Employer National Insurance Contributions

Jake Richards Excerpts

Wednesday 4th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Jake Richards (Rother Valley) (Lab)]

The new intake of youngish—I use that description carefully—Members on this side of the House might be forgiven for having shorter memories than other, more long-suffering Members, but this is not the first time a Labour Chancellor has made difficult decisions on tax to invest in the future of public services, particularly our NHS. Twenty-two years ago, a Labour Chancellor told this House that the NHS was in need of reform and modernisation, and that investment was needed not only to deliver better services but to, in the inimitable style of Gordon Brown,

“define the character of our country.”—[Official Report, 17 April 2002; Vol. 383, c. 589.]

That decision to raise national insurance contributions, combined with far-sighted reforms, delivered the shortest waiting times, and the highest public satisfaction with the NHS, in our country’s history. Now, after 14 years of Tory Government, history has repeated itself. Once again, a Labour Government are fixing the mess made by the Tories, and our NHS is facing questions over its future and quality. Indeed, the choices are more stark today. The challenge before us is not simply to improve standards and resources in the NHS, but to save the very idea itself.

Back in 2002, the Tories opposed making difficult decisions on tax to support our NHS. Their then leader, the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith), used precisely the same slogans as the current Leader of the Opposition—the politics of protest, not government. A year later, he was out of his job; his own party lacked confidence in him and got rid of him. We are not able to gamble on political events, but what are the odds of history repeating itself here, too?

The Opposition crow about the Budget, but what is their alternative? Do they oppose the £22 billion investment in our NHS? From which magic money tree will they fund their ever-spiralling spending commitments? Fixing our public finances, without compromising our belief in a strong NHS, is at the heart of this Government’s agenda. That is so important, because I have had countless conversations with constituents who face agonising waits over years for basic operations, and with those who dread the 8 am rush to book an appointment at the local GP, knowing full well that they will often be disappointed. They know that the NHS needs urgent investment, but they also know that the NHS must change.

That is why the investment by this Government has been said to be a down payment on reform. We must transform the way in which our NHS operates; otherwise, the investment will be wasted. The NHS serves a wholly different population in a wholly different context from when the Labour party created it in 1947. We are living longer, our health issues are more structural, technology can transform our interactions with healthcare provision, and patients can feel more empowered, but we need to get funding into the NHS now.

The Tories want all the benefits of investment, but they have no idea how they would pay for it. We can look to history again to tell us what happens when Conservatives make promises without a clue about how they would fund them. Look at the 40 hospitals that have not been built. Look at the £6 billion black hole in our asylum system. Look at the mini-Budget.

[Edward Morello (West Dorset) (LD)]

The hon. Gentleman rightly points out the need to invest in the NHS. Does he recognise that imposing NICs on primary healthcare providers such as my constituency’s Weldmar Hospicecare, which provides vital end of life care to residents and must raise £26,000 a day to fund its service, will result—

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Order. That was perfectly long enough.

[Jake Richards]

That point has been made over and over again in interventions, and the Health Secretary has been very clear that funding allocations for primary care services and other services will be set out in due course. As a result of this Labour Government’s actions, there will be more money available than there would have been.

This debate shows the Opposition to be mere opportunists who are incapable, or perhaps unwilling, to face up to the difficult decisions that we face as a country. We have seen the path that takes us down, and we cannot do that again.

Budget Responsibility Bill

Jake Richards Excerpts

Committee of the whole House
Wednesday 4th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Jake Richards (Rother Valley) (Lab)]

Thank you, Ms Nokes. It is such a great privilege to speak in this debate and make my maiden speech after the hon. Members for Woking (Mr Forster) and for Chelmsford (Marie Goldman). My hon. Friend the Member for Southend East and Rochford (Mr Alaba) made a fantastic speech about the city in his constituency, which I have had the great privilege of swimming in. His speech did due justice to that great place. My hon. Friend the Member for Swindon North (Will Stone) made a faintly terrifying speech about his Brazilian jujitsu skills, and he certainly did justice to Swindon, too.

It is a great honour to speak in the Chamber as the Member of Parliament for Rother Valley. For so many on the Labour Benches in particular, making our maiden speeches is the conclusion of long and hard-fought campaigns in which we were ultimately victorious. In the early hours of 5 July, which just happened to be my birthday, we celebrated the end of 14 years of Conservative Government and the first Labour Government of my adult life, but we also humbly accept the responsibility that we have been given. In the context of an often bitter and heated political campaign, and from the thousands of valued conversations I had in my constituency, one cannot avoid the fact that we as a country face daunting and urgent challenges.

We cannot overlook the deep apathy towards the ability of politics, and indeed this place, to effect change. There has been the rise of online disinformation blaming bogeymen who do not exist. Conspiracy theorists and keyboard warriors purposefully ignore the complexities of the world around us for attention. Political culture too often thrives on division and controversy, not the common good. The hyperactive vitriolic politics seen so often across the Atlantic is seeping into our discourse here, undermining constructive dialogue. There is an epidemic of alienation among our young people, with levels of self-harm and suicide in my constituency increasing all the time. Children are arriving at school still in nappies and too often without breakfast in their bellies. Waiting lists for mental health support now stretch to half a decade, with many young people reaching their majority by the time they are seen. Too many people in my constituency feel they have to leave their village or town to get on in life. There is a disillusionment that their home, their community, their place is no longer offering the security and hope that people deserve. There is a fear for the future. I was told so often during the election campaign, “What’s the point of politics? This country is broken.”

Perhaps some of those factors came to the fore over the summer recess, when a group organised to attend a hotel just a few miles from my constituency in Wath, planning to set that building on fire knowing full well there were innocent people inside. The pictures on our televisions were difficult to comprehend. I spoke to a young mother who had been made homeless and was being temporarily accommodated there with her children. The terror she described will haunt me forever.

But from the gloom of that violent act came hope. The day after the hotel was attacked, I reached out to the Muslim community in my constituency and was invited to a meeting after evening prayer. I arrived eager to show solidarity, but anxious about the fear and damage that the community would have suffered—and yes, there was plenty of concern. But the first question I encountered was not one of anger or retribution, but instead a comment urging me to speak with the perpetrators of the violence in order to better understand the causes and motivation. It was a moment of great generosity and sensitivity, and one that will always stay with me.

Public Spending: Inheritance

Jake Richards Excerpts

Monday 29th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

The hon. Gentleman says he secured the funds, but he did not; the money was not there. That is why I am having to make this statement today. I share his frustration and anger, but it should be with the previous Government, who did not fund these schemes.

[Jake Richards (Rother Valley) (Lab)]

My constituents will be concerned about the revelations that the Chancellor has set out to the House this afternoon. Reading her statement, it is particularly shocking that the projected overspend on the asylum system, including the Conservatives’ failed Rwanda plan, will cost more than £6.4 billion this year alone. Does my right hon. Friend agree that instead of chuntering and shouting, a period of reflection would better serve the Conservatives, along with an apology to the country they have let down?

[Rachel Reeves]

My hon. Friend is right. The people of Rother Valley will be shocked and appalled by the gross mismanagement of public finances, including a £6.4 billion overspend on asylum. That is why we are getting a grip on the public finances and public spending to put them on a firmer footing.