Reform UK MP for Boston and Skegness since (elected).
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| Party | Office | Area | Period | Began | Ended | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reform | MP | Boston and Skegness | – present | elected | — | Party history |
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The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, the hon. Member for Swansea West (Torsten Bell), and the Chancellor have both inadvertently misled the House by saying that Government borrowing is coming down. It is not: in the Budget, borrowing for this year will be almost £20 billion higher than at the March OBR forecast; and for the lifetime of the Budget book, it will be £65 billion higher.
Today the Tory party has shamefully said that it does not give two hoots about 12,000 workers, including dozens in my constituency. What is going on here is that the management of Poundland are very concerned that the owners of Poundland are looking to abuse the insolvency process to maximise their financial returns, not giving two hoots about 12,000 workers. Will the Minister confirm that the Government will do everything they can to ensure that Gordon Brothers will not act as a rogue owner by abusing the insolvency process?
The reason this local government reorganisation has been so appalling shambolic is that the Government made political decisions, as opposed to the right decisions. Reform in Lincolnshire welcomes the decision to pause there, but does the Minister understand that Reform in Warwickshire is concerned that the two-unitary proposal he is minded to accept will lead to the bankruptcy of both unitaries within a matter of years?
The hon. Lady may not have read the Budget Red Book, but GDP growth is forecast to reduce from 1.6% back in March to just 1% in 2027, and indeed GDP per capita is also forecast to reduce from 1.3% to 0.9%, so the numbers in the forecasts are actually getting worse, not better.
I’m here!
Poorer—that is what every household in the country is, including in my constituency of Boston and Skegness. This year alone, real household disposable income is down 0.8%, and every single year between now and the end of this parliamentary term, the average household’s real disposable income is down compared to what the OBR forecast just six months ago. Let us look at the other main economic data: GDP growth for 2027 is forecast to be down once again—from 1.6% to 1%—under this failing Labour Government; and GDP growth per capita is forecast to be down from 1.3% to 0.9%. And let us just look at what is up, shall we? Government borrowing in this financial year alone is up almost £20 billion compared to what the OBR forecast just six months ago. Over the lifetime of this Budget book for the next five years, Government borrowing will be over £65 billion more than the OBR forecast just six months ago. This is a Government who are completely out of control in terms of spending. That is why the bond markets are applying what is known internationally as “the moron premium” to the United Kingdom under this Labour Government. Credit where credit is due, this Chancellor does know where the real problems are and he has tried to do a little bit. He understands that there is a crisis with energy bills, which are now forecast to go up by an extra £466 per household in January, and then by another £200 per household in April—all because of the madness of net zero and the rush to renewables, which is happening as we speak. Every single day, NESO is having to tweak and twiddle the dials and add balancing costs to the tune of some £50 million. That is ten times what it was just a few years ago. Next year, it will cost £200 per household for the balancing costs on the grid alone. This is completely out of control. The Chancellor has shuffled the cards in the pack. He has moved a bit from bills to general taxation, but he has not dealt with the real crux of the crisis, which is that the rush to renewables is driving up all our household energy bills at a catastrophically high rate.<span id="363" class="column-number" data-column-number="363"></span> Now, I am constructive sort of guy, so I want to give credit where credit is due, so let me say that the Government have done the right thing in approving Jackdaw—but they need to go further. Ministers know in their heart of hearts that they need to approve the oilfield at Rosebank—the Prime Minister was tempted to confirm it at question time today—and grant many more licences in the North sea, because that is our energy treasure; that is where the jobs are and where the growth is. This Government are completely failing on growth. The energy crisis is getting worse, and everybody needs to understand that. If we use our energy treasure, the bills will come down. If we look at property and housing—again, credit where credit is due—the Chancellor has eased regulations to try to build more homes on brownfield sites. I think he might have read the teal paper I released in September on how to reduce the cost of construction and get more things built. He is right to remove the need for biodiversity requirements on brownfield sites, but there is so much more to do to reduce the construction cost of the new homes that I think we all agree we need to build. There is a £15,000 to £20,000 increase in the cost of homes because of unnecessary regulations, but again the Chancellor has not grasped the real opportunities to go for it and reduce the cost of building. That is what we need. We all agree that we need more affordable social housing, but to do that we have to reduce and remove unnecessary restrictions and the delays in getting planning consents. We now know that the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has given up on her 1.5 million target. In reality, we will be lucky to get to half that number—750,000 homes instead of 1.5 million. These are the lost opportunities from a Government obsessed with regulation, obsessed with process and obsessed with bureaucracy. They cannot do the right thing to deregulate and get some growth.
Far from it—we are actually trying to build more houses on brownfield sites, because that is what we should do all over the country, including in the great town of Tunbridge Wells. We need to make it easier to build on brownfield sites. At the moment, house builders are giving up all over the country because the costs are too high. I think the Chancellor has been looking at some of our excellent Reform policies, but while he is right to lift the income tax threshold for pensioners, he could have gone much further and lifted it for everybody—up to our recommended level of £15,000—by being more dramatic about cutting the vast amount of wasteful spending on welfare and cutting foreign aid to overseas nations that do not need it. Those are the differences between the right things to do and the lost opportunities of this Government. I think the Chancellor has listened to another Reform policy, which is to lift the threshold on business rates, but he has not gone far enough. While the £18,000 threshold is better than £12,000, it needs to be much higher. That is another lost opportunity.<span id="364" class="column-number" data-column-number="364"></span> We have a nation of voters, and every household who looks at this Budget book and listens to the Budget will say, “No, thanks. Every single year between now and 2030-31 we’re all getting poorer than the OBR forecast just six months ago.” People feel it and they sense it. They know that their money is being wasted on bureaucracy and unnecessary quangos—more taskforces and quangos have been set up during this Budget. It could have been so much better. I feel that this Chancellor has just not had the courage or the strength. He has not risen to the occasion. He has tried, but it is not good enough. We are facing a financial crisis and an energy crisis, and we need a Government who do the right thing—a Government who cut our bills. This Budget is a lost opportunity.
It is bad enough that dangerous criminals are being released early, but my constituents are frankly terrified that <span id="182" class="column-number" data-column-number="182"></span>these prisoners are being released without tags—the world has gone mad, Minister. Will this Government commit not to release prisoners without tags?
The sad truth is that dangerous sexual predators are being released early under this scheme. The sister of a friend of mine was told by police just a few weeks ago that her <span id="183" class="column-number" data-column-number="183"></span>heinous assailant was being released in a few months’ time and there was nothing they could do. She resigned from her job and has fled the country in terror. That is where things have got to. There are some 4,000 empty cells that require maintenance and refurbishment, and 10,000 cells are occupied by overseas nationals. Will the Government use those places to stop dangerous offenders from being released early?
The Prime Minister confirmed that the incident at RAF Fairford was likely to have been co-ordinated in Iran. Can he comment on the serious suggestions that some of those who have been arrested and then bailed had Iranian diplomatic immunity?