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Just recently, the finance minister, Rachel Reeves, delivered a Labour Party economic plan. People have been asking for Labour’s mission and values to be more distinctly articulated. By way of the decisions made – a shift to a more equitable tax system, targeting wealth to pay for tackling child poverty, good public services and the living expenses – we have clearly set out what we believe in.

That’s why Labour MPs cheered in the Commons, and it’s why we are up for the fights to come. And it’s why the protests from the right began immediately.

The Main Political Divide in British Government

The primary division in British politics is once again on the economy. On the one side Labour, who want to reform it so it benefits everyday working people, and on the opposite side, our opponents, who favor the current system and the unsuccessful ideology of the past. We must now confront, and win, the argument.

The Tories had 14 years to fix things and in reality, by every standard, they got far more dire. Their doctrinaire austerity and trickle-down economics – tax cuts for the wealthy, reducing investment (causing us with low productivity and wages), and failing to support young people post-Covid – didn’t work.

Legacy of Failure Under the Previous Government

Living standards fell by the biggest amount since records began, child poverty hit record levels, NHS waiting lists in England were the highest they’ve ever been, wages remained flat, a housing crisis became entrenched, young people affected by Covid were abandoned. The history of failure goes on.

One budget alone can’t fix everything, so Labour has a comprehensive plan for renewal and for restructuring the country. And we have to go out and keep making the argument for why our approach will yield benefits.

Social Security and Child Poverty

Under the Tories, welfare spending significantly increased. As did child poverty, because they didn’t address the root causes: low pay, high housing costs, deep inequalities in education, health and regions. The state is forced to paying more to deal with the effects instead of the solution.

That’s why we are building more social housing than for a generation, increasing wages and new rights for workers, greatly increasing investment in infrastructure and new industries, reducing waiting lists down and lowering the costs of childcare and energy as we pursue clean power.

Removing the Two-Child Limit

This is also the reason we are completely justified to use this budget to remove the two-child benefit cap.

For eight long years, since it was enacted, poorer families with children have suffered from a cruel social experiment that was branded as fair for working people when it was anything but. Most of the families affected by it have a parent in work.

It has only served to push 300,000 more children into poverty – which, in the end, costs us more, as well as being callous and unethical.

Tangible Effects in Local Areas

I know from my own constituency – where over 5,000 children will be lifted out of poverty as a result of abolishing the cap – the actual impact it’s had. Children wearing low-cost wellies as school shoes, children going to bed hungry and cold, living in overcrowded, damp homes, parents this Christmas depending on food banks for a simple meal or small gift for their kids.

I also see the impact on schools, teachers, social workers, doctors and charities who are already overburdened but have to redirect time and resources to supporting children who are living with the consequences of deep poverty.

Long-Term Effects of Child Poverty

Just one in four pupils from the poorest families achieve five good GCSEs, compared with nearly three in four among wealthier families. This sets them up for the challenges they face throughout their lives: unrealized potential, financial struggles and poor health. Children who were raised in poverty are more likely to be jobless or poor as adults.

Addressing child poverty isn’t just a ethical duty, it is a future-oriented strategy. Poverty costs the economy significantly more than the three billion pound cost of removing the two-child cap, or expanding free school meals.

That’s why we acted urgently in the budget, despite the challenging economic context. Every day with this cap in place sees over a hundred additional children pushed into poverty. The benefits of lifting it will not occur overnight either, so taking early action in the parliament was vital.

The cap was a symbol to 14 years of unsuccessful rightwing ideology. Now it is gone.

Fair Funding for Measures

We, as Labour, can also be explicit that these measures are being funded in a just way – from a new gaming tax, closing tax loopholes and a new “mansion tax”.

Final Thoughts

Equity and purpose – that’s how we will succeed in the battle of ideas. This budget is a definitive statement that we won the election as Labour, and will lead as Labour. As I consistently said during my campaign to become deputy leader, we must reclaim the political platform and set the agenda more strongly about what’s truly flawed with the country and how we are fixing it. We’ve definitely done that this week.

So let’s maintain it and prevail in this fight about how we will rebuild Britain and tackle the deep inequalities impeding progress.