Gen Kitchen MP: The budget will deliver the much-needed change the people of Britain voted for

Whether it’s children going to school in un-fit classrooms, crumbling roads, patients stuck on NHS waiting lists or families struggling with soaring living costs, everywhere you look local people have been getting a raw deal.

As an MP, I see the impact of those failings every time I hold a surgery or look at my inbox. The new Labour Government promised to repair this damage, to fix the foundations of the country and invest in Britain. Our first budget shows a commitment to do just that.

It marks the start of a new chapter towards making Britain better off: more pounds in people’s pockets. An NHS that is there for you when you need it. A budget that invests in Britain’s future so, alongside business, we can build the homes, the infrastructure, the roads and the railways our country needs.

Funding will be provided to the NHS to cut waiting times with 40,000 extra elective appointments a week, and build capacity for more than 30,000 additional procedures. In Schools, we will support the recruitment of 6,500 teachers by increasing the Core Schools Budget by 2.3bn next year and have pledged £30m to roll out free breakfast clubs.

I was thrilled to see this Government righting the wrongs of the past and committing to funding compensation schemes for victims of state injustices such as the infected blood scandal and the Post Office Horizon scandal.

With the cost of living still too high, I was reassured to see a freeze to fuel duty, an increase to the minimum wage – which will benefit 8,100 workers in North Northamptonshire, and no extension of the freeze in tax thresholds which is good news for both workers and millions of pensioners.

Informal carers in Wellingborough & Rushden could also benefit as the earnings threshold for Carer’s Allowance will be boosted by £45 a week to £196 – the biggest ever cash increase.

Yesterday’s budget marked the start of repairing the damage of the past 14 years. The Chancellor had to make some tough decisions to restore economic stability, but I am confident the choices she made will protect working people, ensure our public services are fit for use, and deliver the much-needed change the people of Britain voted for.