Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Jeremy Corbyn Excerpts

Tuesday 21st March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I know that my right hon. Friend and other Members of this House, including my hon. Friend the Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Miriam Cates), have raised interesting questions about how we can better support families overall. Both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer are absolutely determined to explore what more we can do, but tax changes are, and always have been, above my pay grade. They are a matter for the Chancellor of the Exchequer in consultation with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and I know better—particularly after recent weeks—than to try to guide their hands.

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Ind)]

Will the Secretary of State give way?

[Michael Gove]

I am very happy to.

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[Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Roger Gale)]

Order. The right hon. Gentleman is giving way. That is his prerogative, but it has not escaped the notice of the Chair that the right hon. Member for Islington North came in late.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

I missed the first two minutes of the speech, and I apologise. Following on from the point that was raised by the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron), the issue of the private rented sector is devastating in inner-city areas such as mine, where private rents are now going up—the worst I have heard is an 80% increase—because of the end of restrictions on them. Will the Secretary of State take some action to bring about a rent freeze in the private rented sector? It is devastating, particularly for young people looking for flats in London, to try to find anywhere to live. They are spending a vast proportion of their income on rent, which is simply wrong and not fair. We need rent control in the private rented sector.

[Michael Gove]

I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his intervention. No one can doubt the sincerity of his concern and care for people, both in the private and the social rented sector—standing up for them has been a consistent theme of his time in this House—but I respectfully disagree with him. I think there are legislative changes that we can make in order to help those in the private rented sector, including the abolition of section 21, but if we want to ensure that there is a pipeline of affordable private rented homes for people, there are two things that we need to do. First, we need to improve supply, particularly in London, and to do so in partnership with the Mayor of London, who has not always been as energetic as his predecessor in bringing forward new homes. The other thing we need to do is make sure there is fairness in the tax treatment of landlords and others. I look forward to working with the right hon. Gentleman and others on that. A rent freeze, while often attractive, has the effect, as we have unfortunately seen in Scotland, of reducing the supply of rented homes. Although I know his heart is in the right place on this issue, the methods he proposes run counter to what we both want to see.

I was talking about supply-side reforms earlier, and I briefly mentioned pension reforms. It is important we recognise that the pension reforms unveiled earlier in the debate by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer have been widely welcomed, including by the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Surgeons, the leaders of police and crime commissioners everywhere and, most conspicuously, the hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting), the shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. He called some time ago for a change. He said that he recognised it may not be “progressive”, but that it was “pragmatic” to introduce a pension change that will see more doctors coming out of retirement and on to the frontline, ensuring that more patients are treated more quickly, that fewer people are in pain and that our NHS is there for those who need it.

This wholly welcome change to pensions was addressed in Treasury questions earlier. Labour Members had an opportunity to express their dissatisfaction with that change, but not a single Labour Back Bencher did so. I know that the measure is a source of synthetic and confected rage from elements of the Labour Front-Bench team, but this initiative will cut waiting lists, has been welcomed everywhere—from the shadow Health Secretary to Labour Back Benchers, and from the BMA to the Royal College of Surgeons—is progressive and is in the country’s best interests.

Other changes made in the Budget also contribute to economic growth and social justice. The full expensing of capital receipts is a way of ensuring that our companies address what is, as the right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) rightly pointed out, one of the long-term property problems in this country. We have not always had the level of business investment—this runs across Governments of all colours—that we need to ensure we have high-paying jobs and the capital required to take advantage of the technological changes of the future. The full expensing proposals, amounting to a tax cut of some £9 billion, are a pro-business tax cut, and they also mean we maintain not just one of the most competitive corporation tax regimes, but the most competitive business environment in the G7.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Ind)]

I just want to set out a few points very quickly in this debate. The number of children in food poverty in this country has doubled in the past year to 4 million; the NHS is on its knees; and the richest 1% are taking home more than ever, and own 230 times the wealth of the poorest 10% in our society. Does this Budget do anything to deal with those issues? I think everyone knows the answer to that.

I will just put forward five points, if I may, the first of which is on pay. The Chancellor handed out tax breaks to the 1%. Some 700,000 workers were on strike last Wednesday. Public sector pay has risen by 2.2% on average over the past year, when inflation is running at 10%. At the very least, the Government should commit to above-inflation pay rises for health workers, teachers and public service workers, implement a £15 an hour minimum wage, and ban zero-hours contracts and all the insecurity that goes with them. The Government are not going to grow the economy if they keep so many people living in desperation and poverty. Public sector workers did not cause this inflation—inflation has been caused by greed in the private sector and profiteering.

That brings me to my second point, which is that the energy companies are making enormous profits and have done so for a very long time. There is no argument other than to take them into public ownership, so that we can control energy prices. It also means recognising the need to do far more to bring about a green sustainable economy. The United Nations report was damning yesterday—damning on increasing global warming and damning on its implications. It made the case that there has to be real investment in alternative green energy sources. That does not mean just relabelling things as green; it means actually doing it. While we have a privately run energy system, that is not likely to happen.

The third issue is one that I feel strongly about in terms of my constituency: we need an immediate rent freeze for those living in the private rented sector. Constituents are telling me that their rent has gone up by between 50% and 80% in one year as the greed and profit taking by some private sector landlords continues unabated. Young people are forced out of inner-city areas because they cannot afford to stay there, and councils have insufficient funding to build the council houses that are so necessary. If we are to deal with the housing crisis, it means rent control and investment in council housing.

The fourth area I want to mention is a wealth tax, which would help us to fully fund the national health service. Billionaire wealth in the UK has gone up by 1,000% in the past 30 years. We could save the NHS from its disastrous privatisation by taxing profits and wealth. Increasing tax on the top 1% of earners to 50% would raise £5 billion, as an example.

The last point I want to make is on the Government’s appalling strategy of divide and rule against the poorest and most vulnerable people on this planet. The national health service does all it can and public sector workers do all they can, and this Government spend their time scapegoating desperate people, such as refugees, and forcing them to Rwanda or somewhere else. These are people who want to contribute to our society. They are victims of war and oppression. Let them work, and let them make their contribution to our society as part of our common good.