POLITICAL COMMENT: Budget delivers breathing space today and fresh hope for the future for Portsmouth
Families will receive direct help with energy bills, motorists will see fuel duty frozen and thousands more high-street businesses will be taken out of business rates, as the Labour Government backs working people today while investing in Britain’s future.
John Healey’s Budget has set out new measures to provide breathing space for families and businesses, while making the long-term choices needed to put the country on a better course according to Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan.
He said: “Today the Chancellor has made the long-term choices that Portsmouth has needed following 14 years of decline and difficulty under the Conservatives.
“This Labour Government is committed to ensuring more homes are built in communities, backing local businesses and entrepreneurs, putting power in the hands of our city’s community, and investing in the technologies and national security to shape the nation’s future.
“Fiscal discipline has been the foundation of the Government’s approach and it is only through this that we have been able to make these Labour choices.
“I will continue to take action to support our city’s families and local businesses, while building a stronger Portsmouth and country for tomorrow.”
Families facing rising energy costs, driven in part by wars Britain did not start, will receive immediate support. A £100 Household Energy Payment will be paid to eligible Band A-D households in England, alongside £100 million for local authorities to support households in greatest need.
The temporary 0% VAT rate on electricity will also be extended until 30 June 2027, while Ofgem will work to abolish gas standing charges, helping reduce costs for millions of households. Motorists will be supported too, with the 5p fuel duty cut extended and fuel duty rates frozen until 1 July 2027. More generous mileage rates will also become permanent for employees and self employed people using their own vehicles for work.
Businesses and high streets will benefit from a £1 billion business-rates package, taking around 70,000 additional retail, hospitality and leisure businesses out of business rates altogether. More than half of businesses in those sectors will therefore pay no business rates.
But alongside that immediate breathing space, the Budget begins the bigger changes needed to deliver good growth in every postcode and fresh hope for the future.
More than £20 billion of additional capital for the National Wealth Fund and British Business Bank will help drive investment, alongside £1.85 billion for scale-ups and a new Founders’ Relief to back entrepreneurs and early investors.
Local leaders will be given greater control over their economic futures, backed by £285 million for Good Growth Funds, putting more decisions about investment and growth in the hands of the people closest to the challenges.
The Budget will also invest £4.7 billion in Your First Home, expected to support around 70,000 first-time buyers, while providing an additional £1.5 billion for social and affordable housing, intended to deliver 10,000 more homes.
And it will invest in Britain’s long-term economic and national security, including £700 million to strengthen Britain’s AI sovereignty and nearly £300 billion for defence over four years.
Every decision is underpinned by fiscal discipline, the bedrock of a strong economy, providing the foundation for the Government’s 10-Year Plan and Spending Review.
Chancellor John Healey MP said: “This is a Budget for breathing space today and fresh hope for the future in Portsmouth.
“We are putting money back into the pockets of families, cutting costs for motorists and backing the shops, pubs and businesses at the heart of our communities.”