Income Tax (Charge)

Peter Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 4th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Peter Gibson (Darlington) (Con) [V]]

Yesterday, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor delivered a Budget that responded to the continuing needs of this country, navigating our route out of lockdown and supporting growth and those in need. I do not mind telling the House that yesterday for me was a very good day—the kind of day you will always remember. Everyone in this House comes here for a reason and a motivation. Mine has always been that the Labour party has always let the north down, and that the north-east, where I was born, raised and educated, and where I grew a business, could achieve so much more, given just half a chance. I know that that belief and vision are shared completely by our Chancellor.

Yesterday, my right hon. Friend helped to realise not just my hopes, dreams and ambitions for Darlington, but those of our council, our Tees Valley Mayor and, most importantly, the community I serve. A child growing up in Darlington, attending a local school and gaining a degree from a local university can now aspire to a career in the civil service and achieve that without having to leave their hometown. Indeed, thanks to the lifetime skills announcements, there will be people in Darlington who left school at 16 and never studied again who can gain a level 3 qualification and secure employment at Her Majesty’s Treasury. That is levelling up. That is putting opportunity in a town in the north-east of England that Governments of the past have overlooked. The Chancellor has listened, understood and taken action, making a real difference to the town I represent that will last beyond a generation.

The announcement of the freeport for Teesside will also have a long-lasting impact for Darlington. I know, too, that the employed, the unemployed, the self-employed and the employers of my constituency will welcome everything that my right hon. Friend announced yesterday, continuing and extending the support to our nation.

Yesterday, the Leader of the Opposition said that delivering Treasury jobs to Darlington was giving up. What an insult. What a lack of understanding. Labour has not learned. It no longer understands, and no amount of fake Union Jack waving or consultants dressing them in smart suits will teach them that the British people have rightly given up on them.

Yesterday, this Tory Government and this northern Chancellor achieved more in one Budget for my region than 13 years of Labour ever did. To celebrate this amazing news for Darlington, I am looking forward to welcoming Sir Humphrey to the town he will affectionately call Darlo.