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Just recently, the finance minister, Rachel Reeves, presented a Labour Party budget. People have been asking for Labour’s mission and principles to be more clearly articulated. Through the choices made – a transition to a fairer tax system, targeting wealth to fund addressing child poverty, quality public services and the cost of living – we have clearly set out what we stand for.

This is why Labour MPs applauded in the Commons, and it’s why we are ready for the battles to come. And it’s why the protests from the conservative side began right away.

The Main Political Divide in UK Politics

The central division in British politics is once again on the economy. On the one side Labour, who aim to change it so it helps ordinary working people, and on the other, our opponents, who support the current system and the unsuccessful doctrine of the past. We must now take on, and prevail in, the argument.

The Tories were given 14 years to resolve things and in reality, by every standard, they got far more dire. Their doctrinaire austerity and supply-side economics – tax cuts for the wealthy, cutting off investment (leaving us with poor productivity and wages), and neglecting to support young people post-Covid – didn’t work.

Legacy of Failure Under the Previous Government

Quality of life dropped 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 remained flat, a housing crisis took hold, young people scarred by Covid were left on the scrapheap. The history of failure goes on.

A single budget alone can’t fix everything, so Labour has a long-term plan for rebuilding and for restructuring the country. And we have to go out and keep making the case for why our approach will reap dividends.

Welfare Spending and Youth Deprivation

Under the Tories, welfare spending rose substantially. As did child poverty, because they failed to tackle the underlying issues: low pay, high housing costs, deep inequalities in education, health and regions. The state is forced to paying more to manage 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 bringing down the costs of childcare and energy as we drive for clean power.

Ending 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 almost a decade, since it was enacted, low-income families with children have endured from a unjust social experiment that was marketed as fair for working people when it was the opposite. Most of the families impacted by it have a parent in work.

It’s done nothing but push 300,000 more children into poverty – which, ultimately, costs us more, as well as being heartless and unethical.

Real Impact in Local Areas

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 actual impact it’s had. Children wearing £1 wellies as school shoes, children going to bed without food and cold, living in cramped, 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.

Lasting Effects of Child Poverty

Just a quarter of pupils from the most disadvantaged families achieve five good GCSEs, compared with nearly three in four among wealthier families. This predisposes them for the disadvantages they face during their lives: missed potential, economic struggles and poor health. Children who grew up in poverty are more likely to be unemployed 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 promptly 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 effects of lifting it won’t happen overnight either, so taking early action in the parliament was crucial.

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

Equitable Financing for Policies

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

Final Thoughts

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

So let’s keep hold of it and prevail in this fight about how we will rebuild Britain and tackle the deep inequalities holding us back.