Financial Assistance (Ireland)

Albert Owen Excerpts

Monday 22nd November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

The terms and conditions of the loan are still to be decided, and as I said, they will be brought to the House of Commons. However, to make a general observation, we are seeking not to make a buck, but to help our friend.

[Albert Owen (Ynys Môn) (Lab)]

The Chancellor is right to say that it is in the British national interest to help Ireland. Irish economists say that one problem on top of the instability of the banks is that the economy is suffering because too much money has been taken out of it. Will the Chancellor act in the British interest and reconsider the speed at which austerity measures are introduced in the UK, because that could hamper our economy?

Finance Ministers’ Meeting (Ireland)

Albert Owen Excerpts

Wednesday 17th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hoban]

Indeed, and my hon. Friend makes an important point. We have access to a wider range of economic tools to resolve our problems as a consequence of our being outside the euro. It is also worth bearing it in mind that this crisis flows from the banking sector, not from public spending in Ireland.

[Albert Owen (Ynys Môn) (Lab)]

It is right to support our near neighbours in Ireland and their economy. The problem over the past 18 months has been twofold: severe austerity measures and the collapse of the construction industry. Will the Government ensure that we do not follow that path? Will the Minister use the flexibility the Government have outside the euro to ensure that we slow the cuts and do not have the mass unemployment and depopulation that we have seen in Ireland?

[Mr Hoban]

I thought that the hon. Gentleman almost had it. The crisis in Ireland is around the banking sector, not the fiscal position. I believe that we are taking the right measures to stabilise the UK economy—the cuts we are making in public spending—to get our deficit under control and to keep interest rates as low as possible for as long as possible. Labour Members are the only ones calling for a weaker fiscal position when the world is moving to stronger fiscal stances.

Oral Answers to Questions

Albert Owen Excerpts

Tuesday 12th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr Mark Hoban)]

The responsibility for operational matters at RBS rests with its board. The Treasury’s engagement with RBS is through United Kingdom Financial Investments Ltd, which acts as a shareholder. My hon. Friend will be aware that in July we published a Green Paper setting out some approaches to improving the access that small and other businesses have to finance, and we will make further announcements on that shortly.

[Albert Owen (Ynys Môn) (Lab)]

What representations have Treasury Ministers had from advice organisations such as citizens advice bureaux which fear that their budgets from local government will be cut at a time when they will be advising the most vulnerable people on their finances and welfare benefits? Will the Treasury team join me in paying tribute to the citizens advice bureaux for the work that they do, and commit to giving them extra funding for that purpose?

[Danny Alexander]

I join the hon. Gentleman in paying tribute to the work of the citizens advice bureaux. In constituencies across the country they play an invaluable role in advising people and helping them through difficult times. We will make spending announcements on 20 October, but I have had conversations with the citizens advice bureaux about some of the issues affecting them. Those issues will also affect other organisations in the community and voluntary sector, and the Government take that very seriously.

Finance (No. 2) Bill

Albert Owen Excerpts

Monday 11th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Ms Eagle]

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I know whose side I would rather be on in any attempt to rehabilitate Lord Kitchener.

As the spending review approaches, we are beginning to see increasing signs of nervousness about the likely effects of the cuts, and that is just among Ministers. We already know that the Government have taken a decision in principle that a huge increase in unemployment is a price worth paying to get the deficit down. In an admission that the spending review will depress economic activity, the Chancellor recently made it clear that he will sanction the resumption of quantitative easing, or increasing the money supply, should the cuts in demand tip the country back towards recession. However, the extent to which monetary policy can be effective when interest rates are so low and demand is depressed is the subject of well-placed scepticism in very respectable economic circles.

[Albert Owen (Ynys Môn) (Lab)]

I welcome my hon. Friend to her new position. Does she agree that there are lessons to be learned from the Republic of Ireland, where a centre-right coalition has made savage cuts quickly? That has not only affected its triple A rating—it has been downgraded—but created mass unemployment.

[Ms Eagle]

Yes, I do think we have to keep a careful eye on what is going on elsewhere in the world. It is clear that the mantra that there is no alternative is simply not true.

Equitable Life (Payments) Bill

Albert Owen Excerpts

Tuesday 14th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

rose—

[Albert Owen (Ynys Môn) (Lab)]

rose—

[Mr Hoban]

If I can answer one intervention before I take the next, it would be helpful to all hon. Members.

We said in the statement on 22 July that we hope to start to make payments towards the middle of next year. I give way to the hon. Member for Ynys Môn (Albert Owen).

[Albert Owen]

The hon. Gentleman may recall that when he made his statement to the House I asked him about an appeals procedure. Once a payment is recommended and the person does not agree with it, what kind of mechanism will be in place for appeals? Will it be independent? Will the Bill give a time scale indicating the length of time for the appeals procedure so that people can be clear about that?

[Mr Hoban]

The appeals mechanism is not in the Bill. However, I took on board the point that hon. Gentleman made during the statement about the need for an appeals mechanism, and I have raised that with my officials. I agree, too, that it is important that any appeal is dealt with quickly, but of course that requires co-operation both on the part of the person making the appeal and the body adjudicating on the appeal. Part of the problem that we all face is that we are talking about premiums that were paid back in the early ’90s, so clearly for some of those making appeals there may be an issue about the availability of paperwork and documentation. I am very mindful of that point, and we will pursue it.

Equitable Life

Albert Owen Excerpts

Thursday 22nd July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hoban]

Sir John’s report presents a range of numbers, which we need to look at in the context of the spending review. My right hon. Friends the Chancellor and the Chief Secretary will hear Members’ representations on the matter, but we need to ensure that we put this matter in the context of the other spending commitments that the Government wish to make.

[Albert Owen (Ynys Môn) (Lab)]

I have been consistent in my support of the parliamentary ombudsman recommendations, and I welcome the Financial Secretary’s statement as a building block. He has been very clear that he wants payments to begin in the middle of next year, but may I press on him an appeals procedure, because if we do not have one or a timetable for appeals, the matter could drag on for many years?

[Mr Hoban]

The hon. Gentleman makes a sensible point and I am grateful for his welcome of today’s statement and the progress that I announced. He is absolutely right about an appeals mechanism, and the Treasury are looking at that proposal at the moment. Policyholders who question the data that are used—some data are quite old and policies are complex—will want a mechanism by which they can appeal, so that is important. However, I am keen to ensure that the appeals process is quick and thorough, so that people are comfortable with the outcome they get.

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Albert Owen Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Tyrie]

As I recall, all three parties talked about having no plans to increase VAT, and it would not have surprised me a scrap, had the positions been reversed, if we had had an increase in VAT. How would Labour have filled the £45 billion deficit? We have not heard a word on that. That brings me to a point that I had decided, on the grounds of non-partisanship, not to make, but that I now think needs to be made. It was irresponsible and damaging to British democracy not to have had a spending review on which to judge the decisions to be taken. In my current job, if I were to find the coalition Government as evasive as that, I would do everything in my power to call them to account and to make sure that they told us the facts.

[Albert Owen (Ynys Môn) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his election as Chair of the Treasury Committee. Does he accept that the rise in VAT that the Chancellor announced today will have a huge impact on small companies in the construction industry in my constituency that are looking for business building extensions to houses and so on? They will have to pass the rise on to those individuals, so the rise will slow down growth in that sector and will cause further job losses.

[Mr Tyrie]

All tax rises slow down growth in one way or another. They, by definition, take demand out of the economy. The only question is how one should do it. The Chancellor has had a very difficult choice to make.