Labour’s Dame Diana Johnson and Emma Hardy lay out their cases for Rachel Reeves’ Budget to the people of Hull
On Wednesday, Rachel Reeves delivered her second Budget, laying out a series of moves including tax rises in an attempt to fill a black hole in public finances. The Chancellor also announced a series of measures aimed at helping people who are currently struggling with living costs, including a long-expected end to the two-child limit on benefits.
Having abandoned plans for an income tax rise, Ms Reeves chose a range of smaller tax increases to pay for Government spending and build a larger buffer against her borrowing rules. These include a new pay-per-mile tax for electric vehicles, increased taxes on online betting and a so-called “mansion tax” on homes worth more than £2 million.
Ms Reeves has insisted taxes are being kept “an absolute minimum on ordinary working people” but critics have accused the Chancellor of breaching Labour’s election promise not to raise taxes on working people after deciding to keep tax thresholds frozen until 2030/31 and levying national insurance on some pension contributions.
Here, Dame Diana Johnson and Emma Hardy, Members of Parliament for Hull North & Cottingham and Hull West & Haltemprice respectively, state their cases for the Chancellor’s Budget.
You can also read what the Conservative MP for Beverley & Holderness had to say about the Budget here.
Dame Diana Johnson – Budget ‘will help cut the cost of living for local families’
Last Friday, ahead of the Budget, I met community groups concerned with poverty – be it food, fuel or child – in Hull.
I was reminded, yet again, about the many local people who go out to work but still find it hard to pay their bills, afford the basics and make ends meet. Events over the past 15 years, including COVID, soaring energy costs made worse by Putin’s Ukraine war and the disastrous Liz Truss mini-budget all cast a long shadow over people’s everyday lives.
It was against this background that, I believe, the Chancellor has given us a fair Budget – helping working families, supporting our NHS and strengthening the economy.
There is action to cut the cost of living with £150 off average energy bills, to cut NHS waiting lists with 250 new Neighbourhood Health Centres and to cut Government borrowing.
Rail fares will be frozen for the first time in 30 years and the bus fares cap, so important around Hull, stays. We are raising the Living Wage to help make work pay, freezing NHS prescription charges and keeping the fuel duty freeze.
We have protected pensioners through the Triple Lock and are helping 75% of them with Fuel Costs this Winter.
This is accompanied by new action on child poverty. One in three Hull children live in poverty, storing up costs for the long-term. We have already extended breakfast clubs, are setting up Best Start Family Hubs and are expanding free school meals – a policy first pioneered in Hull.
Scrapping the Two Child Limit will now lift an additional 450,000 children out of poverty. Overall, Labour is set to lift 550,000 kids out of poverty in this Parliament – the largest fall on record.
We are reforming property taxes so that those in a £10m mansion in Westminster do not pay less council tax than a family in a terraced house in Hull.
There is new action on tackling the waste and fraud we saw under the previous government – reclaiming £70m from Tory asylum hotel contracts and almost £400m from COVID waste.
Rachel Reeves made it clear that low inflation and getting our economy growing again holds the key to raising living standards for all and to afford decent public services.
That’s why the Government is protecting key British industries like steel. We are also striking trade deals around the World, introducing planning reforms to back the builders and welfare reforms to get more people off welfare and into work.
The Chancellor knows too that this growth will only happen with every part of our country contributing. This includes our Humber Green Energy Estuary.
More money is going into a Local Growth Fund for the Mayor in Hull and East Yorkshire to prepare local people for the jobs of the future in growing sectors of the economy that will boost our productivity. There are also new powers for Mayors to invest in local services like transport using funds raised from tourism.
More help is coming too for high streets, with permanently lower business rates for over 750,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties.
We have kept our tax promises despite facing many challenges – including the need to boost UK defence spending. Protecting our country is the first duty of any government.
This Budget will help cut the cost of living for local families, protect our local NHS and support growth in our economy.
Emma Hardy – Budget is a ‘shift towards fairness and investment’
The Autumn Budget delivers a major boost for Hull West and Haltemprice, introducing measures that ease household pressures, create opportunities, and invest in the area’s future.
From April, households will see an average saving of £150 on energy bills, alongside an expanded Warm Home Discount that will support six million families. Rail fares will be frozen for the first time in 30 years, and NHS prescription charges will remain unchanged for another year. Together, these steps offer practical relief for families who have faced sustained financial strain.
Support for children and young people is central to this Budget. Apprenticeships for under-25s will be made free for small businesses, reducing costs for employers and opening doors for young people. One of the most significant social changes is the removal of the Two Child Benefit Limit, lifting 2,460 local children, and 450,000 nationally, out of poverty. Combined with expanded free school meal provision for over 5,000 children in Hull West and Haltemprice, this marks the largest fall in child poverty on record.
Healthcare provision will also improve, with millions of additional NHS appointments planned to reduce waiting times and strengthen access to care.
Local businesses stand to benefit from permanently lower business rates for around 9,000 retail, hospitality, and leisure firms across Hull and East Riding. In addition, the region will share in £902 million from the Local Growth Fund, supporting infrastructure, business development, and skills training. These measures will help local enterprises grow and keep high streets vibrant.
Funding some of these reforms will come from tackling waste and fraud and introducing fairer taxation. A High Value Council Tax Surcharge will apply to homes worth over £2 million, addressing long-standing imbalances where average households have paid proportionally more than owners of high-value properties. Fewer than 1% of properties locally fall into this category, meaning the impact will be minimal for most residents.
This Budget marks a decisive shift towards fairness and investment. For Hull West and Haltemprice, it means lower bills, stronger public services, and reduced child poverty, a clear win for our community.