Will we see the Budget bear fruit up here?

The Chancellor announced a £100 energy support payment to households in Council Tax bands A - D in England. That will apply to over 20m households across the country, and millions here in Scotland, where the funding will be passed on to the Scottish Government through the Barnett Formula.

The Chancellor has unveiled a ‘cost-of-living Budget’. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA

It is for the Scottish Government to decide how that money is spent, but I hope to see them pass that support onto households here in south Edinburgh and across Scotland.

The Budget builds on the work the Labour government have done since July 2024 to support people with the cost of living. I know how much people are struggling, I see it in my constituency mailbag every day.

Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have pushed up the price of oil, which in turn pushes up the price of pretty much everything else. It feels like prices are rising everywhere you look - in your energy bill, your food shop and the cost of filling up your car.

Earlier this month the IMF said the UK economy is proving more resilient than expected given geopolitical uncertainty, with growth for this year revised upwards and the UK singled out for praise for having a plan to get borrowing down. It shows that our approach to the public finances is paying off.

But I know that people are not feeling that in their everyday lives, which is why the Budget contained a series of measures to give people some breathing space in the immediate term.

Those measures include extending the fuel duty cut to July 2027, and the removal of VAT from household energy bills until the end of June 2027. The Chancellor also set out a plan to abolish gas standing charges, which will save households across the country an average of £45 a year. These may be small steps, but they are welcome breathing space for people in the immediate term.

The Budget also provides more resources for public services here in Scotland. As a result of the Chancellor’s decisions yesterday, the Scottish Government will receive an additional £600mn.

That means the SNP have been given £18bn in extra resources since Labour came to power in 2024.

But their wastefulness and incompetence mean that to date, Scots are not seeing improvements in public services. In fact, the SNP have made such a mess of the public finances that there will be a £5bn gap in the Scottish Government’s budget by 2029/30, despite record funding settlements from the Labour government. It beggars belief.

And in addition to protecting living standards, the Budget will keep us secure abroad by fully funding the £15bn Defence Investment Plan. Scotland's defence sector is already a powerhouse of innovation and expertise, and jobs and industries across the country will benefit from this record investment as they continue to contribute to our national security.

Protecting living standards and keeping the country safe. There are no two more important priorities for a government, and this Budget delivers on both.

With £18bn extra to the Scottish government since 2024 many will rightly ask where the money has gone.....