My response to the Spring Statement

Welcome news from yesterday’s Spring Statement includes a further £2bn for social and affordable housing, a new skills programme to train up to 60,000 more skilled construction workers, and an investment in defence that I am hopeful will translate into new job opportunities at BAE.

But the government’s own impact assessment of the statement reveals that 250,000 more people, including 50,000 children, will be plunged into poverty as a result of planned cuts to disability benefits.

Meanwhile, new government data shows child poverty has already reached a record high of 4.5m – 100,000 more than last year. In Blackpool South, where almost half of children live in poverty, around 1,000 more children were plunged into absolute poverty last year.

I made a commitment to Blackpool South that I would never vote for anything that makes local people poorer. These cuts will push even more people in Blackpool into hardship and deepen the struggles of families already on the brink.

I will be voting against these cuts and urging the government to pursue fairer alternatives.