Today Jeremy Hunt has a choice.
He has the chance to heal divisions, give hope to families and reward our key workers.
Or he can continue with the failed Tory policies of the last 13 years that have left the country poorer, weaker and more unequal.
We urge him to use today’s Budget to put Britain back on the path to fairness and prosperity.
That journey must start with ending the injustice that has left 4.3million children in poverty.
It has to address why so many families are having to choose between heating and eating and why more than a million are on the housing waiting list.
And it must begin with restoring public services after years of neglect and under-investment.
If the Chancellor wants to take this route he should find the money to fund free school meals for all primary children in England.
No child should be going to school so hungry they are unable to learn. Nor should they be taught in classrooms dripping with rain water or riddled with asbestos.
It is not just our schools which need rebuilding. There is a £10billion backlog of repairs for NHS buildings in England, millions of people are living in damp and mouldy homes and the transport network is crumbling before our eyes.
It is also time the Chancellor recognised those who work in our public services.
The strikes this week did not need to take place.
They could have been resolved if the Government genuinely valued those who teach our children and tend our sick. Mr Hunt is today expected to freeze fuel duty yet again. If he can find £6billion to help motorists, he can find £6billion to
give nurses and teachers the pay rises they deserve.
The Tories will be judged on their choices.
They can help households and businesses with their energy bills or they can stand aside as the oil and gas giants make ever bigger profits.
They can cut stamp duty for the well-off or they can invest in affordable housing for those without a roof over their heads.
They can give tax breaks to private schools or they can ensure primary children get at least one hot, nutritious meal a day.
After 13 years of Tory rule, people across Britain are crying out for help.
Nurses and teachers need help to support their families. The sick and frail need help from their NHS and social care. Children need help to thrive in underfunded and overstretched schools. Shop and pub owners need help to keep their businesses afloat.
Mr Hunt can choose to help... or choose to turn away.
Too many people now look around and rightly ask how their lives have improved under the Conservatives.
They look around and all they can see are the monuments to Conservative failure: from the decline of their local area, the boarded-up high streets, the lengthy waits for an NHS appointment, to the expensive and unreliable public transport system.
Today Mr Hunt has the chance to repair some of that damage.
He has the chance to make the right choices for our readers and our country.
We mean business
Small businesses are the lifeblood of the British economy but are paid lip service by a Conservative Government that will not put its money where its mouth is.
People who put their heart and soul into enterprises feel neglected and unsupported.
Ahead of today’s Budget, your Daily Mirror brings you a shopping list of what small businesses want to hear from Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt.
We can all check off Hunt’s announcements against those demands and, should he fail them again, the Chancellor and the Tory Party will deserve to feel their wrath.
Political platitudes are no substitute for practical help. Boris Johnson infamously growled “f*** business” to deliver an ideological Brexit that has sapped prosperity.
Now business backing for Labour is on the up, a sign of their revolt against the Tories.
Off the rails
Delaying HS2 to save money will actually increase the final bill, which shows betraying the North is a false economy.
The internal DfT briefing that undermines ministers’ public claims means the Tories must come clean with travellers and taxpayers.
Stalling parts of the route to balance the books is a short-sighted, expensive mistake.
When we are this far down the line, completing HS2 as fast as possible to increase capacity and cut journey times between the North, Midlands and London is a no-brainer.
Constantly stopping and starting, scrapping plans for a vital spur to Yorkshire, is wrecking the finances of the project and denying millions of people an improved rail link.
Tory Fat Controllers cannot run a railway.
Blinkers off
Matt Hancock is a gambler on a losing run after his WhatsApp messages were released by Isabel Oakeshott, a collaborator who betrayed him.
Trotting up to Cheltenham with Gina Coladangelo reminded us that he is a political also-ran unsaddled for breaking Covid rules.
