Taxes

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 15th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is speculating on a speech that has not been delivered yet, so perhaps we should wait for the Mansion House speech this evening to see what my right honourable friend the Chancellor of Exchequer says in it. Absolutely, though, the Chancellor wants to see a greater rebalancing from risk to growth. I think that is absolutely right, but of course, we must make sure that we continue to regulate to avoid risk while we also maintain growth.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, the Opposition seem to be suggesting that we can cut taxes without finding a way of bridging that gap in the Budget. Does my noble friend agree that it looks as though the Truss fantasy politics and economics that we saw nearly bring the country to its knees are still there with the Opposition?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I completely agree with my noble friend on that point. Every time we hear from the party opposite, it opposes every single measure we have taken to stabilise the public finances, yet at no point has it opposed the spending that that has gone to fund. That is exactly the mistake Liz Truss made in her mini-Budget, which saw mortgage payments rocket for working people. They are still paying the price of those higher mortgages, and that is something we absolutely will not do.