The Budget was a ‘Nothingburger’

MP for Chichester Jess Brown-Fuller has criticised the Government’s Budget this week, arguing that it does not go far enough to support households and businesses in Chichester. Jess also criticised the Government for doing too little to support young people who are out of work, set out a clear path for defence funding or supercharge economic growth.

The Budget was delivered on Wednesday and included a number of limited support measures, including £100 for most households to help with energy bills and a change to business rates for some businesses. It has been criticised by many for being too small in scale and doing little to address the issues facing many ordinary households.

Jess in Parliament

Jess and the Liberal Democrats believe the budget lacked the substance families need as they face significant increases in energy prices next year. Jess specifically went after Chancellor John Healey for failing to recognise the needs of the South East, particularly in relation to changes to business rate thresholds, under which only a ‘handful’ of businesses on Chichester High Street will benefit.

After the budget Jess said,

Labour’s budget today was a nothingburger. It was tinkering around the edges and won’t fundamentally address the challenges businesses and households are facing.

A £100 direct payment will be welcome for many across the Chichester constituency and will no doubt dominate the media headlines. But this shouldn’t detract from the fact that the budget failed to address the nearly one million young people out of work, failed to set out a roadmap for funding defence and won’t supercharge growth.

The changes to business rate thresholds are brilliant for some areas, but Chichester’s high rateable values mean this relief will only support a handful of our high-street businesses. Like Labour’s previous budgets, once again the Government has failed to introduce measures to support the South East.