Budget Resolutions

Becky Gittins Excerpts

Monday 2nd November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Kirsteen Sullivan (Bathgate and Linlithgow) (Lab/Co-op)]

The real tests of this Budget are the families who notice every extra penny at the petrol station, every increase in the energy bill, and the pounds adding to the price of the weekly shop. The war in Iran carries a price tag for the globe, and that is clear at the petrol pump and in our energy bills. For motorists, and for more than 3,500 workers in transport and logistics in my constituency, the price at the pump matters. I therefore welcome the continued freeze in the fuel duty cut until July 2027, a measure that I have called for throughout the year.

I also welcome the end to standing charges for gas, and the £100 payment to those in council tax bands A to D. That will make the thought of bills during the upcoming winter that bit less stressful. If the Scottish Government do the same, more than 119,000 households in the West Lothian and Falkirk council areas will benefit. That money must be passed on. Our constituents cannot afford for it to disappear into the black hole created by the Scottish National party’s mismanagement of Scotland’s finances. These measures mean real reductions in bills, shifting the brunt of levies and standing charges away from the consumer just as the worst hits.

[Becky Gittins (Clwyd East) (Lab)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Kirsteen Sullivan]

I will continue my speech, so that others can get in.

I am mindful that many people have high energy usage owing to health conditions and disabilities, so I would be grateful if the Minister outlined the support that those with health vulnerabilities will receive. I am also aware that many businesses continue to struggle with the high level of energy costs, especially manufacturers in energy-intensive sectors, so I would have liked to have seen an expansion of eligibility for the British industrial competitiveness scheme, and I hope the Chancellor will consider that. I also hope that the Scottish Government will take a leaf out of the Chancellor’s book, and replicate the cuts in business rates to give our high street businesses a boost.

The Budget delivers a further £600 million for Scotland, amounting to over £18 billion more since Labour was elected in July 2024. I am calling on the Scottish Government to use that £600 million extra and invest in the services on which my constituents rely and which they use day in, day out.

While we cannot predict every shock that comes from overseas, we can choose how we respond to them. We choose to protect families at the petrol pump and in their energy bills, and we choose to back British workers, British businesses and British manufacturing. That is what this Budget is about: giving my constituents greater security today, while building a stronger and more resilient economy for tomorrow.

--- Later in debate ---

[Linsey Farnsworth (Amber Valley) (Lab)]

This Budget contains a series of practical measures that will make a real difference to families across Amber Valley. While some may dismiss individual announcements as small measures, it is their combined effect that matters. Taken together, they provide genuine breathing space for thousands of people across Amber Valley. They include: expanded childcare and free breakfast clubs for families; support for households worried about energy bills; and measures to help people with transport costs for work and leisure.

[Becky Gittins]

What my hon. Friend has just said, about the cumulative effect of lots of announcements making a difference, is really important. In my constituency of Clwyd East in north Wales, we pay some of the highest standing charges anywhere in the country, with people in north Wales paying a standing charge of 68p a day, in comparison to the 43p paid each day by people in London. Does she agree with me that not only is that measure welcome but, as well creating that breathing space, it is a huge step to fairness in our energy system?

[Linsey Farnsworth]

I do agree with my hon. Friend. It is very important that there is breathing space right across the country, just like growth in every postcode.

The Budget is only one part of a much wider programme of reform. The high streets strategy, the modern service framework for dementia and frailty, reforming social care, bringing decision making closer to our communities through devolution, and of course our 10-year plan, will all be transformative for my constituents.

I want to turn to another matter addressed by the Budget, which echoes the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for South Derbyshire (Samantha Niblett). It is a big issue in our local community. It is extremely personal to me and to hundreds of people in my constituency.

I am proud to be a former coalminer’s daughter, and I am proud to be a Labour MP with a Government committed to finally delivering justice for mineworkers, because—let us face it—only a Labour Government will do so. Since Labour came into office in 2024, we have seen real progress on this topic. The MPS investment reserve has been transferred to scheme members, increasing annual pensions by around £29 per week. Last week the Chancellor announced that every penny of the surplus from the MPS will remain with the members rather than being split with the Government and the standstill rule has been abolished. Those are important improvements, but as the Chancellor himself said last week, the job is not done.

My dad suffers from emphysema, white fingers and damaged knees from years of working at the coalface, and now also late-stage dementia. When I learned that a final settlement for MPS members would not be reached in this Budget, I made it clear to Ministers what that means. It means there is a very real possibility that my dad will not live to see the justice he deserves. That is not unique to our family. Around 19 former miners die every single day. That means that since the Budget, 85 miners will already have passed away without seeing this issue resolved. Let us be clear: this is not Government money, and this is not taxpayers’ money; this is the miners’ money.

The Chancellor committed to ensuring the full transfer of the guarantor’s fund and I welcome that completely, but we cannot wait any longer. We cannot wait until a new fiscal event. We must finish the job and we must do it now.

Wildfires: UK-Welsh Government Co-operation

Becky Gittins Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2026 Westminster Hall

[The Minister for Homelessness, Democracy, Communities and Faith (Florence Eshalomi)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I start by thanking my right hon. Friend the Member for Torfaen (Nick Thomas-Symonds) for securing this important debate.

Wildfires have had a profound impact on communities in Wales and across the UK this year. The scale of the challenge this summer was stark. More than 1,300 wildfires have been recorded across England, and I know that Wales was similarly impacted, resulting in the deployment of around 200 military personnel to south Wales to support the committed frontline crews protecting their communities. At the height of the activity, 11 major incidents were declared in a day across the UK, and some incidents lasted for more than 30 days. That put immense strain on frontline services that were also dealing with other emergencies. We owe immense gratitude to the firefighters, military personnel, local responders, land managers, volunteers and others who worked in difficult and dangerous conditions to protect people, homes, businesses and the natural environment.

[Becky Gittins (Clwyd East) (Lab)]

In my north-east Wales constituency, we saw the absolute best of community spirit in Halkyn and Windmill, where the community came out to do a post-wildfire litter pick to clear up the area. As the Minister has recognised, their efforts, along with those of firefighters and military personnel, were crucial. My right hon. Friend the Member for Torfaen (Nick Thomas-Symonds) has put forward many ways to improve wildfire responses; does the Minister agree that the response this time also showed the importance of cross-border collaboration in tackling wildfires?

[Florence Eshalomi]

My hon. Friend raises an important point that demonstrates that wildfires cannot be responded to by emergency services alone: it takes the community, the people, voluntary organisations and a number of charities working together to respond. It is important that we have in place an action plan that includes cross-border and cross-Government work on responses.

Employment Rights Bill

Becky Gittins Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 21st October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Becky Gittins (Clwyd East) (Lab)]

Madam Deputy Speaker, I refer you to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, where you will see that I have worked for a trade union that is not affiliated to the Labour party and that did not donate to my campaign. You will also see a number of other trade unions listed, not because of any campaign donations or vested interests —I can see why Opposition Members were led there; that is far more familiar to them—but because of the fantastic trade union representatives who have supported me and, I am sure, many Members on the Labour Benches. For me, that was Jim, my Unite rep in my very first job when training as a finance management trainee, all the way through to Laura, Trudy and Claire, the GMB reps who looked after me and supported me in my job before I was elected to this place.

I rise in support of the Bill, which is a central tenet of the Government’s policy to put working people at the heart of our economy and make work pay. As I said, I am a proud trade unionist, and I am proud to stand alongside millions of working people across the country who we depend on to drive our economy and provide the services we all need. I wish to call out some claims that I have heard from Opposition Members throughout this debate—and before; they are quite tired claims—that supporting the advancement of people’s rights at work is in some ways a vested interest. When were the working people of this country ever just a vested interest? It is in the interests of the working people of this country that we should be governing.

As a former trade union industrial officer, I know that finding a way forward in collaboration with those on both the employee and employer side is not always the easiest thing to do, but it is always the right and most productive way forward, so I am pleased that within their first 100 days, as promised, this Labour Government have presented this excellent Bill, and in doing so have ripped up many of the provisions in the Trade Union Act 2016. Rather than ameliorate industrial relations, that legislation was symptomatic of an aimlessly combative approach in that area that the previous Government drove forward. The effect, as we sadly know, was some of the worst disruption in decades. The public responded in July; they had had enough of that toxic and self-defeating approach.

I am delighted that measures in the Bill will modernise employment laws, with much of the Trade Union Act 2016 dismantled and, quite rightly, thrown in the bin. This upgrade for workers’ rights establishes day one rights for parental and bereavement leave for millions of workers, and statutory sick pay will be strengthened. The Bill is part of the platform for that approach. I welcome its content and the commitment to work with all stakeholders to ensure that it is implemented in such a way that benefits all my hard-working constituents of Clwyd East.