The Budget is a chance to change tack – the government must take it
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham (front left) votes with other delegates in favour of a motion calling for the winter fuel cut to be reversed at Labour Party Conference 2024
4 min read
The first Labour Conference in government since 2009 has been a real opportunity to set out the huge changes Labour must make for the better of our country now we’re in power.
As Keir said on Tuesday, in just 12 weeks this Labour government has already begun a blitz of policy initiatives that will improve our economy and people’s living standards.
From the National Wealth Fund and the launch of Great British Energy to the steps to stop no-fault evictions, progress on bringing our railways back into public ownership, new bus franchises and the biggest levelling-up of workers’ rights in a generation – these are serious programmes. And all before the first Budget.
Now that Labour Conference has called for this policy to be reversed, the Budget must be the opportunity to change approach
I know these policies will make real positive changes and improve the lives of the people of our country.
Because Labour activists – from members to ministers – are united around building better public services after austerity, the benefits of public ownership and insourcing, and the need to rebalance employment rights and repeal restrictions on.
In particular, I am delighted that Angela Rayner is moving forward to implement the New Deal for Working People. I look forward to seeing every element of our 2021 Green Paper being introduced to transform the lives of millions of workers and their families.
Because in key areas, particularly in transport and in employment rights but also elsewhere, this government is building on the work of those of us charged with developing these policies when we were in the shadow cabinet over many years in opposition.
The policy progression through that period was remarkable and subject to severe scrutiny. It is right that we continue to hold government policy-making to account through healthy debate and respect for different views.
The scale of the task facing the government – due to the degradation of public services by the Conservatives – is immense.
So it is welcome that the conference has shown a clear rejection of austerity, from the repeated statements of Keir and of Rachel Reeves, to the policies backed by the members in the hall, including the economy motion proposed by Sharon Graham of Unite.
We now need to look ahead to the Budget and ensure the right measures are introduced. The groundwork has been done outlining the dreadful legacy left by the Tories and it’s right that the Chancellor now revises her fiscal rules for long-term investment, as the party this week urged. It’s the ‘tough choices’ that will attract the greatest attention – and how that squares with the ‘broadest shoulders’ taking a fairer proportion of the burden that they currently escape.
The cuts to Winter Fuel Allowance continue to conflict starkly with the commitment to reject austerity and will leave poor pensioners in cold homes this winter. Those who’ve done their bit and put in a full working life with a modest occupational pension shouldn’t be punished and see their payments being taken away. We do have to remember how poorly our pensions compare with our European counterparts, triple-locked or otherwise.
Now that Labour Conference has called for this policy to be reversed, the Budget must be the opportunity to change approach.
And the media focus on plans to tackle benefit fraud, a necessary task of any government, will worry vulnerable individuals with legitimate claims to support. We can make significantly more revenue for the Treasury tackling high-wealth tax avoidance.
We need to take steps to fairly tax high incomes and wealth. Sue Gray’s salary should not be a story when people like Centrica’s Chris O’Shea are receiving over £8m a year.
It is also grossly unfair that the wealthy who derive a significant income from the trading of assets pay a lower rate of tax than our public sector workers, and many others who – working night and day – keep our economy going, often for a most modest income.
That’s why the Budget must inject some fairness to our taxation system. An equalisation of Capital Gains Tax with income tax, reported to bring in between £12bn and £16bn to the Treasury coffers would be a good start.
One of the consequences of the New Deal for Working People is with the introduction of single status working. By transferring workers from fragile, low-paid jobs to secure, better-paid, regular work they and their families will in future be able to better lead good and flourishing lives. And that is estimated to benefit the Treasury to the tune of some £10bn per annum in respect of tax receipts that currently go uncollected.
So, after a positive week in Liverpool, the nation will be looking to the Budget very carefully to see real change that echoes the fairness and respect that the public are looking for and that they elected a Labour government to deliver.
Andy McDonald is Labour MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East
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