Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Stephen Morgan Excerpts

Monday 8th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Morgan (Portsmouth South) (Lab) [V]]

This Budget was a pivotal opportunity to deliver a stronger and fairer economic future, but instead the Chancellor has doubled down on the same economic illiteracy that left us so vulnerable to this crisis. The extension of wage and business support schemes was the right decision but was, as ever, taken needlessly late and came at the cost of businesses and jobs.

More needs to be done to tackle the looming cliff edge on rent and evictions, which puts hospitality businesses, including pubs, at risk. Many of those excluded remain without support and have received nothing during this pandemic. The impact will be felt disproportionately among the self-employed, freelancers and limited company directors who are the lifeblood of local economies such as Portsmouth’s. They will remember the Chancellor’s hollow promise to do “whatever it takes” to support them. The cultural and events sector, which is so vibrant in Portsmouth, will see the lack of Government-backed insurance schemes as a missed opportunity to help festivals such as Victorious to go ahead this summer.

This was a Budget that did not learn the hard lessons that the pandemic has taught us. There was nothing for schools, which are in dire need of investment if our children are to catch up and thrive. The Chancellor announced no support for job creation, yet the number of those under 25 and claiming out-of-work support in Portsmouth has increased by 135% in the past year. There was nothing for social care, which bore the brunt of the crisis and is in dire need of a sustainable funding settlement.

Most insultingly, the Budget confirmed a pay freeze for the public sector workers who have got us through this crisis, and concealed a cut in NHS spending in the fine print. Since then, we have heard that our NHS heroes have been offered a pay increase of just 1%, which is equivalent to a real-terms cuts. More than 11,000 public sector workers in my constituency will be worse off, as will more than 15,000 police officers and almost 40,000 members of our armed forces across the region. The Government cannot cynically clap our key workers one minute and then cut their pay the next.

Finally, the Budget confirmed that Brexit will leave us worse off, with a permanent 4% hit to productivity. We will feel that acutely in Portsmouth: this short-change Government continue to withhold funds that the port needs to build vital post-Brexit infrastructure. The Budget showed us that the Government are intent on the same economic insecurity and inequality that the OBR has confirmed caused the worst recession of the major economies. The Chancellor has put his signature all over a Budget that fails Portsmouth’s families, young people and key workers. It lacks the ambition that my city and this country need for the future.