Income Tax (Charge)

Paul Blomfield Excerpts

Thursday 4th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab) [V]]

The Chancellor rightly set this Budget in the context of the economic damage of covid-19, but he failed to mention the bigger impact from his Government’s Brexit deal. That is perhaps unsurprising because the former was beyond their control, while the latter is of their creation. Hidden in the figures is an admission that Brexit will hit GDP by 0.5% in the first quarter alone, and the OBR has of course said that there will be a long-run hit of 4%. These are the inevitable consequences of erecting barriers to trade with our biggest economic partner, but the Chancellor should do what he promised and

“be honest with the country about the challenges we face”.—[Official Report, 3 March 2021; Vol. 690, c. 256.]

Last month, the CBI, the Institute of Directors, Make UK, the Federation of Small Businesses and the British Chambers of Commerce warned the Government to remove obstacles to trade or face a “significant loss of business”. Frankly, it is time that they listened and acted.

A startling omission yesterday was the NHS. We need a proper inquiry into the Government’s handling of the pandemic to understand why we have one of the highest death rates in the world. However, one factor is clear: a decade of running our health service on a knife edge, expecting maximum delivery from minimum funding, left us with too few nurses, doctors and beds. The crisis demanded capacity we lacked, and catching up on the treatment backlog will demand more. But instead of the funding that was needed, the Chancellor is proposing a £30 billion cut. What an insult to the NHS staff he was so happy to be photographed clapping! It is a cut for the system that has stretched them to the limit, and no money for the sort of pay rise they deserve, while other key workers on whom we have depended face a pay freeze.

Social care was also forgotten yesterday. On taking office, the Prime Minister promised that

“we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared”.

In this Budget and in his interviews this morning, his would-be successor, the Chancellor, has acknowledged there is no plan. So much for honesty with the British people. We do need that plan, and we need it soon.

The Chancellor did of course bow to pressure on maintaining the universal credit uplift. It should continue beyond October and it should be extended to legacy benefits. The Disability Benefits Consortium says that costs for 95% of disabled people have increased during the pandemic. The Budget gave nothing to them or to others who have been affected, letting down the most vulnerable.

Beneath the Chancellor’s expensive PR that is the real signature on the Budget. It fails too many people, and it lacks the ambition that the country needs.