Emma Lewell MP: Budget needs to restore some of the trust, faith and goodwill

I feel it too; I am impatient for the changes that we promised at the General Election in 2024. I know we can’t fix everything quickly, but this Budget needs to restore some of the trust, faith and goodwill that the British public had for us at that Election.

Since the Budget in 2024, I have been making the case for more investment in South Shields. In recent months I have secured over £30million for improvements across our community, but I know we still need more.

In this Budget, I want to see, at long last, the two-child cap scrapped – one of the cruellest of Tory polices that has plunged children into poverty through no fault of their own. Lifting the cap will immediately take 400,000 children out of that poverty.

Our hospitality industry is struggling. It contributes nearly £40million to the economy and employs over 2,000 people. We cannot afford to let another single premises close their doors. That is why I have been pushing for lower business rates and a discounted rate for hospitality, changes to the employers’ National Insurance contributions and a VAT cut on hospitality – as well as making it clear we that will resist any attempts for a ‘tourism tax’ to be imposed on us.

In the 2024 Budget, after years of campaigning, our miners in the Miners Pension Scheme received their pension surplus back. But those under the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS) are still waiting for a transfer of reserves over £2billion.

Miners were prosecuted and made redundant. They had the heart ripped out of their communities, and were robbed not just of their jobs and pensions, but their retirement and the dignity that they all deserved. I am hoping this week, that the Government will right this wrong. Because regardless of the scheme, an injustice is an injustice.

This Budget is an opportunity for us to show the British people that we are on their side; I am confident the Government will deliver.