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Just recently, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, presented a Labour Party budget. People have been asking for Labour’s mission and principles to be more clearly articulated. Through the decisions made – a shift to a fairer tax system, targeting wealth to fund tackling child poverty, quality public services and the living expenses – we have unequivocally set out what we believe in.

That’s why Labour MPs applauded 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 Central Dividing Line in British Politics

The primary dividing line in British politics is once again on the economy. On the one side Labour, who want to change it so it benefits everyday working people, and on the other, our political opponents, who support the status quo and the failed doctrine of the past. We must now take on, and win, the argument.

The Tories had 14 years to fix things and in reality, by any measure, they got much worse. Their ideological austerity and trickle-down economics – tax breaks for the wealthy, reducing investment (causing us with poor productivity and wages), and neglecting to support young people post-Covid – didn’t work.

Legacy of Decline Under the Former Administration

Living standards fell by the largest margin since records began, child poverty hit record levels, NHS waiting lists in England were the highest they’ve ever been, wages were stagnant, a housing crisis became entrenched, young people affected by Covid were abandoned. The record of failure continues.

One budget alone can’t put all this right, so Labour has a comprehensive plan for rebuilding and for rewiring the country. And we have to go out and keep making the case for why our strategy will yield benefits.

Social Security and Youth Deprivation

Under the Tories, welfare spending rose substantially. As did child poverty, because they didn’t address the underlying issues: low pay, high housing costs, significant inequalities in education, health and regions. The state ends up paying more to deal with the effects instead of the cure.

It’s why we are building more social housing than for a generation, raising wages and enhanced protections for workers, massively boosting 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 marketed as fair for working people when it was anything but. Most of the families impacted by it have a parent in work.

It has only served to push 300,000 more children into poverty – which, ultimately, costs us more, as well as being callous and immoral.

Real Impact in Communities

From experience from my own district – where over 5,000 children will be lifted out of poverty as a result of ending the cap – the real impact it’s had. Children wearing £1 wellies as school shoes, children going to bed without food and cold, living in cramped, mouldy homes, parents during the holidays depending on food banks for a modest 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 divert time and resources to supporting children who are living with the consequences of deep poverty.

Lasting Consequences of Child Poverty

Just a quarter of pupils from the most disadvantaged families achieve five good GCSEs, compared with nearly three in four among affluent families. This sets them up for the challenges they face throughout their lives: missed potential, financial struggles and poor health. Children who were raised in poverty are more likely to be unemployed or poor as adults.

Addressing child poverty isn’t just a ethical duty, it is a long-term investment. Poverty costs the economy significantly more than the £3bn cost of lifting the two-child cap, or expanding free school meals.

This is the reason we acted urgently in the budget, despite the very difficult economic context. Every day with this cap in place sees more than 100 additional children pushed into poverty. The effects of lifting it will not occur overnight either, so taking early action in the parliament was crucial.

The cap was a totem to 14 years of failed conservative ideology. Now it is abolished.

Fair Financing for Measures

We, as Labour, can also be clear that these initiatives are being funded in a just way – from a new gambling levy, closing tax loopholes and a new “mansion tax”.

Final Thoughts

Equity and direction – that’s how we will succeed in the contest of ideas. This budget is a definitive statement that we gained the election as Labour, and will govern as Labour. As I repeatedly said during my campaign to become deputy leader, we must seize back the political platform and define the narrative more strongly about what’s really wrong with the country and how we are fixing it. We’ve certainly done that this week.

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