Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Debate between Ian Lavery and Beth Winter

Tuesday 21st March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Beth Winter (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

Last week, what we needed was a transformative Budget designed to lift incomes and living standards, deliver fair funding to level up our poorer nations and regions, and build an economy fit for future generations. We did not get that. Instead, we got the views of a multimillionaire Downing Street that is completely out of touch with the lives of people who are struggling in the horrendous cost of living crisis, including people in my constituency of Cynon Valley.

The OBR confirms the hit to living standards over the past two years is the largest since comparable records began in the 1950s. Wages are lower now in real terms than they were 13 years ago. That is why workers are being forced—yes, forced—to take industrial action, including 700,000 last week, and why it was so crucial for us to hear something concrete on pay in the Budget. However, there was complete and utter silence.

For those who are reliant on social security benefits, increasing the use of sanctions is a real concern: it will mean the demonisation of some of the most vulnerable groups and will force people further into poverty. Meanwhile, millionaires will benefit from the Chancellor’s pension allowance change, which benefits only the 1% with the biggest pension pots. Some high earners are getting a tax cut of up to £275,000. In the funding of public services, we can see the continuation of austerity: analysis by the New Economics Foundation shows a further £21.6 billion in unannounced cuts. That is not levelling up; it is trickle-up economics.

Wales is yet again being starved of funds. The Welsh Government’s budget is worth up to £3 billion less over the three-year spending review period than when it was originally announced. Wales faces a £1.1 billion shortfall in funding as a result of structural fund changes. So much for “not a penny less, not a power lost”! The problems with the structural funds will put 1,000 academic jobs at risk in Wales’s higher education sector; I worked in the sector for 10 years, and a lot of my former colleagues are at risk. I urge the Government to address that now.

The UK Government continue to benefit unduly from their share of the national mineworkers’ pension scheme. That is money they should be paying to former mineworkers and their families, many of whom live in my constituency. It is a shame on this Government that they have failed to fund the £600 million legacy costs of making the coal tips safe in Wales.

[Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) (Lab)]

I declare an interest as a member of the mineworkers’ pension scheme. Does my hon. Friend agree that we are seeing double standards at the highest level? The Government are refusing to allocate the £2 billion surplus to some of the poorest pensioners, but at the same time they are giving an extra £1.2 billion-plus to some of the richest pensioners in the country. How is that levelling up?

[Beth Winter]

I could not agree more. This was clearly a Budget for the 1%, not the 99%. Mineworkers in my constituency created the wealth of this country: they put their lives at risk over many, many years, and the wealth was extracted. Surely the Government owe them the money that they created for this country. Shame on this Government.

The UK Government also continue the lie of designating not only HS2 but now Northern Powerhouse Rail as “England and Wales” projects, which should result in a total of £6 billion for the Welsh economy. The Welsh Government are striving to chart a different path. The programme for government in Wales is a commitment to a progressive agenda: from free school meals to the universal basic income pilot, from a publicly owned energy company to tackling the climate crisis in order to secure prosperous and fulfilling lives for current and future generations.

This Budget shows how urgently we need a change of Government in the UK and a different economic approach that delivers a new funding settlement for public services and fully funded, inflation-proofed pay rises. We need the wealthiest in society to finally pay their fair share in tax. We must not only abolish non-dom status, but equalise capital gains tax rates with income tax. We need to tax the windfall gains of oil and gas giants at a higher rate and remove the loopholes that allow businesses to avoid paying their fair share.

I welcome the Secretary of State’s comments about devolving decision making and finance to the English regions. I implore the UK Government to do the same for Wales, to provide us with fair, needs-based funding and to stop riding roughshod over the devolution settlement. Diolch yn fawr.