03 Mar 2021Addressing the House of Commons, Chancellor Rishi Sunak used the 2021 Budget to 'do whatever it takes' to financially support people and business as the UK recovers from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. However, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer stated that the Chancellor delivered a Budget that merely 'papered over the cracks rather than rebuilding the foundation'. He said: 'After the decisions of the last year and the decade of neglect, we needed a Budget to fix our economy, to reward our key workers, to protect the NHS and to build a more secure and prosperous economy for the future.' Mr Starmer said that the Budget 'won't look so good for the millions of key workers who are having their pay frozen and for the businesses swamped by debt'. Responding to the Budget, Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said that the 'knee-jerk reaction of extending furlough is not enough to help struggling small businesses'. Meanwhile, the Green Party stated that the pandemic has 'left the government with a clear choice: continue business as usual, or use the financial and monetary levers available to fund a green recovery'.