Oral Answers to Questions

Cat Eccles Excerpts

Wednesday 26th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The most chaotic Budget was the Liz Truss Budget. It did huge damage to our country, and we are still suffering from that damage. What did the right hon. Lady say about Liz Truss? She obviously does still think it. When asked, “Was Liz Truss right?”, she said, “100% right”. It was the most chaotic, damaging Budget there has ever been, and she sticks by it. I am very interested to see her response to this Budget, if she thinks Liz Truss got it right.

What we are doing is focusing on cutting waiting lists, cutting the national debt and cutting the cost of living. We are renewing our country—a Labour Budget with Labour values, delivering for the British people.

[Cat Eccles (Stourbridge) (Lab)]

Q5.    At the moment, everyone is being bombarded with adverts and emails for Black Friday encouraging them to spend money on so-called time-limited deals, leading to panic buying and increasing debt and buyer regret—not to mention the impact on the planet, with delivery and returns of goods responsible for millions of tonnes of CO₂ emissions. Does the Prime Minister agree that instead of rushing to buy online, people should look to their high streets to support local businesses and keep money in the local economy this Christmas?

[The Prime Minister]

I want to see our high streets thriving, and I encourage everyone to support local businesses this Christmas. Through our small business strategy, we have delivered a £3 billion boost to help small businesses expand, and we have introduced the most significant reforms in 25 years to tackle late payments. The Chancellor will have more to say about that in just a moment.