Weekly Update
📰 THE BUDGET 2025: Building a Stronger, Fairer Economy
I was in the chamber for this week’s Budget and I believe it shows the Government is delivering on its mission to build a stronger and more secure economy.
The Chancellor’s plans offer welcome support for families under pressure and take an important step toward rebuilding overstretched public services. Lower energy bills, better rewards for work and scrapping the two-child limit will give real help to those struggling, lifting hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty.
Investment in young people, infrastructure and essential services is long overdue, and today’s choices ensure low- and middle-income households benefit most while those with the broadest shoulders contribute more.
👪 Supporting Families & Tackling Poverty
A broken welfare system has left too many children in poverty and too many people written off.
Protecting Children & Young People
Scrapping the Two Child Limit, lifting 450,000 children out of poverty.
Combined with other measures-including expanded free school meals - Labour is set to deliver the largest fall in child poverty on record, with 550,000 children lifted out of poverty this Parliament.
Reforming Welfare Fairly
Reforming Motability, removing luxury cars and saving over £1bn across five years.
Guaranteeing a six-month work placement for long-term unemployed 18–21 year olds.
Ending the ability for those living abroad to cheaply buy a UK state pension.
🔧 Cutting Costs & Supporting Public Services
Helping with the Cost of Living
Around £150 off average energy bills, with Budget measures reducing inflation by 0.4 percentage points.
Freezing train fares and prescription charges.
Strengthening the NHS
Investment in 250 new Neighbourhood Health Centres to help cut waiting lists.
Keeping Borrowing Down
Government borrowing cut every year, helping interest rates-already cut 5 times since the election-continue to fall.
📉 Fixing the Damage of the Last Decade
The effects of austerity and Brexit were deeper than previously understood:
The OBR’s productivity downgrade means lower future growth and a £16bn hit to the public finances.
This Budget responds by doubling down on long-term economic renewal and business confidence.
🛠️ Growing the Economy the Right Way
Responsible Choices
Refusing to borrow more -cutting borrowing more than any other G7 country and doubling fiscal headroom to £21.7bn.
Rejecting austerity, maintaining the highest levels of public investment in 40 years.
Backing Businesses & High Streets
Permanently lower tax rates for 750,000 retail and hospitality properties.
New tax breaks to help entrepreneurs hire, grow, and list their companies here in the UK.
Where Others Would Fail
Our opponents would borrow more or return to failed austerity:
One in every £10 of taxpayers’ money is already spent on debt interest-no progressive party should increase that burden.
Tory plans for £47bn of cuts equal to firing every police officer twice over.
💷 Fair Choices for a Fairer Economy
Every penny of public money must be spent wisely. This Budget delivers:
Cutting Waste & Fraud
Ending asylum hotels while reclaiming £70m from Tory hotel contracts and nearly £400m from Covid fraud.
Cutting the cost of politics, saving £250m over five years.
Asking Everyone to Contribute Fairly
Freezing tax thresholds toward the end of this Parliament.
Making the tax system fairer:
Landlords to pay tax more in line with their tenants.
Reforming property taxes so a £10m mansion doesn’t pay less than a terraced house in Enfield North.
Ensuring all road users, including EV drivers, contribute to maintaining roads.
Putting Money Back in People’s Pockets
Removing levies from energy bills, saving families £150 next year, rising to £300 for many low-income households.
Budget measures help cut inflation, supporting lower mortgage rates and boosting business investment.
And here in Enfield North, the Budget delivered several important wins that will make a real difference to households feeling the squeeze. From support with energy bills to fairer taxes and investment in local services, these measures will help ease day-to-day pressures and put more money back into people’s pockets. It’s a positive step forward for families across our community who have been dealing with rising costs for far too long.
This Budget is about renewing our economy and our communities.
It makes fair, necessary choices rooted in Labour values-choices to:
Raise living standards
Cut child poverty
Rebuild public services
Restore economic security in every part of Britain
But there is more to do. People elected us to renew the economy and rebuild communities after years of decline. This Budget goes further by making fair, responsible choices-rejecting austerity and avoiding additional borrowing. A stronger, fairer country is not only possible-it is now underway.
🎉 Support for Bingo Clubs in the Budget
Following my recent visit to Buzz Bingo in Enfield North and my conversations with its team, I was pleased to see that my concerns were heard - and that the Budget included significant support for local bingo clubs.
The Government has announced that Bingo Duty - the tax paid by bingo halls - will be abolished from April 2026.
This change forms part of a wider reform of gambling taxation. While online gambling faces higher taxes, in-person venues like bingo halls are being protected, recognising the important role they play in local communities.
Abolishing bingo duty will effectively give clubs a much-needed tax cut, easing financial pressures after several challenging years.
It is a huge win for Buzz Bingo and for the many residents who rely on their local club for friendship, fun and a real sense of community.
🏛️ Celebrating UK Parliament Week in Enfield North
This week has been UK Parliament Week, and I’m delighted to have visited four schools across Enfield North to talk with students about how our democracy works and why their voices matter.
UK Parliament Week is a nationwide programme of activities that helps people of all ages learn more about Parliament and get involved in our democratic life. Whether you attend an event, organise one, or join the conversation online, there’s something for everyone.
My week began at Keys Meadow Primary School, and then I visited Heron Hall, Eastfield Primary and ended the week at Waverley School with Bridget Phillipson, the Secretary for Education.
The UK Parliament Week goal is simple but powerful: to inspire interest in our democratic system and encourage young people and the wider public to take part.
🖥️ Spotlight on Enfield Innovation: Visit to VIRTUS Data Centres
Everyone knows I’m a bit of a geek at heart, so I had a fantastic visit to VIRTUS Data Centres.
It’s now one of Europe’s leading digital infrastructure companies - and proudly founded right here in Enfield North in 2011.
Data centres are the digital engine rooms that keep modern life running. From sending a text or tapping your bank card, to using NHS services, watching Netflix, checking maps or ordering your shopping - none of it would work without the immense computing power housed in centres like VIRTUS.
It was inspiring to hear about their commitment to sustainability and resilience, and to see first-hand how Enfield North is playing a crucial role in powering the services we all rely on every day.
I’m proud to champion brilliant local businesses like VIRTUS that are driving innovation, investment and opportunity across our community.
🐾 Finally Ending Animal Testing: A Priority for Labour
I was pleased to have a constructive discussion with Patrick Vallance, the Minister for Science, about Labour’s mission to end the use of animal testing.
Enfield North is full of animal lovers, and none of us want to see animals suffer. That’s why Labour is accelerating the rollout of reliable, effective alternatives, supported by £75 million of new funding, to phase out animal testing in all but exceptional circumstances.
I’m proud to champion a future where UK science is world-leading, humane, and driven by innovation, ensuring we protect both people and animals as we develop the technologies of tomorrow.
🏥 Rebuilding Local Healthcare: New Neighbourhood Health Centres
Years of underinvestment left our NHS crumbling, with one in five primary care buildings older than the NHS itself. This has limited access for patients and damaged staff morale.
Labour’s 10-Year Plan for Health will fix this by shifting more care from hospitals into the community through a new Neighbourhood Health Service.
The Budget launched NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild, a major programme to deliver modern, fit-for-purpose Neighbourhood Health Centres across the country. More than 120 centres will open by 2030 - funded through the first dedicated public capital fund for primary care.
Around 70 brand-new centres will use public investment supported by tightly controlled private capital, with strict safeguards to protect taxpayers. This will allow the first new centres to open within five years, far faster than relying on public money alone.
Neighbourhood Health Centres will bring GPs, nurses, physios, mental health support, pharmacists and more under one roof, with many open 12 hours a day, six days a week.
They will reduce pressure on hospitals, expand access to care close to home and help tackle health inequalities - providing modern facilities that patients, staff and communities can be proud of.
🚆 Freezing Rail Fares for the First Time in 30 Years
I know from the many emails and conversations I have with residents that rising rail fares have been a huge frustration for people across Enfield North.
That’s why I’m pleased the Government has announced a major boost for passengers: rail fares will be frozen for the first time in 30 years, putting money back into people’s pockets and helping with the cost of living.
For years, passengers have faced relentless fare hikes - with prices rising 60% between 2010 and 2024 under the previous Governments. That changes now. This one-year freeze will deliver savings across over a billion journeys, ensuring that season tickets, day singles and returns, off-peak intercity fares and many flexible tickets will not increase by a single penny.
The freeze will save many commuters hundreds of pounds on their annual season tickets, with those on the most expensive routes saving more than £300 a year.
And we’re not stopping at freezing fares. Passengers often find the ticketing system frustrating and confusing, so the Government is expanding Pay As You Go to another 50 stations this December and introducing simpler, clearer fares on key routes.
I hope you have a good week!
Best wishes,
Feryal