The last few years have not been easy for the British economy. We have faced the legacy of Covid, war in Ukraine and the Middle East. These challenges have made life tough for people in Britain.
Since the beginning of 2023, the Government has been working on five priorities. Three of them are economic. To halve inflation, grow the economy and reduce debt.
On the day of the Budget, it is right to focus on these economic priorities and I firmly believe we have made good progress. Inflation has fallen from 11.1 per cent to 4.0 per cent, the economy has performed better than forecast, wages are rising, mortgage rates are starting to come down, the economy has outperformed European neighbours and debt is on track to fall as a share of the economy.
The job is not done but because of the progress the Government has made, the economy is turning a corner and we have been able to afford tax cuts as part of our plan to reward work and grow the economy. Here are some of the measures that will be of greatest interest to my constituents:
- We are cutting National Insurance Contributions by a further two percentage points for 29 million working people, whether you are an employee or self-employed.
- We are increasing the threshold at which parents start paying the High Income Child Benefit Charge, from £50,000 to £60,000 and raising the top of the taper (point at which child benefit is removed altogether) to £80,000.
- We have allocated a further £2.5bn for the NHS as well as £3.4bn for the NHS Productivity plan.
- From April 1, we're increasing the VAT registration threshold from £85,000 to £90,000 - cutting taxes for small businesses across the UK.
- Finally, we have frozen alcohol duty until February 2025 and frozen fuel duty once again, ensuring that the temporary 5p cut has been maintained for another year.
One of the key aspects of the Budget was support for families. The changes to the High Income Child Benefit Charge awill supporting half a million families with an average gain of up to £1,260 towards the costs of raising their children. It also builds on the Conservative Government’s Autumn Budget, which delivers the most significant expansion of childcare in a decade so that from September 2025, working families in England will be offered 30 hours of free childcare for their child aged nine months old up to school age. This is a package worth £6,500 for every family with a two-year-old using 35 hours of childcare a week, in turn helping more parents into the job that is right for them.
