Contribution
I thank the Leader of the House for giving us the business for the start of the new year.
I begin by expressing my deepest condolences and sympathies to the victims of the Bondi Beach attack at the weekend. I am sure that we were all horrified to see the events unfold, with innocent Jews murdered as they enjoyed Hanukkah in the evening sunshine. As the Leader of the Opposition said yesterday, we must do much more to tackle antisemitism and Islamic extremism around the world, but also here in the United Kingdom.
Mr Speaker, I wish you, the Leader of the House and Members, the Doorkeepers, the catering team and all parliamentary staff a very happy Christmas.
Will the Leader of the House be making any new year’s resolutions? I know that he respects this place and the important role of MPs and Parliament in holding Ministers to account. May I suggest that his new year’s resolution should be to ensure that the 2,644 parliamentary questions that have not received a response are answered as soon as possible, please, and that all the many letters and emails from MPs to Ministers that have not received the courtesy of a reply are dealt with as quickly as possible?
As we look ahead to 2026, I am reminded that Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” is a tale not just of redemption but of the perils of ignoring reality. Sadly, after only 18 months of this Labour Government, it is already clear that no amount of festive storytelling can disguise what is happening to our country. If anyone needs a visit from the three ghosts this year, it is those on the Government Benches.
Let us start with the ghost of Christmas past. In opposition, Labour promised everything to everyone: lower energy bills, shorter NHS waiting lists, kick-starting economic growth, safer streets, 1.5 million new homes and world-class public services, funded—apparently—without raising taxes. The British people were sold a vision of transformation without the trade-offs. Now that Labour is in government, reality is quickly catching up.
The ghost of Christmas present shows us the consequences. Since the election, we have seen rising taxes on working people, a retreat from every major spending pledge, a benefits bill rising higher and higher, a cost of living crisis made in Downing Street and economic growth going in the wrong direction. Labour promised an immediate plan to rescue the NHS; instead, waiting lists have continued to rise and militant doctors remain in dispute, resulting in 93,000 lost appointments and patients being told to expect a long, difficult winter. This Labour Government promised a plan for social care; six months later, there is still none. They promised cheaper energy bills; bills are up again. They promised 1.5 million new homes; yet planning reforms are already being bogged down by internal Labour rows. They promised 6,500 more teachers, but there are now 400 fewer teachers since the election. They promised to smash the gangs, but illegal migration continues to rise, and despite promising to restore trust in our justice system, Labour’s early release scheme has seen offenders let out early while police forces struggle with 1,316 fewer police. This is not the change the public were promised.
Now to the ghost of Christmas yet to come: if the first 18 months are a sign of things to come, the future should send a winter chill through us all. Even more tax rises are due to hit working people thanks to the Chancellor’s “Nightmare before Christmas” Budget last month. The family farm tax will take effect, which will decimate our rural economy and undermine food security. We will see Departments told to brace for spending cuts after Labour admitted the money was not there; councils warning of bankruptcy, and investment faltering as businesses grapple with mixed signals on planning, energy and regulation; our liberties under attack, with the introduction of digital ID and the scrapping of trials by jury; and a Prime Minister who talks endlessly about missions but is yet to deliver a single measurable improvement to the lives of ordinary families.
The lesson of Dickens’s tale is that it is never too late to change course. For the sake of our country, we on the Opposition Benches urge the Government to do exactly that. We urge them to be honest about what they can fund, to be transparent about what they will cut, to show some backbone and, above all else, to keep their promises. Let us hope that by next Christmas, the Government have changed direction, because the country cannot afford another year like 2025. Happy new year.