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Just recently, the finance minister, Rachel Reeves, delivered a Labour Party budget. The public have been calling for Labour’s mission and values to be more distinctly expressed. Through the choices made – a shift to a more equitable tax system, targeting wealth to fund tackling child poverty, good public services and the living expenses – we have clearly demonstrated what we believe in.

That’s why Labour MPs cheered in the Commons, and it’s why we are up for the fights to come. And it’s why the protests from the conservative side began right away.

The Central Political Divide in UK Government

The central dividing line in British politics is yet again on the economy. On the one hand Labour, who aim to reform it so it benefits ordinary working people, and on the opposite side, our political opponents, who favor the current system and the unsuccessful ideology of the past. We must now confront, and prevail in, the argument.

The Tories had 14 years to resolve things and instead, by every standard, they got far more dire. Their ideological austerity and supply-side economics – tax breaks for the wealthy, cutting off investment (leaving us with poor productivity and wages), and failing to support young people after the pandemic – didn’t work.

Legacy of Decline Under the Former Administration

Quality of life dropped by the largest margin since records began, child poverty reached record levels, NHS waiting lists in England were the highest they’ve ever been, wages remained flat, a housing crisis took hold, young people scarred by Covid were left on the scrapheap. The history of failure goes on.

One budget alone can’t fix everything, so Labour has a comprehensive plan for rebuilding and for rewiring the country. And we have to go out and continue making the argument for why our strategy will yield benefits.

Welfare Spending and Youth Deprivation

Under the Tories, welfare spending rose substantially. As did child poverty, because they didn’t address the underlying issues: low pay, high housing costs, deep inequalities in education, health and regions. The state is forced to paying more to deal with the effects instead of the cure.

That’s why we are constructing more affordable homes than for a generation, increasing wages and enhanced protections for workers, massively boosting investment in infrastructure and new industries, reducing waiting lists down and lowering the costs of childcare and energy as we drive for clean power.

Ending the Two-Child Benefit Cap

This is also the reason we are completely justified to use this budget to lift the two-child benefit cap.

For eight long years, since it was introduced, poorer families with children have suffered from a cruel social experiment that was branded as fair for working people when it was anything but. Most of the families impacted by it have a parent in work.

It has only served to push 300,000 more children into poverty – which, ultimately, costs us more, as well as being callous and immoral.

Tangible Effects in Communities

I know from my own district – where over 5,000 children will be lifted out of poverty as a result of ending the cap – the actual impact it’s had. Children wearing low-cost wellies as school shoes, children going to bed hungry and cold, living in cramped, mouldy homes, parents during the holidays depending on food banks for a modest meal or small gift for their kids.

I also see the impact on schools, teachers, social workers, doctors and charities who are already stretched but have to divert time and resources to supporting children who are living with the consequences of deep poverty.

Lasting Effects of Youth Hardship

Just one in four pupils from the poorest families achieve five good GCSEs, compared with nearly three in four among wealthier families. This sets them up for the disadvantages they face during their lives: unrealized potential, economic struggles and poor health. Children who grew up in poverty are more likely to be unemployed or poor as adults.

Addressing child poverty isn’t just a moral imperative, it is a future-oriented strategy. Poverty costs the economy significantly more than the three billion pound cost of lifting the two-child cap, or extending free school meals.

That’s why we acted urgently in the budget, despite the challenging economic context. Every day with this cap in place sees over a hundred additional children pushed into poverty. The benefits of lifting it will not occur overnight either, so taking early action in the parliament was vital.

The cap was a totem to 14 years of unsuccessful conservative ideology. Now it is abolished.

Fair Financing for Policies

We, as Labour, can also be explicit that these measures are being paid for in a just way – from a new gambling levy, closing tax loopholes and a new “mansion tax”.

Final Thoughts

Fairness and direction – that’s how we will win the battle of ideas. This budget is a clear statement that we gained the election as Labour, and will govern as Labour. As I repeatedly said during my campaign to become deputy leader, we must reclaim the political megaphone and define the narrative more strongly about what’s really wrong with the country and how we are fixing it. We’ve certainly done that this week.

So let’s keep hold of it and prevail in this struggle about how we will rebuild Britain and address the entrenched inequalities holding us back.