A WIRRAL MP has described the autumn budget as a “game changer” which will “bring back hope” and deliver “a Britain we can be proud of again”.

On October 3 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, delivered Labour’s first Budget for 14 years, announcing a range of measures which would “fix the foundations and deliver change”.

The budget announced an extra £25.6billion over two years for the NHS, to cut waiting times with 40,000 extra elective appointments a week, and build capacity for more than 30,000 additional procedures.

Welcoming the announcement, Matthew Patrick, MP for Wirral West said: “That is not just a good health policy; it is a policy that will make Britain stronger, happier and ready to take on the challenges coming our way.

“I do not want to be faced with more stories of my constituents waiting years for important operations. I have heard enough of those heartbreaking stories to last me a lifetime—stress upon stress, costing jobs and crushing hope.”

The Chancellor also announced the tripling of funding for free breakfast clubs in primary schools to £30 million, alongside an increase to the Core Schools Budget by £2.3bn next year to support the recruitment of 6,500 teachers.

The budget also included an announcement of an additional £1 billion uplift for SEND and alternative provision funding.

Matthew said this would deliver “real hope” and added: “I cannot wait until we open those breakfast clubs in Wirral West, to expand opportunities for parents and kids alike.”

Matthew praised the new government’s approach, saying the Chancellor had “opened up Britain’s future once again through policies that will invest in public services, including the NHS and state schools”.

He said: “Our investment will mean more opportunities, better pay, and public services that are there when people need them—a Britain we can be proud of again.

“The government are making long-term decisions so that we can look back on a decade of expanding opportunities and rising standards, not another decade of shameful decline, which the country, and working people, cannot afford.”

The Chancellor also announced an increase to the National Living Wage (NLW) of 6.7% to £12.21 per hour for full time workers on the NLW – worth up to £1,400 for a full-time worker. This will mean a pay increase for around 7,700 people living in Wirral.

Following the announcement of a review into the carers allowance overpayment scandal earlier in the month, the chancellor also used the budget to announce an increase to the carer’s allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 to £196 per week. The treasury estimates this will allow over 60,000 more carers to access carer’s allowance.

Funding was also allocated to compensate victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal (c£2 billion) and the Infected Blood scandal (£11.8 billion).

Matthew said: “This budget protects working people, invests in our NHS and rebuilds the foundations for Britain’s future.

“More of the same simply was not an option; hope was on the ballot in July, and this budget brings back hope.”