Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Emma Hardy Excerpts

Tuesday 9th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab) [V]]

We have had the worst economic hit of any major economy and it is easy to see why. On 2 March 2020, the first death from covid—the death of a woman living in a care home—was recorded in the UK. On the same day, the Prime Minister finally attended a Cobra meeting, having skipped the first five. On 3 March 2020, the Prime Minister boasted about visiting a hospital and shaking hands with every covid patient. By contrast, on that day, the New Zealand Prime Minister brought in tough restrictions on inbound flights and told people not to go around shaking hands. On 10 March, the Cheltenham festival went ahead, with 250,000 people attending. One month later, 1,122 people had died from covid. These are not the actions of a Government doing everything they can; they are the actions of a Government slow to act, who allowed a crisis to become a catastrophe, not just for health but for our economy. The price paid by people in Hull West and Hessle has been high, partly caused by the repeated lockdowns and an inability to keep the virus under control: businesses struggling, people excluded from support and unemployment rising.

We needed a Budget to match the difficulties we are facing and we have been badly let down. Freezing of the personal allowance against inflation is a stealth tax increase that will hit workers on the lowest incomes the hardest. The increase in statutory sick pay by 50p is pathetic and shows that the Government have learned nothing from last year. If we want people to self-isolate to bring down the number of cases, we must make it affordable for them to do so.

This Budget just forces poorer councils such as Hull to increase local tax. That is a trick that Conservative Governments have repeated time and again. Hull has the third lowest average council tax income in the country: 67% of housing stock is in band A and only 4% in band D. Compare that with neighbouring East Riding, which has 26% in band A and 15% in band D. That means that a 1% rise in council tax would provide double the amount to East Riding as to Hull. So people with lower incomes are facing higher taxes to fund the services they need. That is not levelling up; that is failing families.

You can see why I become angry when I read of those with links to the Conservatives having won £2 billion of Government contracts. But I should not be surprised because, even when the NHS saves the Prime Minister’s life, its staff are only rewarded with a 1% pay increase. We need a fairer system, not a Budget that hits struggling families the hardest. As it stands right now this is not a Budget that I can support.