Herald Express: What I am hoping to see in the Budget

Finally, after months of speculation, it is Budget week. By the time you read this, you will know what the Chancellor has decided. But, at the time of writing, I am still in the dark.  

While I could speculate about what I would like the Chancellor to include, I thought I would take a different route and question instead what the purpose of the Budget actually is.  

Of course, in a literal sense, the Budget is a statement on the nation’s finances as well as the Government’s proposals for changes to taxation. But, I believe, it also serves a dual role in signalling the Government of the day’s vision for the country.  

Say what you will about Truss’s mini-Budget, and I certainly have, but at least it put forward a vision. The only hitch was the vision was divorced from economic reality. Compare that, though, or some far more successful by-gone Budgets, with what Labour are offering today. 

For what has felt like forever, the Chancellor seems to have been writing her Budget in reaction to whatever vibes she picks up from the policies the Treasury has trailed in the press. And yet, despite all this speculation, there is a hollow ideological core at the centre of her plans.  

Looking at this Government, it is hard to work out whether they want to return to austerity-lite, with benefits cut and those who are unable to work being forced into employment. Or if they want a larger state that expects the wealthy to foot the bill. The fact that it could be argued they hold such diametrically opposing views shows how confused their narrative is. 

As Schools Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, I spend a lot of time talking to teachers, and school and college leaders, and what I keep coming back to as we approach the Budget is the importance of education.  

It is something that should be at the heart of any Government’s vision for the country and sadly, we are failing miserably at it today, right from the early years.  

Our four-year-olds are expected to sit in a classroom for hours each day when what they really want to do is spend time outside having fun, learning through play (though they don’t realise that) and getting muddy. Outdoor education infuses children with joy, resilience, physical and mental health and new skills and perspectives.  

Sadly, the situation for older children is not much better. Today, our teenagers are expected to learn dates and quotations by memory for exams. Education is about so much more than teaching to the test. It should be about opening minds and lighting a spark. That starts by going beyond the traditional core subjects.  

Subjects like sport, music and drama develop crucial creative and emotional skills. They are the subjects that bring joy to education and transform schools into places where children are genuinely excited to learn.  

All too often, though, such subjects are being squeezed out of our timetables due to budget cuts, teacher shortages and a curriculum that is often narrowed prematurely as schools are forced to focus on assessment. That is unfair, disproportionately affecting pupils from poorer backgrounds who do not otherwise have access to extracurricular activities to make up for the gaps.  

I know it is not going to happen this week, but if I had my Budget wish list – beyond long-standing Liberal Democrat calls for taxes on the big banks, tech giants and gambling companies; and adjusting the capital gains tax thresholds – I would focus any savings and gains made through taxation on the one thing that really can transform the lives of every child: a well-funded, highly respected education system that produces a healthy, happy population that will go on to live, work and thrive in a way we have not seen for decades.