Peter Lamb welcomes Labour’s ‘Cost of Living’ Budget

Crawley MP Peter Lamb has welcomed today’s Government Budget, setting out a series of measures aimed at easing the cost of living, restoring public services, and getting the UK’s economy growing.

Announcing the Budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, set out measures to increase the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage, increases in the old and new state pension, a freeze of prescription charges and rail fares, a continuation of the bus fare price cap, an extension of the 5p cut in fuel duty, and a cut in average energy bills of around £150.

Most significantly, the Budget is set to bring almost 4,000 children in Crawley out of poverty by ending the two-child benefit cap, the measure identified by charities and campaign groups as the single biggest driver behind the increase in child poverty over recent years.

In addition to announcements on public spending, it was revealed that the UK’s growth rate has been uprated for this year, that the UK is set to see the biggest reductions in borrowing of any G7 country, and more than doubling the fiscal headroom in the Budget, giving the market confidence that the UK is now a stable economy in which to do business.

Peter Lamb, Labour MP for Crawley, praised the Budget’s focus on fairness and cost-of-living support:

“I know far too many local families are struggling, I am delighted that the Government has delivered a Budget which puts tackling the cost of living at its centre, while giving business the confidence they need to deliver growth for the future.

“The growth in child poverty under the last government, to the point where one in three children is now growing up in poverty, was repulsive. In one day, with the lifting of the cap, we have taken almost 4,000 of Crawley’s children out of poverty. This is what I came into politics to do.”