Kemi Badenoch MP: Feeling let down by Labour's Budget

Instead of delivering stability or growth, Labour chose to hike taxes to historic levels to pay for higher welfare spending. It is a budget written for Labour backbenchers, not for the working people who keep this country going.

Rachel Reeves broke her promise not to raise taxes, then broke her promise not to “come back for more”.

Faced with the hard choice to get welfare under control, Labour flinched.

Families here in North West Essex who work hard, save carefully, and contribute so much to our communities now face higher bills and squeezed wages because Labour’s Chancellor will not stand up to her own MPs.

The consequences are clear. Growth is down in every year of the forecast.

Inflation has doubled since the Conservatives left office and is set to be the highest in the G7 next year. Unemployment has risen almost every month, hurting young people in towns like Dunmow and Saffron Walden who want secure jobs close to home.

The state is swelling to its biggest size in modern times, paid for by a tax burden not seen in our country’s history.

Independent experts agree. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the Budget “clearly represents a tax rise on working people”.

Economists warn that growth now feels “as far away as ever”.

What residents in our constituency are seeing in their everyday lives is the same story: rising costs, falling confidence, and a government with no strategy at all.

And while Labour pile taxes onto working families, they have surrendered our North Sea oil and gas industry to the demands of Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.

That means higher bills for households across Chelmsford and Uttlesford this winter and fewer skilled jobs for our country. Labour promised to cut bills by £300. Instead they’ve risen by £300.

There is another way. The Conservative Party I now lead has identified £47 billion of savings, including £23 billion from welfare reforms, to get Britain living within its means.

Our alternative is rooted in a simple truth: the answer to Labour’s economic mess is not higher taxes, it is a government prepared to take responsibility.

At our party conference, the Conservatives announced a Golden Economic Rule that means every pound we save from cutting welfare spending, ending asylum hotels and more, will be split between reducing the deficit and cutting taxes or backing priorities that grow the economy, like abolishing Stamp Duty.

It is honest, disciplined, and grounded in the values people across North West Essex share.

I know that residents want fairness, security, and opportunity, not endless tax rises to fund more welfare and more waste.

The Conservatives stand for spending less, taxing less, rewarding hard work, and restoring stability.

That is the Conservative plan for a stronger economy. Cut spending, cut tax, back business, and get Britain working again. That’s what I’m working to deliver.