Labour’s Budget backs working people in Luton South & South Bedfordshire

I know just how tough things have been for people in our area. The Conservatives crashed the economy and local people have paid the price with mortgage and rent prices soaring, sluggish growth, public services crumbling around us, leaving a £22 billion black hole in the nation’s finances.

We now have a government that will deliver for working people here in Luton South and South Bedfordshire. In the Labour’s first Budget, the Chancellor set out a Budget that fixes the foundations to deliver change by, growing our economy through investment, so that we can rebuild Britain and fix our schools, hospitals, and broken roads, while ensuring working people don’t face higher taxes in their payslips - keeping our promise not to raise National Insurance, Income Tax, or VAT.

The Conservatives made working people pick up the bill for their chaos and decline. This Labour Government has instead made the choice to put pounds in the pockets of working people, including increasing the National Living Wage to £12.21 - 3,300 people in Luton alone will be better off per year as a result.

Central to this Labour Budget is fixing our NHS. Our healthcare system was pushed to the brink under the previous Government, this Budget will help bring waiting lists down in our NHS with 40,000 extra elective appointments a week and over 1.25 million diagnostics tests through new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners.

Alongside this, we are investing in education to give every child the best start in life, supporting the recruitment of 6,500 new teachers, providing additional support for the SEND system and enabling the roll-out of free breakfast clubs in thousands of primary schools.

This Budget will also deliver the biggest boost to affordable housing over this Parliament, with a £500 million boost to the Affordable Homes programme to build up to 5,000 additional affordable homes.

Labour is turning the page on the past 14 years of failure by fixing the foundations and starting a new chapter focused on making Britain better off. I will always work to secure the investment, jobs and public services that Luton South & South Bedfordshire deserves.