous with interventions.

More than half of business owners nationally are planning to, or have made, further cuts to staff numbers in response to increased employer national insurance contributions. In May, 109,000 jobs were lost in a single month. When we tax jobs out of existence, the fiscal rules are not merely stretched; they are shattered. The Chancellor will have either to break her campaign promises and raise taxes, or admit that her rules are broken. Either way, it means that working families and working people across the country will pay the price.

A fortnight ago, the Government rejected calls to protect those whose only income is the state pension from paying income tax. This retirement tax will hit 1 million of our lowest-income pensioners. This is not wealth; they are modest, often meagre incomes relied upon to heat homes, buy food and see a doctor. One in five single pensioners has no other income beyond the state pension and basic benefits, yet to fill a fiscal hole that they have created, the Government resist the plea of their most vulnerable citizens.

[Joe Powell]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Bradley Thomas]

I will not give way; I have been generous in taking interventions.

As the Chancellor grows increasingly desperate to save the sinking ship of her fiscal rules, there is now rumour of a wealth tax to compound the Government’s contempt for not only working people, but industry leaders and innovators. That is not conjecture. Only last week, Lord Kinnock said that Labour should be “willing to explore” such disastrous measures. Let us be honest: a wealth tax really means a tax on hard-working people. It means an attack on pensions and on people who have done the right thing and want a sense of fairness, and anyone who has accrued anything will pay the price.