This week in parliament, I spoke out against fourteen years of Tory economic failure. 

The Spring Budget, announced by the Chancellor last week, was an opportunity for the Tories to finally help young people to get on track, to stop mortgage costs going up, to stop prices from rising, and to bring an end to working families’ tax burden, which is at a seventy-year high.   

But the Budget failed to be the turning point we need. Taxes are still rising, prices are still spiralling, and nothing Jeremy Hunt announced will change that. The Tories have clearly learnt nothing since Liz Truss crashed the economy and families and businesses are still paying the price. 

This is the first parliament in history where living standards have fallen, with people worse off in 2024 than in 2019. Despite the Chancellor’s last minute National Insurance cut, figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility show that for every 10p extra working people will pay in tax under the Tories’ plan, they will only be getting 5p back as a result of the cut. 

Pay for residents in Feltham and Heston has fallen 6% since 2019, and 20% since Labour were last in Government in 2010. The number of small businesses in Feltham and Heston has been falling for the past two years running and is now lower than it was in 2019.  

And to top it off, the Chancellor promised £46 billion of unfunded National insurance tax cuts in the future, which would leave a gaping black hole in the public finances.  National Insurance contributions go towards our National Health Service and people’s pensions, so which one of these would the Tories cut to fund this reckless pledge? 

Labour would make different choices, with a plan to invest in our economy, jobs and public services to get the nation’s finances growing again so that everyone feels better off. That means bringing stability back so we can protect family finances, it means investing in British business so we can unlock the potential of our towns and highstreets, and it means investing in our young people. 

Unlike the Tories, Labour will not let a generation of young people go off track before they’ve even begun. Through investing in our skills system, hiring over a thousand new careers advisors for our schools and colleges, and boosting apprenticeships, our goal is every young person earning or learning, with help to build their skills and careers, and to manage and improve their health.  

This is how we will grow the economy, transform opportunity and give everyone a stake in our country’s success. 

People in Hounslow and across the country are desperate for a Government that believes in them, and is on their side. That’s why more than anything, this Budget showed that what the country really needs is an election, and a Labour Government.