Finance (No. 2) Bill: Third Reading

On 11 March 2026, the House of Commons passed the Finance (No. 2) Bill at Third Reading -- the final parliamentary stage before a bill passes to the House of Lords. Third Reading is the last opportunity MPs have to accept or reject a bill in its entirety, after all amendments have been debated and decided. The bill passed by 292 votes to 161, a government majority of 131. The Finance (No. 2) Bill is the legislation that puts the government's autumn 2025 Budget into law. Passing it means the tax and spending measures announced by the Chancellor in November 2025 -- including changes to National Insurance, public service funding commitments, and increases to Air Passenger Duty -- now have legal effect. Media coverage in the weeks following the vote highlighted the practical impact for ordinary citizens, particularly the rise in Air Passenger Duty from April 2026, which will increase the cost of flights to popular holiday destinations including Spain, Greece and Turkey. The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 286 Labour and Labour Co-operative MPs who voted backed the bill, while Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Reform UK, the DUP and the Ulster Unionist Party all voted against. Four Green MPs voted with the government. The passage of the bill was not without drama -- the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, issued a public reprimand the following day over the behaviour of around half a dozen government members, including the Chief Whip and Deputy Chief Whip, who caused significant delays in the voting lobbies during this division.