In a vape shop in Bramley town centre, the popular flavours can sell out quickly. The area is a smoking and vaping hotspot – high above the national average – and it is also in chancellor Rachel Reeves’s constituency of Leeds West and Pudsey.
“Have you got any blueberry, love?” one customer asked, telling the Guardian that she had been smoking since the age of 11 and was much happier vaping instead. She was not pleased to hear the price of vapes would be going up 2% above the retail prices index, but concluded: “It’s still cheaper than cigs.”
The cashier said the shop was especially busy with older people who had quit smoking due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD. As well as having high rates of the lung condition, Bramley has above average levels of heart disease, obesity and mental health problems.
An old industrial part of Leeds previously dominated by mills and factories, the ward is one of the more deprived in the city and in desperate need of Reeves’s promise to “invest, invest, invest”.
Outside Greggs was Steve Cook, who is retired but works part time driving the “Happy Cab” for the charity Bramley Elderly Action, ferrying older people around for days out and shopping trips. “They go in happy and come home ecstatic,” he said.
Having previously loved Reeves, who got 49% of the vote in this historically Labour area, Cook said it had been “knives out” among his friends when the winter fuel payment was cut. “We said we’re not voting Labour again,” he said. “She would have been the first on the bonfire on 5 November, they would have been making a Guy of her.”
But with this budget he said the chancellor had “redeemed herself”. “I can see what they’re doing now. Yeah, they’ve won me over. They’ve saved themselves by the skin of their teeth,” he said.
With the state pension confirmed to rise by £470 a year, it would make a difference for him as he is “only really breaking even”. But some of his passengers would benefit even more, he thought.
“I’ve come to know them because I take them shopping to Morrisons and I see that what they’re buying is just what they need. There’s no luxuries.”
Samantha Krylczuk said she was a Labour supporter and liked the chancellor, having had her come to her front door during the election campaign.
She said the budget would not have a large material effect on her as she was on disability benefit due to being deaf. “But I feel better knowing that people are getting good news,” she said. “The cost of living crisis has been really getting people down and I think things should change now, over time. I want people to feel happy again.”
Though Reeves confirmed the price of beer would fall thanks to a 1.7% cut in draught duty in the pub – triggering cheers from MPs in the Commons chamber – Krylczuk said she would have preferred measures to help people have better lifestyles.
“I’m trying to manage my weight but the healthy foods are much more expensive, so it would have been good to have some help with that,” she said.
The news that the minimum wage would rise 6.7%, worth £1,400 a year, was positive for Francis Sawali, a support worker for people with learning disabilities.
“That will be nice,” said Sawali, though he said it was not necessarily a struggle to survive on the minimum wage. “It depends how you manage yourself.”
His friend, Shepherd Kwenda, left the army after 12 years as a vehicle mechanic and is now a mechanical engineering student. He said while it was a “good thing” wages would be going up for the lowest paid, he was worried it would push prices up.
He said: “It just makes you concerned that bills are going to go up. Hopefully this will help stimulate the economy but the previous government gave us the mindset that nothing good comes without a negative.”
At Costa Coffee, assistant manager Amelia Matthews said she was “chuffed” about the minimum wage rise. “That’s bloody good. I’m over the moon, honestly. I didn’t realise it would be so much.”
As a mental health and counselling student in her third year, she has had to work full-time hours to support herself as her student loan only covers her rent.
“This means I could do less hours,” she said. “I like working, I’ve got no complaints there, but I have to work full-time to survive. I can’t wait to tell people, everyone will be so surprised.”
She added: “Thank you for spreading the good news! Go spread some more, make people’s day!”
