Shadow Minister Victoria Atkins has said additional money being given to the NHS is being spent on the national insurance increase and pay hikes

Speaking on GB News Victoria Atkins said:

“What we know is happening today is that as a direct result of the decisions that Rachel Reeves made in her November budget, whether it’s the family farm tax, whether it’s the family business tax or the dreaded National Insurance hike, there are already very, very grave impacts being felt across the rural economy.

“Today she just solidified the negativity around Labour’s economic message to the countryside.

“Whether it is the worrying impact of some of those welfare speculation changes or whether it is the genuine difficulty that many businesses find themselves in, we know that her budget of broken promises, and now her emergency budget of broken promises, promises only a halving of growth, more unemployment year on year, and we know that that will mean much, much higher bills, sadly for us all.

“Today was a glum day for the economy, but it shows sadly just quite how badly wrong Rachel Reeves has chosen to make her decisions and the impact they’re having on the whole country, including the rural economy.

“Rather like the made up figure that they’ve been using about their economic inheritance, which the OBR itself has said they can’t legitimise, so too on this extra money that is supposed to be for the NHS.

“We heard a couple of weeks ago from the outgoing head of NHS England and the outgoing head of finance at NHS England, that this £20 billion they have been talking about over two years, the overwhelming majority of that money, is in fact, going to go on, guess what, paying the National Insurance hike and the pay rises that this government promised without productivity reform.

“Very little extra is, in fact, going to the front line services that we all want to see properly funded and looked after.

“We mustn’t allow the Labour spin doctors to skew our cold, hard analysis of what is actually happening with the figures here because the story they give is not the story that we are experiencing.

“On welfare, we took the brave decision actually, to try to start not just the conversation but the action to help reform the welfare system in a compassionate, thoughtful and measured way.

“And we know this because Labour, before the election said there shouldn’t be a penny cut in welfare. Well, lo and behold, that’s another break of promise.

“We know that the OBR has said that the impact on employment of these reforms they put forward is nil. Whereas the fact they have rejected our welfare reforms that we put forward before the election means that there will be some 16,000 fewer people in employment.

“So we, of course, support reform; we understand that this system needs very careful, thoughtful work. But what they’ve done the last couple of weeks, and the worry they’ve put people through, I’m afraid, is not having that impact.

“We will consider these options when they’re in front of us but in fairness, we’ve only just had the impact assessment today. They rushed it out, hoping it would be buried.

“We want to help encourage people into work if they’re able to, but we fully recognise that not everybody else is able to, and that’s why the safety net is there.”