Clause 1

Steve Darling Excerpts

Monday 12th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Tomlinson]

This Government have stuck to their manifesto commitments. We were very clear about not wanting to change the rates of income tax. I have been in discussions with Opposition Members about the wording of our manifesto; I am glad that Conservative Members have taken such interest in it. We are sticking to our commitments. The tax changes that we are discussing now, and others, will allow us to do things such as lift 550,000 children out of poverty this Parliament, by removing the two-child limit and expanding free breakfast clubs and free school meal eligibility. They allow us to cut waiting lists and cut the cost of living by delivering £150 off energy bills. All that would be threatened by Opposition Members, who do not support the taxes needed to fund decent public services.

[Steve Darling (Torbay) (LD)]

Can the Minister explain why there are £300 million-worth of cuts in Devon this year to our NHS—to hospital trusts, our partnership trust that looks after mental health and our integrated care board?

[Dan Tomlinson]

I am not able to comment on the specific figures that the hon. Gentleman raised, but overall the Government are spending significantly more on the NHS in this Parliament each year. That is enabled by the changes to taxation that we announced at this and previous Budgets. One of the challenges that the national health service has today is a result of under-investment in capital for too long, meaning that day-to-day spending is having to take more of the strain. So often in recent years capital budgets have been raided, including when, I should mention, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats were in coalition. Cutting the capital budgets has left us in the difficult situation that we are in now, and this Government are seeking to turn that around.