Hunt: We want to leave things better for our children than we found them
JEREMY Hunt insists his growth plan is working and will leave future generations better off.
In an exclusive message for Daily Express readers, the Chancellor says his Budget shows the Tories are dedicated to helping struggling households.
Firing up the economy, protecting pensions and creating a bigger domestic workforce are at the heart of his ideas to get the country back on track, he believes.
Mr Hunt said: “We are sticking to the plan because the plan is working. Thanks to tough decisions last year and my Budget this week, the recession is off, inflation is falling and we’re on track for growth.
“At the heart of my plan is making sure we leave things better for our children and grandchildren than we found them – a sentiment I know Express readers will share.
“That’s why I have set us on a path to help everyone who wants a job find one that works for them so they can earn a living and provide for themselves and their family. “Whether that’s helping older workers update their skills or offering more childcare support to parents, we’re removing barriers that are keeping millions out of work. “It’ll also mean businesses can get the staff they need to grow, without having to bring in workers from abroad.
“But of course I know people are still struggling – so we are going to do even more. We’re still holding down energy bills, cutting fuel tax for drivers and helping pub-goers through our Brexit Pub Guarantee.
“And that’s on top of protecting the Pension Triple Lock, upping the rate by 10 per cent – with higher payments hitting accounts next month.”
His upbeat message came after he resolutely defended his planned changes to pensions, namely scrapping the lifetime pensions allowance. Labour called it “a Tory tax cut for the rich”, saying it would only benefit the top one per cent of earners. They will oppose it in Parliament.
But Mr Hunt, who appeared on This Morning with Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby yesterday, insisted it would tackle the “big problem” of doctors leaving the NHS – and in turn help reduce record-high waiting lists.
Defending not limiting the move to doctors, he told BBC Breakfast: “If we had a scheme that was just for doctors, it would actually be more aggressive because what we’ve announced doesn’t help the very wealthiest doctors.
“The NHS at the moment spends about £3billion a year paying for locum doctors and agency nurses because of these staffing shortfalls.
“This will help to reduce that, it will free up more resources.” And he accused Labour of shifting its position, saying Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting had called for the pensions cap to be lifted last September.
“He seems to have changed his mind overnight on that one. He said it was crazy and it would save lives to get rid of that cap,” said Mr Hunt. “Well, he was right in September when he said that.”
Labour, whose leader Sir
Starmer visited life sciences company BioCube 2 in Edinburgh yesterday, has vowed to reverse the decision to abolish the lifetime pension allowance.
The move threatens to plunge the back-to-work drive into chaos.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “At a time when families across the country face rising bills, higher costs and frozen wages, this gilded giveaway is the wrong priority, at the wrong time, for the wrong people. That’s why a Labour Government will reverse this move. We urge the Chancellor and the Government to think again too.”
With a general election likely just over a year away, any uncertainty over the future of the policy could damage the Government’s hopes of boosting the workforce.
Harriett Baldwin, Tory chair of the Treasury Select Committee, told a Resolution Foundation debate: “I was very surprised the pensions cap was done to apply to everyone.”
She said she was expecting it to “apply to those in NHS pensions schemes” but instead Chancellor Jeremy Hunt had opted for the “simpler approach which is doing it for everyone”.
Meanwhile, former Home Secretary Priti Patel broadly welcomed the Budget but said Mr Hunt should have done more to help businesses.
She said: “Our nation is bursting with entrepreneurs keen to innovate and invest to create jobs and growth.
“But the rise in Corporation Tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent does run counter to our ambitions and risks deterring investment. “After being elected in 2010, Conservatives had brought Corporation Tax rates down and that helped stimulate growth. “The bean-counters in the Treasury may think increasing the Corporation Tax rate will help close the deficit and boost coffers. But the reality is more wealth, prosperity and tax receipts are generated by private sector businesses and those who invest in this country.”