Budget Resolutions Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Steve Darling
Main Page: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)Department Debates - View all Steve Darling's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(1 day, 6 hours ago)
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Steve Darling (Torbay) (LD)
Perhaps the most important commodity for a Chancellor is not finance but trust. We saw how the Conservatives wrecked the country’s trust in them with partygate and the scandal of the fast track to personal protective equipment contracts for those who were in the know. I am afraid to say that what we have seen with the Chancellor of the Exchequer is a continuation of the Conservative Government but with a Labour approach. The way that the Chancellor appears to have not kept the Cabinet in the loop on the OBR guidance is shocking.
On the more positive note, I would like to reflect how the Liberal Democrats welcome the support through cuts to fuel bills, but failing to backfill the scheme with core funding is a shame. The Liberal Democrats have campaigned against the two-child limit for many years, so we clearly welcome the change. However, the stealth taxes hitting working people—again, the Labour party has echoed what the Tories did previously—are absolutely outrageous, as is how Labour is now hitting those with student loans with a stealth tax, which actually equates to the mansion tax. Why are we putting recent former students in the same bracket as those who fall under the mansion tax? It is quite shocking.
I come to something we do well for in Torbay: our large number of pensioners. Many of them have small pension pots, yet they will be hit by the fiscal impact of the drag into income tax.
The hospitality industry in the west country is extremely important, yet last year we saw it impacted by the national insurance hike. The Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust in my constituency had a bill of £100,000. That charity, which supported important beauty spots across Torbay, has gone into liquidation because of that move from the Labour Government and the failure of our Conservative council to support it appropriately. There are future challenges for hospitality with the increasing of business rates, and I fear for the future of some of our much loved pubs across Torbay.
I fear that we have seen a failure to invest in the south-west with these proposals from the Government. I ask them to think again.