David Chadwick has condemned today’s UK Budget, describing it as “yet another budget that fails to deliver the structural changes needed to deliver for the people of Wales.”

Speaking shortly after Chancellor Rachel Reeves set out the government's tax and spending plans, Mr Chadwick, MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, criticised the lack of support for households struggling with the cost-of-living crisis and accused ministers of ignoring Liberal Democrat calls to reduce energy bills and cut VAT for hospitality businesses.

“Rural communities have been left abandoned again,” he said, highlighting the impact of the ‘family farm tax’. “Labour’s refusal to compromise on this measure is set to cause devastation to the entire wider supply chain.”

He also raised concerns about the UK’s public finances, arguing the government has “deliberately turned its back on the single most effective step it could take to kick-start growth and fill the £90 billion Brexit-shaped hole in the public finances.”

“No wonder our public finances are in such a rough state,” he said.

The Budget includes the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap, which Mr Chadwick described as “a commendable move” that will help tackle Wales’ high child poverty levels. However, he said the measure “could have been done much sooner,” and stressed that further action is required.

“This must be the start, rather than the end, to reducing child poverty in Wales, with the level of children in poverty almost stagnant since Labour started running the Welsh Government in 1999, we will need further action,” he said.

“That is why we are calling on the Welsh Government to introduce 30 hours of funded childcare per week for every child in Wales aged between 9 months and 4 years old.”

The Chancellor’s Budget also included measures such as a freeze on income tax and National Insurance thresholds beyond 2028 - dragging more people into higher bands over time - rises in the minimum wage and state pensions, and a temporary cut in fuel duty extended until September 2026. Tax changes for businesses and high-value property, as well as plans for a mileage-based electric vehicle tax, were also announced.