Autumn Statement

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Angela Eagle

Wednesday 22nd November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Dame Angela Eagle (Wallasey) (Lab)]

The Chancellor did not mention the freezing of tax thresholds, which is due to rake in £52 billion in the next six years. Was that an omission, or is he leaving the freeze in place?

[Jeremy Hunt]

I have never hidden the fact that we took difficult decisions a year ago, such as freezing the thresholds, in order to get borrowing under control and in order to tackle inflation. However, because the economy since then has outperformed the expectations of nearly every independent body, we are able this time to reduce the tax burden, and I choose to reduce the things that will boost growth.

Mortgage Charter

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Angela Eagle

Monday 26th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Hunt]

Mr Speaker, you are absolutely right to correct me on that point. What I would say to you about the point raised is simply that in my dealings with the Bank of England, I have never once had any reason to question its resolve to hit the target, but we need to ensure that the forecasting is better.

[Dame Angela Eagle (Wallasey) (Lab)]

Some 8,600 families in Wallasey are facing increases in their mortgage bills of up to £1,800 in a year. That is a huge extra chunk of worry. I welcome the Chancellor’s statement, but does he not worry that the banks are being very slow to pass on interest rate rises to those who are saving, while almost immediately passing interest rate rises on to those who borrow? That makes the interest rate mechanism much less effective in dealing with the inflation situation. Did he notice, as I did, that the banks this autumn made more than £4 billion extra on the differential between those interest rates? Should he not have been much tougher on the banks? What will he to do to stop this profiteering?

[Jeremy Hunt]

The right hon. Lady is absolutely right. It is taking too long for the increases in interest rates to be passed on to savers, particularly with instant access accounts. The rates are more frequently being passed on to those with fixed-term and notice accounts. She is right that there is an issue there, which I raised in no uncertain terms with the banks when I met them. I am working on a solution, because it is an issue that needs resolving.

Economic Update

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Angela Eagle

Monday 17th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Hunt]

My hon. Friend and I have had very many discussions about social care over the years, mainly when I was a Back Bencher and she was a Minister. The sector is in great difficulty at the moment; I am very aware of those concerns, and I am also very aware of the pressures in the NHS at the moment. I am not making any commitments as to what exactly we will do, but as I said earlier, all these decisions will be taken through the prism of what matters most to the people who need help the most.

[Dame Angela Eagle (Wallasey) (Lab)]

The Chancellor has put a brutal end to the self-proclaimed new era of Trussonomics with his announcements. He has taken away £32 billion-worth of planned cuts. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, that still leaves a hole of £30 billion in his sums, and if rumours are correct—if the OBR calculations that I have heard about are correct—it could be as much as £40 billion. Surely that means austerity 2.0, of at least the same size as the first round of austerity from 2010 to 2015. Surely the Chancellor must know that public services simply cannot deal with that level of cuts when they have been so weakened by the first round of austerity.

[Jeremy Hunt]

I was a Cabinet Minister in 2010 when we had very difficult decisions to take in the wake of the financial crisis, and my Department’s budget was cut by 24%. I do not believe that we are talking about anything on that scale; I think it likely that cash spending will continue to go up. That being said, I want to be completely frank with people: we are going to have very difficult decisions, both on tax and on spending, in the next couple of weeks. We will try to take those decisions as compassionately as possible. So it is going to be tough going forward, but I do not expect it to be on the scale that the hon. Lady suggests.