York Press column: Hopes for Budget Day
March 15, 2023
Ahead of today’s Budget, it is important to take stock and remember where we have come from since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister in the autumn of last year. Projections indicate inflation has peaked. Wholesale energy prices have begun to fall. And the United Kingdom may avoid recession entirely with growth returning earlier than expected.
Despite an outlook more promising than six months ago, the economic foundations on which these projections are made remains precarious so we must not relax the brakes just yet. Britain has to rebuild its reputation as a paragon of sound finances.
As Rishi Sunak said in the summer, “as Conservatives, if we don’t stand for sound finances, what is the point of us?”. The Prime Minister was elected to ensure we returned to embodying that principle and I am confident that the Chancellor’s budget will continue to demonstrate the UK is a place of sound economics that is one of the best places in the world to invest.
In the face of severe global challenges, the UK economy has proved more resilient than many expected, but there is a long way to go. It was reported last Friday that the UK economy grew by 0.3% in January of this year.
On Monday, potential fallout from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank was averted when the Prime Minister and Chancellor brokered a deal with HSBC to purchase the bank’s British subsidiary, thus protecting domestic holdings without a government bailout.
Throughout the last year, I have called on the Government to support businesses throughout the energy crisis, either directly helping with energy costs or introducing relief bespoke to each sector. For the hospitality sector, I have called for beer duty to be cut to recognise our pubs as community assets and to balance what I see as the unfair advantage supermarkets have. For our city’s independent business, I have been pressing for the Government to finally tackle the challenge of reforming business rates by introducing a new system that does not stifle investment or disadvantage multi-property business while also drawing revenue from online businesses.
To aid my lobbying efforts, I wrote directly to hundreds of businesses in York Outer and launched an online survey. The response greatly informed my contributions ahead of today’s Budget and will steer my work over the next year.
Domestic support has been invaluable to my constituents over winter and I am keen to see the extension of the Energy Price Guarantee today. It is projected by winter that the Ofgem Price Cap will soon be below the Government Energy Price Guarantee due to the falling price of wholesale energy. I am proud that the Government delivered such decisive intervention and reassured that it soon not being necessary points to global instabilities cooling.
Another key area I have dedicated time to in recent weeks is childcare funding. Family budgets are under extreme pressure and, while some costs are falling, the cost of early years child care is only rising. It is a reality now that mortgage prices now mean most families will have to rely on both parents working but an extra salary is of no benefit if it is soon diminished by childcare costs. I want to see how we can square that circle. At the moment, I am evaluating a few different options, such as the Scandinavian method. I believe Liz Truss, despite her mistakes elsewhere, did have a very good point regarding childcare costs. It needs looking at. I would also like to see some additional funding for colleges. In York, we boast one of the first institutions, York College, to provide T-Levels for 16-18 year olds. I noticed how colleges didn’t receive the same boost in funding that schools did in the Autumn Statement and would like to see some additional funds provided.
I look forward to what the Chancellor has to say today and will provide my initial reaction on social media, my website and, of course, to The Press.
