Contribution
I start by commending Labour Members for such wonderful maiden speeches this afternoon.
I am proud to support this historic Budget. Our new Labour Government are working tirelessly to deliver the change that my constituents in Coatbridge and Bellshill need, and this Budget represents an important change—an important step towards fixing the foundations and repairing the damage caused by 14 years of economic mismanagement and fiscal vandalism by the previous Government.
The scale of that challenge is immense—public services have been pushed to breaking point, wages have been stagnant for far too long, child poverty is on the rise and too many people in my constituency are forced to work multiple jobs just to make ends meet.
In Scotland we have had the double whammy of two bad Governments. Just like the Tories, the SNP has decimated our public services, pushed our NHS to the brink and forced Scots to pay more to get less, as my hon. Friend the Member for Glenrothes and Mid Fife (Richard Baker) highlighted in his excellent speech. The Budget offers significant support to my constituents and provides record funding for Scotland. On top of the £47 billion block grant, the level of investment in public spending outlined by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will generate an extra £3.4 billion in Barnett consequentials, resulting in the strongest settlement yet for Scotland in the devolution era. Sadly, the SNP Government have not yet worked out whether to love or loathe this Budget, and as my hon. Friends pointed out earlier, SNP Members are not here to tell us. As the Scottish Trades Union Congress highlighted yesterday, however, the blame game is now over—the SNP Government have the money and they must act to address the challenges impacting Scots.
The Budget has also addressed a number of fundamental injustices, from the infected blood scandal to Horizon and—critical for me—the mineworkers pension scheme. Representing mining communities and as a member of the coalfields parliamentary group, I wholly welcome the ending of this injustice and the delivery of Labour’s manifesto commitment of more than £1 billion to ex-miners. For the retired miners in the scheme in my community, that will mean an increase of £29 a week in their pension. Ending that scandalous injustice has not been a short or easy undertaking, and I commend my predecessors and all hon. and right hon. Members who have fought on this for many years before my time in this place.
I also commend the Government for their commitment to ensuring that £20 million will come to Coatbridge in my constituency through the towns fund. The previous Government announced that plan, but their fiscal irresponsibility put it in doubt. I am grateful to Ministers for taking the time to meet me to discuss these matters and delighted that the £20 million for Coatbridge is now costed and will be delivered by this Labour Government. That will allow our town board to help develop and deliver a long-term local plan, support business and secure investment.
I am also delighted that the Budget delivers a pay rise for 200,000 Scots. Increasing the national minimum wage by 6.7% and, critically, starting the journey to end age discrimination banding for 18 to 20 year-olds by increasing their wages by 16.3%, are key steps, as is the 18% increase for under-18s and apprentices. Young people are not immune to the challenges linked to the cost of living crisis and often struggle just to make ends meet. It is unfair that, for so many of them, their work —their labour—is valued less than that of their peers, simply because of their age. It has to end, and this Labour Budget has set us on a course to eradicating it.
This is the first Budget of this new Labour Government, and it lays the foundations to deliver the change our constituents voted for. Serving in Government is a privilege: it is an incredible honour that no party should take for granted. It is clear from the Conservatives’ actions that their party failed to live up to that solemn duty; they drove our country, our constituents, down a dirt path of decline until they ran out of road. They tried to mask their failings with fantasy economics and imaginary money pots, and it now falls to this Government to clean up their mess.
It is not the only mess that Labour will have to clean up. The SNP Government are equally hapless, and we are counting down the days to 2026 to deliver the change we need in Scotland too.
After 14 years of failure, our Labour Government have set a new course—to restore public finances, transform public services, tackle poverty and raise living standards. This is an honest Budget, which does not cynically shrink from the challenges, but seeks to tackle them head on—a Budget that will deliver the change that Scotland needs, that Coatbridge and Bellshill needs, and it should be welcomed across the House.