Lorraine Beavers

When I ask people in my constituency how they feel about the economy, they tell me that their bills are too high and their rent or mortgage take too much of their pay. I am glad that the Budget takes some first steps to address those issues. Four years ago, the Conservatives, led by Liz, crashed the economy and sent mortgages and bills soaring. Before that, they spent more than a decade cutting our armed forces and public services—they left us poorly defended in every sense. The Chancellor’s Budget makes a good start in addressing those problems. The immediate help for 20 million households towards their energy bills this winter is a welcome relief. The changes to business rates will have a huge impact on businesses in my constituency. On devolution, I can only hope that Lancashire will have a mayor by 2028 to share in the proposals that were announced. I urge Reform-led Lancashire county council to grab this amazing opportunity for Lancashire. We have been left behind for too long. The council needs to stop infighting and start fighting for Lancashire instead. I want to come back to how much further we need to go to rebuild Britain. The Prime Minister rightly identified the deindustrialisation of Britain as one of the reasons places such as Blackpool North and Fleetwood have not shared in the proceeds of growth as much as they should have done. He is right that a change of policy is required, but right now Britain is deindustrialising faster than any of our neighbours. Domestic manufacturing capacity is an essential source of our national security. British manufacturers face the highest electricity prices in Europe. I know many Labour colleagues have asked the Chancellor to look at the merits of extending the British industrial competitiveness scheme to all manufacturing firms. I hope the Front-Bench team look carefully again at the proposals and sit down with the TUC and others to discuss how that could be implemented. This Budget offers practical help with people’s bills this winter. The 10-year plan and the spending review must do the same for their jobs.