In his column for us this week, Denton's Labour MP Andrew Gwynne outlines what he would like to see in Chancellor Rishi Sunak's Autumn Budget on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the Chancellor will present his Autumn Budget and Spending Review. This will set out how the Government seeks to stabilise the economy as we continue to battle COVID, and the Treasury’s priorities for investment and spending. So, what can we expect from the budget? And what do the people of Denton and Reddish need?

I think it's important that I'm clear about what I want to see for the people of Tameside and across the constituency.

My crystal ball gazing is helped a little by the fact that the Government has already pre-announced some its key pledges. It has already announced that £7bn will be pledged to rail, tram and bus projects outside of London. This includes a much-needed investment in Greater Manchester’s proposed Bee Network – a London style integrated transport system that is a key priority for the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham.

This is obviously welcome, but if you scratch the surface of the £7bn figure, it starts to look a little shaky. Only £1.5 billion of the headline amount is new money, and the other £5.5bn had already been pledged in other announcements.

There are also rumours that the Chancellor will scale down other big infrastructure schemes. If the Chancellor thinks he can make his budget seem like a big investment by recycling old pledges, he has another thing coming.

The main thing I want to see from the budget is some evidence of this ‘levelling-up’ that we hear so much about. I’m still waiting to hear back from the Government on my bid for investment in a line between Ashton-Under-Lyne and Stockport, serving Denton and Reddish South stations, as well as my bid for a start-up business and employment hub at the former Reddish baths building.

We have faced over 11-years of chronic underfunding from the Government. Jobs, skills, infrastructure, and public services have borne the brunt of this. If the Treasury is serious about levelling-up, it will take radical steps to reverse this.

I hope to see a meaningful increase in the minimum wage (at least to £10 p/h), a restoration of the Universal Credit uplift, and proper measures to tackle the cost-of-living crisis that we face going into the winter months. As I’ve said before, now is not the time to skimp on investment. We are emerging from the biggest crisis in the post-war era, and the Government needs to step up and be bold.

The devil will be in the detail, and I look forward to scrutinising the Chancellor’s announcements on Wednesday. The Government has a chance to do something meaningful for the people of Denton and Reddish – I just hope it takes the opportunity.

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