Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Jim Dickson Excerpts

Wednesday 28th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

It is always a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart). He is always very entertaining, and I am always intrigued by how there seems to be an inverse ratio between the number of interventions he makes and the number he takes. I reassure him that on the lousy predecessor test, this Government were truly blessed in 2024 by the former right hon. Member for South West Norfolk and the right hon. Member for Richmond and Northallerton (Rishi Sunak).

[Graham Stuart]

Touché.

[Jim Dickson]

I welcome the Budget, and it is a pleasure to follow distinguished members of the Treasury Committee from across the Chamber. As others have noted, when the IMF published its most recent forecast, it highlighted how despite the consequences of US military action in Iran, our economy is proving more resilient than expected, with 1.3% growth for this year and similar for next. That is largely underscored by the OBR forecast. I back our Government to exceed those forecasts, as they have done this year, and we wish them well in doing so. We should not underplay the damage done by the conflict, with price rises in important commodities such as oil and fertilisers pushing up inflation, but it is positive that the IMF has upgraded our growth prospects. That, I believe, is a testament to the work of the current and previous Chancellors, and it is welcome that we remain towards the top end of the G7 for growth, even though—as always—Members of the House would want growth to be higher, and we hope very much that it is.

In my view, it remains essential to reassure the markets that we will stick to the fiscal rules, and I welcome the Chancellor’s pledge today to keep doing so. We must ensure that we continue to keep sufficient headroom against those rules, and again the Chancellor has done that.That was recognised by the IMF, which singled out the UK among the G7 for the way that we are managing our debts. As shown in chart 3.4 in the Red Book, which sets out the distributional impact of the Budget, we are doing that while ensuring that those at the bottom end of the income scale do better proportionally than those higher up the income scale. I believe that means this is a proper Budget for working people.

This careful and fair economic management will allow us to ramp up defence spending to meet the spending target of 3% by 2030, after our armed forces, frankly, languished under the previous Government.

[Stuart Anderson]

I welcome the approach to move forward on defence, but since I have been elected I have even called my own Government out for not providing enough defence funding. Does the hon. Gentleman realise that today’s announcement on defence means that we are making in-year cuts for the next two years on defence because we cannot afford what we currently have in place?

[Jim Dickson]

I thank the hon. Member for his intervention, but I am very confident that the plans laid out today will take us to 3% by the end of this Parliament, and to 3.5% by the middle of the next decade. That is what we have committed to do and that is what I believe we will do.

[Dr Murrison]

Apropos the point that has already been rightly made, does the hon. Gentleman really believe that? The Red Book gives a very different story. What we are talking about is RDEL—the resource departmental expenditure limit or day-to-day spend on our armed forces. That means reserves—I am one—not getting their reserve training days, ships that cannot put to sea because of a lack of fuel, no bullets and no exercises. Is that what he wants? What does that say to the brave men and women who populate our armed forces?

[Jim Dickson]

The situation that the right hon. Gentleman is describing sounds like what pertained for the previous 14 years. We are turning that around.

Since the 2024 election, this Government have demonstrated a clear strategy to get on and fix the foundations of our country, most obviously in public spending, that had fractured under the previous Administration, and that includes defence spending. The Budget is built on long-term investment in infrastructure and crucial new projects. Nowhere is that better illustrated than in my constituency, in north Kent, where the funding for the lower Thames crossing—public funding, supporting big private sector investment of over £10 billion—will make such a difference to Dartford residents once it is complete.

The Chancellor’s announcement that he is expanding support to businesses and infrastructure projects through the National Wealth Fund and the British Business Bank is most welcome, and it has the potential for an investment boost right across the UK. As a tangible, practical example of how investment can make a difference in our constituencies, I commend the spending review that saw the announcement of the structures fund to invest in distressed transport assets across the country that were beyond the capacity of local authorities to repair. In Dartford, we hope to hear that funding has been allocated to repair the collapsed Galley Hill Road, which links Dartford with Gravesend, in the coming weeks.

As the Chancellor made clear, and as other hon. Members have pointed out, another long-term impact of the situation in the middle east is the rise in energy bills, which is likely to affect all of us over this winter. I remain extremely worried about the impact that will have, particularly on the most vulnerable households. Only this week, EDF Energy put out a new forecast that has the average household energy bill rising by more than a quarter, to £2,192 per year in January and potentially even higher in April. Clearly the blame for these price rises should be put squarely on the architect of the conflict between the US and Iran. I welcome all the work that this Government have done since 2024 to begin to transform our energy system.

I welcome very much today’s announcement that standing charges will be removed from gas bills next year, and the additional £100 of support for all those living in homes in council tax bands A to D, which will support over 35,000 households in Dartford over the next year. It may or may not be true, but I heard that Conservative spokespeople were taking to the airwaves following the Budget to say that they opposed the £100 discount. If that is the case, I think it is wrong and disgraceful. However, I hope that Ministers will look further at what we can do to shield the most vulnerable and accelerate the work to break the link between increasingly volatile gas prices and the prices that we pay for electricity.

I have also been among those calling for more support on business rates for small businesses. I am really pleased to hear about the changes that will see many cafés, shops and pubs taken out of business rates entirely, paid for rightly by a rise in machine games duty. I think most of us in this House can support that tax.

In my previous life as a local councillor, I saw the growing levels of homelessness on our streets, as I do now, and the dire consequences for those stuck there. It is therefore right that the Government are putting in place funding for the rest of the Parliament to offer a route off the streets to anyone sleeping rough. We have needed a comprehensive strategy to tackle rough sleeping for the past 14 or 15 years, and we finally have one.

I also support the proposed changes to bring in a first-time buyer ISA to replace the lifetime ISA. I look forward to more details on the Your First Home scheme, which I believe will be a boost to new developments such as those in Ebbsfleet Garden City in my constituency.

I am really pleased to see that the Red Book published along with today’s Budget confirms the formation of either a mayoral or foundation strategic authority for Kent. That is important news for our region. If a foundation authority or a mayor was in place, for instance, they could find the investment to ensure that we bring international rail services back to Kent after they were lost six years ago.

[Max Wilkinson]

Does the hon. Member think it is right that people in Gloucestershire feel somewhat left out of the devolution agenda? We have been placed on the pause list for local government reorganisation, even though there is local consensus, and we are the only place in the whole of the west and south-west region without a devolution deal, even though there is a consensus on that as well. I say that in the knowledge that a Minister sitting on the Treasury Bench, the hon. Member for Bristol South (Karin Smyth), is from the west of England, and—as I understand it, based on what I hear from local councillors—Gloucestershire would like to have the same as her region. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that Gloucestershire could reasonably feel a bit left out and miffed by what is going on?

--- Later in debate ---

[Jim Dickson]

I believe that the same case is being made strongly to Ministers on exactly that point by Members of all parties, not least Members on the Labour Benches—I have heard it being made myself. That really underscores how important devolution is. Every part of the country needs local powers and the ability to invest, which a foundation authority or a mayoral strategic authority gives. I wish the hon. Gentleman good luck with that, and I hope that it is made available to Gloucestershire as soon as possible. Devolution remains the right thing to do from both an economic and a democratic perspective, bringing decisions closer to people and giving our regions—Kent, in my case, but there are others across the House—more power over our future.

I believe that residents in Dartford will welcome the measures in this Budget, not only for the short-term relief that they bring, but for the promises to keep our economy growing in a sustainable way into the future.