LICHFIELD’S MP says the Labour budget is “about fairness”.
Dave Robertson’s comments come after Chancellor Rachel Reeves set out her economic plans earlier today (26th November).
The budget saw steps such as prescription and rail fare freezes as well as increases to the minimum wage and the end of the Child Benefit cap.
Other measures include restrictions on cash ISA amounts for the under-65s and the introduction of a new electric car mileage tax.
Mr Robertson said his party had outlined plans which would help local families and businesses.
“This budget is about fairness. The Conservatives ran down our public services. We all saw it in our area – spiralling NHS waiting lists, roads riddled with potholes, local businesses struggling and the cost of living soaring.
“Labour is doing things differently – we’re helping families in Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages with the cost of living, improving public services, and strengthening our local economy.
“And every pound of this budget is paid for. There are no disastrous unfunded plans like we saw under Liz Truss.”
Mr Robertson said scrapping the two child limit on Child Benefit would help around 1,500 people in the local area, while almost 2,700 businesses in Lichfield and East Staffordshire would see rates cut permanently.
The Labour MP said two GP surgeries – St Chads Health Centre and The Westgate Practice – would get funding to improve and modernise services.
He added:
“The Government is paying for its plans with fair tax reforms – asking the very richest to pay a little more to invest in our country and help drive the growth we need.
“On average, all but the richest 10% of households will be better off as a result of this budget, helping the poorest in our country as well as the squeezed middle.”
But local business chiefs said the budget had delivered a mixed bag for companies.
The Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce’s acting deputy CEO Raj Kandola said:
“Overall, businesses will be breathing a sigh of relief that they weren’t a marked target for tax hikes like last year but a number of measures announced today will simply add to the crippling cost pressures that many face on a daily basis.
“Increasing the minimum wage and capping salary sacrifices will simply add to overheads and without meaningful reform to the proposed Employment Rights Bill will do little to encourage businesses to bolster their workforce.
“Changes to the business rates system fall well short of meaningful reform. More support for those in the hospitality and retail sector is welcome, but not at the expense of those operating in larger warehouses.
“On entering Government, the Chancellor promised to get a grip of the country’s finances and create an entrepreneurial platform for firms to flourish. With taxes set to reach record levels by the end of the decade, coupled with subdued investment and hiring levels, this vision seems a distant reality.
“This budget does not go far enough to give business confidence the boost it needs.”
Whats fair about this Dave?! National debt up by at least 2% by 2029. Nothing on border enforcement (I’ll smash the gangs). Tax on homes because they’re worth more. No investment in apprenticeships, nothing for small businesses, nothing to help the high street retailers. Nothing in education to improve vocational skills, nothing on reducing the world’s most expensive energy. Nothing on changing tax on farms. Nothing on policing and knife crime.
but it’s ok you can afford it. Well we can’t! I’m not paying taxes for mass benefit street.
your party mislead the electorate in the election, then in 2024 budget and again today. Reeves already saying I’ll be back again next year.
Politics is about honest, integrity and openness. Your party has failed on all of those.
Last year Rachel Reeves put up taxes by 40 billion she swore it was a one off , today its 26 billion. There is nothing fair about taking money from working people and giving it to non-working people. I only had two children because that is all we could afford. They could of kept the ISA allowance at 20k and brought in a special scheme to get people investing into stocks and share ISAs.Higher taxes on people saving for their pension. It’s miserable living under a labour government.
Fairness by taking off the middle class! 😂😂🤦♂️
What a surprise!
our MP spouting the “ party line” and confirming that Labour have no sense of understanding about how to run the economy.
Mr Robertson is as culpable as the whole party for being willing to break the manifesto promises- hope the electorate will show their response when we next have a chance to get this government out?!
This awful budget that the out of her depth Chancellor has bodged up is anything but being “about fairness” as our MP has declared. What’s fair about ordinary people who work long hours and graft as well as people who are coming up to retirement after a similar existence and want to earn interest on their savings being hit hard in the pocket by being squeezed on paying more tax? The people on the other hand who don’t want to work but are happy to pick up their benefits and the feckless lazy lot who have massive families and want taxpayers to fund their kids clothes and food etc will be chuffed by Reeves disastrous shambles of a budget. I hate to think what a mess the UK will be in before the end of this decade.
Is it fair that people choose to have more than 2 children fully knowing there will be limited financial support for them? If you cannot afford more than 2 children then you simply shouldn’t be having them. It’s like third world countries when there’s a hunger crisis yet they still have children? Makes no sense to me yet tax payers are having to stump out another £3 billion to keep them. Best policy would have been free school meals for everyone least the kids would benefit rather than the parents.
Dave – Some very good parts of this budget, credit is due.
But, as is becoming increasingly obvious, even to the most deluded, these steps are like trying to fill a holes bucket without repairing the hole first
£90 billion in lost revenue, 8% hit to GDP, combine to make a substantial hole.
Stop running scared a few loudmouths and as a matter of urgency apply to join the Single Market.
A generation will thank you.
On Income Tax you can cut out the semantics currently being spoken. The only real test is “will the government be deducting more of my work income than they would have done?” The answer has to be yes because the criteria means more of your income is (or will be) eligible for tax. In reality, with inflationary influence, this will be substantial by 2031.
I think that the foot in the door regarding electric car milage tax will soon go the same way as VAT did with rapid increases. My overall beef is that, with such short terms of government office, no party has the incentive for proper fiscal management. You can expect some lollypops nearer election time.
I reckon I’m paying about 6p per mile for the electricity to run an old second-hand EV. A 3p per mile tax is a massive increase in the cost of running a car that already cost twice what the equivalent petrol engine car would have cost to buy. It also seems unfair to put the same tax on all electric vehicles, ignoring how much electricity they consume (miles per kilowatt hour) or how much wear and tear they cause to roads (how heavy they are). This won’t encourage manufacturers to produce smaller, more affordable electric vehicles.
Probably time Labour renamed itself the Welfare Party to more accurately reflect where it stands. The 4th Labour government I’ve had to endure in my lifetime and possibly already the worst. Zero growth, zero aspiration just a lefty wishlist of magical thinking and economic illiteracy. Sadly Reform and the Tories still have some way to go to come up with something credible to get us out of this mess. It’s going to get a lot worse.
A Quote from Thomas Sewell
Since this is an era when many people are concerned about ‘fairness’ and ‘social justice,’ what is your ‘fair share’ of what someone else has worked for?
All this demonstrates is a lack of cohesive thinking. Expecting vote winning child allowances to actually be spent upon freeing children from poverty is akin to providing free heroin for junkies. Charging EV’s per mile is another glowing example, so the entire crumbling road network is now a toll road? Try to avoid congestion but get charged more for driving further? The list goes on and on. Raise the tax and spend it for what it was raised against, not just spaffing cash for votes.
What planet is Dave Robertson on? Fair budget, to whom, why on earth has the 2 child cap been removed, I tell you why to please nobody other than the far left in the party, if people chose to have more than 2 children absolutely fine, but pay for them yourself. I’m sick and tired of Labour blaming everyone other than themselves. This country has lost its feel good factor due to the buffoons of the Labour Government. And as for fixing pot holes and local services improving, it’s certainly not from his efforts, thankfully we have a Reform County Council to thank for the progress in these services. Enjoy the moment Dave, you have as much chance of being re elected as a cut in taxes by the Labour Government.
Big mistake voting for Labour. Awful performance to date. “Rachel from Accounts” is not in the real world- not hopeful she or “Never Here Keir ” will survive to Easter, but who could replace them?
Politices is at an all time low in UK
People on MINIMUM wage will now pay around 200 pounds extra tax next year. That’s fair is it Dave??? Deluded
Plenty of comments suggesting that people who choose to have more than two children should be prepared to foot the bill for the choice they have made.
I wonder, do those commenting think that Brexit voters should foot the bill for leaving the EU? Or do they continue to insist that the whole country has to suffer because of their choice? I never heard a single one of them say their own job was a price worth paying for Brexit – apart from Nigel Farage. But, of course, he refuses to give up his £70k a year EU pension, which will be funded by…the taxpayer.
Labour have again proved they continue to be the party of Tax and Spend.
This has never been good in the past and the one of the reasons why older voters do not vote for Labour.
Dave: Simply repeating the party line is not good enough, that’s not what you were unfortunately elected to do as you supposedly represent your constituents. Lichfield and district do not simply want an MP that will only follow party policies.
You have stated the budget is about fairness without explaining what you believe to be fair about it.
The budget has in fact increased income tax for all taxpayers, whilst increasing some welfare for those that appear to have no regard for making a fair contribution to society.
The budget has increased tax on savers.
So we are all going to to have to make a contribution to help the feckless spending by this ridiculous government, oh then again not all of us just the grafters not the takers.
Dave you must be deluded if you think this budget was anything but the workers pay more so that the workshy get more benefits ? It’s proof you are a member of Liemore ? What a joke