Budget Resolutions

Gerald Jones Excerpts

Monday 11th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) (Lab)]

Last week’s Budget demonstrated to many the result of almost 14 years of Tory economic failure. Taxes are rising, prices are still going up in the shops, mortgages are higher and we have the highest tax burden in 70 years. What a record!

It has become clear that households in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, and across the country, will be £870 worse off, on average, under this Prime Minister’s tax plan, which gives them 5p for every 10p taken from them, according to OBR figures. The OBR confirms that this will be the worst Parliament on record for living standards, and the only Parliament on record in which living standards have fallen. As we have heard, real pay has gone up by just £17 a week over 13 years of Conservative government, whereas in the previous 13 years, under a Labour Government, wages rose by £183 a week.

We know that the Tories play fast and loose with the nation’s finances. The disastrous mini-Budget demonstrated just how detached they are, but the Chancellor now plans to abolish national insurance contributions. The £46 billion of unfunded tax cuts will leave a gaping black hole in the public finances. How many more risks will the Tories take with the nation’s finances, and what will it do to the people and communities I represent?

This is not a good Budget for families who are already struggling after 14 years of Tory government. Families across Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney are already struggling to make ends meet. Food prices are 25% higher than they were two years ago, utility bills are higher, and people are experiencing higher mortgages as a result of the Tories’ mini-Budget of 2022.

I speak to my local food banks and regularly hear about the growing scale of need, which is a record that should utterly shame this Government. In Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney alone, more than 3,636 emergency food parcels were provided between 1 April and 30 September 2023—a 52% increase compared with five years ago. Of those, more than 1,547 emergency food parcels were provided to children—a 34% increase compared with five years ago.

I pay tribute to the staff and volunteers who give so selflessly at the Merthyr Cynon food bank, the Rhymney Valley food bank and the Taff Bargoed food bank, as well as at the many food pantries and charities helping our communities, but it is desperately cruel and sad that so many families in my area and across the country have to rely on food banks in the world’s fifth richest country in 2024.

I am disappointed that the Government did not include anything in the Budget on the loan charge scandal that is affecting my constituents and many thousands of people across the country. The way in which HMRC has dealt with this issue has caused unbelievable hardship, distress and anxiety for large numbers of the people we serve. Ordinary people up and down the country are being asked for unrealistic payments, which is causing huge financial hardship, bankruptcy and worse, such as the risk of losing their home and an increased risk of suicide. There are real concerns that this is another scandal where the Government ignored the alarm bells and cries for help, so I urge them to revisit it to ensure a fairer and more effective approach from HMRC, as the current approach is extremely tough on those caught up in the schemes but weaker on the architects of those schemes.

As has been suggested by the loan charge and taxpayer fairness all-party parliamentary group, of which I am a member, the tax burden should not fall solely on the individual users of the schemes, but should be shared by the employers, the agencies and, ideally and appropriately, the operators and promoters of the schemes. On that basis, the Government should change course and announce a fairer approach.

We must remember the human impact of the loan charge. As we know, and as I touched on earlier, HMRC has confirmed that there have been 10 suicides and 13 suicide attempts by people facing the loan charge. That should be enough reason to stop this cruel and retrospective policy. I urge the Government to accept that there is something deeply wrong with their current approach to the loan charge scheme.

Finally, we have to ask just how many plans for growth the Tories have had. I think that, at the last count, it was 12 over the last 14 years, and we are now in recession. The Tories have clearly run out of ideas and run out of time. We have had five Tory Prime Ministers and seven Chancellors. Our communities cannot survive another five weeks of the Tories, let alone five years. They simply cannot be trusted with our economy. Our communities are worse off after 14 years of Conservative government. It is time for the British people to have their say and to decide how they feel after 14 years of Tory failure. The general election cannot come soon enough, so my message to the Prime Minister is to get on and call it.