On Wednesday the Chancellor Phillip Hammond put forward the Government’s annual Budget plans.
The Budget day is one of the most exciting days in Parliament. MPs arrive extra early in the morning to reserve their seat in the chamber whilst there is extensive media speculation about what will be announced and then a race to scrutinise the details.
Our strong economy is not only delivering record employment but also additional money for: UK infrastructure, our NHS, Education, support for 1st time buyers, small businesses & boosting pay for the lowest earners. We are rightly investing in Britain’s future.
Key highlights of the Budget include:
- Building the New Economy. Taking the National Productivity investment fund to £30 billion, investing in emerging technologies like driverless cars, and backing business with a £2.3 billion package on business rates.
- Supporting working families in their everyday lives. Increasing the National Living Wage by above inflation, cutting income tax by raising the personal allowance and freezing fuel duty for the 8th
- Building the homes our young people need. Setting a target to deliver 300,000 homes per year, reforming planning to unlock land for first time buyers, abolishing stamp duty for over 80 per cent of first time buyers and investing more to take government support for housing up to £44 billion.
- Getting Britain ready for Brexit. Investing a further £3 billion on top of the £700 million already committed to prepare Britain for every possible eventuality, and ensure we prosper as we leave the EU.
- Investing in our NHS. We will provide £6.3 billion of new funding for our frontline NHS services and upgrades to NHS facilities & building. This is in addition to the £10bn in extra funding we had already announced.
Labour argue we should go further. They wish to not only increase taxes to the highest levels in peacetime history, hitting ordinary hardworking families, but also borrow an extra £500bn. Our national debt already stands at £1.7trillion, with the debt interest alone costing more money than we currently spend on our entire Police and Defence budgets combined. This debt interest could and should be money that we are able to invest in public services. To add an additional £500bn would increase debt interest costs further and burden future generations with the responsibility of paying off the debt. This is selfish and unfair. We have a responsibility to balance the nations spending between supporting growth and paying our way.
It is our balanced approach that has seen the deficit cut from a staggering £150bn in 2010 to £49bn this year, with forecasts showing it falling every year until we are back in surplus. We have seen 3m new jobs created delivering record employment in Britain, with an additional 600,000 expected by 2022. Our strong economy is delivering a growing tax yield with VAT, income tax and National Insurance contributions all continuing to surge. This is vital to allow us to cut borrowing and continue to increase funding for our public services.
We are laying the foundations for a Britain fit for the future – investing for the long-term while supporting families and businesses under pressure now, setting a path to a more prosperous Britain.
