Political opinion with Alison Bennett MP: A mixed bag of a Budget

Over the last few months, you have been sharing your concerns with me about the long-awaited Budget. After weeks of leaks, briefings and U-turns it was a relief to finally get to the day itself. What the Chancellor announced was a mixed bag, driven, not by economic but by political necessity: with Labour backbenchers looking at a failing government and wanting something in the Budget that they could cheer about.

First the positives. Since at least 2019, it has been known that carers were being sent eye-watering bills for Carers Allowance overpayments - through no fault of their own. After years of campaigning by the Lib Dems, charities and journalists, Labour has set aside £75m to put right the wrongs of the Conservatives.

It is right that the government will scrap the two-child benefit cap, lifting children out of poverty and saving the taxpayer money in the long term. Children do not choose which family they are born into, so making sure that families have enough to put food on the table and heat their homes is the right thing to do.

Worryingly, the Budget revealed a £6 billion funding gap for special educational needs, once more leaving SEND children and their families in the lurch. This is a real issue that comes up repeatedly on the doorstep and in my inbox, and in the New Year, the government must decide how they are going to square the circle. I am clear that cutting school budgets would be a disaster.

Turning to taxation, whilst the Chancellor adopted the Liberal Democrat policy of increasing gaming duty, elsewhere I fear that normal families and local businesses are going to bear the burden instead of multinational banks and tech giants. Whether it is freezing income tax bands, limiting salary sacrifice on pension contributions, or hammering hospitality providers with higher business rates, this was not a budget that will help the vast majority of people. Nor will encourage the economy to grow and the UK to prosper.

The Chancellor is looking for money in all the wrong places. The key to our country’s future is in promoting growth so that businesses and consumers can thrive. The sooner the Treasury recognise that, the better.