Last week’s Autumn Statement marked a major moment when the Government changed gear and focused on how to drive growth in the economy in the decade ahead, with the biggest package of supply side tax cuts since the 1980s. This is being implemented while the Government continues to reduce borrowing and inflation stabilises or falls further. These supply side tax cuts are what a Conservative approach to economic growth looks like.
We cannot undo the reasons taxes had to rise in the first place – paying for Covid and Putin’s war, and the fact our population is growing older. However, the Office of Budget Responsibility has confirmed that the Chancellor’s package of £20 billion of annual tax cuts has reduced the tax burden by 0.7% – the biggest package of tax cuts implemented at a fiscal event since 1988. This shows the Conservative Government’s determination to reduce taxes and ease the burden on working people, benefiting people across Hastings and Rye. A low tax economy is not abstract – it fits in with the Conservative ideal of personal responsibility by limiting the size of government, increasing individual choice, and providing greater incentives for those who generate the prosperity we all benefit from.
These tax cuts are focused on rewarding hard work and the reason why the Government is cutting National Insurance contributions rather than income tax is because a cut in NICs can be delivered faster, applies across the whole UK, and is squarely focused on work. Investment, savings and property income, for example, are not subject to National Insurance – and therefore individuals are already paying a lower rate on this income than on income from employment or self-employment. Similarly, individuals working above the State Pension age already pay a lower rate of tax on their income from work, as they do not pay NICs.
After listening to constituents, Citizens Advice and HARC, I campaigned for working age benefits to rise by the rate of inflation. It is positive that Universal Credit and other working age benefits will increase by 6.7% from April 2024 in line with September 2023 inflation rate. As inflation has fallen from 10.7% to 4.6%, people will benefit from more money in their pockets. Whilst I am not an MP who advocates to reduce benefits, I do believe that no one should ever be better off not working than working and people who can work, but choose not to, should receive tough love and more support to get them into work. I have campaigned for tougher sanctions; it is not right that people who can work but choose not to expect other people to go to work to support them. Rewarding work is not just about economics, it encourages self-reliance, dignity and pride. I was pleased to take part in the roundtable discussions on how to help people get off benefits and move into work. The Government has designed the biggest welfare shake-up for a decade with the new Back to Work Plan. This Plan is radically expanding the support for people while ensuring that fairness is at the heart of the welfare system. It will help over one million people with long-term health conditions, disabilities or long-term unemployment to look for and stay in work. There will be tougher sanctions for people who do not look for work.
There are other measures in the Autumn Statement which I have campaigned for specifically including the increase in the State Pension by 8.5% in line with average earnings, ensuring that we fulfil our manifesto promise to keep the triple lock which helps thousands of retired people in Hastings and Rye, and the extension of the 75% business rates discount for retail, hospitality and leisure for another year, helping so many of our local businesses.
One of the most notable campaign wins for me was the increase in the Local Housing Allowance rate to the 30th percentile of local market rents, helping residents and reducing the burden on our local authorities. This does not mean that they should rein in their efforts to build the right homes in the right places, and I continue to urge both Hastings and Rother to plan for the housing that is needed locally.