Spring Statement 2026: Another Missed Opportunity

I’ve just come out of the Chamber after hearing the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, and for families across Newbury and West Berkshire, it simply wasn’t good enough.

The OBR has downgraded growth to just 1.1% next year. Unemployment is forecast to rise to 5.3%, with youth unemployment hovering around 15–16%. That is not the backdrop for rising living standards.

Yes, inflation may fall to around 2.3%. But prices are not falling; they are still rising, just more slowly. Energy bills remain close to £2,000 a year for a typical household, far above where they were before the crisis. And global instability, including military action in Iran, risks pushing petrol and gas prices sharply higher again. Families are already budgeting down to the last pound. They cannot absorb another shock.

The squeeze

But what really stood out to me was who is quietly being squeezed.

Pensioners

Because income tax thresholds remain frozen, up to one million additional pensioners will be dragged into paying income tax over the coming years. That is a stealth tax on people who have worked hard all their lives, and who deserve security, not a quiet raid on their retirement income.

Graduates and young workers

Young professionals here in Newbury and across West Berkshire are being hit, too. The continued freeze on student loan repayment thresholds means graduates are paying more back each month, even when wages are barely keeping pace with living costs.

Ending that freeze would put around £100 back into a graduate’s pocket in the first year alone, rising to over £200 within three years. At a time when young people are facing high housing costs, rising bills, and weak wage growth, this feels deeply unfair — and economically short‑sighted.

The NHS is still under immense strain

One of the most glaring omissions from the Chancellor’s statement was any credible plan to tackle NHS pressures.

The NHS waiting list remains at around seven million people, and many residents are finding it harder than ever to see a GP, get a dentist appointment, or access timely treatment at the Royal Berks, Basingstoke, or Winchester. Social care pressures are piling up too, driving costs higher for councils and leaving elderly people without the support they need.

The Government cannot keep ignoring this. We urgently need cross‑party talks on long‑term social care reform, because the current model is failing patients, families, and local authorities.

The rural penalty

For our rural communities, the pressures are even sharper.

Driving is not optional here. Yet the Government is pressing ahead with a fuel duty rise next September: a £600 million tax hit nationally. With petrol prices already volatile, this is effectively a tax on rural life.

Farmers, carers, small businesses, and commuters already face some of the highest fuel costs in the country. Today’s statement does nothing to ease that burden.

Small businesses under pressure

Local businesses, from independent shops to tech firms and hospitality venues, are facing intense pressure from:

• High energy bills

• Rising rents

• Business rates

• Increasing employer National Insurance contributions

  
  

These businesses are the backbone of our economy, yet instead of helping them create jobs and rebuild confidence, the Government is piling on more costs. Growth at 1.1% simply isn’t enough to lift living standards or support the investment our high streets and industrial estates urgently need.

Farmers and the rural economy

Local farmers continue to face high feed and fertiliser costs, fuel price volatility, and post‑Brexit trade friction. When global energy markets shift, it hits rural producers first and hardest. The Government offered no new reassurance today, no plan to reduce red tape, stabilise supply chains, or support agricultural exporters.

We need a different approach

Scrap the fuel duty hike.

Reverse the National Insurance jobs tax.

End the student loan repayment threshold freeze.

Restart serious cross-party talks to fix social care.

Negotiate a new UK-EU customs union to boost trade and growth.

Newbury and West Berkshire deserves a plan to properly raise living standards and ease the squeeze. Instead, we got drift. We needed a Spring Statement that recognised that reality and offered a real plan for growth.

Instead, we got more of the same.