Christmas Adjournment

Rachel Hopkins Excerpts

Thursday 19th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Hopkins (Luton South and South Bedfordshire) (Lab)]

Given the festive season, I thought it appropriate to use this time to celebrate my constituency and to say a few thank yous. Most importantly, I thank the people of Luton South and South Bedfordshire for re-electing me as their Member of Parliament in July. Following boundary changes, I am proud to represent the good people of south Bedfordshire; a number of villages and swathes of beautiful countryside have been added to the urban landscape of the constituency. I am grateful to people in the new part—including Kensworth, Studham and Eaton Bray, to name but a few places—for electing me, because some of them had never voted Labour before. The new constituency boundary also means that I now represent more animals than ever before—if that is a thing—given that Whipsnade zoo and Appledown rescue and re-homing kennels are both within Luton South and South Bedfordshire. I thank all who work or volunteer with those great charities. My rescue dog, Maisie, would of course want me to remind everybody that a dog is for life, not just for Christmas.

It is an honour and a privilege to represent my home town of Luton—the place where I grew up and went to school, where I live, and where I previously represented residents as a local Labour councillor. This place can be a bit intimidating at times, but I always remember where I came from when faced with challenges. I am Luton born and bred, which keeps me grounded every day.

Luton sometimes has an unjustified bad reputation, but we have plenty to be proud of, and I want to focus on the positives that our town has to offer. This year, Radio 1 brought the Big Weekend to Luton. It was a wonderful opportunity to showcase our town, with brilliant musical performances from stars including Sabrina Carpenter, Teddy Swims, Raye and, much to the delight of many Lutonians, Coldplay. They made up a song entitled “Orange” to celebrate the colours of our brilliant Luton Town football club—but I do not need Chris Martin to say, “I was born in love with Luton and I’m always gonna be.”

Speaking of our football club, it is a brilliant and exciting time for LTFC. This week, the planning committee at Luton council formally approved plans for the new Power Court stadium development. It marks a huge moment of regeneration in our town, with plans for restaurants, a hotel and a music venue alongside the stadium, making Luton a destination not only for football, but for entertainment.

A place is only as good as the people in it, and our beautifully diverse and vibrant community across Luton South and South Bedfordshire is what truly makes the constituency so special. There are some wonderful community organisations and charities that do so much to support those in most need. I thank Luton food bank, as well as NOAH and Signposts, for supporting many people in need. I thank Luton Irish Forum, which provides invaluable support, including debt and welfare advice and so much more. I thank Luton citizens advice bureau for all it does, and for the guidance and support that it offers people across the town in times of need.

We have excellent organisations dedicated to supporting women and girls, and I thank Women’s Aid, Luton All Women’s Centre and Stepping Stones. A healthy society can only be achieved by ensuring that we have support for those who need it, particularly with regard to mental health. I thank Healthwatch Luton, Mind BLMK, Headway, our community mental health hubs and local Samaritans for all that they do. Alongside our civic society, we must remember our faith communities, who, during 14 years of Tory austerity, stepped up to fill the welfare gap that the previous Government created in towns like ours.

Finally, I want to mention all our public service workers who sacrifice so much to keep us healthy and safe, many of whom will not get to rest over Christmas, including Bedfordshire police, Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and all our doctors, nurses, paramedics and NHS staff at Luton and Dunstable hospital.

Merry Christmas and happy new year to one and all.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rachel Hopkins Excerpts

Tuesday 19th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Dan Carden (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

6. What recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of his tax policies on living standards.

[Rachel Hopkins (Luton South) (Lab)]

12. What recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of his tax policies on living standards.

[The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Nigel Huddleston)]

Thanks to the combined impact of national insurance cuts and above-inflation increases to thresholds since 2010, an average worker on £35,400 in 2024-25 will pay over £1,500 less in personal taxes than they otherwise would have done. These national insurance contribution cuts were possible due to the significant progress we have made in combating inflation.

--- Later in debate ---

[Nigel Huddleston]

I completely disagree with the hon. Gentleman’s explanation. Not only will I repeat that our constituents completely understand the difficult global circumstances, with the pandemic and the cost of living challenges following the invasion of Ukraine, but I can say that we have grown faster since 2010 than many other major economies, and the IMF forecasts that we will grow faster than Germany, France, Italy and Japan. In the year to the third quarter of 2023, real household disposable income per person was around £1,100 higher than the Office for Budget Responsibility expected in its spring Budget 2023 forecast. We have turned a corner, and the best thing to do is to stick with the Conservatives.

[Rachel Hopkins]

The Minister says that the economy has turned a corner, but households will be £870 worse off on average under the Conservatives tax plan, and they will also be seeing their costs up by £110 a week compared with before the last election. Is the Minister proud of his record?

[Nigel Huddleston]

We are immensely proud of our record since 2010: living standards have increased, and growth is now better than that of many other major economies. Our absolute commitment to protecting the most vulnerable in society was shown recently when we provided an average of £3,400 in cost of living support for each household. We have turned a corner, and the economy is improving. I am just disappointed that the Opposition constantly talk down the UK economy and their constituents.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rachel Hopkins Excerpts

Tuesday 6th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Hunt]

I have been talking with my hon. Friend about these issues recently. In fact, we were discussing increasing the VAT threshold only last night—such are the interesting evenings I have in this job! We will look seriously and carefully at any measures that help small businesses. They are the lifeblood of the country.

[Rachel Hopkins (Luton South) (Lab)]

7. What recent assessment he has made of the impact of increases in the cost of living on living standards.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

18. What steps his Department is taking to support households with the cost of living.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Laura Trott)]

The Government stand by households, with one of Europe’s largest support packages, worth on average £3,700 per UK household, but we all know that the key to reducing cost of living pressures is to bring down inflation, which we have more than halved, delivering on the Prime Minister’s promise.

[Rachel Hopkins]

Families in Luton and Bedfordshire, and indeed the rest of the country, are worse off because of 14 years of economic chaos and incompetence under the Conservatives. Does the Minister concede that, even if the Government’s inflation target is met, families will still be paying £300 a month more for their household bills than they were just 18 months ago?

[Laura Trott]

Fourteen years of the Conservatives has halved unemployment and increased employment by 4 million. Crucially, poverty is down: we have 1.7 million fewer people in poverty now than in 2010, including 400,000 children and 200,000 pensioners. That is a legacy to be proud of.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rachel Hopkins Excerpts

Tuesday 19th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Bim Afolami]

Let me say two things. First, I pay tribute to the former Financial Secretary, now the Health Secretary—my right hon. Friend the Member for Louth and Horncastle (Victoria Atkins)—who did a great deal of work in relation to economic abuse. I am committed to continuing that work with the Treasury to ensure that we limit the circumstances in which the incidents described by the hon. Lady can occur. As for the broader question of what the regulator does in such cases, we have put a record level of funding, to the tune of some £93 million, into working with regulators on debt advice. I shall be happy to discuss with the hon. Lady the details of how we can help her constituents in the way that she suggested.

[Rachel Hopkins (Luton South) (Lab)]

11. What recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes in mortgage interest rates over the course of this Parliament on household income.

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Bim Afolami)]

As the hon. Lady knows, the path to lower interest rates is through low inflation, and the independent Bank of England has the Government’s full support as it takes action to return inflation to target. The Government’s mortgage charter, brokered by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor earlier in the year, is available to 90% of borrowers. Real disposable income per person is about £800 higher than the Office for Budget Responsibility predicted in its March forecast.

[Rachel Hopkins]

The expiry of 1.5 million fixed-rate mortgage deals next year will mean even more people paying sky high-costs. It comes at a time when many are suffering increased financial hardship and personal debt, which is having an impact on their mental and physical health. Does the Minister think it fair that families are paying hundreds of pounds more each month to cover the costs of the Government’s mini-Budget disaster?

[Bim Afolami]

Mortgage costs and interest rates have gone up throughout the world, and we are in more or less the middle of the pack—they are higher in the United States, for example—but what will definitely make things harder for the hon. Lady’s constituents, and indeed all our constituents, is borrowing an extra £28 billion that will only serve to increase inflation and keep rates higher for longer.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rachel Hopkins Excerpts

Tuesday 20th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Griffith]

What went right is the fact that we on the Government Benches not only always focus on the stability of the nation’s finances to get inflation and interest rates falling further and faster than the Opposition would, but even within that envelope, we found £3,300 on average to support households over last winter and the upcoming winter. That will have a significant impact on the difficulties that mortgage holders and renters are facing because of the higher interest rates that are a feature across the western world.

[Rachel Hopkins (Luton South) (Lab)]

4. What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the financial sanctions regime.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (John Glen)]

The Government undertake extensive assessment of the effectiveness of the sanction regimes, which are eroding Russia’s financial base. We have sanctioned 28 Russian banks, covering 80% of Russia’s banking sector, and frozen more than £18 billion of Russian assets, and we have implemented unprecedented trade sanctions in addition.

[Rachel Hopkins]

Constituents in Luton South have raised concerns about the financial sanctions regime with me. Can the Government confirm whether it is still the case that Russian account holders in the UK can hold £50,000 or more in their accounts? What is to prevent individuals of concern simply parcelling up assets through proxies into a large network of accounts below the permitted level?

[John Glen]

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation works closely with our allies across the G7 to ensure that we have co-ordinated action among our international partners on this unprecedented package of sanctions. We have frozen the assets of 1,600 individuals and entities. We have implemented 35 different sanction regimes across government. I would be happy to take away the specific question that she has asked, because it is technical, and respond.

Mortgage Market

Rachel Hopkins Excerpts

Tuesday 13th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Griffith]

I honestly think that contribution from the hon. Member is unworthy. I would not go so far as to ask her to withdraw it, but if she looks at my comments she will see that I absolutely understand the anxiety that people have about their mortgages. It is a very significant part of people’s household finances. That is why we are using all the tools at our disposal: both providing public spending to protect and shield households at this difficult time, and making the tough decisions to get the economy growing again and to keep debt under control, which is the action that will result in interest rates falling sooner.

[Rachel Hopkins (Luton South) (Lab)]

People from Luton have moved into Mid Bedfordshire to get on to the housing ladder or to raise their families. [Interruption.] It is true. Due to this Conservative Government’s economic failure, they are now facing soaring mortgage repayments, and we are even seeing banks withdrawing mortgage deals for new borrowers. How can voters trust the Government and the Conservatives to address the mortgage crisis when they are the ones who caused it?

[Andrew Griffith]

I am deeply intrigued by the concept that the hon. Lady’s constituents have hitherto been moving to the neighbouring Conservative-held seat of Mid Bedfordshire. Perhaps they recognise the better economic potential—the better opportunity to bring down rates as a result of our making the tough choices. Perhaps they welcome the sheer amount of support that we have provided for homebuyers. I wish her constituents well and hope that those who have moved to Mid Bedfordshire enjoy their next Conservative Member of Parliament.

Finance (No. 2) Bill

Rachel Hopkins Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 29th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Atkins]

I thank my hon. Friend the work that she and her Committee have done on the issue of simplification. The Committee had a very productive session with the soon to be former members of the office. What we want to do, which I will expand on a little later, is to put simplification at the heart of policymaking. So I have set my officials three objectives: making tax fairer, simpler and supportive of growth; and, for every single decision that we make, having explanations of how we will meet those three objectives. But we must acknowledge that, sometimes, there is a tension between the wish to make tax fairer and the wish to make tax simpler. The taper rate that I just described is an example of that. I appreciate that, for businesses with profits between £50,000 and £250,000 profits, their accountants will have to work out which tapering rate is available to them. But we do that precisely because we want to be fair to those businesses. I will expand on the important point that she raised later in my speech.

The Government have committed not only to supporting the growth of established businesses but to providing a boost to start-ups and young companies. That is why the Bill increases the amount of seed enterprise investment scheme funding that companies can raise over their lifetime from £150,000 to £250,000. It simplifies the process to grant options under the enterprise management incentive scheme, and it doubles the amount of share options that qualifying companies can issue to employees under the company share option plan to £60,000. Those changes intend to provide a boost to young companies by widening access to the schemes and increasing the funding limits, encouraging additional investment and further supporting growth of those companies.

We recognise how important research and development is to drive innovation and economic growth, including in our thriving life sciences sector, which employs more than a quarter of a million people and had a combined turnover of more than £90 billion in 2021. To encourage research and development, the Bill legislates for reforms to the R&D tax reliefs system previously announced by the Prime Minister when he was Chancellor. They include changes to support modern research methods by expanding the scope of qualifying expenditure for R&D reliefs to include data and cloud computing costs, and a range of measures to reduce error and fraud to ensure that our tax reliefs are well targeted and offer value for money.

By encouraging more businesses to invest in R&D, this Government are helping them to create the technologies, products and services that will advance living standards. I am pleased that, when they were announced, the chief executive of the Bioindustry Association Steve Bates OBE said of the measures:

“Modernising R&D tax reliefs to include data and cloud computing is essential for life science firms discovering and developing life-changing therapies for patients”.

We recognise the enormous contribution to our culture and economy made by theatres, orchestras and museums, as well as our vibrant film, gaming and media businesses. The Bill will extend for another two years the current 45% and 50% rates of tax relief for theatres, orchestras and museums, which will continue to offset ongoing pressures and boost investment in our cultural sectors.

The Bill will support the Chancellor’s ambitious plans relating to employment. To achieve the dynamic economy we all want, we cannot afford to waste anyone’s potential. We need to remove the barriers that stop people from working. No one should be pushed out of the workforce for tax reasons.

The British Medical Association, the Royal College of Surgeons and others have told us about the disincentive to continue working in healthcare because of tax charges on their pensions, and the NHS is our biggest employer, so to make sure that they and other professions are not deterred from working, the Bill will increase the pensions annual allowance to £60,000. The Bill will also remove the lifetime allowance charge to incentivise our most experienced and productive workers across our economy to stay in work for longer. As Dr Vishal Sharma, chair of the British Medical Association pensions committee, said:

“The scrapping of the lifetime allowance will be potentially transformative for the NHS as senior doctors will no longer be forced to retire early and can continue to work within the NHS, providing vital patient care.”

These changes will help to incentivise highly skilled and experienced individuals to remain in the labour market, which will help to grow the economy while increasing the knowledge and experience of the UK’s labour force.

[Rachel Hopkins (Luton South) (Lab)]

Can the Minister confirm whether the Government have made any assessment of the number of doctors who will stay in the NHS specifically because of the measure, which will cost more than £1 billion a year?

[Victoria Atkins]

The hon. Lady must not confine herself merely to the medical profession. I think the chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners said this will be a game changer—

[Rachel Hopkins]

rose—

[Victoria Atkins]

Just give me a moment—I am galloping up to the jump. He said it would be a game changer in terms of policing. We know that education leaders have welcomed the changes, as have others, including air traffic controllers.

The hon. Lady asked a specific question about doctors. I am happy to be able to help her, using statistics produced by the Department of Health and Social Care. They suggest that, in 2023-24, around 22,000 senior NHS clinicians would have been expected to exceed the former £40,000 annual allowance—she must not forget that point—and around 31,000 clinicians would have reached at least 75% of the abolished lifetime allowance. I am happy to reiterate that we are introducing the change precisely because of the challenges we know our NHS, which we all love, faces at the moment, with waiting lists and so on, and because we can make the changes next week, in the new financial year.

I know the hon. Lady will recall that, the day after the Chancellor delivered the Budget, someone eminent in the medical profession appeared on television and said that they had already started receiving phone calls from doctors about how they could come back into the workforce or increase their hours. I know this is a point of disagreement between us and the hon. Lady’s party, but we are determined to encourage doctors and clinicians to remain in the NHS, working for all our constituents.

We are also determined to spread prosperity everywhere. One of the most exciting parts of the Budget was the creation of 12 new investment zones, helping to spread the benefits of economic growth around the UK. The Bill will deliver important aspects of that ambition. It will ensure that investment zones have access to a single five-year tax offer in specific sites, matching that in freeports, consisting of enhanced rates of capital allowances, structures and building allowances, full relief from stamp duty land tax, business rates and a reduced rate of employer national insurance contributions.

Importantly, investment zones will also uphold the UK’s high environmental standards and meet our international commitments. We require that proposals demonstrate how they support the UK reaching net zero by 2050 and our new long-term targets to protect and enhance the natural environment, and how they are resilient to the effects of climate change.

The Bill will also deliver on commitments made at previous fiscal events, including important ones to deliver on our freedom to set our own course outside the European Union. Among those opportunities is a major review of the alcohol duty system, as mentioned by the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael). We have worked closely with industry on that over the last two years.

Now that the UK is able to diverge from inherited EU laws, we can implement a system that is a better fit with our national priorities, encourages growth and innovation, aligns with public health goals and is fairer for hard-working producers. The Bill simplifies the regime and moves to a progressive tax structure, where products are taxed according to their strengths. It also legislates for two reliefs: draught relief and a new small producer relief, which will support a wider range of small businesses to grow and provides recognition of the vital role that pubs and other on-trade venues play in our communities.

Thanks to the Windsor framework, the Government can implement these reforms in Northern Ireland, including the ability to tax alcohol by strength, and to introduce draught and small producer relief. We will set out more detail about how that will work in the coming weeks.

Autumn Statement

Rachel Hopkins Excerpts

Thursday 17th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Hopkins (Luton South) (Lab)]

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

Today, in response to the Chancellor’s statement, the Conservative chair of the Local Government Association said:

“We have been clear that council tax has never been the solution to meeting the long-term pressures facing services—particularly high-demand services like adult social care, child protection and homelessness prevention. It also raises different amounts of money in different parts of the country unrelated to need and adds to the financial burden facing households.”

Does the Chancellor agree with that, and will he commit himself to working on a fair funding formula for local authorities, including police and fire services, which we have heard little about today?

[Jeremy Hunt]

We always keep our funding formula under review, but I am absolutely certain that the person whom the hon. Lady has quoted will have welcomed the fact that there was a £4.7 billion increase in the money for social care, which is the biggest financial pressure for local authorities.

Economy Update

Rachel Hopkins Excerpts

Thursday 26th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

I thank my hon. Friend for his support and join him in paying tribute to our fantastic citizens advice bureaux for the fantastic work they do. He makes a good point, which is one reason why the payment will be staggered into two tranches. It will not come all in one go: the first tranche will come in July and the second later in the autumn. That will help to address the issue that he raised.

[Rachel Hopkins (Luton South) (Lab)]

Energy-intensive businesses and sectors such as automotive manufacturing are facing huge challenges due to soaring energy prices. Companies such as Vauxhall in Luton South need some specific support to keep plants running efficiently and to keep people in skilled jobs. Can I hear from the Chancellor a commitment to our manufacturing sector and what support he will provide to it, as it is so critical to our UK economy?

[Rishi Sunak]

I do believe that the sector is important to our future, which is why it is being supported with a very significant tax incentive to invest with the super deduction, which we have said we will replace when it expires next spring with further support. Indeed, our energy-intensive industries benefit from around £2 billion of direct intervention with their energy bills.

National Insurance Contributions (Increase of Thresholds) Bill

Rachel Hopkins Excerpts

2nd reading
Thursday 24th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Hopkins (Luton South) (Lab)]

The Chancellor’s spring statement left households and businesses across Luton South to fend for themselves in the middle of a cost of living crisis, as we are set to see this year the biggest drop in incomes on record. The Office for Budget Responsibility confirmed that real household disposable income will fall over the next two years, leading to

“the biggest fall in living standards in any single financial year since ONS records began in 1956-57”.

Britain is facing the highest tax burden in 70 years, with the Chancellor confirming £24 billion in tax rises this year. For every £6 the Chancellor has taken in tax since he became Chancellor, he is giving back just £1 today. This situation cuts to the heart of the Conservatives’ mismanagement of the economy, structured on low investment, low pay and low growth. It also shows their total disregard for the hardship that my constituents in Luton South are facing. Whether it is that people cannot afford the soaring heating bills, the petrol at the pump or the rising food prices, it is our communities that are suffering right now.

The Bill represents just one aspect of the Chancellor’s sleight-of-hand approach to the management of public finances, which is based more on feathering the nest of his own popularity—or, dare I say, his Instagram account—than it is on building an economy based on high growth, high productivity and higher redistribution. Although increasing the national insurance contributions threshold will provide some respite, it will deliver twice as much benefit to the top 50%—the top half of earners—as it will to those in the lower half. And it cannot be considered in isolation. The Chancellor announced in the 2021 autumn Budget that national insurance contributions rates would rise from 12% to 13.25%. Overall, that tax increase is regressive: those earning more than £100,000 a year could end up paying proportionately less. Notwithstanding the threshold change, the rate will be around 13.25% on most earnings up to £50,000 but just 3.25% on any income above that threshold. For all the references earlier in the debate about everyone paying their fair share, I am not sure that is the case.

[Jacob Young]

The hon. Lady mentioned the health and social care levy; does she recognise the point made earlier by my hon. Friend the Member for Grantham and Stamford (Gareth Davies)? The top 14% of earners will pay 50% of the levy. Surely that demonstrates that the levy is more progressive.

[Rachel Hopkins]

There are many ways to cut a cake. The people in my constituency know what fairness is and they know that they are paying disproportionately more in their everyday lives.

Could the Chancellor point to any other major economy that is putting up taxes on working people this April? The policies in the spring statement are poorly targeted and not grounded in fairness. According to the response from the Institute for Public Policy Research, they will help the wealthiest households four times more than they will help the poorest. Alongside the lack of support in the spring statement, wages are forecast to fall in value by 2% this year, which is equivalent to a real-terms cut of £552.

We have heard much about a parallel universe, but it is clear whose side the Conservative Government are on. They are certainly not on the side of the pensioners, families on universal credit and children living in poverty in Luton South, who face the choice of heating or eating. I wish the hon. Member for South Dorset (Richard Drax) was still in the Chamber. I listened intently to his comments about freedom; if someone cannot afford to heat their home or feed their kids, they do not have much freedom. For those on the very lowest incomes, there is nothing. There is nothing for those unable to work or those who are unemployed.

The reform places a greater level of tax on almost all workers. The Government’s negligence will lead to increased fuel poverty. Government Members may try to point, again, to the household support fund. A colleague told me earlier that for those under the income threshold, the increase would be equivalent to 6p a day.

[Jacob Young]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Rachel Hopkins]

One more time.

[Jacob Young]

We are talking about the second tranche of the household support fund. The first tranche of £500 million was announced last year. Luton got £1.83 million from that fund, which I am sure was helpful to her constituents. They will get a further share from the second tranche. Does the hon. Lady welcome that?

[Rachel Hopkins]

I am really pleased that the hon. Member is able to remember that figure; I hope he is also able to remind the House of the more than £100 million that has been taken away from Luton council over a decade of Tory austerity, which is why so many of the families in my constituency are living in poverty and are in fuel poverty.

[Gareth Davies]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[James Daly]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Rachel Hopkins]

I am going to make some progress.

The household support fund is simply a short-term solution. I declare an interest as a vice president of the Local Government Association, which warns that we need an “effective long-term solution” to support the most vulnerable. The Chair of the Select Committee on Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts), raised a number of points on that issue earlier; I add that 60p in every £1 has been taken away from local authorities over 10 years of Tory austerity. We need to see much more stability and certainty for local authorities before we will see an impact.

Ultimately, Luton South deserves a Government that will help them through the cost of living crisis, with a plan to drive growth and living standards. That is not what the Conservative party’s spring statement offers, but it is what a Labour Government will.

--- Later in debate ---

[James Daly]

I completely agree. We should be looking at ways to support our hauliers and others who are reliant on motor transport for their businesses and livelihoods.

The contrast is with a high-tax Labour and the SNP policies I have touched on. We have a Conservative Government who, through the pandemic, have invested £400 billion in supporting people and businesses. In my area, more than £100 million has supported businesses through the pandemic. As a result, in the last quarter of last year, as has already been mentioned, employment levels were back to pre-pandemic levels and there is a record number of vacancies—1.25 million—in the market. That is what we must also consider when looking at how the Government are performing. We have a Government who are creating well-paid, highly skilled jobs in all parts of the country as part of the levelling-up agenda. That is to be welcomed. The policy we are debating today is that of a tax-cutting Government; the national insurance policy is a tax cut of £6 billion. Such policies must be welcomed.

We have a Government who invest in their people, in training, in supporting the most vulnerable, and in supporting hard-working, self-employed people in my constituency, and who look at every possible way to link policy to economic growth and employment growth. We have a Government who see that the best way to address the many challenges our constituents face is to make sure that the financial and other support is in place while ensuring that they have the tools and the training to get a well-paid and well-supported job in their local area. That is what this Government are about —the creation of jobs, tax cuts and actions for the many and not the few.

The debate is not just about this place and one policy. In the real world, people are creating wealth. The debate is about how people can use the tools that the Government are giving them to create jobs and opportunities. That is what is happening. I welcome the measure, which clearly has support across the House.

Pensioners were mentioned and they face challenges with the rising cost of living, as do many others. Since 2011, when the triple lock was put in place, the state pension has increased by 35% or £2,050 and is now at the highest level relative to earnings in 34 years.

I am absolutely certain—knowing my right hon. Friends the Chancellor and the Financial Secretary to the Treasury—that this measure is not the end of our fiscal policies and our tools to ensure that people will continue to have job opportunities and to be able to take advantage of the economic conditions that have been created.

This is the right policy at the right time, and I congratulate the Government for it. The Government know that all our citizens face challenges, but the route out of the difficulty is good, skilled, high-wage, high-quality employment in all parts of the country and I welcome the Government’s commitment to that.

[Rachel Hopkins]

rose—

[Several hon. Members rose—]