Budget Resolutions

Wendy Morton Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dr Neil Hudson (Epping Forest) (Con)]

The theme of this year’s autumn Budget was said to be one of hope. It raised our hopes akin to the title of a “Star Wars” film, yet for many of my constituents in Epping Forest, and indeed for families and businesses across the country, that hope has been sorely dashed. I have huge respect for the Chancellor, who is a deeply honourable man. He resigned as Defence Secretary, calling for 3% of GDP on defence spending by 2030, but sadly, even his hopes for this clear commitment and plan have been dashed by this Government.

In Epping Forest we are fortunate to have fantastic local businesses, restaurants, cafés and pubs, yet many are struggling to stay afloat under this Labour Government. It is deeply regrettable that this Budget did not take up the sensible proposals from the Conservatives on scrapping the family farm tax and family business tax in full, abolishing inheritance tax on family homes and scrapping business rates for 250,000 businesses nationwide.

One thing my constituents in Epping Forest will have noted was the Chancellor’s talk of a British data centre covenant. Many of my constituents are rightly concerned about the implications and environmental impacts of AI data centres, including the proposal in Loughton, with major concerns about their huge water and energy usage. Also, a speculative and completely inappropriate proposal is being worked up for a data centre near Chigwell that will threaten our precious green belt. Many of my constituents have reached out to me, alarmed by the Chigwell proposal and by the fact that it comes in the context of a Labour Government who have outrageously taken away large planning decisions from Epping Forest district council and who are arbitrarily and spuriously moving to reclassify green belt as grey belt in order to achieve their development targets.

We have seen this, too, with inappropriate large-scale housing developments being proposed on green belt in Theydon Bois and around Epping, and with solar developments on farmland between Thornwood and Epping Upland. I urge the Labour Government to do the right thing, listen to my Epping Forest constituents, leave our green belt alone and pull the plug on these damaging top-down policies and inappropriate developments.

[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

I cannot resist this opportunity to say that I wholeheartedly agree with what my hon. Friend is saying about green belt protection. The Government have an opportunity to stop this reckless, top-down approach and to be serious about brownfield-first funding. Does he agree that they should put the money into brownfield first, to protect and save our special, precious green spaces?

[Dr Hudson]

I completely agree with my right hon. Friend. She is a proud champion for her area and for standing up for the green belt and putting pressure on the Government to do the right thing and go for brownfield first and leave our green belt alone.

The Prime Minister is a good man, and I really welcomed his stated ambition to work cross-party to address the long-standing challenges in social care, drawing on his own family’s sad experience. I agree wholeheartedly with him that no one should be forced to sell their home to fund essential care, but that hope, too, was dashed when it became clear that he is prejudging the Casey report and that his plans will not cover residential care costs—the very reason that people have to sell their homes. By failing to address this core issue, the Government have missed the very point they are trying to confront.

Turning from care to health, I know that many of my constituents will be dismayed to learn that our local hospitals, Whipps Cross and the Princess Alexandra, will still be waiting until at least 2032 for any rebuild. This is despite Labour’s promise during the 2024 general election that both hospitals would be rebuilt.

The Government have spent much time talking of devolution and powers, but my constituents need them to start by working with the powers that already exist, including those relating to their relationship with the Mayor of London. For far too long, the Central line, which my constituents rely on, has been plagued by unacceptable delays, overcrowding, unbearable heat in the summer months, ear-scraping rail noise levels and ugly graffiti akin to something out of Gotham City. The newly refurbished trains that have been promised are arriving extremely slowly, and the services on the Epping line and the Chigwell branch remain unacceptable.

In Waltham Abbey, over 3,000 of my constituents signed the “Bring back red buses to Waltham Abbey” campaign petition urging the reversal of Transport for London’s cuts to local bus services in the area. This situation has been made worse recently by bus services ending early on weekdays, when there are already no tube or train services serving our Waltham Abbey area. The Government cannot sit on the sidelines and spectate; they have to be a player and push both TfL and Essex county council to step up. This was a Budget of missed opportunities. If the Government are serious about hope, I ask them please to give us some hope and actually do something about these vital issues.

--- Later in debate ---

[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

Last Friday, I welcomed representatives from more than 40 local businesses to my business breakfast. The businesses were of different sizes and from different sectors, but they had the same clear message: the cost of doing business is too high. These are hard-working people. They want to be able to get on, do business, expand and invest in their staff, yet at every turn this Government make it harder.

Six in 10 small businesses feel that the Government are not on their side, according to a recent opinion poll. Higher employer national insurance contributions, increases in the minimum wage and soaring energy bills are squeezing margins, and we can add to that the mounting regulation and burdensome employment law introduced by this Government. Business confidence has been negative for seven consecutive months. Businesses needed a Budget that gave them confidence; instead, they were thrown a damp squib.

Perhaps we should not be surprised. This weekend, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, whom I respect, told us that she did not think that employers were working people. I invite her to Aldridge-Brownhills so that she can tell that to the people running our hair salons, restaurants, garages and delivery companies. Those are the people who are the first up in the morning to open up their business, leave last and often pay themselves last, after everyone else. That is the harsh reality. They do not stop being working people the moment that they give somebody else a job. That remark tells us exactly how little this Government understand the people who create jobs in our communities.

[Sir Gavin Williamson (Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend raises the matter of extra regulation and extra tax. The people this Government are hurting and impacting on the most are young people, in terms of job opportunities. That certainly seems to be the case in my constituency. Is it the case in hers as well?

[Wendy Morton]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely spot on. I was just about to come to the impact on young people.

Recruitment and training were also raised at my business breakfast. Local employers want to recruit, but finding people with the right skills and experience remains a challenge. Employers need a more flexible apprenticeship system that gives young people the skills and experience that local businesses are looking for. With almost 1 million young people outside education, employment or training, it is time to close the gap between the skills that employers need and the opportunities that young people can access. We need training that leads to real jobs, apprenticeships that work for employers and a welfare system that expects those who can work to do so.

Ministers need to give businesses the confidence to recruit, yet the Government’s answer is always to spend more and tax more. Their decisions will have added £75.1 billion to the tax burden by the end of this Parliament, with taxes forecast to reach their highest level on record. Families and businesses across my constituency are being asked to pay for a Government who cannot live within their means. We cannot revive our high streets by taxing businesses out of business and into closing their doors. It is time that the Treasury assesses the cumulative impact of its tax increases and this Government’s policy choices on jobs and investment, before more livelihoods and more opportunities for the next generation are lost. The Prime Minister may like writing a blank cheque, but what he really needs is a reality check from businesses such as those in my constituency.

Let me speak about a sector that is close to my heart—hospices. For families in Aldridge-Brownhills, hospices such as Acorns children’s hospice and St Giles hospice provide care, comfort and support at some of life’s most difficult moments. Their staff, volunteers and fundraisers make an extraordinary contribution, but charitable generosity cannot keep pace with rising costs indefinitely. As Hospice UK has made clear, this Budget failed to address the funding crisis, even as hospices are cutting frontline services.

There is a crucial distinction between funding buildings and funding care. Capital investment is absolutely welcome, but a refurbished room cannot care for a child; we need the specialist nurses to staff it. When the NHS commissions care from a hospice, its contracts should reflect the cost of providing that care. Hospices need fair funding in all postcodes so they can retain staff and plan services with confidence.

This Budget falls short. It may buy the Chancellor some breathing space, but it offers precious little to my constituents and local businesses. It ducks the difficult decisions, leaves the ballooning welfare bill unchecked and pushes today’s problems further down the road, leaving the country less prepared for tomorrow. Just yesterday, there was a U-turn on indefinite leave to remain, which will only increase the welfare bill. Was that costed in the Budget? I really would like to know.

We have a Government who are more concerned with keeping their Back Benchers happy than with taking the tough decisions that this country needs. The Chancellor may have bought himself time, but it is my constituents who will pay the price.