B1654 - The Budget (February 2024) - Second Reading

For convenience, the debate under the budget as introduced in the Commons can be read here.

The Budget (February 2024):

• Budget Report
• Finance Bill
• Budget Sheets

This budget was submitted by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, His Grace the Duke of Dorset Sir /u/Rea-wakey KT KD OM KCT KCB KCMG KBE MVO VPRS on behalf of His Majesty's 34th Government.

Opening Speech:

Madame Speaker,

This Government, composed of MPs from Solidarity and the Labour Party, is well versed in navigating this country through the most difficult of times. It is with that level of experience and a new, emboldened approach that we present this Budget Report to the House today. As ever, we are committed to an overall increase in the money in people’s pockets, and an active government committed to infrastructure spending and, most of all, committed to ensuring the prosperity of every person on these isles.

The major changes proposed in this budget combine the introduction of a Universal Basic Income, which will provide more proportional and more prosperous outcomes for those with incomes up to £100,000 per year, with the introduction of a single and formalised Taxation on Earnings, marking the most major reform to income

Alongside this, the Government is pleased to announce the negotiation and agreement of a devolved funding settlement to replace the existing stopgap arrangement that has left the constitutional settlement of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in tatters with no long term financial certainty.

And as the British public expect of this Government, we have continued to make strong investments in our communities in order to set our economy up for success, slashing the unspent surplus.

Further details are outlined in the Budget Report. I commend this Budget to the House.

This Reading shall end on the 13th of February, at 10pm GMT, when the Budget shall pass to Royal Assent.