Budget Resolutions

Adnan Hussain Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Imran Hussain (Bradford East) (Lab)]

The reality is that, as we take part in this debate, the wealth of billionaires continues to soar while ordinary families in our constituencies continue to struggle with a cost of living crisis that is not of their making. That is the legacy of 14 years of the Conservative party, which has decimated our services and devastated our communities.

Perhaps the cruellest of all the Conservatives’ policies was the two-child cap, which put millions of children on our streets and into poverty. Even today, we have heard Conservative Member after Conservative Member oppose the scrapping of the policy. They should be ashamed. In fact, many of them made their speeches and then ran out of the Chamber, because they cannot face the fact that they put millions of children into poverty.

This Budget finally abolishes the cruel two-child policy. I opposed the policy from day one and, frankly, it should not have taken 18 months for this Government to scrap it, but I am none the less pleased that we have. After years of campaigning, the full removal of the two-child limit is hugely welcome. It is a clear vindication of the stand taken by me and other colleagues.

What matters most is that with this Budget, at long last, the cruelty that put millions of children into poverty ends. As colleagues have said, the decision will lift millions of children out of poverty. In my constituency, 6,300 families and 22,500 children will benefit. That is a huge step forward and is long overdue, and it is a direct result of relentless pressure from campaigners and MPs who refused to back down. Not once today have I heard tribute paid to the many campaign organisations that relentlessly put the case forward and lobbied MPs to scrap the cap. I pay tribute to them, and thank them for all their hard work.

This Budget contains some welcome steps—modest moves on redistributing wealth, a tourist tax and a youth guarantee scheme, as well as many other measures—but, frankly, they do not go far enough. This Government have still failed to adopt a genuine wealth tax, and as a result, living standards for most people continue to decline and the cost of living crisis remains unresolved. We could have done so much more in the past 18 months; instead, far too much time has been wasted. That is why I back the plan for a proper wealth tax.

[Mr Adnan Hussain (Blackburn) (Ind)]

I have heard from many constituents that things just do not change for them. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that for real change in constituencies like ours, we need a needs-based, targeted funding approach?

[Imran Hussain]

What we need is a wealth tax. Working families need help now. The Government could raise more than £50 billion a year through a 2% wealth tax on assets over £10 million, equalising capital gains with income tax, cracking down on corporate tax avoidance and implementing a windfall tax on record bank profits—these are modest, moral and reasonable steps. They are what is needed to fund immediate support for struggling families. With that revenue, we could deliver emergency measures immediately to alleviate the cost of living, including not only scrapping the two-child cap, but having direct cost of living grants, introducing more free school meals, tripling the household support fund and relinking local housing allowance to real rents, together costing just £23 billion—less than half of what fair taxation would raise.

Frankly, we need to go further. The measures I have outlined would provide a lifeline to struggling families in all our constituencies. It is what our constituents expect of us, and it is about time we delivered that for them.