Oral Answers to Questions

Cat Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 28th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Tomlinson]

Of course, the Government want to do all we can to support businesses up and down the country—small, medium and large. That is why we are working hard to put the economic stagnation we had over the last 14 years behind us. We are seeing economic growth rising—growing by 0.5% in February; we saw unemployment falling; and we were seeing Government borrowing falling as well. Those are the long-term changes we need to lay the foundations so that businesses can grow, invest and hire more people. It is disappointing that the Conservatives seem to have forgotten what we need to provide stability in our economy.

[Cat Smith (Lancaster and Wyre) (Lab)]

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Rachel Reeves)]

We are on the right path with the right economic plan. Unemployment is down, the economy is growing, interest rates have been cut six times, and last year Government borrowing was lower than it was the year before and is set to fall by more than in any other G7 economy.

At the same time, the Government are acting responsibly on the world stage. This is a war that we did not start, we did not enter, and we are working with our international allies to de-escalate. Our focus is on protecting family finances, supporting businesses and taking care with the public purse to improve Britain’s economic resilience. That is the right plan for our country.

[Cat Smith]

I thank the Chancellor for her work to lift the two-child benefit cap, which was cruelly brought in by the Conservative Government. Does she agree that that is not only morally the right thing to do, but economically good news for the 1,690 families in Lancaster and Wyre who will have more money in their pockets to spend in our local economy in Lancashire—unlike the super-rich, who would have just taken it to offshore tax havens?

[Rachel Reeves]

Just a couple of weeks ago, I hosted an event in Downing Street where I met people who are benefiting from the change in the two-child limit and people who had campaigned for that change. Mums told me that they were going to use the money to pay for their kids to go to after-school clubs with their friends, swimming lessons that they could not afford before, or a new school coat rather than a second-hand one. That is the difference that this money is making to families up and down the country. I am proud to be the Chancellor who has scrapped the two-child limit.