The Budget should be compassionate, honest and fair
Rightly or wrongly, Budgets have come to be a defining event of our political calendar, the planning begins half a year in advance and should MPs like me have requests or ideas for inclusion, we cannot be far behind.
Over at the Treasury just across from my office, I’m sure they are all working overtime, debating and deciding every measure that is to be included when Rachel Reeves takes to the dispatch box tomorrow. In contrast to what the public or press may believe, for most MPs this will be the first time we too discover its contents bar the gossip that may emerge beforehand.
It would not be untrue to say this Budget is a pivotal one for the Government, it is a rare opportunity after a year that hasn’t gone without its challenges to shape a compelling narrative and tell a story to the public about what lies ahead and how we intend to get there.
In the budget of 2000, Gordon Brown proclaimed that we had been prudent for a purpose, that the years beforehand where we had been fiscally restrained now allowed us to do all the good and Labour things that people rightly expected.
In 2025, we are still prudent, but the public are not clear on the purpose, for year after year they have been told to swallow the pill without believing they are benefiting from the medicine.
My view is that for too long we have allowed ourselves to become diners who then refuse to look at the receipt, we quite rightly want and demand the best and strongest public services, a flourishing economy, cheaper bills, but the political establishment has time and time again refused to be honest about how we keep that sustainable.
We can and must look to a major reforming of a tax system that reflects and understands the times we live, that asks for fair contribution but does not punish those already struggling. One that does not endanger, the great entrepreneurial spirt that our economy needs now more than ever.
Our tax system is to say the least, messy and inconsistent. That's why we should set out a plan to broaden our tax system to one that is grounded in efficacy and fairness, whether that's on property and ensure those of higher value pay a fair share or a digital services tax to ensure there is no longer loopholing your way out of paying taxes in a country where you hold significant operations.
Particularly in a political sense, these would be far from easy things to do, but they would help to set us on that sustainable financial path that we so desperately need.
No less easy would be lowering of our VAT threshold from its current level, but the short-term pain will turn into long-term gains for our businesses when they reap the benefits of that investment into our public services.
I don’t envy the Chancellor, but by telling a story that is grounded in honesty but also ideals of compassion and fairness we can chart a course to a Britain where every child is growing up fit and healthy, well-educated, ready to contribute, where the state is there for you if you need and supports you in old age.
That’s a Britain I can get behind, and I think others can too.
Andrew Ranger is the Labour MP for Wrexham.
