Speaking on the issue, Carla Lockhart MP said:

“Today’s Budget is not good news for hard pressed workers or companies. The overall picture is bleak. It exposes the enormous financial burden of the net zero agenda, highlights the absurdity of giving away the Chagos Islands and then paying for it, and shows a Government unwilling to tackle immigration head on. These decisions come at a cost to workers and to the economy.

There is some good news for employees with the minimum wage increase, but for employers already struggling with rising costs this is a major blow. Combined with higher National Insurance contributions, many businesses will be forced to raise prices, wiping out much of the gain for workers. Every taxpayer will take home less because tax thresholds remain frozen until 2030. That is nine years without an uplift and nine years of falling take-home pay. Labour’s answer is always the same: spend other people’s money. Under this Government, a £20 billion black hole has become £50 billion.

Northern Ireland needed meaningful support. Instead, we received headline announcements that do not address the pressures on public services or the economy. Farmers have been given nothing. Changing inheritance tax allowances without removing the family farm death tax is meaningless. Our health service has received no new hospital funding, no waiting list support and no investment for transformation. Policing received nothing to deal with the PSNI data breach or severe financial pressures. Hospitality received no VAT relief. WASPI women remain ignored. And the Budget does nothing to remove the trade barrier between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, which continues to raise costs, block growth and undermine competitiveness.

While wage rises help workers, employers face unsustainable cost pressures. This Budget fails workers, fails employers, fails families and fails Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom needed a plan for growth and efficiency. Instead we got headlines without solutions. I will continue to fight for taxpayers, for workers, for family farms and for the long-term interests of Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom.”