For 14 years, the Conservatives failed working people by choosing austerity and decline. As a result, public services are crumbling and working people have paid the price. Though we come from different generations and grew up in different parts of Britain, the prime minister and I both saw how politics could make a difference to people from working-class backgrounds like ours. But the country we inherited in July had seen those opportunities denied to too many working families. That’s the Britain we are determined to change.

This week we turned the tide, choosing investment over decline. The budget charted a course for national renewal, fixing the foundations of our country to deliver the change Labour promised. It is a budget for working people, by a government for working people.

I know first-hand that secure work and a secure home are the foundations of a better life – that is what drove me into politics in the first place, and drives my priorities today. That is why we are wasting no time in making work pay, with the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation now backed by a budget that protects their pay packets and puts their interests first.

This is not only what I came into politics to do, but what this government was elected so decisively to deliver: a national renewal. We knew that we faced difficult choices to fix the foundations and rebuild Britain. But we have been clear that this would not be on the backs of working people, millions of whom, despite all their efforts and sacrifices, have been condemned to a life of insecurity.

In our first month in office, we changed the remit of the Low Pay Commission so that, for the first time, it would take into account the cost of living when it set the minimum wage. This week’s budget further builds on that, protecting working people’s pay packets and living standards.

It means a substantial pay boost for around 3 million people, worth £1,400 a year for a full-time worker on the national living wage. Meanwhile, thanks to a record boost to the national minimum wage for 18- to 20-year-olds, no adult will be paid less than £10 an hour – a £2,500 rise next year for a young full-time worker. And for apprentices, the skilled workers of tomorrow, we are also delivering a record cash rise so they can have financial security as they learn.

More than 60,000 carers will be able to earn £45 a week more, helping them balance work and caring responsibilities – the largest-ever increase to the weekly earnings limit. This stands alongside our commitment to ensure the earnings limit increases in line with the national living wage in the future. Having worked in care myself, I know what this means to those who play such a rewarding but challenging role supporting others.

These measures, alongside the chancellor’s decision not to increase the main rates of income tax, employee national insurance, VAT and fuel duty, affirm our commitment to protecting workers from increases in the cost of living.

Pressures have been felt acutely in our housing market. Millions of people face soaring rents, poor housing conditions, little prospect of owning their own home and shameful levels of homelessness as a result of an abject failure to build the homes we need. For too long, a safe, secure home has been a luxury for the few, not a privilege for the many.

The budget’s £5bn investment in housebuilding is a first step to deliver our bold plan for 1.5m new homes over the next five years, including an injection of £500m for the affordable homes programme. And there will be £3bn of guarantees to help smaller housebuilders and build-to-rent providers access the finance they need to get building too.

We are also strengthening protections for council housing, to stem the loss of precious stock while still providing opportunities for first-time buyers in every community. Everyone should be able to count on a secure, decent, affordable home on which to build a good life – our approach will make this available to millions more working people.

This week’s budget was for them: delivering for the lowest-paid, protecting people’s payslips, improving their living standards and setting our country on the path to a brighter future with a political compass that points to social justice.

If you are in casual work, and unable to rely on guaranteed hours; if you are working on low pay and struggling to make ends meet; if you are stuck waiting for a secure home – this is a Labour government delivering for you.

The budget is not only a set of policies, but a bold political vision that breaks with the past and begins a new chapter. It is an era-defining moment driven by Labour values. We have nailed our colours to the mast and embarked on a journey of national renewal.

• Angela Rayner is the deputy prime minister

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