Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Gareth Snell Excerpts

Wednesday 28th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Stuart Anderson]

My hon. Friend raises a valid point. There is definitely a link; it is getting harder to employ people because businesses are not making a profit.

In my high street survey, to which 4,500 residents contributed, businesses said that it is harder to make a profit on the high street. We have seen the rise of the internet alongside increases in taxes and the cost of employing people. Businesses are not investing—they are not taking the risk. Look at how hard the Government have made it for high streets. The Lib Dem council in South Shropshire decided to bring in what look to be catastrophic parking charges for Ludlow and Bridgnorth, and across the whole area. I stand firmly against those charges, because they are just another tax on my constituents.

[Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Given that he raised the issue, could the hon. Gentleman set out by how much he thinks the minimum wage should be cut?

[Stuart Anderson]

I do not think the minimum wage should have gone up by 3.9% or 3.4%—whatever was announced today. I believe it should have been frozen for many years, or for several years. I definitely think we should have left it; I do not believe it should rise, because businesses cannot take it at the moment. We have to make firm decisions. Fewer young people will have work because of these rate rises.

I will turn to farming. The Chancellor spoke for an hour and a half, and there was not one thing about agriculture. Some 25% of my constituents work in agriculture, and the failed SFI26 window was a serious issue. Rural communities really do feel left behind. We have seen an attack on our rural communities, from the shotgun consultation to trail hunting—all those issues are vital to my constituency. This is huge. I think my constituency has the second highest number of shotgun licences in the country. It is a serious sport that is undertaken widely. There is just a continual drip, drip, drip of these policies.

I will finish on defence. The Chancellor resigned when he believed that defence was not funded well enough. In this year, there is a £3.5 billion cut, with a £1 billion cut in each of the next two years—that is in the RDEL figures on page 145 of the Red Book. That means that defence is now getting less funding than when the Chancellor resigned. The target to get to 3% by 2030—[Interruption.] It is! It is on page 145. Look at the in-year cuts. Look at the defence industry’s response to the Budget.