Contribution
I rise in support of the Opposition motion. I rise to criticise this Government’s attitude towards employers, their disregard for the reality of life running a business, their nonsensical approach to tackling poverty and social mobility, and their maddening approach to the economy.
The reality is that a job is the foundational unit in an economy. It is the immortal gene that is fundamental to economic evolution, growth and prosperity. I say that because a job is, first and foremost, an income. An income keeps a roof over someone’s head, food on the table and the lights on. An income is spent and then passes through the economic supply chain, creating more value and, yes, more jobs. A job is not just an income, however; it is a source of pride, purpose and identity. It offers structure, routine and the opportunity for a sense of self-achievement. It is a source of social inclusion, friendship and support. It is also a stepping stone. The job someone has today connects them to the job opportunity that might come up tomorrow, next week or next month. Without a job today, the probability of being in work in future diminishes greatly.
As a result of those three realities, work is indeed the best route out of poverty and into prosperity, not just for the individual but for the population as a whole. Look what happens when work is degraded. All the evidence shows that long-term unemployment is synonymous with depression, anxiety, social isolation and a shortened life expectancy. The Health Foundation found that people out of work and on benefits are five times more likely to report poor health than those in work. And yet, Members on the Labour Benches are obsessed with talking down the importance of a job. They talk of bad jobs and unfulfilling work. The reality is that the phenomenal growth in employment we experienced between 2010 and the onset of covid coincided with a massive improvement in living standards and a fall in material deprivation.
If Members do not believe me, they should read the report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The share of children living in material deprivation fell by a quarter in the six years leading up to the pandemic. By 2017-18, severe material deprivation among working-age families was roughly one fifth lower than it was in 2010. Pensioner material deprivation fell continuously from 2010 onward. Why? Because rising employment and earned income, offset the cuts to welfare. That is what we delivered in government: a high-employment, low-welfare economy, which is in stark contrast to the high-unemployment and high-welfare economy that this Government aspire to.
The Government talk about hope. The Conservatives in government gave people hope of a life off welfare and in work. Four million new jobs were created between 2010 and 2024—4 million people who otherwise would have been left languishing on benefits, 4 million people who could go home on a Friday proud of their contribution to the economy, their family and themselves. The Labour Government cannot help themselves but steam in and ruin the jobs market for so many.
Nowhere is that more the case than in their deluded decision to increase national insurance contributions for employers. Can you imagine the contorted logic of saying, “I am from the Labour party, the party of work, and we want jobs for all, so we have decided to tax the people who create the jobs in the hope that taking money out of their pockets will inevitably mean they will have more money to put into yours.” It does not make any sense.
This Government do not make any sense. They are for Europe, then they are against it, then they are for it again. They want to invest in defence, then they do not, then they do and now they do not. They embarked on the famous prawn sandwich offensive in advance of the last election, only to turn around and backtrack on all that pro-business sentiment. They promised they would not tax working people, then they did.
In the process, we saw a Treasury Minister go on TV and refuse to recognise entrepreneurs, business owners and decent people who have taken a risk to start a business as working people. Well, say that to Jason and Kate of Trulock & Harris in my constituency. Tell Roger, the postmaster in Framingham, who had to put up with Storm Babet but kept on going, that he is not a working person. How about Will, who runs the Greyhound in Pettistree, one of my favourite pubs? People travel from across the country to go and visit him. Tell him he is not a working person.
Tell that to Debbie, the landlady at the Kesgrave Bell, who has served that community for a generation and is loved by her customers. Is she not a working woman? Tell my friend Charlotte, who works day and night on her business selling paper and card products and has done for six years, that she is not a working woman. How about Darren from DK9 in Blakenham? Our children are in the same class at school. He invested in rescue teams that helped find little Noah Woods in Brantham earlier this year. Is he not a working man as well? Or perhaps the team at Realise Futures in North Ipswich who have set up a community interest company supporting disadvantaged people into work—are they not working people either?
These are the people we on this side of the House stand up for: the workers, grafters, innovators and disruptors who work themselves to the bone because they want to make payroll for their staff and do not want to let their customers down. This Government could help them. It is not too late. Cut their taxes, reverse the NICs increase introduced by the right hon. Member for Leeds West and Pudsey (Rachel Reeves) and help people get a job.