Middle East: Economic Response

John Grady Excerpts

Thursday 21st May 2026 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

It is important that we help our constituents with the cost of living. The tariff reductions that I have announced today will save the British shopper £700 million. That is a significant reduction in the cost of the weekly shop for families across our country. We have chosen the tariff lines carefully. The full details will be published, and we will consult over the next week or two to ensure that we get them exactly right, but we have worked hard to make sure that the reductions do not affect British farmers. That is why we are also helping British farmers with the changes we have made on red diesel.

[John Grady (Glasgow East) (Lab)]

I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement, which is great news for the cafés and restaurants in my constituency, of which there are many, and for the very many showmen and women who run Scotland’s and Britain’s great fairs. I note that the Conservative party objects to all this, but it is the Conservative party that left us with debt to GDP of almost 100%. There is nothing progressive in running debt levels like that, and the Chancellor is right to focus on paying that debt off.

Many of my Glasgow East constituents rely on cars and vans to get to work and do their work. They face extortionate charging for parking in town from the SNP council, which is utterly anti-car, and regular bills for repairing their cars and vans from all the potholes. Will my right hon. Friend set out how she is helping hard-pressed car and van drivers in Glasgow?

[Rachel Reeves]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that there is nothing progressive about piling up the debt that future generations will have to pay; that is why our fiscal rules are getting the debt and deficit down while enabling us to invest in our country’s infrastructure and public services. On helping people with the cost of driving, we have frozen fuel duty until the end of this year, but recognising that some people rely on their cars and vans more than others, we have also taken off the HGV tax for this year, saving HGV drivers up to just over £900 a year, and cut the duty on red diesel by more than a third. We have also increased the tax-free mileage rates to help the employed and the self-employed with the cost of fuel.