Keir Starmer explains what the Budget means for you

Yesterday the Chancellor delivered the budget and I want to set out why the Government made the fair and necessary choices that we did for the year ahead. Our first priority was to help with the cost of living and that's why we were determined to take action on energy bills and that's what we've done. Taking £150 of average energy bills from April, rising to £300 for some of the poorest households and we've taken action to bear down on other costs with freezes to rail fares and to prescription fees. Taken together these policies will cut inflation and help push down mortgage rates. Second we were determined to protect the NHS with this budget. We've already seen the biggest fall in NHS waiting lists for 15 years. Now we're putting in 250 new neighbourhood health centres and investing in NHS technology to make the service fit for the future. The NHS belongs to all of us and I will always protect it. Third we're cutting our debt and our borrowing so we take no risks with the economy. We're doing this by spending wisely and making fair tax choices. This budget will also help build the economy for the long term. We're protecting high levels of investment into Britain and increasing our support for entrepreneurs looking to build great British businesses and making it easier for them to hire staff. It's also why we're reforming a welfare system that leaves children too poor to eat and writes off millions as too sick to work. Tackling child poverty is a moral imperative but it is also an investment in the country's future. The budget is part of my plan to build a refreshed and reinvigorated Britain, real lasting renewal of our economy and our communities. This is about the kind of country we want to be. Do we want to keep drifting, watching living standards stagnate and opportunities shrink? Or do we want to invest in a Britain where effort is rewarded, where public services work and where the next generation can look forward with confidence? I believe Britain can rise to this moment. By acting boldly today we can restore confidence tomorrow. We will deliver national renewal so people have more money in their pockets, more opportunities to get on for themselves and their kids, stronger communities that they can be proud of and a government that respects and works for them. We can move our country from drift to direction, from stagnation to strength. Working together we will regain control of our future. We can together end the decline, rebuild the fabric of our country and build a Britain where everyone can believe in the future again.