Andrew Griffith

Andrew Griffith

Conservative — Arundel and South Downs

Speaking in the House of Commons on 29 October 2026

Debate

Budget Resolutions

Contribution

This Budget must be bewildering to members of the Prime Minister’s party. He promised them a “circuit breaker”, an end to “40 years of neoliberalism” and a “new political model”. Instead, it is all gherkins and aubergines. The Defence Secretary, who is sitting on the Front Bench, is probably wondering the same as everyone else: was that it? To be honest, he is probably thinking he would have done a better job, and he might be right. It is not too late: if he resigns again, he might get his chance to be the Chancellor. All the while, Britain has a debt problem, Britain has a defence problem, Britain has a growth problem, and apparently, as we learned yesterday, there is nothing the Chancellor can do. On the big challenges, what has this Budget actually done? It does not reduce borrowing; total debt has gone up. It does not properly fund defence; the Government still have not set out how 3% will be funded. It does not cut taxes to get the economy growing; instead, they are putting up taxes again.

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