Budget Resolutions

Callum Anderson Excerpts

Thursday 29th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Callum Anderson (Buckingham and Bletchley) (Lab)]

I am very happy to contribute to this debate, and it is a pleasure in particular to follow my hon. Friends the Members for Brentford and Isleworth (Ruth Cadbury), for Blackpool South (Chris Webb) and for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh).

I welcome this Budget for three reasons. First, it maintains the fiscal discipline that is a strategic imperative, and I think the fact that sterling, the FTSE indexes, and 10 and 30-year gilt yields have remained stable over the last 24 hours is a signifier of that. Given the risks that the UK economy faces—be it barriers to trade, the imposition of tariffs, volatile and rising energy costs, or higher Government borrowing costs everywhere—it is really important that this Budget remains within the fiscal rules. Secondly, it provides families, households and businesses in the towns, villages and cities that make up the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency with genuine breathing space as they manage ongoing cost of living pressures.

Thirty-four thousand households in council tax bands A to D will receive a £100 household energy payment and even more will feel the extension of the electricity VAT cut. Businesses on Queensway in Bletchley and on the high streets of Buckingham and Winslow will gain from the higher small business rate relief threshold rise. Agricultural businesses in north Buckinghamshire will benefit from the extended red diesel duty cut.

However, while fiscal responsibility is an absolute imperative, it should never be an end of itself. The third reason I welcome the Budget is that it does what my right hon. Friend the Chancellor sought to do, which is to back those “bloody-minded entrepreneurs”. It is not just me saying that; business groups such as Startup Coalition and UK Private Capital are, too. Fiscal responsibility enables Governments to help the people building Britain’s next generation of national champions and globally consequential companies. Be those in artificial intelligence, defence, clean energy, life sciences or advanced manufacturing, they are driving economic growth, job and wealth creation, and are ultimately underpinning the sovereign capabilities of the UK.

Growth in every postcode is absolutely the right objective, and that means we need entrepreneurs in every postcode. Today is undoubtedly a better day and a better Britain in which to build a company than yesterday was. When it comes to helping people start a business, raising the trading allowance from £1,000 to £3,000 is a strong signal that people—young people in particular—can realise their dreams here in the United Kingdom. We have known for a long time that scaling businesses is where Britain could do much more and needs to go further quickly. Expanding the capacity of the British Business Bank and the National Wealth Fund, including by deploying £5 billion over the next four years in defence, recognises the role that public capital has to play in acting as a cornerstone investor alongside our deep pools of private capital—all £3 trillion of that.

With all the blood, sweat and tears that go into building a business, we need to give founders a genuine, compelling reason beyond patriotism alone to remain anchored here and to stay here. That is why the founders’ relief is so welcome. I know that many business groups have been arguing and advocating for it across Government and Westminster for some time. We are giving entrepreneurs greater confidence that they can build and scale here and that they will be rewarded. Just as importantly, the relief will strengthen their ability to reinvest their wealth and reuse their expertise and experience in more ventures into the future.

Growth and wealth creation, and fiscal responsibility, are intrinsically linked. Growth is the ultimate stabiliser of the public finances through stronger receipts that will help to reduce the budget deficit and reduce our borrowing costs in the long run. That will give us flexibility to let people keep more of what they earn and invest in the things that are particularly important to us, be they our national security, our schools or our police.

The Budget is a very welcome step in the right direction. There is much more to do, and I look forward to the 10-year plan and the spending review in the long run. I welcome this Budget.