Over 2,200 children in Llanelli live in households that will benefit from scrapping the Two Child Limit announced in the Budget. Around 450,000 children in total nationally will be lifted out of poverty by this change which, combined with other measures, is predicted to bring about the largest fall in child poverty on record.
Tackling the scourge of child poverty is one of the central missions of this Labour Government and while there is still a vast amount of work to do, this is an encouraging start to build upon that will make a huge difference to so many families.
Rachel Reeves’ Budget showed we are building a stronger and more secure economy, beating forecasts with growth this year upgraded to 1.5% (from 1%) and wages up more in the first year of this Government than the entire first decade under the Conservatives.
Other announcements included cutting the cost of living with money off energy bills, reducing government borrowing every year and maintaining the highest levels of public investment for four decades.
Changing our country was always going to be hard especially when the damage from the last decade of austerity and Brexit is worse than previously thought. However, our determination is only made stronger by the need to overcome these hurdles, grow the economy and give businesses the confidence to create good jobs.
In the years ahead this Labour Government will be cutting borrowing more than any other G7 country to ensure our finances are managed responsibly and taxpayers’ money can be spent on what really matters. After all, there’s nothing positive about spending £1 in every £10 on debt interest when those resources could be invested in helping current and future generations instead.
Every penny of public money will be spent wisely including ending asylum hotels while reclaiming £70m from Tory asylum hotel contracts and almost £400m from Covid fraud. We are also reforming Motability, continuing to support those who need it but removing luxury cars and saving the taxpayer over £1bn over 5 years.
And we are putting more money into people’s pockets immediately by taking levies off energy bills to save families £150 on average next year, rising to £300 for many poorer households. Our policies are also forecast to cut inflation, making it easier for banks to cut mortgage rates and businesses to invest.
Everyone is being asked to contribute but that contribution is being kept as low as possible by delivering long overdue reforms on income and property taxation The Budget makes fair and necessary choices – choices for a purpose: building a stronger, fairer country, where living standards rise, child poverty falls and public services are renewed.