Budget Resolutions
Debate between Sam Carling and Judith Cummins
Sam Carling (North West Cambridgeshire) (Lab)
I thank my right hon. Friend the Chancellor for delivering this Budget, which shows the difference that a Labour Government make. It shows a Government who are willing to invest in our country and deliver support for those who need it. That investment will not be built on tax rises for working people. It will be focused on those with the broadest shoulders who can afford to contribute more. Conservative Members have criticised capital gains tax increases, but less than 1% of people pay capital gains tax. They have criticised the increase to employers’ national insurance payments, claiming that it would damage small businesses, but we have just heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Tom Hayes) that the Federation of Small Businesses has welcomed the Budget, due to the support for small businesses that we are bringing in with that allowance increasing.
The Budget will fix the foundations of our economy to focus on what matters most: higher living standards and better public services. Those are the things that make a real difference to people’s lives. There are currently five Conservative Members in the Chamber, and I wonder why the others are not here. What is it that they do not want to discuss and hear about? Is it perhaps the Government’s decision finally to set aside funding to compensate the victims of the infected blood scandal, and the sub-postmasters who were so badly affected by one of the worst miscarriages of justice in our history? Apologies without action, as we saw from the last Government, are not enough, and victims have had to wait for too long.
I welcome measures such as the industrial strategy, with more than £20 billion of funding for research and development in growth industries of the future, investment in infrastructure, and in broadband, which will make a real difference to my constituents in North West Cambridgeshire. The cut to duty on draft alcohol will be a welcome boost to local pubs in my constituency—I was delighted to see that after I raised with Ministers the need to support pubs in questions yesterday.
Everyone has the right to a safe, comfortable, affordable home, and the housing measures in the Budget will help make that a reality for more people. Social housing was left to rot by the last Government, who ended their time in office with nearly 1.3 million households on waiting lists and, devastatingly, 150,000 children in temporary accommodation. The Budget includes an immediate injection of £500 million extra capital into the affordable homes programme for next year, supporting thousands of new social and affordable homes. That takes overall investment in the housing supply for next year to over £5 billion.
Reforms to the right to buy will make the scheme more sustainable, supporting long-standing tenants buying their own homes, but crucially making sure that councils can replace those homes—for which many have been calling for so long. Newly announced housing projects across the country will allow for the delivery of more than 30,000 homes. This Government are delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housing in a generation.
I am delighted that education is finally getting the support it needs. Last year we saw school buildings literally crumble, as the extent of the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete scandal became clear. The £1.4 billion rebuilding programme we have announced will be welcomed by schools in my constituency and throughout the country. It is also hugely positive to see an extra £30 million for breakfast club funding, which will make sure that every child starts the day fed and ready to learn. I know how valuable that will be to my constituents.
One of the biggest problems over the past few years has been the ever-increasing cost of living. Measures such as the 6.7% increase to the national living wage, the extension of the household support fund, the preservation of the triple lock on pensions, and the increase to the carers’ allowance weekly earnings limit will do so much to ease pressure on those that have been feeling it for too long. The huge boost to childcare will see new and expanded nurseries across the country, easing the pressure on parents, including so many in North West Cambridgeshire who rely heavily on those services.
I also welcome the £44 million for kinship and foster carers, as part of a trial. It is a subject close to my heart and to those of my Labour colleagues on Peterborough city council. Kinship carers are family or friends who step in to help support a child when its parents cannot, and they do a tremendous and critical job that too often goes unnoticed. I am pleased to see the Labour Government recognising their contribution, and the greater role that kinship carers can play in our society with the right level of support.
This Budget also demonstrates our concrete commitment to the NHS. We are all far too aware of the fragile state of our national health service after 14 years of neglect under the Conservatives. The inability to see a doctor or find a dentist comes up time and time again when I talk to my constituents, and I know that picture is replicated around the country. We are ending that, with much-needed resource for equipment and buildings that will set the foundations for clearing the backlog. It was Labour that created the NHS and it is this Labour Government who will transform it into a service fit for the British people. I am proud of Labour’s first Budget in 14 years. It is a strong step forward in the journey towards national renewal, and it shows our Labour Government’s drive to deliver for everyone across our country.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)
I am now imposing a four-minute time limit with immediate effect.