More cash going to the NHS and our schools after the Chancellor calmed markets
THE Autumn Statement by my colleague Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, has calmed the markets. It is not, in my opinion, as pro-growth as the previous fiscal statement by the previous Chancellor, however it is calm, measured and sensible.
The aim of the Autumn Statement was to restore economic stability and tackle inflation. Inflation, currently a problem across Europe, makes everyone poorer, so we need to get a grip of it.
The Chancellor is also working to balance the books. We had to spend to keep the economy going during Covid19, and I believe that this was successful – many businesses in South Derbyshire were able to keep going, keeping people employed, because of the furlough packages put in place during the pandemic by our Prime Minister, as the then Chancellor.
This was obviously at a vast cost to the public purse, and National Debt now stands at 97.3 per cent of GDP according to the OBR.
Furthermore, the OBR forecasts put our national debt to peak at 106.7 per cent of GDP at the end of 2023/24. These forecasts are, without question, sobering.
As David Cameron once said “there is no magic money tree”, and governments only have the revenue that they raise.
The Chancellor’s statement, therefore, kept a fine line between protecting the vulnerable, cutting spending whilst still finding more money for schools and the NHS (£11 billion).
The Chancellor has said that he needs to increase revenue, and therefore those earning over £125,000 will be taxed more. All tax increases are still going to be difficult for many people, given that we are all having to deal with increased costs.
The triple lock pension has been guaranteed. I was upset that a number of my constituents were frightened by a campaign which implied that the triple lock was not being continued by the Government. It seems to have been forgotten that the triple lock guarantee was brought in by my Government under David Cameron, following years of pensioners being forgotten.
The vulnerable are being protected in the statement both with the uprating of benefits in line with inflation, and a £12 billion package to help the vulnerable with higher energy bills. The rest of us are being supported by the Energy Price Guarantee, which is being extended until April 2024.
The statement aims to boost growth with over £600 billion in capital investment over the next five years, protecting the Levelling Up Fund, protecting research and development spending, using our Brexit freedoms to reform the financial services sector, and providing a £14 billion business rates cuts package. South Derbyshire continues to do well with low unemployment, and I will continue to lobby to make sure that South Derbyshire gets as much investment as possible.
Overall, I am positive about the Chancellor’s statement.
The vulnerable are being protected both with the uprating of benefits in line with inflation and a £12 billion package to help the vulnerable with higher energy bills.