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Just recently, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, delivered a Labour Party economic plan. The public have been asking for Labour’s mission and values to be more distinctly articulated. Through the decisions made – a shift to a fairer tax system, targeting wealth to pay for tackling child poverty, good public services and the living expenses – we have clearly demonstrated what we believe in.

This is why Labour MPs applauded in the Commons, and it’s why we are ready for the battles to come. And it’s why the cries from the right began right away.

The Central Dividing Line in British Politics

The central division in British politics is once again on the economy. On the one side Labour, who aim to reform it so it benefits everyday working people, and on the other, our political opponents, who support the current system and the unsuccessful ideology of the past. We must now confront, and win, the argument.

The Tories had 14 years to resolve things and in reality, by any measure, they got much worse. Their doctrinaire austerity and supply-side economics – tax breaks for the wealthy, cutting off investment (causing us with poor productivity and wages), and failing to support young people after the pandemic – didn’t work.

Record of Failure Under the Previous Administration

Quality of life dropped by the biggest amount since records began, child poverty hit record levels, NHS waiting lists in England were the highest they’ve ever been, wages were stagnant, a housing crisis became entrenched, young people scarred by Covid were abandoned. The record of failure goes on.

A single budget alone can’t fix everything, so Labour has a comprehensive plan for rebuilding and for rewiring the country. And we have to go out and continue making the case for why our approach will yield benefits.

Social Security and Youth Deprivation

During the Tories, welfare spending rose substantially. As did child poverty, because they failed to tackle the underlying issues: low pay, high housing costs, significant inequalities in education, health and regions. The state is forced to paying more to deal with the effects instead of the solution.

That’s why we are constructing more social housing than for a generation, increasing wages and enhanced protections for workers, greatly increasing investment in infrastructure and new industries, getting waiting lists down and bringing down the costs of childcare and energy as we pursue clean power.

Removing the Two-Child Benefit Cap

It’s also why we are completely justified to use this budget to remove the two-child benefit cap.

For eight long years, since it was introduced, low-income families with children have suffered from a cruel social experiment that was marketed as fair for working people when it was the opposite. Most of the families affected by it have a parent in work.

It has only served to push 300,000 more children into poverty – which, in the end, costs us more, as well as being heartless and unethical.

Tangible Effects in Local Areas

From experience from my own district – where over 5,000 children will be lifted out of poverty as a result of abolishing the cap – the actual impact it’s had. Children wearing £1 wellies as school shoes, children going to bed without food and cold, living in overcrowded, damp homes, parents during the holidays depending on food banks for a simple meal or small gift for their kids.

I also see the impact on schools, teachers, social workers, doctors and charities who are already overburdened but have to redirect time and resources to supporting children who are living with the consequences of severe deprivation.

Lasting Effects of Youth Hardship

Just one in four pupils from the most disadvantaged families achieve five good GCSEs, compared with almost 75% among wealthier families. This predisposes them for the challenges they face throughout their lives: unrealized potential, economic struggles and poor health. Children who grew up in poverty are more likely to be jobless or poor as adults.

Confronting child poverty isn’t just a moral imperative, it is a future-oriented strategy. Poverty costs the economy significantly more than the £3bn cost of lifting the two-child cap, or expanding free school meals.

That’s why we acted promptly in the budget, despite the challenging economic context. Every day with this cap in place sees over a hundred additional children pushed into poverty. The effects of lifting it won’t happen overnight either, so acting early in the parliament was crucial.

The cap was a symbol to 14 years of failed conservative ideology. Now it is gone.

Fair Funding for Policies

We, as Labour, can also be clear that these measures are being paid for in a fair way – from a new gambling levy, eliminating tax loopholes and a new “mansion tax”.

Final Thoughts

Equity and purpose – that’s how we will succeed in the contest of ideas. This budget is a clear statement that we won the election as Labour, and will lead as Labour. As I repeatedly said during my campaign to become deputy leader, we must seize back the political megaphone and set the agenda more strongly about what’s really wrong with the country and how we are fixing it. We’ve certainly done that this week.

So let’s keep hold of it and prevail in this fight about how we will renew Britain and tackle the entrenched inequalities impeding progress.