Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Afzal Khan Excerpts

Monday 8th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Afzal Khan (Manchester, Gorton) (Lab) [V]]

The Office for Budget Responsibility was unequivocal in its analysis of our financial situation: it is the Government’s failure to control the spread of the virus that has dragged us into the worst recession of any major economy. Across the country, businesses are closing, unemployment is rising, jobs are insecure, food bank usage has soared and millions have fallen into poverty.

A recent survey of my constituents revealed a shocking threefold increase in people’s feeling of financial insecurity during the pandemic. At the most acute end of this insecurity, more than a quarter of constituents said that they were struggling to meet basic living costs. It is clear from speaking to my constituents that the distress and anxiety generated by this new financial insecurity is having a profound impact on their wellbeing and mental health. It is vital that we recognise the emotional toll of the last year and look to rebuild the country’s mental health alongside our economic recovery. With this in mind, it is unfathomable for the Chancellor to push ahead with the £30 billion cut in day-to-day health spending. If the last decade of austerity has taught us anything it is that public sector spending cuts disproportionately hurt those on low incomes.

Given that today marks International Women’s Day, it would be remiss of me not to touch on the particularly acute economic impact of the last year on women. Last month the Women and Equalities Committee concluded that the Government’s passive approach to gender equality was no longer good enough. It specifically called on the Government to undertake equality impact assessments, so the fact that not one of the many supporting documents to last week’s Budget statement was an equality impact assessment is utterly inexcusable. Continuing to ignore the fact that the economic impact of the crisis has not been felt equally risks turning the clock back on gender equality.

Missing from last week’s Budget was the ambition needed to tackle the deep crisis we are in. We needed a strong foundation to support businesses, to give security to families and households, and better economic resilience, and to ensure that no one and no community was left behind. Sadly, that is far from what we were offered.