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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Luke Murphy
Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation
I respect the right hon. Gentleman’s experience, and the tone in which he is delivering his speech. However, on the point of credibility, I would gently ask him this question. In April 2024, the Conservative Government committed to a target for defence spending in 2030—that target was, of course, 2.5%. A month earlier, they cut national insurance, and they committed to a further cut in national insurance in the manifesto. Will he reflect a little harder on the credibility of the Conservatives on this issue, given their failure to commit to 3% mere months before their party said that defence spending should be 3%, and with no real means to pay for it?
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Lillian Jones
UK Energy Independence
<Question HRSContentId="{A30C0BBD-24B0-4D60-92B8-622A9C53A293}">5. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{5F7EA447-1EB2-4632-B4BF-A7E66D7E19D8}">What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support Scotland’s contribution to UK energy independence.</QuestionText> </Question>
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Lillian Jones
UK Energy Independence
Having met apprentices and engineers at Hunterston, including many from my own constituency of Kilmarnock and Loudoun, I have seen at first hand the world-class nuclear talent that we have in Scotland. Does the Secretary of State agree that the SNP’s continued opposition to nuclear energy not only weakens our energy security but risks driving our skilled young Scots to seek opportunities south of the border, when Scotland should be creating those opportunities to keep them, their futures and their careers in Scotland?
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Liam Byrne
Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation
Well, I am going to start by commending the Chancellor for what I thought was a Budget that is going to leave our country richer, fairer, stronger and safer. It has been my privilege to know the Chancellor for many years, and over the course of those years, he has been a modest man. The truth, though, on the basis of the numbers that he set out to the House today, is that he has nothing to be modest about. He has been able to tell the House today that we have delivered the joint highest growth in the G7. We have had the second biggest uplift to growth in the G7. Whole-of-economy investment is now at the highest rate since 1990. Productivity growth has been upgraded again and is now back in line not just with the growth rate but with the growth achieved by our competitors. One million more people are forecast to be in work between now and the end of the forecast period—that is 550 people back in work every single day. Economic expansion of £200 billion has been forecast for this Parliament—that is twice the level achieved under the last Parliament. GDP growth per capita is forecast to rise by £2,500 over the course of this Parliament—that is 36 times more than was achieved under the last Government.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Liam Byrne
Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation
I am not giving way. Crucially, the OBR says today that GDP growth is now structural, therefore raising the potential for output growth over the course of years to come. Of course, that is helping the Chancellor to deliver the fastest fiscal consolidation in the G20. I want to use the time I have to make three quick points about the virtue of predictability, about small businesses—a particular interest of our Committee—and about AI. The Chancellor has been able to deliver, and, despite the challenges posed by the war in the strait of Hormuz, he has managed to keep to the fiscal rules. Now, I am old enough to remember when the fiscal rules used to change every couple of years, depending on which faction was uppermost in the Conservative party. We used to zig-zag here and there, and the markets had no predictability. However, the response of the gilt markets this afternoon has been positive; they have respected the buffer that the Chancellor has been able to leave, but above all they have welcomed the fact that, where we have made changes to deliver real help now to the people we come to this House to serve, we have also stepped up and made the difficult decisions about how we are going to pay for those changes. We have not tried to borrow it on the never-never, as the Conservatives sought to do in the past, and that is exactly why we are retaining the confidence of the bond markets. For Labour, growth in and of itself is never enough, and that is why growth in every postcode is an important political priority for this Administration. But if we want growth in every postcode, then we need enterprise in every postcode, and if we want enterprise in every postcode, then we are going to need surge finance into every postcode. We have got to step further and faster ahead of the proposals the Chancellor has laid out today to back those little engine rooms of growth in each of our constituencies: they are the people who work out of white vans—where I started my working career; they are the people on market stalls, on high streets and in every business park; they are the wealth creators in this economy—the visible economy that employs millions of our constituents. I welcome the statement from UK Private Capital today that said that the Chancellor delivered “pro-investment” measures that should “make the UK a more attractive place to invest in and grow a business.” That is a really important judgment. The Startup Coalition has said that today’s Budget delivered the best news for start-ups and scale-ups that has come out of a Government in years. Those are important credentials. Of course I would have liked to have seen the Chancellor go further. Today, I am publishing our Committee’s analysis, setting out where we would like to see the Chancellor do more, including further changing the business rate structure; changing VAT thresholds for small business; ensuring there is real accountability to drive Government procurement into the bank accounts of small business; going further to tackle the peril of late payments—not just tackling rogue traders, but tackling rogue customers who do not pay on time; and getting much tougher on high street crime by tackling bogus self-employment that undercuts good and honest traders on the high street. These are all important things that will help our small businesses to grow. Crucially, as a nation, we have got to crack the challenge of investing in ourselves. The former Chancellor, the right hon. Member for Godalming and Ash (Sir Jeremy Hunt), who is no longer in his place, made some important changes with the Mansion House accord, but the reality is that our country is not short of long-term savings—we have £3 trillion of long-term savings. Our problem is that we invest the lion’s share in other countries rather than in ourselves. Eighty per cent of the long-term savings that we channel into equity investment goes abroad rather than here, yet the Mansion House accord is proceeding so slowly that we are going to miss our target by a decade. That is not good enough. I would like to see the Chancellor go further and faster on repatriating pension fund investment. The £25 billion that has been announced today for the National Wealth Fund and the British Business Bank is incredibly important, but that now has to be used to leverage in more of our long-term savings in order to expand enterprise in every postcode. We heard evidence at our Committee yesterday that underlines that the enterprise rate in our country is now at the highest level it has ever been. We have doubled the entrepreneurship rate since 1999, but too few of those businesses are surviving for the long term because we are not investing in ourselves. Let us rebuild regional banking, let us put business banking back on the high street and let us couple that with stronger, sharper incentives for our angel investors and venture capitalists. We are making some progress, but it needs to be much faster. We are not short of long-term savings or of genius, but what we have got to do is match the money to the ideas and the entrepreneurs at a completely different scale for the years to come. My final point is about artificial intelligence. The Chancellor made some very important announcements about investing in artificial intelligence, and in artificial intelligence safety and security for the future. That builds on a number of initiatives started under the last Government, in particular by the former Prime Minister. Again, we have to grasp the fact that the way that we are going to reindustrialise our country is by marrying AI to HI—human ingenuity, the British genius that we have in such abundance on these isles of wonder. This is the home of the scientific revolution. This is the home of the industrial revolution. We have been inventing the future and making history for 300 to 400 years in this country, but if we are to reindustrialise in the way that the Prime Minister has set out, we have to marry artificial intelligence, traditional engineering and cyber-engineering on a completely new level for the years to come. The IS-8—industrial strategy 8—needs to become the AI-8. Crucially, we have to recognise that we are not going to spread artificial intelligence through our economy unless people trust it. That means that we will need new regulation to keep it safe and secure for the future, and we will have to ensure that there is a just transition for workers as they go through this new industrial revolution. The Committee will announce important recommendations on statutory safety legislation, which we think is needed in the here and now, and we will have a report out before Christmas about how we think workers should be supported and reskilled for the future. We have a tremendous future ahead of us if we get this right, but if we pretend that we can somehow leave it to the market to decide, rather than building a strategic partnership between the public and private sectors for the future, I am afraid that we will miss the opportunity that lies before us. This is a Budget that, by and large, will be welcomed by business. More and further reform is needed, which I hope our Committee will influence in the 10-year plan and the CSR next year. The Chancellor should take some pride in having delivered a Budget statement today that leaves our country stronger and fitter for the future.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Lewis Atkinson
Higher Education Funding
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed) on securing this debate and I congratulate Members from across the Chamber on their contributions. It should not be said that issues facing our universities are the preserve of MPs from big cities or the leafy suburbs. As Sunderland Central’s MP, I want to highlight the importance of the University of Sunderland to my city. This is as much a red wall issue as it is anywhere else in the country. I want to mention the university’s educational and economic impact, and what the higher education funding environment means for our city. The university comes from the proudest of polytechnic traditions. It is rooted in the city, with a mission to be open to anyone who can benefit from higher education. It is shaped by what local employers and professions need. Nowhere is that clearer than in health. Sunderland trains the nurses, pharmacists, paramedics and doctors whom our NHS rely on. Its medical school was explicitly set up to bring more working class and local students into medicine. It is now moving into dental education, in a region where too many people struggle to see NHS dentists. When it was named university of the year for social inclusion, more than six in 10 of its students were the first in their family to go to university. If I may, I will associate myself with the remarks of my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) on the intergenerational and social mobility missions of our universities. That is crucial in Sunderland, as it is elsewhere. This is what widening participation looks like in practice: young people from Pallion, Hendon or Southwick in my constituency having the chance to get a degree and, by living at home, de-risking some of the financial issues facing students that we have talked about. The university, as we have heard, also brings people to the north-east from across the country and, as successive Governments’ international strategies have encouraged, from around the world. On its economic impact, independent analysis found that the University of Sunderland adds around £250 million a year to our city’s economy and supports more than 4,000 jobs in the city. It is one of our biggest employers. The university, however, is under real financial pressure, which has serious consequences for the city as a whole. Home tuition income has fallen behind costs, and the visa landscape for international students has changed rapidly and unpredictably. As a result, the university has had to set out plans to save £40 million over the next two years, and staff are understandably worried about their jobs. That pressure did not come from nowhere. For years, the previous Government froze tuition fees while costs kept rising, with no long-term plan. As others have said, the Government now expect to fund just 16p in every pound of home student funding. Universities that do the most to open doors, like Sunderland, are left the most exposed. I know the Government are working with significant fiscal constraints. I know they have taken steps to set stable expectations for future fee income so that proper financial planning can happen. I, of course, welcome the return of targeted maintenance grants. But in previous responses the Government have been keen to highlight that universities have always been autonomous institutions. I understand that. In my experience, they take the responsibility to be financially sustainable seriously, even when that means making deeply painful and locally unpopular decisions such as the withdrawal of funding from our National Glass Centre in Sunderland. But we cannot treat them as autonomous institutions and assume that they will always be there as anchors in communities like Sunderland and across the country. I hope we will hear more about the Government’s long-term strategy.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Leigh Ingham
Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation
As the MP for Stafford, Eccleshall and the villages, right in the heart of Staffordshire, I too welcome the devolution announcement today. It means that, in contrast to the chaos we are seeing at Reform county council level—we are on to our fourth leader this week, if anyone is keeping count—residents in Stafford will be able to access that devolution funding. Does my hon. Friend agree that putting the power into community’s hands to direct their own future is central to making sure that we have good growth in every postcode?
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Leigh Ingham
Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation
On that point, will the hon. Gentleman give way?
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Leigh Ingham
Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation
To many hon. Members, it will not come as a surprise that I want to talk about town centres. Stafford, the constituency I represent, is a market town—the clue is in the name—but since 2024, Stafford has not had an actual market. It is really hard to think of a more powerful symbol of what has happened to towns like mine over the last decade and a half. Towns such as Stafford are full of hard-working people who really want to get on. They want a good job, a warm home and a safe community—and it is not a lot to ask for. Under the last Conservative Government, they watched as the foundations of their community life were stripped away. Youth centres disappeared, we had the third worst youth service cuts in the country, important buildings were left to decay and eventually the market closed. The damage that such neglect does to a town is more than financial; it starts to chip away at the heart of a place and changes how people feel about their home. Stafford has a vibrant, independent business scene. People can get unbelievable hot chocolates in the Monk & Smuggler, bestsellers from That Little Bookshop or incredible vinyls from Double Double records, plus much more. These businesses are investing their own time, money and energy in our town, and they have told me many times that they need their market back. They want Stafford to be a destination once again, and so do I—a place that people choose to visit, to spend time in, to spend money in and to build a future in. That is why I am so proud that this Government have committed £10 million to a brand-new, all-day market hall and events centre in Stafford, which I have been working on for a good while now, as my hon. Friends can attest. This investment says that towns matter, and that my town matters. It is an investment that will support businesses, create opportunities and help breathe life back into our high street. This debate is obviously about something bigger than one town and one project. It is about who gets the power to shape people’s future, because if we are serious about growth, opportunity and rebuilding Britain, we cannot continue to run every important decision through Whitehall. The truth is that the people who know Staffordshire best are the people who live and work there. That is why the case for a mayoral strategic authority in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent is so strong. We have already seen the difference investment can make in Stafford over the last couple of years. We have seen growth and confidence start to return and investment at a scale not seen for many years. Of course, there is so much more to do, but this commitment is a clear sign that this Government care about towns like ours, believe in their future and are prepared to back that with action. I look forward to working with Members across the House to make this vision a reality, and to ensure that Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent have the powers, the investment—my hon. Friends have talked about that—and the opportunities they need to thrive for generations to come.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Kim Leadbeater
Causing Death by Dangerous or Careless Driving: Sentencing
I thank my hon. Friend for securing this very important debate. Road safety is a key issue in my constituency, and he is absolutely right to say that the sentences should reflect these hideous crimes. Does he also agree that we must look at prevention? As part of that, will he encourage the Government to look at the introduction of graduated driving licences, which are a way of preventing these horrendous incidents from taking place? There is much international evidence that they save lives.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Kim Johnson
The Global Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Sanctions Regulations 2026
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I welcome the expanded sanctions framework and in particular the introduction of the new sanctions ground relating to the deprivation of liberty. It is right that serious arbitrary detention, unlawful imprisonment and the denial of basic legal protections can now form the basis of sanctions designations. Will the Minister therefore set out how the new ground will be applied in practice to evidence concerning the detention of Palestinian children? For many years, human rights organisations and international bodies have raised concerns about the arbitrary or unlawful detention of Palestinian children, including prolonged detention without charge or trial, military detention, and the systemic denial of due process and legal protections. As we know, Israel is the only country in the world that systematically and automatically tries children through military courts. Such courts have a conviction rate of 99% for Palestinian defendants. Of course, we are all alarmed by the introduction of the death penalty in Israel, which has been criticised by human rights groups and the UN as applying de facto exclusively to Palestinians. The separation of legal systems based on the race and nationality of defendants has led leading human rights organisations, including B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch, to declare Israel an apartheid regime. If the Government receive evidence that such practices meet the threshold established under the regulations, will Ministers actively consider designations under the new liberty ground? Furthermore, when assessing responsibility, will the Government look not only at those directly responsible for detention but at those who enable and sustain such practices, including officials, Ministers and private actors who provide services that facilitate places of detention where serious violations are alleged to occur? Finally, how does the Minister intend to keep Parliament informed on the use of the new sanctions power, given the significance of the liberty ground? It is important that Members understand how evidence is being assessed and whether potential cases, including the detention of children, are being actively considered. The creation of this new sanctions ground is welcome. The test will be whether it is applied consistently and robustly wherever credible evidence of arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of liberty exists.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Karin Smyth
HCRG Care Group: Performance in the South-west
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank the hon. Member for Chippenham (Sarah Gibson) for securing this debate and for her well-informed and considered set of proposals about a contract of which I am aware. I will try to address most of her points. The contract was signed just after the general election, but it was on my radar before then, partly as a local MP. As I think the hon. Lady said, there are staff here today, and I am conscious that this remains a concern for staff and some of the trade unions—not least because my hon. Friend the Member for Swindon North (Will Stone) has kept it on my radar. I am absolutely aware of the genesis of the process by which this contract came forward, and I want to make sure that people know that. I will not rehearse it, however; we are where we are now. As I think the hon. Lady said, now we need to make sure that what was promised is delivered. That is what we all want to see for the people of her community and across the wider ICB. I want to be clear on our general expectations of community services: they are really vital to the left shift, particularly in rural areas. A wide range of services is delivered under that umbrella—from district nurses to services provided by allied health professionals, such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy—for adults and children where they live, in local communities. They also provide really good local jobs. Those services are vital to supporting our ambitions for neighbourhood health, which is why we set out clear ambitions for them in our medium-term planning framework. For the first time, we have set a target for systems to reduce long waits for community health services: by 2028-29, at least 80% of activity delivered by community health services should take place within 18 weeks, bringing community health services in line with targets for elective care. We have also published guidance outlining the core components of community health services for children, young people and adults that ICBs should provide. That guidance is hugely important for many of the issues that the hon. Member for Chippenham has raised today. We know that there is variation in the services available across the country, and that people are waiting too long to access community health services. That is why this Government are taking action to reduce unwarranted variation, cut waits and improve access to high-quality community services. That is where we want to get to. Moving on to HCRG Care Group’s performance, as we know, it has taken on the contract to bring together more than 130 community health and care services across the ICB area. It is a large-scale “transformation” programme, as it is called. Since the contract was awarded, the ICB has obviously had to work very closely with it. The ICB is responsible for managing the contract, and I met it in advance of this debate to hear from it as well. As I understand it, the ICB has arrangements in place—the hon. Lady alluded to how many there are—to oversee quality, safety and performance across all those commissioned services, and performance is regularly monitored. I recognise the concerns about delays, callbacks and referrals across the teams, and about getting people through the single point of access. Single points of access have been worked on for many years under many different contracts. Generally, they should do what they say on the tin and actually help people move forward, so HCRG does need to make its work. I understand that, as a result of some of the issues that have been raised, the ICB is increasing its oversight, bringing together the provider and the system to support improvement. It is really important that that work also brings together patients, carers, the local community, staff and other stakeholders as it develops. The ICB assures me that it remains committed to engaging openly with those communities, with MPs and with Healthwatch throughout the delivery and development of those community services.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Karin Smyth
HCRG Care Group: Performance in the South-west
I will come on to some of that, because it is also tied up with the Health Bill and the things that we are proposing to do for the future. The hon. Lady also touched on one of my favourite subjects: the accountability of local health systems. The hospital at home services are also important—as it says on the tin—to keep people out of hospital when they do not need to be there and to support early discharge. They remain an important part of the community services offer across Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB. There have been changes to the service provision and I am assured by the ICB that there are no plans to reduce capacity or withdraw the hospital at home service—I am sure that the hon. Lady will correct me if that is wrong. The ICB is currently undertaking a review of the services following concerns raised, and will continue to monitor the impact of those changes to ensure that safe and effective care is maintained. Again, that is absolutely the direction of travel in that we want to see those services change and improve.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Karin Smyth
HCRG Care Group: Performance in the South-west
I am going to finish my comments, if I may.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Karin Smyth
HCRG Care Group: Performance in the South-west
Industrial relations are also important. We cannot run a health and care service without good staff who are well supported, nor without maintaining good industrial relations at a local level. That is a matter primarily for the group, its employers and recognised trade unions. The ICB needs to continue to monitor that and go through those established processes for doing so. It needs to keep working with them and we certainly support that at a national level. On the wider issues about supporting ICB performance, I sympathise. I have spoken many times in Opposition and Government about the frustrations of local Members of Parliament in understanding the very fragmented system left under the Lansley reforms. I appreciate what the hon. Lady is saying from her position in Chippenham, and that may be different from other positions—it is a large geographic area. That is one of the issues that we need to get right. We are working closely on it in the Health Bill, where we are devolving responsibility and accountability for commissioning and providing services at a local level. That is the right thing to do. We also need to get right the link to neighbourhoods and place through local authorities while strengthening health and wellbeing boards. That is the direction of travel in the Bill and what we are currently trying to make happen. ICBs are held to account nationally for delivering for patients. The oversight framework provides a transparent approach for assessing performance. Another thing that we have changed since coming into power is that from 2026-27 every ICB will be placed in a delivery segment based on national performance measures. That will help to identify when greater support, scrutiny or intervention is needed at the national level. That will be complemented by an annual assessment of how effectively each ICB is discharging its statutory functions. Where performance is falling short, oversight can be increased and support can be targeted at the areas of challenge and, where necessary, formal intervention powers are available. That brings ICBs into line with other providers. At the same time we are strengthening ICBs’ commissioning capability, partly through the Health Bill. We have the strategic commissioning framework setting out what effective strategic commissioning looks like, and the strategic commissioning development programme provides targeted support to strengthen those capabilities in local systems. We recognise that there is variability across the country. To be clear: ICBs are responsible for assuring the quality, effectiveness and value of the services that they commission, while NHS England oversees the performance of ICBs through the oversight framework, including consideration of how effectively they discharge those commissioning responsibilities. Finally, we have heard about issues with palliative and end-of-life care. Patients approaching the end of life and those important to them—their closest friends and family—should absolutely receive compassionate, dignified and personalised care in an appropriate environment. That is why the Government are committed to improving access to high-quality palliative and end-of-life care, and to shifting more care from hospitals into the community and, where appropriate, the home. NHS England requires ICBs to commission appropriate palliative and end-of-life care to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in that duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. In addition, we are developing a modern service framework for palliative and end-of-life care, which will be a clinically led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in outcomes for patients and carers, including identifying, measuring and reducing health inequalities, and reducing unwarranted variation in access, experience and outcomes. We continue to work hard to strengthen community care services and shift care closer to home. As the hon. Lady said, what was promised to her population and the wider ICB area must be delivered. All too often, community health services do not get the attention that they deserve, and staff on the ground do not get the recognition that they deserve. This debate has raised some important questions about how we hold organisations delivering and commissioning services to account. The hon. Lady asked two questions about comparable data. If anyone has not read the transformation and opportunity packs that I sent all MPs last year about their local systems, I recommend that they do that. I will continue to get information on their local systems to them. The hon. Lady probably knows that we cannot compare like for like, but she should have that information; we are getting it on stream. I am happy to write to her with details of what is or might be made available. The hon. Lady asked about the CQC. As she knows, it is an independent regulator, but I will ensure we write to her about it. I thank her and other Members who contributed to the debate. Question put and agreed to.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Judith Cummins
Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation
Order. After Sammy Wilson, there will be a five-minute time limit.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Judith Cummins
Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation
I thank the hon. Gentleman for notice of his point of order. I have received no notice from Ministers that they intend to make a statement on this matter. It is not a matter for the Chair, but Ministers on the Treasury Bench will have heard his point of order.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Josh Newbury
Engagements
<Question HRSContentId="{099F7130-5B02-4C56-A00A-E83523EEE176}">Q10. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{9ACAB3CF-2152-48D1-8915-FCF7F4EC1498}"></QuestionText>Twenty-one years ago my constituent Paul Dadge helped survivors of the 7/7 bombings to safety. His phone was hacked, and so were the phones of family members of people who lost their lives that day. Press intrusion also affected victims of the Manchester Arena bombings and the Hillsborough families, who have described press regulation as the final piece of the jigsaw in their fight for justice. Fourteen years on from the Leveson inquiry, we still have major publications in control of the system that polices them. I know that this is an issue that the Prime Minister cares deeply about, so will his Government bring forward plans for the fair, independent press regulation that our constituents want to see?</Question>
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Josh Fenton-Glynn
Engagements
<Question HRSContentId="{9A02FBEF-7A68-44A3-BF85-95F4D666322C}">Q7. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{F0472DA5-7D3C-47C2-8F4B-D58F1171093A}"></QuestionText>Regional health inequalities are now so severe that a study this month found that death rates among 25 to 49-year-olds in the north of England are 42% higher than those in the south. The Prime Minister has promised us growth in every postcode. Can that be met by good health, too?</Question>
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Josh Dean
Causing Death by Dangerous or Careless Driving: Sentencing
It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair this afternoon, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff West (Mr Barros-Curtis) for securing this important debate. Behind every road death is a family, a group of friends and loved ones who have been changed forever. Today, I want to speak about one such family from my constituency: the parents of Jess Waterman, who have joined us in the Gallery this afternoon, and whom the Minister kindly met earlier this year. On the evening of 19 February 2022, Jess’s partner—someone she knew and trusted—picked her up from the Watermans’ home in Bishop’s Stortford. He had never passed a theory test or practical driving test, and he took to the roads in full knowledge that he was not qualified to drive. He showed brazen disregard for Jess’s safety and the safety of other road users. He crashed that evening. When he fled the scene to avoid arrest, he left Jess behind, seriously injured. Tragically, Jess died the following day. She was three days short of her 21st birthday. The police acted to apprehend the driver, but the outcome of this case raises serious questions about whether the law properly reflects the choices people make before getting behind the wheel, and the devastation that can follow when that goes wrong. The driver responsible for Jess’s death was convicted of causing death by careless driving rather than causing death by dangerous driving, and that distinction matters. Dangerous driving will generally involve driving that falls far below the standard expected of a competent driver. Careless driving can cover errors of judgment or lapses in attention. Driving without a licence is not simply careless. This was not a split-second mistake; it was a conscious decision taken before the journey ever began. It required premeditation. The driver knew that he was unqualified and that he should not be behind the wheel, but he chose to get behind the wheel anyway, with Jess in the car. Jess’s death was treated in law as careless driving, in the same category as offences such as forgetting to get an MOT. As a result, in 2023 the man responsible for Jess’s death was sentenced to just four years in prison. Not only was he out of prison by early 2026 but, stunningly, he was caught driving again. Despite being handed a 10-year ban, he showed no remorse for the tragedy he brought upon the Watermans or regard for the one he might bring upon another family. He was rightly returned to prison. No parent expects to outlive their child, or to receive a phone call or visit from the police to tell them that their child is never coming home, but that is the reality that one driver’s actions have left the Waterman family living with every day. Out of their loss, the Watermans have campaigned for change, calling for death caused while driving without a licence to be treated automatically as dangerous, and for stronger deterrents. They have worked tirelessly to ensure that no other family has to experience what they have endured, and I promised them I would do all I can to support their campaign and ensure that their voices are heard in the House. As we consider these issues today, I ask colleagues to think about this: how can it be just that someone taking to the roads in the full knowledge that they are not qualified is not considered dangerous? How can we claim that there is a sufficient deterrent when Jess’s killer spent so little time in prison and immediately took to the roads again upon his release? We owe it to the Watermans, and to victims and their families, to ask in cases such as this whether sentencing powers properly reflect the profound harm that has been caused. I stand with the Watermans as they call for a change in the law, and I thank the Minister for meeting us earlier this year. I would be grateful if he could update us on what actions he has taken, and if he would commit in this debate to working with colleagues in the Ministry of Justice and across Government to review whether causing a death while knowingly driving without a licence should automatically be treated as dangerous driving. The law should better reflect the poor choices made before a tragedy occurs and the consequences that families must live with forever. I want to conclude by paying tribute to the Watermans. Out of grief, they have sought to make change and to protect others. I can honestly say that I cannot imagine showing the strength, determination and courage that they have shown, were I in their shoes. I am humbled by their commitment and their work, but they deserve more than just our admiration; they deserve our support. We must not fail to meet their call—for Sue, for Del, for their younger son, Jess’s brother, and, most importantly, for Jess.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Jon Trickett
Rugby League Clubs
I beg to move, That this House has considered Government support for rugby league clubs. It is a great pleasure to see you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. I am sure that you will be very firm with us, but very fair as well. It is also a special privilege to see the Minister in her place. I know that Barnsley, which she is very proud to represent, has a strong rugby league tradition. I will start by explaining why this issue is so important and why it is such a great privilege to speak on this sport. As we know, there are two codes in rugby: rugby union, which is very familiar and offers great sporting spectacle, and rugby league, which also offers great moments of sporting prowess. I vividly remember attending probably the most iconic rugby league final ever in 1968 with my dad and granddad at Wembley. It felt like the whole of the north of England came down to invade London—quite rightly, bringing our civilisation to the south. It was one of those great days when the rain never stopped—it had not stopped for several days. The pitch was a mud bath, literally covered in mud and water. It was very exciting, and in the last two minutes it was 11-10 to Leeds. In those days, I was supporting Leeds, as somebody who was born there, against Wakefield, where I have proudly been an MP for 30 years. In the last minute, a penalty was given to Wakefield, right under the post. We would have expected it to be converted by the great rugby league player, Don Fox—who came from a great rugby league family and was born in my constituency—but the weather was atrocious. Everybody turned their back, because they could not bear to watch—Wakefield supporters hoping to hear the victory and Leeds supporters fearing what might happen. It was an amazing moment, and I will never forget it: he missed the penalty. That is not to show any disrespect to the Fox family, who were brilliant, but it meant that Leeds were victors. It is something that is fondly remembered. I am sure that I am the only Member of Parliament who was there at that great sporting event. Rugby league offers great spectacle, but it has been treated in a way that has not been fully appropriate, and I fear for the future unless we can correct things.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Jon Trickett
Rugby League Clubs
My hon. Friend is right that rugby league is a sport that grew up in working-class communities and especially in mining communities, so it is surprising that it has not taken root in his constituency. However, when we consider the discrimination that rugby league has suffered from over the years, it is maybe not so surprising. One of the things I will argue is that we need to do more to develop the sport across the whole country, especially in communities such as his. My hon. Friend is right, too, that whenever a player was injured in Featherstone in my patch, they would go to the pit head and shout down, “Send us up another forward,” or whatever it was, and one would emerge quickly, get changed and get on to the pitch. It was very much part of the mining tradition.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Jon Trickett
Rugby League Clubs
The hon. Member makes an important point, and I agree. To develop a bit about rugby league, in the areas I am most familiar with, rugby league—and sport in general—can be the most important agency for social cohesion. Sport can provide something that brings everybody together, whatever their different points of view or life experiences. In my constituency, Featherstone Rovers have played for decades, and there is a massive amount of pride in the fact that we have that team. I will come to the difficulties they are facing, and I hope we can find a way forward. Let me remind the House that the BBC used to cover rugby league more or less weekly on “Grandstand”. Most people in this room are probably not old enough to remember the famous commentator, Eddie Waring, but I do well. So familiar was rugby league in those times, because of the BBC coverage, that many of Eddie Waring’s favourite expressions were well known across the whole country. Mike Yarwood, who was a great mimic at that time, used to talk with Eddie’s accent—which I cannot do. He used to talk about “up and under”, which was one of the ways a ball could be kicked. More importantly, when somebody was sent off, his favourite expression was, “Well, he’s been sent for an early bath”—I very much hope that you will not send me for an early bath today, Ms Vaz. Rugby league ought to be a nationally recognised sport. I will come to the discrimination and the problems with television in a second, but let me remind the House that anyone who wants to watch rugby league on TV now has to go to two separate pay-per-view channels. It costs £61 a month, which is 5% of the total income of a person living on the minimum wage. People are being priced out of the spectacle, which is a great shame, because it is leading to the atrophy of the sport across the communities where it ought to be played. It is also stopping us from spreading rugby league further—I will come back to that in a second. Rugby league was a product of the class system that operated in sport in those days. The so-called gentlemen, who did not need to be paid, would play rugby union. Those who were too poor could not afford to play rugby union, so rugby league was set up, so that players could be paid. That was the start of rugby league as a code; but the truth is that the divisions that existed then continue today. I have identified one or two statistics that may surprise the House. If we look at the honours system, eight rugby union players have received a knighthood; there have only been two from rugby league, one of whom is the great Kevin Sinfield, who was knighted for his contributions to charity. That difference shows a level of discrimination. When we look at the national squads for rugby union, two thirds or more went to public school. I cannot find a single player for the national rugby league side who went to public school. It shows the class divisions, which surprisingly continue in sport after all these years. It is disappointing that fewer than 40 universities have a rugby league side, whereas every single university that I can find has a rugby union side. Again, that shows that something is not quite working between the two codes. When it came to covid, as we know, sports were remunerated, but here is an astonishing fact: rugby union received about £130 million, whereas rugby league got £10 million or £11 million—ten times more went into rugby union from covid. I do wonder—perhaps the House would agree—whether those in the civil service making these decisions are often people who went to universities and schools that had rugby union, but have little comprehension of the importance of rugby league in areas such as mine. I think that demonstrates clear discrimination, and I hope that the Labour Government are aware of that—if they were not, then they are now, because I have drawn it to the Minister’s attention. I want to move on to the situation facing Featherstone Rovers. Wakefield, which I now represent, has the honour of having three separate professional rugby league sides: Wakefield, Castleford and Featherstone. Unfortunately, due to bad management, Featherstone has gone into administration, and we have been struggling to find a way to bring the Rovers back to life. The team is the core of the people of Featherstone’s identity, as was mining—mining was stripped away many decades ago, but references to mining can still be seen everywhere in the township in Featherstone. The rugby league side, Featherstone Rovers, is a matter of great pride, and the fact that it went bankrupt and there is nobody playing on the pitch at the moment is heartbreaking for so many people I represent. Gradually, we have been putting together a plan to try to bring Featherstone Rovers back to life. That has been difficult, and I have spent many hours trying to achieve it, but thanks to the recent appointment of a new chief executive at the Rugby Football League, we are now making progress. The RFL has said that it is prepared to help to acquire the assets, bearing in mind that there is a stadium with buildings around it and several acres at the back of it. The administrator has been difficult, but he has come to the view in the end that, because it is a community asset, he is prepared to sell it for slightly less than he might have thought it was worth in a completely commercial sense. We think that it can be acquired for about £1 million. When Labour was in charge of the council—it has changed hands recently—it put aside several million pounds for each of the three rugby league clubs. There is £700,000 still unallocated to Featherstone, and the council, under its new management, has now said that a substantial part of that, possibly half a million, will be made available to the rugby league for it to be able to acquire the assets. Here comes the interesting part, because in Featherstone, thanks again to the Labour Government, we have something called Pride in Place, and we have been allocated £20 million over the coming ten years. I am a member of the Pride in Place board, by virtue of being the local MP—I do not know if I need to declare an interest, but I do in any event. The board has said that it is prepared to make a substantial contribution to the acquisition of the stadium and the surrounding land. It has been difficult to put this together, but the board is unanimous, and, led by the by the chair Kay Binnersley, we are now in a position to say that, when the money arrives from the Government in the next financial year, it can then be made available to the RFL. I have met the new chief executive of the RFL, who is a dynamic and progressive individual, and we have agreed that we want to create a partnership between the Pride in Place board and the RFL to try to take this whole thing forward. That is desperately important, because without Featherstone Rovers playing, it has not been easy to create a fixture list, because there will be one less team than is required to set up the fixtures. There is an urgency to this. I have to say that it has been frustrating dealing with the RFL over the last year and a half on this matter, as it went from one temporary chief executive to another, but now it has a decision maker in place, and I am confident that he is determined to make this happen, and clearly he needs to do that for all the other teams in the rugby league.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Jon Trickett
Rugby League Clubs
Many years ago, as a builder and plumber, I did lots of work on Morley Labour rooms, which my hon. Friend is probably familiar with to this day—that is completely by the by. My hon. Friend is right that Pride in Place is there to give or reinforce pride in communities, now from the bottom up, with local people deciding what they need. Rugby league is part of that, but decisions needs to come from the community, not from above. In Featherstone and other areas, local councils need to be aware that their rules and codes do not apply to Pride in Place, although they currently manage the finances. The board itself has to decide the priorities. We have a vision for a town of sporting excellence, bringing together all existing services. That could mean education, for which there is much to do in Featherstone, or health services, as there are many people with long-term illnesses and mental health problems. We have a vision for a town built around sporting provision, reaching out to the various cultural, health and educational needs of Featherstone people. They may have different views and experiences in life, but the one thing they have had is Featherstone Rovers, so it is important that the club is brought back together. Our vision is for a renewal of the town, building on its existing pride, so that it is a place where people are extremely proud to live. They will be able to join in social and cultural activities as well. That all requires Featherstone Rovers to be brought back. We understand that the RFL cannot own the assets for ever, because other clubs will begin to resent it. The other clubs need to understand that, without Featherstone Rovers playing, they will not have a functioning league. It is important that the RFL does the things that the chief executive has said he wants to do. The Labour administration at the council put in place a resilience fund. We have had different figures from the current leadership of the council, but I believe that there is still £700,000 in the kitty, with £500,000 going to the RFL. The other £200,000 will be needed for renovations to the stadium. I have now explained the background. It has been helpful for me to speak about rugby league in general, including the discrimination that it suffers and the situation in Featherstone. As I said, I am delighted to see the Minister in her place, and I will press her on three matters. Could the Department consider carefully the RFL’s bid for funding? We need to develop the sport and take it into new areas. Many people are hungry for that kind of sporting experience. Secondly, could she take a close interest in order to ensure that the partnership I have described between the PIP board and the RFL proceeds at speed? We have an empty stadium and people asking what has happened to their team. I have a final point. The problem for rugby league is that the feedstock has been cut off—that is, the ordinary kids who watch sport on TV and who live in poorer families. A lot of rugby league clubs are in deprived communities, such as Featherstone, where people are not able to pay for pay-per-view TV, so they do not see their heroes and they do not see the sport, its code or how it is played. That leaves us with a problem. The Department has the power to list sporting events. It is disappointing and tragic that the rugby league world cup, which is happening right now, is not on terrestrial television. Of course, the BBC says that it has a deal to broadcast the event on the radio, but listening to it on the radio is not the same as watching our heroes on the pitch, as I did at 17, when I watched the match that I referred to earlier. Will the Minister consider carefully whether we can list some of those matches so that communities everywhere can see the great sport that is rugby league? I look forward to hearing what I hope will be a positive response.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Jon Trickett
Rugby League Clubs
The Minister is right to raise gender. It is fair to say that in the dim and distant past, rugby league was kind of a male sport, but now there are women’s teams all over the country, including in universities. We are very proud that Featherstone Rovers has one of the most successful women’s rugby league teams in the country. I thank her for giving me the opportunity to celebrate their success.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour John Slinger
Higher Education Funding
My hon. Friend is making a very compelling speech. I wonder if he noticed the coverage in The Telegraph, which reported that graduates on the minimum wage will be making repayments on three out of the five student loan plans from next year onwards. Does he agree that this, in many ways, breaks our social contract with the student population, who were essentially told that they would earn a huge amount more and should therefore contribute to their higher education?
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour John Healey
Financial Statement and Budget Report
This is a Budget for the working people of Britain, for British businesses big and small, delivered at a time when global uncertainties and pressures are swirling worldwide and hitting people here at home. It is a Budget built on fiscal discipline, which matches immediate action today with clear direction for the future: first, by giving Britain some breathing space on the cost of living and the cost of business; secondly, by backing the enterprise of British business to unleash innovation and growth in every postcode; and thirdly, by tackling the big challenges on energy, national security, public service procurement and transformation, and housing. In this Budget, I will set out the new approach that this Administration is taking—led by the vision of our new Prime Minister, demonstrated in our first 100 days and carried through today’s Budget, the 10-year plan for Britain and the spending review next year, to steer us through the global economic storms today, chart a new course for Britain in the years ahead, and give people fresh hope for Britain’s future. It is an honour to stand here as Chancellor of the Exchequer to deliver my first Budget. I had hoped that I might be the most closely watched member of the Government this week until the Prime Minister went on “Gogglebox”. At the outset of this Budget statement, I want to pay tribute to my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds West and Pudsey (Rachel Reeves)—Britain’s first ever female Chancellor after 800 years. She brought fiscal discipline to this country. She took—[Interruption.] She took the decisions required to boost investment, cut NHS waiting lists—
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour John Healey
Financial Statement and Budget Report
My right hon. Friend took the decisions required to boost investment, to cut NHS waiting lists and to lift half a million children out of poverty. I also want to thank my outstanding team of Treasury Ministers and officials, and the Office for Budget Responsibility for producing today’s forecasts. Analysts like to speak of economic headwinds, but what we face today are global economic storms, with trade tensions acting as a drag on global growth and Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine approaching now the end of its fifth year. The OBR sets out that the war in the middle east is a key driver affecting its forecasts today. The Government continue to work with our allies to end the conflict and restore shipping through the strait of Hormuz. We did not want this war, and we rejected the calls from the Leader of the Opposition to jump two-footed into it. It is a war that has driven up costs on British families and on British businesses. Inflation, which was due to fall earlier this year to the 2% target, has now risen, driven by higher oil and gas prices. Oil is up from around $70 a barrel to well over $100 and gas prices have nearly tripled since February. For families, that means higher prices at the pump, higher energy bills and higher mortgages. For businesses, it means higher running costs and more expensive business loans. The impact is felt in the public finances, too. Driven by the conflict in the middle east, Government borrowing costs across the G7 are reaching highs not seen for decades. In today’s forecast, the OBR predicts that we will spend £14 billion more on debt interest this year. Those are the storms we face. We cannot wish them away. We must choose the course we steer through them. Fiscal discipline is my first commitment as Chancellor. More than ever, it underwrites every promise the Government make to the British people. In the Budget today, I meet the fiscal rules: the stability rule that day-to-day spending must be covered by tax receipts; and the investment rule that Government debt, defined as public sector net financial liabilities, must be falling as percentage of GDP. This year, for the first time, I must meet those rules in the third year of the forecast, and I do. My plans continue to reduce Government borrowing so that we spend less on debt interest and more on the priorities of the British people. First, the stability rule. In the Budget today, I have chosen to use some of the headroom established last year to absorb the impact of the Iran war to protect the economy and to protect family budgets. My choices in the Budget mean that I have kept the Labour manifesto promise not to raise tax on working people—[Interruption.] I have rejected—[Interruption.]
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour John Healey
Financial Statement and Budget Report
I have also rejected broad-based tax rises or slashing public services, recognising that families and businesses need breathing space. The OBR confirms today that headroom against the stability rule will be £15 billion in 2029-30 before rising to £22 billion in 2030-31. That is what a buffer is for: use it when you need it; rebuild it when you can. Despite the global challenges, the Budget puts us on track to eliminate the current budget deficit and get Britain’s finances into the black within three years. As a Labour Government, last year we cut borrowing to its lowest level in six years, from 5.1% to 4.4% of GDP. I continue that work today. In today’s forecast, borrowing falls to 4.2% this year, 3.4% next year, 2.9% in 2028-29, 2.1% in ’29-30 and 1.8% in ’30-31 and ’31-32. Our debt as a percentage of GDP is 83.2% this year, 83.8% next year and in ’28-29, before falling to 83.1% in ’29-30, 82.3% in ’30-31 and 81.7% in ’31-32. It is because of our Labour decisions and it is because of our Labour plans that the International Monetary Fund has said that the UK now stands out as a country where “action to reduce debt and deficit has been taken decisively”. It projects our UK deficit will be the lowest in the G7 by 2029. The last time the IMF called the UK a standout was when Liz Truss crashed the economy. Her new book says she could have taken the British people to Mars. In reality, what she achieved in government, with help from the shadow Chancellor, was blowing a big black hole in the budget. That is the difference between Labour in government and a Conservative Government before us. During this year of global economic shocks, forecasters predicted that the UK economy would slow down. Those predictions of gloom were about as accurate as the predictions of who would be the Chancellor. [Laughter.] Britain is defying expectations. In the first half of this year, our economy was the fastest growing in the G7, alongside the US. That is testament to the British people—the innovators, the business leaders and the workers on the frontline—and it is testament to the Labour decisions taken over the last two years. Government investment, up; business investment, up; productivity, up; and real wages, up. More since the election than in the first 10 years of the previous Conservative Governments. I will never be complacent, but these are signs of resilience in the UK economy. Three months ago, the Bank of England upgraded its forecasts for UK growth this year, two weeks ago the IMF did the same, and today the OBR has upgraded its forecast to 1.2% this year, followed by 1% next year, 1.6% in 2028, 1.8% in 2029, 1.7% in 2030 and 1.6% in 2031. Yes, there are real challenges ahead, but Britain has beaten the forecasts this year, and with the action I am taking today, I believe Britain can beat the forecasts again. Despite our economy’s resilience, I know that people are under pressure. Too many people feel this country is not working well for them. In particular, households and businesses face challenges from rising energy costs due directly to the conflict in the middle east. In the face of that, what matters is how we respond as a Government, and my choice in the Budget today is to give families and businesses some breathing space now and to begin the radical reform of energy to reduce bills in the future. Last week, my right hon. Friend the Energy Secretary opposed—approved—[Laughter.]
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour John Healey
Financial Statement and Budget Report
At least they are still awake, Madam Deputy Speaker. Last week, my right hon. Friend the Energy Secretary approved the Jackdaw gas field, boosting our energy security. This will protect hundreds of jobs and add an estimated £2.9 billion to the UK economy—a pragmatic, common-sense decision. Alongside that, I launched a new energy wealth fund for the UK. Today, I am setting a new course on energy to get UK energy costs down in line with Europe. From this point, our Labour Government priority is, first and foremost, cheaper energy, with clean power key to achieving it. This is possible because of the progress we have made towards clean power over the last two years, and this Government remain unshakeably committed to net zero by 2050. This will demand deep reform of our energy system, starting at the Budget today and carried through the 10-year plan into the months and years ahead. For many years under Conservative Governments, policy costs were simply loaded on to household bills through levies. Today, I am putting an end to that. We will introduce a new cost control framework to drive down all aspects of energy bills, and I will scrap the upcoming gas shipper obligation—a levy to fund hydrogen projects—and instead back those projects directly from Government. I am making further big changes to bring bills down in the long term. First, on clean power generation, this Government will only buy and build new projects when they lower bills and when they can connect to the grid. Secondly, we will further break the grip of international gas prices on our bills by moving more of our old renewables on to fixed-price contracts. Thirdly, we will build cheaper, faster grid connections through GB Grid, and reform the complex web of institutions that govern the system. This is how we deliver the radical change that Britain needs on energy. It will not happen overnight, so I am taking immediate action to give families and businesses breathing space in the here and now. In the first week of this new Government, we took VAT off electricity for 29 million households. Today, I am extending that VAT cut through the winter and spring to July, taking £50 off the annual price cap. For business, our new British industrial competitiveness scheme will take 25% off electricity bills for 10,000 firms at the heart of British industry. It will go live in April, and I confirm that we will make backdated payments for energy costs this year too. Next year, working with my right hon. Friend the Energy Secretary, we will go further to make bills fairer. Gas standing charges cost people over £100 a year, regardless of how much gas they use, so from next year, through Ofgem, we will remove standing charges from household gas bills. We will set out similar reforms to follow for electricity bills. Let me say this to families at home. I know that, with the conflict in the middle east, rising energy bills are a real worry. I know that people look to the Government at times like this, not to solve all their problems but to give them a bit of breathing space—so today, I am taking one further step. This winter, for 20 million households in council tax bands A to D, I am announcing a £100 energy payment for households. It will be paid directly into people’s bank accounts to deal with rising energy bills. That is a £2.6 billion scheme to take the pressure off in the coldest months and see people through to the spring. The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Governments will receive their share of this funding, and I call on them to do the same and give people in all nations of the UK breathing space on their energy bills this winter. Madam Deputy Speaker, £50 off VAT, £100 off council tax. For this winter, two tax cuts; for next year, fairer bills; and for the long term, radical reform of the energy market to produce cheaper power. Breathing space now and hope for the future, delivered to the British people by this Labour Government. For millions of people, the cost of living and the cost of doing business are the same—the home is the office, the van is the family car. Earlier this year, the Government extended the 5p cut to fuel duty and slashed red diesel to its lowest rate in over 20 years. With the war in the middle east still driving high fuel prices, I am extending these tax cuts for motorists through the winter and spring to July, supporting households, hauliers and farmers. For anyone who relies on their car for work, from care workers to engineers, I am increasing the higher mileage rate from 25p to 35p per mile, and I am making permanent the increase to the standard mileage rate introduced earlier this year. In this Budget, I am acting on other costs, too. To help with the weekly shop, I am suspending tariffs on over 100 supermarket products to keep prices down. For pensioners, I am delivering the new pension tax allowance, so that pensioners with income of up to the value of the full new state pension will not pay income tax in this Parliament. For ex-mineworkers, I am guaranteeing that every penny of the pension fund surplus now goes to miners. I know the job is not done, and I will go on to ensure the full transfer of the guarantor’s fund. For carers, I am getting rid of the cliff edge on earnings, so that people do not lose their entire carer’s allowance when they earn a penny over the threshold. For 2.3 million of our lowest-paid workers, I am increasing both the national minimum wage and the national living wage by 3.9%. I know that, for families, the worst thing is feeling that their kids are missing out—even on little things—because money is tight. So today I am announcing £15 million for organisations like Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and BookTrust, which give books to children. I have heard calls for pay transparency on job adverts to close the gender pay gap, and we will act soon to make sure that women are paid and promoted fairly. This Labour Government are determined to make the economy work better for all families, so I have listened to representations from colleagues across the House about paternity leave, and I am making a down payment on change today. As a mark of respect for their role, I will make self-employed fathers and partners eligible for paid parental leave for the first time. Since day one, I have said that I will be a Chancellor who champions the small British firms that give character to our communities: the bakeries, the cafés, the hair salons—they make the places we live and work the places we love. I want these businesses to invest, to recruit and to expand, so today I am taking action to support our high streets. In the first week of this Government, we cut 20% off business rates for pubs, clubs and music venues from April next year. I have heard calls from Members across this House and a call from one Member in particular—my right hon. Friend the Member for Makerfield (Andy Burnham)—so I am increasing the threshold for small business rate relief for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses from £12,000 to £18,000. That means for 70,000 more businesses, I am not just cutting their rates; I am taking them out of paying business rates altogether. That means half of our shops, restaurants and gyms will pay no business rates at all. For all other businesses in these sectors, I will freeze their rates in real terms so that none faces an above-inflation rise for the next two years. To pay for this support for our high streets, I am raising taxes on gambling by increasing machine games duty from 20% to 25% for higher-stakes machines, while protecting pubs and seaside arcades. I will carve out adult gaming centres and vape shops from business rate reliefs and extend the business rates transitional relief supplement for another two years. I will also strengthen the requirements for online marketplaces so that sellers cannot avoid paying VAT when they sell online. For those who feel like celebrating tax cuts for our high streets, I am providing a £10 million alcohol duty relief for around 2,000 small British brewers and British cider makers. Breathing space now, fresh hope for the future—delivered to the British people by this Labour Government. I have made my commitment to fiscal control clear, and every policy in this Budget is fully funded. I have begun by making sure that people pay the tax they owe when they owe it and by closing loopholes in our tax system. First, I am giving His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs funding to improve compliance and stronger powers to collect overdue tax from those who can clearly afford to pay but ignore repeated contact. I am reforming the administration of self-assessed income tax from 2029, bringing more of these taxpayers in line with the majority, so that they make smaller, more regular payments instead of facing large bills that are often harder to pay. Secondly, I am changing outdated rules so that people taking profits out of their companies are taxed consistently, and I will protect the treatment of genuine commercial transactions and families passing their businesses down to the next generation. Thirdly, I am modernising the tax treatment of investment by foreign sovereigns. This will bring UK rules more in line with other investment and other nations, while remaining still one of the most generous regimes in the world. Fourthly, I will resolve the question of VAT for larger taxi companies, ensuring they play by the same rules no matter where they are located, while still protecting smaller local firms. Providing support for British families and businesses has meant raising some tax to meet my commitment to fiscal discipline. I have done this in a balanced way, protecting the incentives for business investment and the incentives and income from work. I am maintaining full expensing in corporation tax for eligible assets. For other assets, I will provide greater up-front relief for new investment, increasing the main rate first-year allowance from 40% to 50%, while reducing the main writing down allowance rate from 14% to 12%. I am reducing the threshold for business asset disposal relief in capital gains tax from £1 million to £500,000, meaning no change for three in four claimants. I am increasing the rates of tax on income from property and savings by a further two percentage points from April 2027, with no change to tax on income from dividends and no change to tax on income from employment. Eighty-eight per cent of people will pay no more tax on their savings, and I am taking a new approach today to encourage people on ordinary incomes to save and to invest. I will not go ahead with the cut to the tax-free amount that people can put into a cash ISA. The limit will stay at £20,000 per year tax-free for people of all ages. To make investment more accessible, I will work with the sector to create a new “starter ISA” to reward first-time investors. Finally, let me turn to banks. Our world-leading banks make a huge contribution to this country—in the tax they pay and in the jobs, industry and investment they support. As Chancellor, I want to say directly to our banks: I celebrate, and am grateful for, the role that you play. Amid the global economic storms, I am looking to our banks to help fund breathing space for British families, so banks will pay an extra 3% on the bank surcharge. This will be time limited to pay for immediate support on energy bills, starting in January and ending 15 months later. I have made my choice at this Budget: asking a bit more of our banks to support ordinary people and raising taxes on gambling to support good growth on every high street. I challenge the Leader of the Opposition. Does she support today our support for British families and British firms, and does she back the action we are taking to pay for it? The only way we keep Britain’s families and Britain’s finances secure for the long term is with an economy that is growing strongly. Our country is one of the most innovative in the world. We have top-ranking universities, vibrant start-ups and deep capital markets. Just today I can announce over £1 billion of new life sciences investment from Kindeva, Vertex and Convatec, backed by almost £70 million of Government funding, and supporting over 1,000 jobs. I can announce that Rolls-Royce will develop its next generation of turbine engine technology here in the UK, in partnership with this Government—a £2.5 billion investment supporting thousands of jobs across the midlands, Bristol and the UK. I want to build on our strengths to unleash the innovation power of Britain to drive competition and raise profits in British business—drawing a line on the costs holding business back with stronger public control, as I have done today on energy; proudly backing Britain’s entrepreneurs to succeed; and unlocking the potential of every part of this country with a new wave of devolution. The biggest barrier to fast-growth firms here in Britain is investment here in Britain. In today’s Budget, I am boosting investment through our public financial institutions, with a further £20.4 billion for the National Wealth Fund and the British Business Bank over the coming years, supporting 140,000 jobs. I will work with pension providers, asset managers and the wider industry to accelerate more private investment into Britain’s innovative, fast-growth firms. We will prevent regulation from holding back investment by removing regulation and tariffs worth £800 million to business. We will legislate for a regulatory carve-out so that innovative products such as drones and medicines can be safely tested and rapidly scaled. I am re-establishing the Better Regulation Executive to cut outdated regulations and admin burdens on businesses and workers—scrapped by the Tories; re-established by this Labour Government. I am determined that we use public procurement to back British businesses, buy British goods and promote British exports, so I am expanding challenge-led procurement, just as I did in Defence, so that the Government can be the first customer for innovative firms. I am developing a new definition of UK supplier, to identify companies that are creating genuine wealth, genuine investment and jobs here in Britain. [Interruption.]
Hansard source
28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour John Healey
Financial Statement and Budget Report
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Nowhere is the necessary role for the state clearer than in artificial intelligence, and we must forge a British way to seize opportunities and guard against risks that is based on security. We are already world leaders in AI safety and security, which today’s Budget backs with an extra half a billion pounds. It is based on sovereignty, with our first-of-its-kind sovereign AI unit protecting UK interests by channelling Government investment into strategic British AI firms, backed today with another £140 million. To ensure that our most sensitive data stays under British control, I am setting out a new deal for data centres in the UK. When the NHS uses AI to treat patients, we want that data here. When our armed forces use AI to keep us safe, we want that data here. So here’s the deal: I am today launching a new British data centre covenant with strict tests that data centres must meet to invest in local communities, create local jobs and protect local water supplies. In return, critical data centres will get the grid connections they need, and where necessary be allowed to build onsite generation while they wait. Built on sovereignty and security, I want to ensure that the British people can benefit from the huge potential upsides of AI, with a new AI challenge prize to find innovative uses for AI in public services, and the union learning fund to back workers. That is how Britain leads on AI: secure, safe and working for the British people. Let me turn to enterprise. Britain does not lack great entrepreneurs, but too often we invent the technologies that the world wants here in the UK, then see the jobs and profits go somewhere else. High-growth firms make up less than 1% of small and medium-sized businesses, and they generate more than half the output. From the start-ups of today to the scale-ups of tomorrow and the billion-pound companies of the 2030s, I want to see them succeed and stay in Britain. So for those just starting out, I am tripling the trading allowance—the amount someone can earn from a new venture tax-free—from £1,000 to £3,000. I am launching a new young entrepreneurs allowance, which will cover a year of living costs for young founders while they turn their ideas into businesses. As recommended by the women in tech taskforce, I am also announcing a new scale-up programme to support female founders, and the British Business Bank will double its commitments to women-led businesses and funds to £200 million. We need to get the best talent into our fast-growth firms, so I am reforming skilled worker visas and non-compete clauses in contracts, so that people who help build one successful company can move easily on to the next. Building on our world-leading enterprise management incentives scheme, today I am launching EMI2, doubling the generosity of the company share option plan so that more companies can hire and retain top talent as they grow. Let me say this to the men and women building their businesses in Britain: I know that starting a company means taking a risk, often leaving a secure job to build something when there is no guarantee that it will work. I believe that when business founders take that risk, build an exceptional company and create wealth for Britain, we should recognise that success and keep those people here to invest again. That is why today I am announcing founders’ relief, a brand new relief in capital gains tax, with a 10% rate on lifetime gains up to £10 million for the founders of our most successful firms. That is how we make Britain the place where the companies of the future are built: entrepreneurs backed by this Budget, investment backed by this Budget, talent backed by this Budget, innovation backed by this Budget, growth backed by this Budget, and delivered to the British people by this Labour Government. When I talk about unleashing Britain’s innovation power, I mean in every part of Britain. That is why we reformed the Treasury’s investment manual, the Green Book, so that we can invest in the potential of every town and city. That is what I do today in the west midlands with £10 million for a new market hall in Stafford; in the south-west with £10 million for Bristol’s Temple quarter and £3 million to help Plymouth’s young people get jobs in defence; in the east of England with new access to Government borrowing for the Greater Cambridge Development Corporation; and in the north with £15 million to upgrade the Leeds College of Building, £10 million for Bury’s indoor market, £20 million to restore Liverpool’s Littlewoods building and £3 million for a tech company incubator in the Don valley. I can announce that we will hold the next international investment summit in Gateshead in the spring. The devolved Governments will receive equivalent funding for the measures in this Budget, and today I am also investing directly in high-growth industries in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Wales, there is £2.5 million for a science park in north Wales, £11 million for the Aberavon bridge and £30 million for Cardiff Parkway station; in Scotland, there is £18 million for advanced chip design led by Edinburgh University and £6 million for Glasgow’s Scottish event campus; and in Northern Ireland, there is £7.5 million for AI and cyber in Belfast. [Interruption.]
Hansard source
28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour John Healey
Financial Statement and Budget Report
All power to your elbow, Madam Deputy Speaker. London is the UK’s economic powerhouse, but if our other great cities matched their counterparts in France and Germany, growth in this country would be transformed. Local leaders should not have to come cap in hand to Whitehall to build a new tram or a new concert hall, and when those projects lead to growing local companies and rising local incomes, it should be those same areas that keep the proceeds. This radical rewiring of the state is a dual mission, led by the Treasury and No. 10 North. In today’s Budget, I am announcing new good growth funds for mayors and incubator capital for areas without mayors. I am announcing flexible funding to invest in local economies, boosted by a further £1.5 billion of devolved loans for mayoral authorities—funds that will back projects such as the new Black Country metro extension, led by the Mayor of the West Midlands; the urban regeneration in Gateshead Quayside, led by the Mayor of the North East; and, in my home region, the reopening of Doncaster airport, led by the Mayor of South Yorkshire. This is unfinished business for me. As a Treasury Minister in the last Labour Government, I was proud to help create the regional development agencies. They delivered economic growth and local regeneration, before they were axed in 2010 by the Tory-Lib Dem coalition Government. But there is a further step that we never took—the most radical act of devolution in a generation: the devolution of tax revenues. That is the step I take today, alongside this Budget—a road map for fiscal devolution. For the first time, I am making the commitment that 100% of business rates will be retained locally by the end of the decade, so if local leaders help businesses to start and grow, more of the rates they pay will stay in that area. From next year, 20% of business rates revenues will go to mayors, and from 2028, a share of income tax receipts will go to mayors as well. Also from 2028, mayors and other strategic authorities will have new powers to introduce an overnight visitor levy. Taken together, these are long-term funding streams that they can use to back investment into big local infrastructure, so that more of the money that is raised locally can be invested and spent locally, on projects like the Trent sports district, led by the Mayor of the East Midlands, and the Bakerloo line extension, led by the Mayor of London. These are new powers for the people who know their areas best—not sentimentality, but supply side economics. It is the biggest wave of devolution in a generation, driving good growth in every postcode, delivered to the British people by this Labour Government. I decided on an early Budget to give the country a bit of breathing space, and to provide stability and direction in the face of speculation. We will continue to map out that direction for Britain through the Prime Minister’s 10-year plan and the spending review. The Labour party is the party of public services. Since 2024, we have rejected austerity, we have been rebuilding our public services with over £40 billion a year of extra day-to-day spending, and we are making our streets and borders safer, fixing crumbling classrooms, extending childcare and restoring our NHS, spending £37 billion more on health this year than in the last year of the last Conservative Government. Today I am accelerating our work to halve violence against women and girls, and setting up a new misogyny prevention fund, partnering with the private sector. I want to pay tribute to my Cabinet colleagues and thank them for everything they are doing, prioritising within their Department budgets in the face of tough fiscal constraints. In today’s Budget, I am fully funding the defence investment plan, including through capital reprioritisation across Whitehall. This honours the commitment made both by me and by the Prime Minister. As we look ahead to the spending review, we start from a position of strength, with spending at that higher base. There will be choices we have to make about priorities, as we have shown we can, and efficiencies we must deliver, as we have shown we can. Last year, Departments hit double their productivity and efficiency target, generating £16 billion of savings. Asylum costs, which tripled under the last Conservative Government, have been cut by £1 billion under this Labour Government. Strong public services and strong fiscal discipline are two pillars of our Labour approach, but delivering the next spending review will also require a fundamental rewiring of the state. First, a digital overhaul of Government. In the Budget today, I am investing in AI for the civil service transformation, to support saving a further £600 million from back-office costs. Alongside my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary, I am launching a review of NHS productivity and AI, so staff can spend their time with patients and not on admin. Secondly, streamlining the state through devolution, reducing the double running between central and local Government. Today’s Budget provides £100 million for a local apprenticeship service to match young people with local firms, funded from savings in welfare fraud and error. Thirdly, a new focus on prevention. Just as we ringfence capital spending to invest in future success, so at the next spending review I will ringfence prevention spending that brings down costs in the future, with new preventative departmental expenditure limits. When it comes to welfare, the last Conservative Government left a broken system—a broken system that we are changing. Bringing back face-to-face assessments, rebalancing universal credit so it does not force people to label themselves as too sick to work, reforming Motability and clamping down on those living abroad from accessing a UK state pension on the cheap, but there is more to do. I refuse to write off a million young people, like the last Conservative Government. I refuse to see disabled people suffer the indignities of a system that has been found “not fit for purpose”, and I refuse to allow the burden of paying for this failing system to fall on taxpayers for decades to come. As the Prime Minister and I have both said, we will bring down the welfare bill, and we will do it in a Labour way. Alan Milburn and the Timms panel will publish their final reports next month. This Government will then set out our response before the end of the year, with a White Paper and legislation to follow next year. The Prime Minister has already announced that from 2030 we will adjust the triple lock, so that the state pension rises every year and keeps pace with earnings and inflation. This will save £15 billion a year by the end of the 2030s—£50 billion by 2050. A new settlement for older generations: a rising state pension and a national care service that is there when older people need it, taking the burden off families and taking the burden off our NHS. Taken together, these reforms reject crude cuts that intensify cost of living pressures and drive up costs elsewhere in the system. Taken together, these reforms will rebuild our welfare system so that it supports people from youth into old age. This is our Labour approach—tackling long-term challenges, improving public services and restoring hope for the future. Let me now come to two more long-term challenges, First, defence. The week in Kyiv started with Russia launching another brutal ballistic missile attack on the city. This morning, the Prime Minister and I called President Zelensky to tell him about our commitments in the Budget. He told us, “You have made my day.” There will be £10 billion of additional economic and military support, based on loans, export finance guarantees and half a billion in urgent military funding for this winter. The whole House—the whole country—is united for Ukraine. Today, we send a clear message to Moscow: Britain will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. In this new era of threat, the demands on our UK defence are rising. Keeping the people safe by equipping our armed forces is the first duty of any Government. I say this as Chancellor; as a former Defence Secretary; and as a dad whose son is an Army reservist—a reservist who came back four years ago from early training to say that they had no kit and no bullets to fire. That is the truth. For 14 years, Conservative Governments hollowed out and underfunded our armed forces. I am proud to be part of a Labour Government who have made the biggest increase in defence spending since the end of the cold war. This year, our defence budget is £14 billion higher than it was in the Conservatives’ last year of government. At the spending review next year, I confirm that I will set out the details of how we will meet our NATO commitment to spend 3.5% of GDP on defence by 2035, with a target date for 3% in 2030. Today, I am getting work under way to get there in a fiscally sustainable way. That will include looking hard at public spending, as I have done today to fund the defence investment plan, but I am also determined to use more innovative financing, alongside the private sector and our international allies. First, I am launching today the new innovative defence finance taskforce to lead this work ahead of the spending review. Secondly, I am now confirming that we will commence treaty negotiations on the multilateral defence mechanism—or bank—with Finland, Poland, and the Netherlands to boost defence investment and joint procurement across NATO allies. Thirdly, we will expand our defence industrial base by getting the maximum amount of private investment into defence, including through public-private partnerships. Fourthly, as an immediate step, I can tell the House that the national wealth fund and the British Business Bank will launch a new focus on defence, dual-use technology and sovereign capability, deploying up to £5 billion of investment and lending over the next four years. I will ensure this record defence investment works twice: once for our national security, and once for British jobs and British business. Places across all four nations—Barrow, Rosyth, Aldershot, Plymouth, Glascoed and Belfast—reindustrialised and transformed. Security for our nation, jobs for our people, fresh hope for the future—delivered for Britain by this Labour Government. Let me now turn to housing. On Monday, the Prime Minister and I met Les at the Connection project at St Martin-in-the-Fields, just a stone’s throw from this Chamber. He had spent three months sleeping on the streets; now, he has a room, medical help and a bit of hope for the future. Les told me: “Now I have the chance, I want to make something of my life.” Anne, the nurse at the project, put it this way. She said that they “put the team around the person”. That is what we will do as a nation. The Conservatives did promise to end rough sleeping, yet when they left office it had doubled. Ten years ago, as shadow Housing Secretary, I argued that rough sleeping was a shame on the nation. I said it could be solved, but only with national will. Government can fix this, if they choose, and this Government have chosen. We have already promised everyone sleeping rough a route off the streets this winter, and today, I confirm a further £430 million to keep that offer open for the rest of this Parliament—not just this winter, but every winter. This is a moral mission for me, a moral mission for the Prime Minister and a moral mission for the Labour party. Home is the heart of all our lives. It is the foundation on which we raise our families and build our hopes. Rough sleeping is the sharp end—a symptom of a system that feels broken to too many people. Since the 1980s, Britain has lost over 2 million council homes. Tonight, more than 170,000 children will sleep in temporary accommodation. Two in five young people are trapped, paying more than a third of their income in rent while they watch their hopes of buying their own home slip away. I am taking action today to deal with immediate pressures and taking decisions to start to deal with the long-term challenges. To get more homes built, I am drawing the line on constant changes to building regulations. There will be no major changes to building regulations in this Parliament, except where critical for safety, and I am removing biodiversity requirements for more brownfield sites. To get more council homes built, I am extending cheaper borrowing for councils and making all land sold to social housing providers VAT-free. Today, I am providing an additional £1.5 billion for the social and affordable housing programme, taking our total Government commitment backing council housing to £40 billion. The Conservatives sold off our council houses; Labour is now building them back. Finally, for every young person who is working hard, saving what they can and dreaming of their first home, I am taking action. I am announcing that a first-time buyer ISA will replace the lifetime ISA. From today, I am dealing with the LISA penalty, so that if the home you want costs more than the limit, you will get back at least what you put in. And I am going further. From next spring, we have a new scheme for first-time buyers who do not have the bank of mum and dad behind them: Your First Home—an equity loan scheme, which I am funding today with £4.7 billion of Government-backed lending. Hope starts with a home. A route off the streets, a secure home to raise your kids, the keys to your own front door—delivered to the British people by this Labour Government. This is a Labour Budget for the worker, the sole trader, the parent at the school gate, and the young person desperate to start their first job or start their first business. These are my choices: raising revenue from those who can afford to pay; no tax rises on wages or dividends; and cutting taxes for millions of families and businesses. Just as the British people helped to support our banks 20 years ago, it is our banks that will help to give families breathing space today. For our high streets, it is gaming machines and vape shops that will help to provide the funding for our pubs, shops and cafés to thrive—breathing space now, while taking the long-term action to get costs down for good. The decisions I have taken today will help to steer Britain through. When the storms pass, what matters is where Britain is heading—a Britain reindustrialised; a Britain with power returned to communities, threats deterred and global opportunities seized. In our first 100 days, this Labour Government have set a course for fresh hope, good growth and support for those who need it. We know who we are, and we know where we are going. [Interruption.]
Hansard source
28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour John Healey
Financial Statement and Budget Report
We know who we are, and we know where we are going. We can see the Britain we want to be. It is a vision burned into every line of this Budget statement—breathing space now, fresh hope for the future, delivered to the British people by this Labour Government. I commend this statement to the House. Provisional Collection of Taxes Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 51(2)), That, pursuant to section 5 of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968, provisional statutory effect shall be given to the following motions:— (a) Stamp duty land tax (local government pension scheme pools) (motion no. 49); (b) Stamp duty land tax (withdrawal of group relief) (motion no. 51); (c) Value added tax (electric vehicle charging) (motion no. 55).—(John Healey.) Question agreed to.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour John Grady
Clean Energy Projects
<Question HRSContentId="{02C3196F-EA33-409D-B95C-D1D0C9E842EF}">4. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{1B6D15CF-BAF4-44D5-946F-4933E138CD90}">What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support clean energy projects in Scotland.</QuestionText> </Question>
Hansard source
28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour John Grady
Clean Energy Projects
Large clean energy projects and transmission project lines need planning consent from the Scottish Government. Delays mean that Scottish electricity consumers pay more. In a recent report, CBI Scotland says: “Planning is the concern business leaders across Scotland raise with us most consistently, and the frustrations they describe are…too much inconsistency, not enough speed” and a growing sense that planning has become a barrier to investment and growth—a responsibility of the Scottish Government. Does the Minister agree that the Scottish Government need to get a grip on the planning system?
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Johanna Baxter
Engagements
<Question HRSContentId="{92F7686D-9610-49BC-8A4B-5A571DAC1BFD}">Q3. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{D5CB1237-5659-474E-BED8-75F6685569A5}"></QuestionText>Last week, the US special envoy to Ukraine described Vladimir Putin as a “humanitarian”. My constituents were horrified that our closest ally could use such words for a man wanted by the International Criminal Court for the systematic abduction of 20,651 Ukrainian children. The following day, my constituency welcomed the Ukrainian Member of Parliament for Poltava with open arms and a determination to deepen our solidarity and co-operation. Will the Prime Minister remind our American partners that appeasement, flattery and sanction-dodging deals will only embolden Putin and risk further aggression to our NATO allies?</Question>
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Jim Dickson
Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation
It is always a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart). He is always very entertaining, and I am always intrigued by how there seems to be an inverse ratio between the number of interventions he makes and the number he takes. I reassure him that on the lousy predecessor test, this Government were truly blessed in 2024 by the former right hon. Member for South West Norfolk and the right hon. Member for Richmond and Northallerton (Rishi Sunak).
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Jim Dickson
Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation
I welcome the Budget, and it is a pleasure to follow distinguished members of the Treasury Committee from across the Chamber. As others have noted, when the IMF published its most recent forecast, it highlighted how despite the consequences of US military action in Iran, our economy is proving more resilient than expected, with 1.3% growth for this year and similar for next. That is largely underscored by the OBR forecast. I back our Government to exceed those forecasts, as they have done this year, and we wish them well in doing so. We should not underplay the damage done by the conflict, with price rises in important commodities such as oil and fertilisers pushing up inflation, but it is positive that the IMF has upgraded our growth prospects. That, I believe, is a testament to the work of the current and previous Chancellors, and it is welcome that we remain towards the top end of the G7 for growth, even though—as always—Members of the House would want growth to be higher, and we hope very much that it is. In my view, it remains essential to reassure the markets that we will stick to the fiscal rules, and I welcome the Chancellor’s pledge today to keep doing so. We must ensure that we continue to keep sufficient headroom against those rules, and again the Chancellor has done that.That was recognised by the IMF, which singled out the UK among the G7 for the way that we are managing our debts. As shown in chart 3.4 in the Red Book, which sets out the distributional impact of the Budget, we are doing that while ensuring that those at the bottom end of the income scale do better proportionally than those higher up the income scale. I believe that means this is a proper Budget for working people. This careful and fair economic management will allow us to ramp up defence spending to meet the spending target of 3% by 2030, after our armed forces, frankly, languished under the previous Government.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Jim Dickson
Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation
I thank the hon. Member for his intervention, but I am very confident that the plans laid out today will take us to 3% by the end of this Parliament, and to 3.5% by the middle of the next decade. That is what we have committed to do and that is what I believe we will do.
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28 Oct 2026ParliamentLabour Jim Dickson
Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation
The situation that the right hon. Gentleman is describing sounds like what pertained for the previous 14 years. We are turning that around. Since the 2024 election, this Government have demonstrated a clear strategy to get on and fix the foundations of our country, most obviously in public spending, that had fractured under the previous Administration, and that includes defence spending. The Budget is built on long-term investment in infrastructure and crucial new projects. Nowhere is that better illustrated than in my constituency, in north Kent, where the funding for the lower Thames crossing—public funding, supporting big private sector investment of over £10 billion—will make such a difference to Dartford residents once it is complete. The Chancellor’s announcement that he is expanding support to businesses and infrastructure projects through the National Wealth Fund and the British Business Bank is most welcome, and it has the potential for an investment boost right across the UK. As a tangible, practical example of how investment can make a difference in our constituencies, I commend the spending review that saw the announcement of the structures fund to invest in distressed transport assets across the country that were beyond the capacity of local authorities to repair. In Dartford, we hope to hear that funding has been allocated to repair the collapsed Galley Hill Road, which links Dartford with Gravesend, in the coming weeks. As the Chancellor made clear, and as other hon. Members have pointed out, another long-term impact of the situation in the middle east is the rise in energy bills, which is likely to affect all of us over this winter. I remain extremely worried about the impact that will have, particularly on the most vulnerable households. Only this week, EDF Energy put out a new forecast that has the average household energy bill rising by more than a quarter, to £2,192 per year in January and potentially even higher in April. Clearly the blame for these price rises should be put squarely on the architect of the conflict between the US and Iran. I welcome all the work that this Government have done since 2024 to begin to transform our energy system. I welcome very much today’s announcement that standing charges will be removed from gas bills next year, and the additional £100 of support for all those living in homes in council tax bands A to D, which will support over 35,000 households in Dartford over the next year. It may or may not be true, but I heard that Conservative spokespeople were taking to the airwaves following the Budget to say that they opposed the £100 discount. If that is the case, I think it is wrong and disgraceful. However, I hope that Ministers will look further at what we can do to shield the most vulnerable and accelerate the work to break the link between increasingly volatile gas prices and the prices that we pay for electricity. I have also been among those calling for more support on business rates for small businesses. I am really pleased to hear about the changes that will see many cafés, shops and pubs taken out of business rates entirely, paid for rightly by a rise in machine games duty. I think most of us in this House can support that tax. In my previous life as a local councillor, I saw the growing levels of homelessness on our streets, as I do now, and the dire consequences for those stuck there. It is therefore right that the Government are putting in place funding for the rest of the Parliament to offer a route off the streets to anyone sleeping rough. We have needed a comprehensive strategy to tackle rough sleeping for the past 14 or 15 years, and we finally have one. I also support the proposed changes to bring in a first-time buyer ISA to replace the lifetime ISA. I look forward to more details on the Your First Home scheme, which I believe will be a boost to new developments such as those in Ebbsfleet Garden City in my constituency. I am really pleased to see that the Red Book published along with today’s Budget confirms the formation of either a mayoral or foundation strategic authority for Kent. That is important news for our region. If a foundation authority or a mayor was in place, for instance, they could find the investment to ensure that we bring international rail services back to Kent after they were lost six years ago.
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UK Energy Independence

UK Energy Independence

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Higher Education Funding

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Causing Death by Dangerous or Careless Driving: Sentencing

The Global Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Sanctions Regulations 2026

HCRG Care Group: Performance in the South-west

HCRG Care Group: Performance in the South-west

HCRG Care Group: Performance in the South-west

HCRG Care Group: Performance in the South-west

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Engagements

Engagements

Causing Death by Dangerous or Careless Driving: Sentencing

Rugby League Clubs

Rugby League Clubs

Rugby League Clubs

Rugby League Clubs

Rugby League Clubs

Higher Education Funding

Financial Statement and Budget Report

Financial Statement and Budget Report

Financial Statement and Budget Report

Financial Statement and Budget Report

Financial Statement and Budget Report

Financial Statement and Budget Report

Financial Statement and Budget Report

Clean Energy Projects

Clean Energy Projects

Engagements

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation