Finance (No. 2) Bill: Third Reading

MPs voted on 11 March 2026 to pass the Finance (No. 2) Bill at its Third Reading, the final stage in the House of Commons. The bill passed by 292 votes to 161. Third Reading is the point at which the Commons decides whether to approve a bill in its final form before it moves to the House of Lords. The Finance (No. 2) Bill implements the measures announced in Chancellor Rachel Reeves's November 2024 Budget, including what the government describes as £66 billion in tax rises. The most prominent measure is an increase in employers' National Insurance contributions, alongside changes to pension rules including the technical abolition of the lifetime allowance charge. These measures affect employers across the UK, pensioners, and workers, and the government argues they are necessary to stabilise public finances and fund public services. Labour MPs voted unanimously for the bill, with 286 votes combining Labour and Labour and Co-operative members, and no defections. Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Reform UK, and the Democratic Unionist Party all voted against. The Greens backed the bill, with four votes in favour. The Conservatives challenged the government on the discrepancy between the £7 billion in tax rises Labour indicated in its manifesto and the £66 billion enacted, a line of attack the government rejected by pointing to the fiscal inheritance from previous administrations. This vote follows a series of related divisions in late March 2026 in which the Commons repeatedly rejected Lords amendments to the National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill, signalling consistent government resistance to attempts to limit the tax package.