05 Apr 2025
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has delivered a Spring Statement which missed a real opportunity to deliver positive change.
That’s the damning accusation in the wake of last week’s announcement on the state of the nation’s finances, with St Albans’ Lib Dem MP Daisy Cooper pulling no punches.
She said: “People in St Albans and across the country are crying out for change but they tell me they feel like they’re just getting more of the same.
“Of course it was the Conservative Party that wrecked the public finances but now that we’re eight months into this new Government, people have been left wondering: where is the change we were promised?
“After years of Conservative mismanagement, people can see just how broken our public services are. They cannot see a GP, they cannot see a dentist, they may be fighting for an education plan for their child or picking up the pieces of a broken social care system.
“Everything is broken. Nothing works. That is why people are impatient for the change they were promised.
“After the Government’s disastrous Budget, the Government had the chance today to change direction, fix our finances, kick-start growth and deliver a Small Business Budget.
“The Chancellor should’ve used this opportunity to scrap her self-defeating jobs tax, rethink her business rates changes and finally start rebuilding our trading relationship with Europe.
“The Government could have scrapped the jobs tax, which will hammer our high streets, and instead ask the big banks, social media giants and online gambling companies to pay their fair share instead.
“The Government could have changed their approach to trade, launching talks to boost growth through a new trading deal with our European neighbours and to stand up to Trump.
“Instead, the Government have made the wrong decisions to cut public services, hit disabled people and inflict more pain on struggling families, small businesses and high streets. In doing so, they have delivered no change and almost no growth at all.”
Her comments were echoed by Harpenden MP Victoria Collins: “The Spring Statement was a chance for the government to show they understood what communities like ours are going through. Instead, we got more of the same: cuts to welfare, no new support for vulnerable people, and nothing to ease the burden for struggling families and businesses.
“The Conservatives may have left our economy in tatters, but this Spring Statement was Labour’s chance to chart a better course and they blew it.”
Cllr Simon Grover, leader of the Greens and Independent group on SADC, said the Spring Statement represented a profound moral failure.
“Rather than asking the wealthiest in our society to contribute their fair share, this Government has chosen to target ill and disabled people by removing vital support. This callous approach to balancing the books reveals just how disconnected they are from the realities faced by ordinary people.
“Higher taxes on high-earners is a popular and fair idea that would raise billions. As well as a higher rater of tax for super-high earners, the government could close the capital gains and inheritance tax loopholes that favour people who earn income from assets. The Government could also remove the massive subsidies they give to fossil fuel companies and airlines.
“The damaging cuts announced for frontline services will weaken our communities and impoverish us all. After enduring 14 years of Conservative austerity, people are now facing the crushing disappointment of a Labour Government that has abandoned its promise to stand ‘for the many, not the few’.
“The Government’s reckless prioritisation of economic growth at the expense of environmental protection is equally concerning. This approach undermines crucial environmental safeguards and weakens plans for renewable energy in new homes.
“Across the country, Green councillors are working tirelessly to deliver genuine hope and meaningful change in their communities. We offer a dedicated, democratic alternative to the divisive rhetoric and impossible promises of Reform – a practical vision for a fairer, more sustainable society based on equitable taxation and robust environmental protections.”
Conservative group leader Cllr Matt Cowley said: “Labour talks a good game on growth, but the Spring Statement makes clear that their policies simply aren’t delivering it. And that should be no surprise.
“I know just how hard people work to create jobs and build businesses in our community. But the Spring Statement does nothing for them – and it does nothing to alleviate the burden of Labour’s jobs tax, which punishes them for doing the right thing, creating jobs and growing our economy.
“Of course, locally businesses have the added hit of the damaging Lib Dem High Street Tax in Harpenden.
“The Conservatives know that it is businesses, not Government, that grow an economy. We’ll always be on their side.”
Meanwhile, Cllr Mike Hobday, deputy leader of the Labour Group on St Albans council offered an alternative viewpoint: “The Labour Government inherited a really difficult economic situation. Yet it has delivered record investment in our NHS, reducing waiting times by five months in a row. And has managed the economy such that interest rates have fallen three times since the General Election.
“Increasing the National Living Wage will give three million people a pay rise from April 1.
“It’s clear that the world is a more complex and challenging place since the election of Donald Trump in America has increased uncertainty and instability around the world. The Government has had to make really difficult decisions, but it is right for it to continue to focus on driving productivity and economic growth. This is what will improve living standards for everyone.”
