Jim McMahon
Main Page: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)Department Debates - View all Jim McMahon's debates with the HM Treasury
(2 months ago)
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Rachel Reeves
The measures that I have announced today will help people on the Isle of Wight. We have frozen fuel duty for the third time—in comparison, the plans that we inherited from the previous Government would have seen fuel duty go up—we are helping farmers with the cost of red diesel, we are helping the rail freight sector and we are supporting HGV drivers. Many people go to the Isle of Wight on their summer holidays and enjoy wonderful days out, and the cost of that will also be reduced, helping that sector in the Isle of Wight this summer.
Jim McMahon (Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton) (Lab/Co-op)
I thank the Chancellor for her important statement, not least because the previous Government failed to act on HMRC mileage rates for the 14 years that they were in power, watching as motoring costs went up year after year but doing absolutely nothing for the self-employed and frontline workers, like home care workers. It shows the power of a union like Unison, and it shows that we have a Chancellor who is willing to take the action needed to support working people. Ahead of the Fuller review, will the backdating of these measures support both the self-employed and employed workers alike?
Rachel Reeves
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who raised this issue in Treasury questions just a few weeks ago. I committed then to looking at this ahead of the next Budget, but given the ongoing conflict in the middle east, I thought it was right to bring those changes forward and increase the mileage rate for the first time since 2011. I assure him, home care workers, plumbers and all those who use their car for work that we will increase the mileage rate by 10p, backdated to April 2026, for employed and self-employed workers alike.