Feryal Clark MP responds to Budget 2021
This Budget shows the Government are out of touch and have the wrong priorities.
They’ve let shortages and prices get out of control, gas bills are up, petrol costs are up, food costs are up.
At the same time, they’ve handed tax cuts to big companies like Amazon, while putting taxes up on working families and cutting Universal Credit.
This comes at exactly the wrong time, just as people are feeling the pinch - with energy prices rising, the cost of petrol at record levels, and food bills soaring.
Many Enfield North constituents were in touch with me expressing their concerns ahead of the budget, particularly about the state of our public services and support for key workers.
Despite the Chancellor’s rhetoric today, he did nothing to ease the concerns my constituents have raised.
Whilst the minimum wage increase is to be welcomed, it does nowhere near enough to support those key workers on low wages who have sacrificed so much during the pandemic.
From next year our taxes will be the highest they’ve been in decades but despite this, the Chancellor presented no plan to fix the problems our public services are facing- with fewer police on streets, bigger class sizes, and longer waits to get hospital treatment since his party came to power in 2010.
Do not let the Tories tell you these problems have only been caused by Covid.
In the years running up to the pandemic, successive Tory governments weakened the foundations of our economy, and now they have no plan to address the long-term challenges and opportunities we face.
In contrast, Labour will tax fairly, spend wisely, and get our economy firing on all cylinders.
Labour will bring in a New Deal for Working People so people earn a proper wage, have job security, and can balance work with their lives with a right to flexible working, making sure work always pays.
Combined with modern public services that drive up standards in schools, hospitals, transport and the places we live and work, a Labour government would improve the lives of working people across our country, rather than making things harder for them.
The Chancellor had the opportunity to do just that today and provide relief for those families who have been hardest by the pandemic.
Instead, he chose to make things easier for people sipping champagne on short-haul flights.
This budget did not deliver for Enfield North, but constituents can be assured that I’ll continue to do everything I can to get people across our community the support they need.