This week saw Labour’s first Budget in 14 years and the first ever by a female Chancellor.

This is a Budget that fixes the foundations of the economy to deliver change, by fixing the NHS and rebuilding Britain, while ensuring working people don’t face higher taxes in their payslips.

The choice at this Budget is clear: five more years of the same failed Conservative policies and more austerity that leaves working people having to pick up the bill. Or change with a Labour Government that is investing in Britain’s future and invest in Britain’s people.

This Labour government kept our promise to working people that they would not face higher taxes, with no increase in National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax or VAT. 

The playslips of people in our area will not suffer because of this budget and the new Labour Government. We are choosing to protect working people and that means asking the wealthiest and businesses to pay their fair share to increase funding for public services, so we can fix our NHS and cut hospital waiting lists.

The focus is on ‘investment, investment, investment’ in order to get the economy moving again. Businesses rely on an effective NHS, good schools and safe transport and road links and this Budget see the start of this new chapter to rebuild our country. 

For Scotland specifically this budget is monumental. The Scottish Government will receive an increase of £3.4 billion. Rachel Reeves has delivered the largest funding settlement for Scotland in the history of devolution, with an additional £1.5 billion available to the Scottish Government this financial year and £3.4 billion next year, the total settlement sitting at £47.7 billion.

Crucially the SNP must ensure this additional funding for public services reaches the right places – bringing down waiting lists in the NHS and raising attainment in our schools, fixing our roads and revitalising our town centres. I will be pushing the Scottish Government to use this money to fund our public services, and not on their own pet projects.

People across our area deserve to see the benefits of this budget in real terms. On the SNP’s watch we have record long NHS waiting lists, hollowed out local government services and tough times in our schools. Since 2007 the SNP have wasted over £5 billion of taxpayers’ money and we must not let them continue now or in 2026 at the Scottish election.

The last 14 years of Conservative economic mismanagement sent mortgages through the roof and squandered billions of taxpayers’ money on a failed asylum system, all whilst propping up private rail companies and dodgy COVID contracts – leaving a £22 billion black hole in the nation’s finances and meant that our towns fund had shockingly been promised and not paid for.

Under this Labour Government and this Budget, we have prioritised keeping promises and delivering to rebuild Britain. The empty promise made by the Conservatives has been delivered by Labour. The £20 million fund will help to regenerate the centre of Greenock and the surrounding area.

This is the start of long-term stability and economic investment into the future of this country and the people in it. It is a Budget that makes responsible decisions and isn’t afraid to do what is tough but necessary to fix the foundations of the economy and the future of our public services.