Budget Resolutions
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the final day of the Budget debate. It is a Budget that this Government can be proud of, a Labour Budget, a Budget that will deliver fresh hope for the future, and a Budget that will put £100 back into the pockets of 44,430 households in Dagenham and Rainham. Though the council tax rebate of £100 to help with energy bills might not sound like much, with the energy bills breathing space scheme, coupled with the Government’s other measures, such as no VAT on electricity till July ’27, the abolishing of standing charges on gas bills and capping new levies on energy bills at 0% until 2030, we are taking action to reduce household energy debt in every postcode. With such a focus on making utilities affordable, I cannot help but feel hopeful that the failing water companies who extort us for resources will one day be brought back into public ownership, finally ending the race to the bottom that Thatcherism started, where profit margins and shareholder bonuses are put above quality of service and the people that rely on it. Speaking of services and the fresh hope that last week’s Budget set out, I wholeheartedly welcome the move to finally open up Stratford International, providing Eurostar access in east London. I have no doubt that this investment will provide a much-needed boost to the local economies in some of the most deprived areas of the capital. While that gives my constituents easier access to Europe, those living at Beam Park in the south of my constituency are still waiting for the train to Fenchurch Street. In fact, those residents are still waiting for the train station, which was promised to new homeowners and renters by the last Conservative Government, only for the plug to be pulled and promises to be broken. My helpful suggestion is that perhaps we should ask the last Government to own that decision. Despite the absence of an announcement that would deliver for Beam Park, I remain tenacious in my pursuit of the vital infrastructure that my constituents in Dagenham and Rainham were promised, and I very much hope, given the renewed focus on transport in London, that the £13.9 million shortfall to deliver this station can be found. While my campaign for Beam Park station continues, my campaign to deliver a new and expanded emergency department for the Queen’s hospital in Romford, which serves my constituents, has been won, thanks to this Labour Government. We campaigned for £35 million and this Labour Government, ahead of their landmark Budget, awarded the Barking, Havering and Redbridge trust £42 million to redesign the accident and emergency unit at Queen’s hospital. The party that built the NHS is now ending corridor care and delivering an NHS that is fit for the future. On the subject of health, it would be remiss of me not to mention environmental health, not least because of the Rainham volcano, a burning historic landfill that blights the health of the community in part of my constituency. Given the sheer scale of historic landfills in the country, I was disappointed not to see reinvestment in the Environment Agency to help these problems, but I am hopeful that, as the Government transform Britain, I can continue ticking off my pledges from 2024. If any Ministers are listening, I have covered my wish list in this contribution. As the Member of Parliament for a working-class constituency often described as London’s red wall, I was overjoyed to hear the Chancellor unveil plans to deliver paid paternity leave for self-employed workers. I am honoured to serve under my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth North (Amanda Martin) as deputy chair of the all-party parliamentary group for tradespeople, and I know that this policy will give fresh hope to the plumbers, electricians, brickies and other tradesmen who will benefit from paid paternity leave from April 2029, giving self-employed dads the opportunity to be at the start of family life when it matters most. This is a real win for the work of the APPG, and it will make a tangible difference to family lives in Dagenham and Rainham, which is home to thousands of tradespeople and small business owners. I will bring my contribution to a close very simply, as I started. This was a Budget the Government can be proud of: a Labour Budget that delivers respite for today and fresh hope for the future.