With the Budget only days away, Labour MPs are bracing themselves for what has been touted as a difficult fiscal event with tough decisions due to the gap left in the nation’s finances by the Conservatives.
As Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares the economic world for her first Budget to prevent market jitters, Downing Street has also been briefing Labour MPs to quell any potential unease on the backbenches, especially after reports of unrest among ministers over potential departmental cuts.
LabourList spoke to several Labour MPs ahead of Wednesday’s Budget to ask what they are hoping to see the Chancellor announce.
MPs acknowledge Reeves ‘inherited a mess’
The message that the Budget will include many difficult decisions has been drilled into every Labour MP we spoke to.
One MP said that they expected the Chancellor to “be honest” about how Labour “inherited a mess”, and that Labour would have to close the gap left by the Conservatives in the public services.
READ MORE: Fiscal rules: What is Reeves changing – and why does it matter?
However, they also said they expected the Budget to be fair – ensuring those with the broadest shoulders would take on the biggest burden and that the wealthiest would bear the brunt of tax rises, in order to allow for greater investment.
‘We need to take control of the narrative’
The MPs all praised the government for hitting the ground running and making significant progress to change the country. But they said the new administration had been let down by how it has communicated its achievements so far, leading them to be drowned out by controversies like the donor, freebie and winter fuel rows.
One Labour MP said that, in a “difficult fiscal landscape”, the government needed to “take control of the narrative” and prevent the Budget from being spun as an “austerity budget”.
They also said the Budget will be one for “growth and investment”, made more evident with Reeves’ announcement yesterday that she would loosen the government’s fiscal rules, and said they would want to see investment in the wellbeing of communities included in the announcements next week.
Optimism about boost for the NHS
One Labour MP told LabourList that while they knew the Budget would be “difficult”, they were “optimistic” that “adequate” funding would be found for the health service.
They also said they had heard some messages that some health funding may be granted to other departments to improve health in other areas, such as investment in warm homes or improving the environment.
Sky News’ Sam Coates has reported extra cash is on the table for the NHS, while a recent Labour ad said explicitly Reeves wanted to “fix the foundations” in order to “invest in our NHS” – and “build the homes our country needs”:
This is why @RachelReevesMP wants to fix the foundations of Britain’s economy 👇 pic.twitter.com/GgPGGgr9Y6
— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) October 24, 2024
However, the MP expressed concern about ensuring that the government’s vision for growth is a sustainable one.
They urged the government to consider a variety of other indicators when making decisions, similar to that of the UN’s Human Development Index, in order to achieve more sustainable growth – arguing that much of economic development was dependent on a healthy population.
‘£2 bus fare cap essential for my constituents’
Several Labour MPs had concerns about the winter fuel cut, fearing the potential impact on pensioners who earn just over the threshold to receive pension credit but are far from wealthy.
Following the cut, one Labour MP told LabourList they had written to Rachel Reeves ahead of the Budget to urge the Chancellor to support the review of the pension credit threshold following the winter fuel payment cut.
READ MORE: ‘A case against cuts, from the winter fuel allowance to the £2 bus fare cap’
The MP expressed concern that some of those who may lose out on pension credit and who will not be entitled to the winter fuel allowance will be those who it is “not realistic to regard as well off, and need support”.
Amid media speculation that Rachel Reeves will not extend the £2 bus fare cap, the MP stressed that that scheme too was “essential” for residents and had provided a “lifesaver” for bus routes in their constituency.
‘We need an invest-to-save model’
Other MPs have also raised fears over continued cuts to departmental budgets, with Rachael Maskell telling LabourList the government should not be “salami slicing budgets” with measures that “sound like they lean almost into austerity”.
The MP for York Central expressed concern that there are several policy commitments being made that she does not believe translate into long-term savings.
said: “We need to be able to see an invest-to-save model. The Chancellor is under such self-imposed pressure due to fiscal rules that she’s not creating headroom for organisations to do this.”
READ MORE: ‘We can avoid taxing workers by hiking capital gains tax’
“If you cut hard, you do not create the capacity to bring transformation that is needed for long-term savings and better outcomes.”
Her comments came shortly before Reeves loosened fiscal rules for capital investment, however.
Maskell also said that she would like to see the Budget build public confidence in Labour’s broader programme.
Maskell said: “I pick up from constituents that things have been grossly unfair for 14 years and their expectation is a Labour government will be about fairness, justice and equality. They need to not only see that but feel it as well.”
Read more of our Budget 2024 coverage:
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