Daisy Cooper

On 23 October, at Deputy Prime Minister’s questions, I warned the Government that an increase in national insurance contributions would impact not only millions of small businesses but social care providers. That was a week before the Budget. Here we are, six weeks on from that exchange, and we are still talking about the impact of those changes. The reason is that the unintended consequences are huge. We all know the Government have received a terrible inheritance from the Conservatives. The Conservatives flatlined our economy, blew a hole in the public finances and left public services on their knees. In the wake of the Conservative Government, there is a litany of broken promises. They promised to recruit 6,000 GPs, and they did not. They promised to fix social care for good, and they did not. Every single year since 2015, they failed to meet their 62-day cancer treatment target. I have huge sympathy for the fact that the Labour Government need and want to invest in our NHS and care. However, I am concerned about the indiscriminate impact of the changes to national insurance contributions. [Hon. Members: “Ah!”] You’ve heard this before—come on. Not only will the changes undermine growth, they will undermine the efforts to get the NHS and care back on their feet. Over the past six weeks, all of us have heard concerns about the impact the changes will have on GPs, dentists, pharmacists and social care providers—all critical organisations to getting the NHS and care services back on their feet. We have heard about the impact on the early years sector. I am concerned the changes will drive up the cost of childcare when we should be driving it down to help parents get back to work. Over the past few weeks, I have raised examples from my constituency of the impact the changes will have, including on Citizens Advice, which gives advice to some of the most vulnerable people; Hightown Housing Association providing social homes; Quantum Care, a social care provider; Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care; the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire local medical committee representing GPs; DJs Play; and Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, the oldest pub in England. We know small businesses are the engine of our economy and backbone of our communities.