Anna Dixon

In yesterday’s Budget, the Chancellor put in place measures that will put money back into the pockets of my constituents in Shipley, support our brilliant independent businesses, and deliver for carers and families across Bingley, Shipley, Baildon and the surrounding villages. This Budget does that without endangering the strong economic foundations that were laid by the previous Chancellor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds West and Pudsey (Rachel Reeves). I echo the Defence Secretary’s tribute to her for her actions to restore economic stability after the Tories’ economic chaos. Against a backdrop of global uncertainty, the new Chancellor faced a tricky balancing act rebuilding our public services and maintaining fiscal discipline, but this Chancellor and this Budget got that balance right, delivering security at home, with better public services, and security from threats abroad. I echo what other hon. Members have said and welcome the new energy bills breathing space that will give 36,500 households in Shipley a £100 payment this winter. I am incredibly proud that, after years of campaigning, the carer’s allowance cliff edge will be abolished and replaced with a taper, so carers who earn just a little over the earnings limit will no longer lose their entire allowance. Carers should never be penalised for working an extra shift, so that unfairness ends under a Labour Government. I share our new Prime Minister’s ambition to reform adult social care, to ensure that disabled adults and older people get the care they need. I look forward to the spending review and hope that his ambition will be matched by the Chancellor in the spending review. Briefly, I would like to echo my hon. Friend the Member for Blaydon and Consett (Liz Twist) and her enjoyment of the PDEL, the new protected prevention spend. It may seem a little geeky, but it could prove transformative. Let us stop paying for failure and crisis, and instead invest in early intervention. Just one example of where that could make a huge difference is in hospice and end of life care. If we funded our local hospices, such as Marie Curie and Sue Ryder, that are currently reliant on charitable funding, they could expand community support. This would deliver reductions in inappropriate and unnecessary hospital admissions at end of life, saving money in the NHS and ensuring more people die at home and in the community. Finally, I welcome the defence spending. I hope that some of the fantastic, innovative small and medium-sized enterprises in defence in Shipley, such as Radio Design and Slipstream Engineering Design, can use it to grow the number of high-skilled jobs in my area. This is a fantastic Budget. It shows that the Labour Government are listening to people in places like Shipley and backing workers, carers and our local businesses.