This week has been busy both in Westminster and Stormont where we’ve been standing up for Christian values in our schools and speaking up for innocent victims as the Troubles Bill is progressed into law. 

Next week is going to be massive for all of us who pay tax. On Wednesday, Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver the Government’s Budget. For months the public has been treated to a steady flow of warnings about tax rises and tighter household budgets. With working families already stretched to breaking point, the DUP’s message to Labour is clear - do not make life harder for the people who work, contribute, and try to move this country forward. Northern Ireland’s families, small businesses, and public services deserve a Budget that lifts burdens, not one that deepens them.

Economic growth cannot be secured by taxing workers and job creators more heavily. Lower, fairer taxation has always been the route to greater productivity, investment and prosperity. Yet income tax thresholds have been frozen for years, dragging more people into higher bands by stealth. This must be reversed now, not pushed off until 2028, so that work is rewarded rather than penalised.

For many parents, the cost of childcare remains a real barrier to working or taking on additional hours. Building on the progress secured by DUP Education Minister, Paul Givan, we are urging the Chancellor to expand Tax-Free Childcare across the UK so more families can access work and support economic growth.

Labour must also stop undermining the sectors that form the backbone of our local economy. Small family farms, already facing rising input costs and in some sectors farm gate prices under increased pressure, have been hit by the removal of Agricultural Property Relief, placing new pressures on those trying to pass family farms on to the next generation. These decisions do not support growth - they threaten it. At the same time, the increase in employers’ National Insurance is penalising the very people we rely on to create jobs. It is discouraging recruitment, driving up costs for local firms, and hitting young people hardest as businesses scale back on employing more people. If Labour wants a dynamic economy, it cannot lumber employers with higher taxes on jobs.

Our hospitality sector, vital to tourism and to sustaining local employment, also needs meaningful help. A UK-wide reduction in hospitality VAT would ensure a level playing field and support growth in a sector that is central to Northern Ireland’s economic life.

Furthermore, with the financial pressures facing the Northern Ireland Executive impacting the delivery of public services here, the Treasury must maintain the 28% needs-based funding uplift for Northern Ireland. Pressures on infrastructure, policing, legacy issues and community programmes are real and cannot be ignored. If the Government is serious about stability and delivery, it must provide the resources required to address genuine need.

Before hard-working families are asked to pay a penny more, Labour must put its own house in order. Billions are lost every year through avoidance by global corporations, while waste and inefficiency continue unchecked elsewhere in government.

Next week’s Budget is more than a financial statement. It is a statement of priorities. The DUP will continue to stand with the people who keep this country going - those who work hard every day and deserve to see that effort rewarded, not punished.

Yours sincerely,

Rt. Hon. Gavin Robinson MP

DUP Leader