Budget Resolutions

Debate between Dan Tomlinson and Bradley Thomas

Monday 2nd November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Tomlinson]

The hon. Member is right to raise the fact that we are spending a large share of our budget on debt interest costs; £1 in every £10 is spent paying the interest on our debt. That was an increase that took place under the Conservatives after the spike in interest rates in 2022 under Liz Truss’s mini-budget, and the apprentice to Liz Truss is now the shadow Chancellor.

Real wages have risen more since the election than in the first 10 years of the Conservative Government. Opposition Members talked about the private sector in the economy. I would point out to them that whole-economy investment and business investment have grown by more in this Parliament so far than they did in the entirety of the last Parliament. We are turning the economy around from the hellscape it was under the previous Government.

We are building on our recent economic resilience through this Budget. We are delivering immediate measures to help with rising energy bills: a £100 household energy payment directly to those living in property bands A to D in England, alongside a reduction to 0% VAT on electricity until July. We are also abolishing gas standing charges on household energy bills, while extending the 5p fuel duty cut and the cut to red diesel. We are reducing bills by up to 25% for more than 10,000 eligible businesses from next April through the British industrial competitiveness scheme.

[Bradley Thomas]

If the picture is so rosy, can the Minister explain to me why, a couple of weeks ago, when I visited six businesses in my constituency, all in the hospitality sector, every single one of them said that they are not recruiting and nor have they recruited since the Government increased national insurance contributions? Why is he painting a picture that is different to reality? Why does he think they are not recruiting?

[Dan Tomlinson]

I cannot speak to the individual businesses in the hon. Member’s constituency, but I can point him to the forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility that revises up employment by 200,000—employment increases every year of that forecast.

We are also making changes to support workers by increasing the national minimum wage and national living wage. We are increasing the higher mileage rate and making permanent the increase to the standard mileage rate announced earlier in the year, and we are backing our high street businesses, with retail, hospitality and leisure properties seeing their business rates either frozen in real terms, reduced or cut to zero next year.

The Secretary of State spoke powerfully and convincingly of the changes that this Government are making on devolution to drive good growth in every postcode, so I will not run through the points that she opened with. I was glad to hear that hon. Friends in constituencies where we will be extending devolution in England, particularly those towns and communities that missed out on the first wave of devolution under the previous Government, welcome that continued roll-out. It will mean that over 90% of England’s population is now on track to be covered by a strategic authority in the next couple of years.

The Opposition spokesperson, the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Andrew Bowie), raised the issue of energy when opening the debate for the Opposition, and it is worth covering before we wrap up. At the Budget, the Chancellor set out a new pathway for energy that the 10-year plan will build on. Our priority is to bring energy costs down, to help business compete and to help families cope. Cheaper electricity will also boost electrification, increase our energy security and help decarbonise the whole economy.

First, we are addressing levies and policy costs on bills. The Opposition loaded £100 on to bills via levies; this Labour Government have already taken £150 off energy bills at the last Budget. The Chancellor when further last week, by drawing a line in the sand on levies. He has confirmed that there will be no new costs added to energy bills, with a comprehensive cost-control framework to follow at the spending review. He is also abolishing plans, first set out by the Opposition when in government, to add a further £10 a year to bills for hydrogen projects.

Secondly, we are backing network investment, adding new generation only if it is affordable and the grid can keep up. Between 2016 and 2020, network investment declined in real terms under the previous Government, just when it was clear that more intermittent power would mean that we need more capacity. Now that they are in opposition, the Conservatives have no serious energy policy left. Their only real answer is to retreat in full from net zero, banning people from being parliamentary candidates for the Conservative party if they support net zero by 2050. That is a big mistake, and one that I am confident the British people will reject at the next election.

In the Budget, we also committed to procuring clean power through the next auction round only if we are confident that it will lower bills. We will reform contracts for difference by allocation round 9 to support the lowest-cost system, fixing market distortions and siting assets in the right place. To Members who are committed to net zero on both the Government and Liberal Democrat Benches, let me be clear that it is only by getting electricity prices down, and ensuring that new clean power does not run ahead of the grid, that we can credibly achieve our net zero goals.

I will turn to a couple of points made by Members before I conclude. My hon. Friend the Member for Falkirk (Euan Stainbank) asked a number of questions about the Acorn project; I reassure him and Members on both sides of the House that the Government remain committed to Acorn and want to see it succeed. The change announced last week switches funding from grants to loans or equity stakes, which we hope will provide better value for money for the taxpayer. The existing partners confirmed that approach last week, setting out that the Budget announcement does not change Acorn’s current development programme. The relevant Minister in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero will be meeting the developers later this week. Acorn is not the only scheme to be affected by recent prioritisation decisions. In fact, some schemes in England have been stopped entirely.

A number of Members on the Government Benches also raised the mineworkers’ pension scheme; they and others on these Benches have been relentless in their advocacy for mining communities. I particularly note the speech from my hon. Friend the Member for Amber Valley (Linsey Farnsworth). It was a powerful contribution, and it was heard loud and clear by those on the Treasury Bench. As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor said last week, he knows that the job is not done, and he will go on to ensure the full transfer of the guarantor’s fund. I know that he is working at pace to agree a way forward.

This is a Budget to deliver good growth in every postcode. It is underpinned by fiscal discipline, with borrowing falling in every year. It is the most decentralising Budget in modern British history, pushing power and resources out across the country. It marks an important moment in the history of UK energy policy, with a firm commitment to putting cheap electricity first. The Opposition added £100 to bills; we have taken £150 off. We are also drawing a line in the sand when it comes to new build costs.

This Budget supports businesses on the high street, taking 70,000 smaller high street properties out of business rates altogether; and in industry, by implementing a 25% discount to electricity bills for heavy users. Of course, we have also prioritised helping families now, with £100 off energy bills this winter for 20 million homes, funded through higher bank taxes, which the Opposition oppose. This is a big Labour Budget built on strong Labour choices—breathing space for today and fresh hope for the future.

Ordered, That the debate be now adjourned.—(Rachel Hopkins.)

Debate to be resumed tomorrow.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Tomlinson and Bradley Thomas

Tuesday 28th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Bradley Thomas (Bromsgrove) (Con)]

16. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to business rates announced in the autumn Budget 2025 on the retail, hospitality and leisure sector.

[The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Dan Tomlinson)]

The Government have introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion to protect rate payers across the country against the impact of the independently set new property values, whereby properties have been valued for the first time since the pandemic. We have also introduced permanently lower multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties worth nearly £1 billion a year, and this will benefit more than 750,000 high street businesses.

[Bradley Thomas]

I recently met Chris, the owner of Chapters Hair in Bromsgrove, who told me that current conditions are the most difficult he has faced in 25 years of trading, which he attributes directly to the decisions taken by the Chancellor. Why is it that the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Government across the board are riding roughshod over what business owners think—the people who know best how to run their businesses—and when will the Government get off their backs and get on their side?

[Dan Tomlinson]

Under the previous Government, the business rates multiplier—the tax rate—paid by medium-sized businesses and the very largest businesses was exactly the same. We have implemented significant reforms to the way businesses rates work so that the system supports the high street, and the tax rate paid by small high street businesses will now be 33% lower than the rate paid by the largest properties, such as online giants. Of course, the revaluation since the pandemic has had an effect, and that is why we have stepped in to provide support.

Business Rates

Debate between Dan Tomlinson and Bradley Thomas

Tuesday 27th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Tomlinson]

My hon. Friend is a powerful and strong advocate both for the businesses in his constituency and for the hospitality sector more broadly. I thank him for our conversations; I think we spoke before Christmas as well as in recent weeks. I will of course continue to engage with him and the hospitality sector on tax issues, as is typical for a Tax Minister in the run-up to a Budget, but I also want to talk more about the broader support the Government can provide, working across Departments, as part of the high street strategy we have announced today.

[Bradley Thomas (Bromsgrove) (Con)]

This is another U-turn that does not go far enough, because as a result of the choices made by Labour, energy bills are up, taxes are up and confidence is down. That is corrosive, and it is having a particularly corrosive effect on cafés, restaurants, hotels and small retail outlets. Will the Minister announce broader support for those businesses to alleviate the pressure of business rates or, better still, scrap them once and for all?

[Dan Tomlinson]

Over and over again, Conservative Members profess to be paragons of fiscal virtue, yet stand up in this place and say they want to cut taxation, which in effect means more and more borrowing. We have in the past seen the problems caused by Conservative Governments who let borrowing run out of control, cause interest rates to surge for families in our constituencies, send our economy to the dogs and harm living standards. We will not stand for that—we will not make the mistakes they made—and we will come forward with proportionate changes that support businesses, but that make sure we can continue to keep our public finances on a sustainable path.

Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief

Debate between Dan Tomlinson and Bradley Thomas

Monday 5th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Tomlinson]

We have come forward with a change to this policy after listening to farmers and farming communities and to the representations that have been made. We think that this is the right change. We will have the chance to debate it again when we consider the Finance (No. 2) Bill in Committee of the whole House next week, when the amendment that has been tabled will be voted on. In the end, Opposition Members who wish for the Government not to go ahead with this change at all should come forward with ideas for how they would raise £300 million from those who have the very largest estates in this country. We think it is right to raise revenue from those with the very broadest shoulders, and that is what this change will allow us to do.

[Bradley Thomas (Bromsgrove) (Con)]

After months of sleepless nights, fear and uncertainty, this partial U-turn is a victory for farmers—I pay tribute to farmers across the country, but particularly those in my constituency of Bromsgrove and the villages. Despite the U-turn, this policy should still be scrapped. What can the Minister say to farmers regarding incentives? Where is the incentive for a farm to invest in very expensive capital equipment if it may tip them over the threshold of liability for the family farm tax?

[Dan Tomlinson]

Just to be clear, this policy applies only to the farming or business estates worth more than £2.5 million, or £5 million if owned by a couple. There are still significant incentives to grow and invest in people’s businesses. This tax rate is half the rate for everyone else paying inheritance tax, if they have sufficient assets to get over the threshold. I think that is worth noting. Only around the very largest 10% of estates in the country pay any inheritance tax at all.

National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill

Debate between Dan Tomlinson and Bradley Thomas

2nd reading
Tuesday 3rd December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Dan Tomlinson]

I think we will see productivity increases in the NHS, because part of the reason that it has struggled for productivity in recent years is that it has not had the necessary investment, so doctors and nurses have not had the beds and capital expenditure that they need in their hospitals. I have been to Barnet hospital in my Chipping Barnet constituency and spoken to the chief executive of the trust. They were clear that what has happened nationally, and has filtered through to their hospital, is that capital spending budgets have been raided to fund day-to-day spending, and that has made it more difficult for the NHS to be productive. More beds and £3 billion for scanners and other capital equipment will make a difference to productivity in the NHS. [Interruption.] Conservative Members know that that is the case.

Let us just go back to the inheritance that the Labour Government face. We have high public debt, low productivity and wage growth. Our economy has also been hampered because the Conservative party has made it much more difficult for us to trade with our nearest neighbours. That has been bad for competition and productivity across the country. I could go on about the economic inheritance, but I do not wish to make hyperbolic statements or overdo it; we can just look at the facts presented to the Labour Government.

[Bradley Thomas]

When the Conservative Government headed by David Cameron were elected in 2010, the circumstances that they faced following Labour’s trashing of the economy meant that it took two and a half to three years to get the public on board. That stands in great contrast to what happened this summer, when Labour inherited good economic circumstances, with the economy growing and inflation down. In fact, has the electorate not been deceived?

[Dan Tomlinson]

The economy was not growing at a fast pace when we took over; we were growing slower than five other G7 countries in the quarter before the Conservative party lost power. That is the truth. Conservative Members can deny it if they want, and come up with a fancy way to analyse the economic statistics in order to claim that we were the fastest-growing economy in the G7, but in the final quarter before they lost office—and in 2023—we were growing slower than five other G7 countries. We were growing faster than other countries in 2022 only because we were recovering from the pandemic. They know that that is the case.

I fear that, in their stance today, Conservative Members are again covering themselves in the pong of the Liz Truss Administration. That Administration made the mistake of not making efforts to balance day-to-day public spending and tax increases. That is what caused interest rates to rise and the economy to be in much turmoil. The Labour Government are ensuring that increases in day-to-day spending are matched by increases in tax revenues—[Interruption.] I said increases in day-to-day spending are being matched by tax revenues.