In this month's column, Olivia Bailey, the Labour MP for Reading West and Mid Berkshire, writes about the beneficial measures within the government's first budget since the general election. Olivia writes:

During the past few months, speaking with Reading West and Mid Berkshire constituents at surgeries, or when I’ve knocked on their door, the same concerns have come up again and again; people want to see our NHS fixed, more support for schools, and a strong economy which delivers more money in their pocket.

That’s why I'm delighted that last week’s Budget starts to tackle these concerns – fixing the foundations to begin to deliver the change that people in Reading West and Mid Berkshire voted for.

Despite the tough economic inheritance, I’m really pleased that we are protecting working people from higher taxes in their payslip. We are also maintaining the fuel duty freeze and temporary 5p cut for 2025-26, and lifting the freeze to income tax and National Insurance contributions thresholds from April 2028. 

We also recognise that rewarding work with a fair wage is the best way to improve living standards. So, we are increasing the National Living Wage alongside our plan to strengthen people’s rights at work.

And, we are supporting pensioners by preserving the State Pension Triple Lock with over 12 million pensioners gaining up to £475 next year. We are also extending the Household Support Fund so that anyone who is struggling can access extra support and we are raising awareness to make sure that everyone entitled to Pension Credit is claiming it. You can check eligibility at www.gov.uk/pension-credit/eligibility.

At the same time, we’re fixing our public services, growing day-to-day spending on essential services in real terms during this Parliament. This will mean thousands more appointments locally in our NHS, the teachers and buildings our schools need and significant new investment in SEND. I know from my conversations with parents and schools just how crucial this is. 

There’s more support for the many of the small businesses here in Reading West and Mid Berkshire. The Budget doubles the employment allowance before companies pay National Insurance, meaning 865,000 employers won’t pay any National Insurance at all next year and over 1 million will pay the same or less than they did previously.

I’m also really excited with the support in the Budget for our local high street businesses, brewers and pubs, with 40% relief on business rates for the retail, hospitality and leisure industry and cheaper draught pints.

But to deliver on our promises we did ask larger businesses and the wealthiest to pay more.  Because the alternative to not taking action was more economic instability, more austerity and more decline.  Those were not choices we were willing to take. Our aspirations for Britain are huge. We want to see higher growth, higher living standards and higher investment in Britain.