Wednesday's Budget was not what Britain needed.
There was no plan to tackle the growing cost of living crisis. No plan to reduce the tax burden on working people and small businesses. No plan to grow our economy in the years ahead or to create the high-wage high skilled jobs of the future. No plan to deal with the huge challenge of climate change for the years ahead.
A Labour budget would have been very different, because Labour wants a brighter and better future for our country.
We’d have invested in dealing with the challenge of climate change and fitting our country for the future - starting with proper insulation for millions of homes to reduce emissions and drive down soaring heating bills.
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We’d have changed the way the government does business to ensure we buy, make, and sell more in Britain, supporting manufacturers and our amazing small businesses. Growing our economy is the best route to better services and a better future for everyone. It means more jobs and higher tax revenues to invest in our services.
Instead, after a decade of weak growth, Wednesday’s budget saw taxation go up to the highest level for seventy years. Working people are paying an ever higher price for eleven years of Tory economic failure.
We’d have invested in the future of our public services, especially for children, as we recover from the pandemic, with a properly funded education catch-up plan so every child has the chance to succeed.
We only get one chance as a country to get these calls right, and the Tories are getting it wrong. We’d have cancelled the Prime Minister’s new yacht, and spent the money on policing hubs and more special constables.
And we’d have reformed our tax system, as Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves set out at conference. We’d make it fair, so those with the broadest shoulders make the bigger contribution. We’d bring it up to date, so high street family firms face a level playing field with tech giants like Amazon. We’d make it more efficient too, by removing unfair tax breaks, like the one that benefits private schools - and spend that money on giving every child a better start.
What we needed was a Budget for our future, for growth, and for our public services. The Tories failed again to deliver what we need. Labour would be building a brighter and better future.
