The sunny spring days have been joyful in the countryside; I wish I could say the same for the mood in Parliament at the Chancellors Spring Statement. Or more accurately, Emergency Budget.
The Chancellor had to do an emergency budget because she lost control of the public finances and breached the Government’s fiscal rules.
Sitting opposite her on Wednesday in the House of Commons, I listened to her announcing a string of bad economic news. The forecast for growth for this year has halved, borrowing costs are up, unemployment is up, and rather than the 2% rate of inflation the Government inherited at the election, that’s currently closer to 3%.
No surprise that the Chancellor pointed to the global situation as the cause of all this, and I don’t deny we’re going through some uncertain and difficult times. But she needs to take responsibility for the impact of her decisions at the last budget.
She increased public spending by £70 billion back in the autumn, through a combination of extra borrowing and tax rises. That has consequences.
For instance, the National Insurance Rise (or ‘jobs tax’) is forcing businesses (and charities) to make people redundant, pushing down growth and pushing up unemployment.
I’ve heard from many local businesses and charities affected by this over the last few months. And last week in Parliament we tried to get the Government to at least exempt care homes, charities and hospices – but Labour’s big majority carried the day and we lost the vote.
As Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions I’ve been working hard holding the Government to account on their decisions on welfare, and it’s been a busy few weeks for that. I led a debate on the impact of the Winter Fuel Payment cut, trying to get the Government to release data on this, but to no avail. And last week they announced £5 billion worth of savings on the benefit bill – only to revise that down to £3.4 billion this week because their figures didn’t add up.
The sickness benefits bill is forecast to rise to £100 billion by the end of the decade – more than double what we spend on defence. There are also 2.8 million people claiming incapacity benefit, with 2,000 more people signing on every day. So something has to be done. But what’s needed is proper reform to the welfare system, so those who can work, do work – and those who are disabled get the help they need. Instead what we saw from the Government this week was rushed cuts made in a panic to balance the books.
It is clear that the Government did not think any of this through while they were in Opposition. We are not going to make that mistake. That's why Kemi Badenoch recently launched a new policy review inviting people across the country to contribute ideas on how we best tackle our country’s challenges.
Talking about people from across the country who find solutions to challenges… the deadline for my 'Unsung Heroes' awards is on Monday 31st March at midnight. I’ve had lots of fabulous nominations but please don’t miss the chance to nominate someone or an organisation you know. You still have time to nominate someone by clicking here.
