Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Chris Evans Excerpts

Wednesday 28th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Chris Evans (Caerphilly) (Lab/Co-op)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for coming especially to hear my speech; I am most grateful to you.

We have seen the rise today of a new political philosophy. It is called miserablism. They are so miserable about everything. The Chancellor could have stood at that Dispatch Box and said anything—he could have awarded £1 million to every single person in the country—and still the Opposition would have complained, because all they ever do is talk about prescription, rather than what they would do instead.

When I first came into this House, all I ever heard about was deficit reduction. I heard Members who have spoken today say, when we were on the Opposition Benches, that we should apologise. We hear no such apology now. The very tenet of miserablism is to ignore the good news, such as the fact the deficit is coming down. The Chancellor has said that we will be back in the black within three years, despite economic headwinds that we have no control over in Ukraine and the middle east. The fact is that, on the ground, people are seeing the change.

I will talk about three things in the limited time I have. First, on small businesses, my constituency is full of independent small businesses run by hard-working, innovative people. They add to our vibrant high streets and town centres, creating a sense of community. Small businesses will find it easier, thanks to this Budget, to serve their communities and provide local jobs. The increase in the threshold required to pay business rates, from £12,000 to £18,000, will lift 70,000 properties in the UK out of paying business rates and will help so many businesses in Caerphilly.

If anybody wants to see the good news in Caerphilly, just look at what has been happening in Caerphilly borough, which in September was announced as having the fastest business start-up rate in the whole of Wales. Caerphilly has experienced a 49% increase in business start-ups during the first eight months of this year compared with the same period last year. That is a testament to Jamie Pritchard, the leader of our Labour-controlled council.

People want to come to Caerphilly to do business because they believe in what we are doing there. Alongside that, the UK Government are channelling investment into south Wales, which has helped to unlock £23 million for Norgine, a leading European pharmaceutical company in my constituency, to develop its Hengoed facility, which is expected to create 44 new jobs.

If I was going to talk about one thing that does affect most people—if I had to take a straw poll in my constituency—it would be energy bills. Extending the VAT cut to July will help so many people. Not just householders will benefit from that. I remember visiting a business in my constituency, Rees Gym, which was worried about energy costs. The new British industrial competitive scheme will cut costs there as well. Gas standing charges will be removed from household bills. There will be a payment of £100 into people’s bank accounts if they are in council tax bands A to D, and the Plaid Cymru-led Welsh Government have already said that they will honour that in Wales, although they have also complained about some sort of cut. Miserabilism has found its way across the channel as well.

I also want to say something about the miners. I come from a mining family. My grandfather was a miner. He was buried under three tonnes of coal and was invalided out of the mines. He was an example of the hundreds of thousands of people who built our society and who sacrificed their life and their health to keep this country moving. That is why I am so pleased that 100% of the surplus of their pensions will now go to them. It is only the beginning, and yes, we need to talk about future bonuses, but I am heartened and I genuinely believe that the Chancellor is a good man. He comes from working-class stock, as I do. He will speak with the National Union of Mineworkers and we will come up with a deal that will be satisfactory to all sides. I want to say to all those ex-miners who live in my constituency: we are on your side, we hear what you are saying and we will continue fighting for you until you get the justice you deserve.

Finally, in the last couple of seconds, I want to talk about defence. It is all very nice and warm to say, “Let’s hit 3.5% of GDP by 2030”, but that only scratches the surface. I am looking at the right hon. Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison), who was a Defence Minister; he will know the same things that I know. The Ministry of Defence is a uniquely failing Ministry. It is wasting money. If we want an example, let us look at Ajax. The MOD has already spent £5.5 billion on an armoured vehicle that is still not in service. That £5.5 billion could have been used on other things such as training exercises or equipment.

I make this appeal to the Chancellor. When he was the shadow Secretary of State for Defence and I was the shadow Defence Procurement Minister, we came up with a policy that said that the Comptroller had to look at the way the Ministry of Defence spent its money. I hope he resurrects that idea and sends the National Audit Office in to make sure that every penny piece is accounted for, because that is the only way forward.

--- Later in debate ---

[Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Mike Martin). Perhaps because of the time limit, he did not dwell on the dismal economic inheritance that the Government were left by the Conservatives, which we are still having to contend with—huge national debt, public services starved of investment, and dismal levels of productivity and growth.

It is encouraging that we are the joint fastest-growing economy in the G7, according to the OECD; that the IMF has lauded this Government’s efforts to tackle the national debt; and that unemployment is down. But the Chancellor is right that, with the war between Iran and the US driving economic uncertainty and pushing up inflation, there is still much more to do to help family finances and tackle more of the long-term challenges our country faces. I welcome, in particular, the Budget’s focus on the cost of living and the support for families with their energy bills.

One of the most pressing long-term challenges that our country faces is how ambitious we want to be in resetting our relationship with our European allies. Made in Europe is the canary in the coalmine—the warning that the more distant we get from Europe, the more vulnerable British jobs dependent on European export orders will become. In the European Union our voices would be louder, our reach would go further and our economic security would be more assured. I recognise that my constituents will want to know the costs as well as the benefits of rejoining, so I very much welcome the Government’s appetite to have that honest debate.

This time, however, there should be a plan B. An “all or nothing” choice to go in or not would be even more irresponsible than the Cameroons’ failure to prepare for the possibility of exit a decade ago. So the reset must deliver more. Greater access to the single market, of the sort the Swiss have, and a uniquely British deal, but one recognisable to our allies in Europe, would bring substantial economic gains, albeit not the full benefits of rejoining.

On some of the specific measures in the Budget, I welcome very much the focus on small businesses and the sensible measures that the Chancellor set out, but we need to go further: to offer better access to capital, to help small businesses find new export markets, and to explore offering tax relief to help SMEs hire those who are not in education, employment or training.

Securing affordable finance to grow a small business remains significantly difficult for many firms. It is a sustained market failure, with a gap of up to £4 billion holding back growth, and it is particularly acute for businesses outside the south-east, and for women, disabled and ethnic minority entrepreneurs. That market failure is made even more acute by high-cost credit firms offering easy-to-get loans without real affordability checks or clarity on annual interest rates, and often those who broker such loans are not open about the commission they charge. This is the payday lending scandal over again, with entrepreneurs and small-business owners being exploited.

The further investment announced for the British Business Bank is welcome, but it needs to drive a sustained expansion of community banks, or community development finance institutions. They must build capacity jointly with big banks such as Santander, Barclays and HSBC, which invest in community banks in the US, but as yet not in the UK.

There is a neglected sector of the business community that exists not to make a profit for shareholders but to serve a social purpose, and it is crucial to delivering sustainable growth in every postcode. Those co-operative and mutual businesses do not charge the highest prices and they often cannot secure traditional bank finance, but they exist to achieve social goals for the communities in which they operate.

[Chris Evans]

My hon. Friend is making an important point about the mutual sector. Does he agree that credit unions should be part of that, and that managing credit unions to become building societies would be a way of rebuilding our mutual sector in this country?

[Gareth Thomas]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, who makes an important point about the need to do more to expand credit unions. It is for such businesses, and the communities that would benefit from other co-operatives and mutuals, that Labour Members committed to put in place policies to double the size of the co-operative sector. We now need to see enacted the capital reforms drawn up by the Law Commission, which would unlock significant investment from capital markets, crucially without requiring a co-operative or mutual business to have to sell up and demutualise. We should look at using the corporate tax regime to encourage investment in those third sector businesses. Why cannot the bigger co-operative businesses be allowed to offset some of their corporation tax liabilities if they invest in co-op development funds that help bloody minded co-operative entrepreneurs to bring the hopes and ambitions of their communities to life?

Finally, I welcome the investment in public services in my constituency that the Budget locks in. New investment in primary care in Harrow, for example at Alexandra Avenue clinic, will unlock another 100,000 face-to-face appointments with a GP, nurse or other health professional. A new state-of-the-art GP surgery and, over time, a neighbourhood health centre is coming at the White House in Harrow College in central Harrow. Work is under way to plan further investment in other local medical centres, and more than £27 million has been given by the Government to invest in new special needs places across the borough. Vital funding for electrical and safety repairs has been invested at Rooks Heath high school, Whitefriars school, Nower Hill school, Bentley Wood high school, Hatch End high school and Earlsmead school. It is proof that this Government are delivering for the people of my constituency.