Kimberley MP column: This year's Budget is built on Labour values

This year the Labour Government is continuing its focus on strengthening the economy and tackling the cost of living.

To do this, it’s important that we’re getting the big picture economics right.

We won’t be borrowing more, and we have cut out debt by more than any other G7 country.

This has meant that we’ve been able to bring down interest rates, which have been consistently cut five times since the election – which makes people’s mortgages cheaper.

We’re also beating the forecasts, with our projected growth for this year being upgraded from one per cent to 1.5 per cent, and wages are up to match.

In fact, wages have increased more in the last year under Labour than they did in the first 10 years of the last Conservative Government.

To grow the economy, the Chancellor announced that we would permanently lower the business rates for more than 750,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties.

She also announced that apprenticeship training for under-25s would be made free for Small and Medium Enterprises (those with less than 250 staff and less than £44m annual turnover), alongside £820m for colleges, apprenticeships and personalised job support.

The biggest headlines though, came from what the Chancellor did to help everyone with the cost of living.

First of all, there’s action to stop the rise of everyday costs – that means rail fares, prescription charges and fuel duty are all being frozen and the cap on bus fares is being extended too.

The Government is also acting on energy bills – by scrapping energy levies we’ll save families £150 on average next year.

The budget will put money back in people’s pockets as well, with the minimum wage set to rise from £12.21 to £12.71 per hour benefitting 280,000 people just here in the East Midlands.

The two-child benefit cap, a cruel hangover from the last Government, is now being abolished.

This will immediately lift 450,000 children across the country out of poverty and 5,440 kids right here in Nottingham North & Kimberley will be better off for it.

For pensioners, the triple-lock is being maintained, to make sure that the state pension keeps pace with the cost of living, but there’s an even bigger win for former miners.

Last year the budget ended the injustice of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme by returning the portion of the fund held by the Government, boosting the pensions of 294 miners here in Nottingham North & Kimberley.

This year we’re finishing the job and doing the same for the 163 miners on the BCSSS pension scheme.

This year’s Budget gave us policies to bring stability to the nation’s finances, help businesses and protect families.

It was unmistakeably a Labour budget and I look forward to seeing the country benefit from it.