Budget Resolutions — House of Commons, 2020-03-11
Topic: Social Welfare
Catherine Elizabeth West (Labour, Centre-left): I thank the right hon. Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), with whom I agree on so many issues; although I perhaps disagree on others, it was good to hear his speech. He is right on transport for Bournemouth and some of our coastal areas: it is not good enough Let me set the scene by reading from the Haringey fairness commission report. The commission undertook a year-long listening exercise on what it is like to live in an inner-London borough with real inequality, listening to what some of our residents said. The commission heard about "young people attending school in shoes lined with plastic bags to protect against water which might otherwise seep through the holes in their shoes, depriving them of dignity at a time when their sense of self is being formed." It also heard about "physically disabled residents unable to leave their homes due to inaccessible housing and the inability to afford suitable equipment, meaning that they were left isolated and unable to participate in day-to-day activities. It heard about low-income…workers living in overcrowded, unsanitary accommodation with little chance of saving enough money to improve their situation." The reason why I began with that is because when I last spoke in the Chamber, I spoke about the health inequalities in Haringey borough highlighted by the fairness commission. If someone catches the 41 bus from Turnpike Lane to Highgate, each time they go west one stop, the people there live another year longer. That disparity between rich and poor within one constituency is very disconcerting, because in unequal communities we end up with some of the worst outcomes. My question is not necessarily about the elements of today’s almost emergency Budget, but about the long-term strategic view and how that might answer some of the questions raised by the fairness commission that the House heard in my introduction On the covid-19 emergency, I wish to take a moment in my speech to put on record our commitment as a House: the fact that covid-19 originated in China does not mean that Chinese people are in any way to blame for the disease. [Hon. Members: "Hear, hear!"] I know that everyone in the House will agree with me and will be worried about their constituents from the far east who are currently being very badly treated. Chinatown in central London has closed down completely, and a lot of Chinese takeaways are being discriminated against because they serve Chinese food. There is some of the most incredible ignorance. I know that each person in this House thinks that is deplorable and will agree that whether someone comes from China, Italy or somewhere else, this is not their fault. This is a terrible illness that afflicts each of us as human beings, and that is how we must address it, in a public health way The Bank of England has announced some measures to deal with the emergency caused by this terrible illness, and I wish to pick up on some of them. First, the 0.25% lending rate is a positive step. I am not sure how much it will help, because so much in respect of lending and business confidence comes from people’s confidence to be able to go out and purchase things and then take out loans. I am not sure that that is where people’s thoughts are at the moment—I am not sure that the confidence level is high enough Secondly, we hope that the cheap funding to the real economy will happen, but I have to say that 10, 11 years or 12 years on, the confidence in the banking sector, at least among a lot of my constituents, is not necessarily there yet Thirdly, even though there might be £100 billion for small businesses to borrow and so on, I worry about how people will know that those loans are available to them. I wonder whether Treasury Ministers could tell us about that challenge. How are they telling small businesses about the £100 billion that might be there to ease capital expenditure and to make changes Fourthly, the Bank of England announced today the dividend freeze, which is a positive step. It is about the first time that I have ever heard anything just a little bit hard for a sector of the economy that, over the 12-year period, got away with less harm than my constituents. I am pleased that the Bank of England has decided to freeze dividends. On the question of the European Union and our membership thereof, The Guardian today cited the fact that since the referendum in 2016 we have lost £26 billion of GDP. I wonder whether we will reflect on that and on how we will make up for that in the medium to long term, because we have a lot of productivity challenges. I am not sure that just saying, "Well, we won’t have to pay as much into the pot," does it. I am very worried about our medium to long-term relationship with Europe, particularly if the transition period is complicated by the covid virus and by the negotiating style of some of our Ministers The third and final thing I want to talk about is the defining challenge of our time—that is what António Guterres has called the climate change challenge, and I could not agree more with the head of the UN’s description. The measures announced today do not go far enough—they are very timid—particularly when we think how frightening the climate change challenge really is My hon. Friend the Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch (Meg Hillier) and the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Sir Edward Davey) pointed out that the ambitious-sounding carbon capture and storage facilities suggestion, while it might sound good on paper, has been announced several times now and has not actually changed anything. The proof is in the pudding on that one There are also some real mixed messages. Freezing fuel duty is a mixed message, and new roads are a mixed message, when Parliament has decided that climate change is an emergency. What is the message? Is it that this is an emergency, or is it that we can just keep building more roads and freezing fuel duty forever There is a real missed opportunity in the Budget around the climate change agenda and the role of local government. If we give half of the money for the carbon capture experts to local government, they will insulate properties, prevent heat loss, ensure lower bills for millions of low-income people, introduce the proper cycle lanes the right hon. Member for Bournemouth East mentioned, and develop highly skilled green jobs in a micro way. A lot of the climate agenda and the climate challenge is very localised In conclusion, despite the Chancellor’s Panglossian tone when he delivered his Budget speech at lunch- time, I am worried about the mixed messages on the environment. I am also worried about the lack of measures to tackle inequality in a genuinely energetic way. When the comprehensive spending review comes up, I hope we will look at the role of local government and at the way local government can really take on the climate challenge.