Last week, the Chancellor of the Exchequer rose to deliver Labour’s first Budget in 14 years.
Seventy-seven minutes later, when she sat down, Rachel Reeves had committed to saddle Britain with £40 billion of extra taxes and £140 billion more national debt.
The Chancellor tried to justify this with claims she inherited a ‘black hole’ in the public finances – something her own department - the Treasury – says it cannot find.
This wasn’t just a ‘tax and spend’ budget. It was a Budget of false premises and broken promises.
Labour promised not to raise taxes on working people. Last week, the Chancellor ditched that pledge and increased employers’ National Insurance. According to the Government, my constituents who work long days running local businesses are no longer ‘working people’. The day after the spending binge came the Budget hangover, as the Chancellor admitted this tax rise would hit employees’ too.
In Opposition, Labour promised not to cut Winter Fuel Payments. They claimed doing so could cause 4,000 deaths, but the Chancellor has cut this vital support when better targeting might have been more compassionate.
Labour also promised not to increase borrowing. Within hours of the Budget speech, the Office for Budget Responsibility said her plans represent one of the largest increases in tax, spending and borrowing of any Budget in British history.
In a blow for Shropshire farmers, Labour abandoned its promised ‘new deal for farmers’ by cutting Agricultural Property Relief (APR). By exempting them from Inheritance Tax, APR enables family farms to be handed down fully intact to the next generation. Thanks to Labour’s budget, some farmers will be forced to sell up to pay the tax bill. No wonder the NFU described the Budget as “disastrous”.
Overall, the Budget was a list of broken promises and policies which are anti-business, anti-aspiration, and anti-growth. No member of the Cabinet has ever run a business, and that lack of experience is now clear for all to see.
The Chancellor promised economic growth, but her own forecasts show growth will decline from next year – an unsurprising consequence of this damaging and ideological Budget.
She said Winter Fuel Payment cuts were needed to stabilise government finances, but still found money for new HS2 tunnels in London and inflation-busting pay rises for train drivers, when local rail infrastructure needs urgent investment.
The Chancellor said Labour would bring economic stability, but her policies will keep inflation and interest rates higher for longer.
Many of the policies announced in the Budget, I warned against during the general election campaign. Many voters who supported the likes of Reform will pay the price of gifting Labour a huge majority. Only the Conservatives can truly hold the government to account.
This life-defining Budget is bad for local pensioners, families and businesses. I will vote against it this week.
