Growing the UK Economy

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Darren Jones

Wednesday 29th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Darren Jones)]

With your permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to update the House on the Government’s work to unlock investment and secure economic growth. That is the No. 1 mission of this Government. Without growth, we cannot deliver on the priorities of the British people, cut NHS waiting lists, rebuild our schools or put more police on our streets. That is why the pursuit of growth is our first mission, putting our country on a new path towards a brighter future after 14 years of failure from the Conservatives. By helping businesses to invest and create wealth, we ensure they can provide jobs and opportunities that change lives, putting more pounds in people’s pockets and rejuvenating communities across the country.

We have seen progress on that already, with huge private sector investments into our country since this Government came into service, but now we must go faster and further. We must help businesses and places to achieve their potential. We do that by being an active and strategic state—one that works in true partnership with businesses, investors and local leaders to deliver for the British people in every corner of the country. That principle was at the heart of the Chancellor’s speech earlier today in Oxfordshire, where she announced the latest steps that the Government are taking to drive growth across the country. I am pleased to update the House on those announcements now.

The economic growth we are pursuing must reach into every town, city and community across the United Kingdom—inclusive growth for everyone, not just those at the top—because there is untapped talent and unrealised opportunity throughout the country and we cannot let that go to waste any longer. If we can raise the productivity of major cities like Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds just to the national average, we will deliver an extra £33 billion in economic output. So I can confirm that our plans for regional growth will be hardwired into the spending review, the infrastructure strategy, the industrial strategy and our approach to trade and investment.

We are already providing £200 million of funding to support the development of a new mass transit system in West Yorkshire, and at the autumn Budget we secured improved connections between towns and cities from Manchester through to York. We are also developing our plans to further improve connectivity in the north and across the country through our 10-year infrastructure strategy, which will set out our long-term vision for social and economic infrastructure across the country.

Today we are progressing with the Wrexham and Flintshire investment zone, focusing on the area’s incredible strength in advanced manufacturing to leverage in £1 billion of private investment and create up to 6,000 new jobs. As the Chancellor announced at Davos last week, the Office for Investment will work hand in hand with local areas to develop opportunities for international inward investment, starting with the Liverpool city region and the North East combined authority, while the national wealth fund will build on its strength and combined authority engagement to build a pipeline of investable propositions with mayors, starting with strategic partnerships in the Glasgow city region, West Yorkshire, the west midlands and Greater Manchester. Sticking with Manchester, we are giving our support to the Mayor of Greater Manchester’s plan for the redevelopment of Old Trafford, creating new housing, new commercial developments and a new stadium—but, I am advised to inform the House, not necessarily Government-wide support for the team that play there.

I am pleased to update the House on our new approach to the Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor, a hugely exciting opportunity for the UK and the British economy. For centuries these two cities have been synonymous with inspiration, invention and innovation. Economic analysis suggests that with the right support the region could bring a GDP boost of £78 billion by 2035, yet time and again Governments have failed to capitalise on this remarkable area, most recently in 2021 when the last Government dropped their commitment to what they called the Ox-Cam arc project.

Through under-investment, poor transport connections and a lack of affordable housing, the incredible growth potential of the area has been squandered as people and businesses have been forced to move and invest elsewhere. No longer: Lord Vallance will act as our champion for the growth corridor, utilising his impressive experience in life sciences, academia and Government to unlock growth opportunities across the region and promote its potential to investors across the world. We will establish a new growth commission for Oxford, to recognise and capitalise on the growth potential of this historic city.

We already know, of course, that transportation is a huge factor in the success of the country. Heathrow is the UK’s only hub airport and our largest air freight hub by volume, connecting us to emerging markets around the world, opening up new opportunities for trade and investment. But its growth has been constrained for decades. Today we are announcing that the Government support and are inviting proposals for a third runway at Heathrow airport, to be brought forward by the summer. This is an important infrastructure project expected to have positive growth impacts across the United Kingdom, and it has the backing of businesses and business groups including the CBI, the Federation of Small Businesses and British Chambers of Commerce as well as trade unions such as the GMB and Unite.

According to a recent study from Frontier Economics, a third runway could increase GDP by 0.43% over the next 25 years, with over half—60%—of that boost going to areas outside London and the south-east. It could create over 100,000 jobs in the local area and maintain Heathrow’s status both as a global passenger hub and as the UK’s largest air freight hub by volume.

Reforms this Government have introduced to speed up the planning system will ensure the delivery of the project and set it up for success. Once proposals have been received the Government will take forward a full assessment through the airport national policy statement to ensure that any scheme is delivered in line with our legal, environmental and climate obligations. We want the scheme to be value for money, and our clear expectation is that any surface transport costs associated with the project will be financed by private capital and should be sustainable and low-carbon. The Secretary of State for Transport will also set out planning decisions for further airport expansion at Gatwick and Luton shortly.

Crucially, I am pleased to announce that we are taking further steps in our transition to greener, cleaner aviation. At the start of the month, the sustainable aviation fuel mandate became law. Sustainable aviation fuel reduces carbon dioxide emissions compared with fossil jet fuel by around 70%. Today we are announcing an additional £63 million for the advanced fuels fund over the next year, and we have set out the details of how we will deliver a revenue certainty mechanism. Those measures will support investment and high-skill green jobs in plants across the United Kingdom, delivering sustainable aviation fuel here in the UK for UK consumption.

Transportation is equally important on a local level, and that is as true for the Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor as it is for anywhere else. This Government have confirmed that they will provide crucial funding for transport links, including upgrades to the A428 to reduce journey times between Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge, as well as for East West Rail with new services between Oxford and Milton Keynes starting this year. We have already received submissions to the new towns taskforce to build new developments along the new railway. At Tempsford, we will accelerate delivery of a mainline station on the east coast main line so that travellers can get to London in under an hour and to Cambridge in under 30 minutes once East West Rail has been delivered.

We will ensure that the pioneering work that has long been a hallmark of the area will continue. We are today committing to a new AI growth zone in Culham. We welcome the University of Cambridge’s plan for a new flagship innovation hub in the centre of Cambridge, and a new Cambridge cancer research hospital will be delivered as part of wave one of the new hospital programme. Just yesterday, Moderna completed the build for its new vaccine production and research and development site in Harwell, while committing to invest £1 billion in the United Kingdom—proof that when we create the conditions for success, businesses can lead the way.

I am pleased to confirm for the House that the Environment Agency is lifting its objections to specific developments in Cambridge, so we will press on with plans to develop 4,500 additional homes, new schools and office, retail and lab spaces in and around Cambridge. In a further boost to the area, we have now agreed water resource management plans with water companies, unlocking £7.9 billion of investment in water resources over the next five years, including the new Fens reservoir serving Cambridge and the south-east strategic reservoir near Oxford.

This Government have come in with a purpose: to bring growth, and with it opportunity, to the country. In just six months, we have taken the tough decisions to make that possible. We are taking on the responsibility of a Government who deliver real change for people—no longer the hollow promises of the Conservative party, but change delivered under this Labour Government, working with business and local leaders to drive the growth that will lift up this country. Now we must go further and faster so that the next generation and the generation after will have the opportunities they deserve, to ensure that Britain is strong and successful once again in a fast-changing world and so that everybody in this country can have the chance to succeed. Today’s announcements will help make that a reality and show how our plan for change will build a better Britain. I commend the statement to the House.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.

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[Darren Jones]

The House is indebted to the shadow Chancellor—Mr Melmentum himself—for his lecture on the need for speed from this Government. Let me tell him that we have done more in the last six or seven months than that lot did in the last 14 years.

The shadow Chancellor asked me about our plans to work with business. The comments today from business leaders and investors speak for themselves: our plans are welcomed by businesses, and we will be working in partnership with them to deliver for this country. He also asked me about work. Those of us in the Labour party make no secret of the fact that we like to support people into work—strong, secure work with workplace rights and secure incomes to help make people’s family finances add up. That is why our party was created in the first place. The real truth from the data is that under the last Government, too many people were waiting at home sick, unable to get NHS appointments or access to mental health services so that they could be helped back into work. Too many people were waiting at home, waiting for training and unable to seize the opportunities advertised in front of them. This Labour Government will not treat those things as a luxury, but will work at speed to give people the work they deserve.

At the heart of the shadow Chancellor’s statement was a truth for the country to consider. Under the last Administration, it was promises cancelled; under this Administration, it is promises being delivered.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Treasury Committee.

[Dame Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)]

I welcome this Government’s commitment to infrastructure investment and to telling the world that Britain is open for business, but to achieve all of this, we will need a really skilled workforce to deliver on those major construction projects. May I ask my right hon. Friend to set out how the Government will ensure that we have the skills to deliver what he has promised?

[Darren Jones]

I thank the Chair of the Treasury Committee for her question. This is an important test of turning policy into real-world delivery. Through our infrastructure and industrial strategies, we are engaging right now with businesses and investors across the country so that as we bring forward our plans, we have a skills and training system that creates opportunities for people to take up the jobs that we need them to do in order to help get Britain building. That will be a crucial part of our approach to infrastructure, so that every person across the country can seize the benefits of this Government’s plans.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Darren Jones

Tuesday 21st January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman, as I am sure the Chancellor does, for his kind words. A key part of the test on ODA spending in terms of fiscal circumstances requires those circumstances to improve. One of the reasons we are in this problem in the first place is because of the mess the previous Administration left this country in. We are working hard to turn that around.

[Mr Speaker]

I call Helen Maguire.

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[Darren Jones]

I thank the right hon. Member for his question, and I think “fairness” is the right word. That is why we worked in opposition to try to persuade the last Government to act on the mineworkers’ pension scheme, but we failed because the last Government did not think this was an urgent issue for them to consider. The Labour Government have implemented this change at our first Budget, and that is fairness in action. We will continue to work with trustees of the BCSSS, and we will come back with further options in due course.

[Mr Speaker]

Let us go to the Member for that well-known mining area of Strangford.

Public Finances: Borrowing Costs

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Darren Jones

Thursday 9th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Darren Jones)]

I am always grateful to see Conservative Members welcome me to the House.

Financial markets are always evolving, as the shadow Chancellor knows, so there is a long-standing convention that the Government do not comment on specific financial market movements, and I will not break that convention today. Financial market movements, including changes in Government bond or gilt yields, which represent the Government’s borrowing costs, are determined by a wide range of international and domestic factors. It is normal for the price and yields of gilts to vary when there are wider movements in global financial markets, including in response to economic data.

In recent months, moves in financial markets have been largely driven by data and global geopolitical events, which is to be expected as markets adjust to new information. UK gilt markets continue to function in an orderly way. Underlying demand for the UK’s debt remains strong, with a generally well-diversified investor base. The Debt Management Office’s gilt sales operations continue to see strong demand. The latest auction, held yesterday, received three times as many bids as the amount on offer.

The Chancellor has commissioned from the Office for Budget Responsibility an updated economic and fiscal forecast for 26 March incorporating the latest data. Only the OBR’s forecast can accurately predict the effect on the public finances of any changes in financial markets or the economy, and I will not pre-empt that forecast. There should be no doubt of the Government’s commitment to economic stability and sound public finances. That is why meeting the fiscal rules is non-negotiable.

May I end by saying that I am pleased that the shadow Chancellor is holding this Government to account on our stewardship of the economy? It is important that he does so. He will remember when his party crashed the economy with unfunded tax cuts, unrealistic public spending plans and a clear disregard for the consequences on family finances. Families across the country are still paying the price for the Conservatives’ disastrous performance on the economy through higher mortgages and bills. If there was one clear reason why the Conservative party suffered such an historic defeat at the last general election, it was their performance on the economy. That is presumably why the shadow Chancellor himself admitted in December that the lack of trust in the Conservative party’s management of the economy has left a “deep and painful scar” in the pockets of every person across Britain.

Let me tell the House what has changed. In our first six months, this Labour Government have exposed the £22 billion black hole in the public finances. Not only have we exposed it, but we have dealt with it: the Chancellor’s autumn Budget protects working people, wipes the slate clean of the mess the Conservative party left the country in, and invests in our NHS and schools. We have given the independent Office for Budget Responsibility enhanced powers of oversight, in law, so that we never again get into the situation where that lot left the country: a £22 billion black hole in the public finances. We have set tough new fiscal rules that are non-negotiable, with a budget settlement for public services that they must all live within. We have kick-started growth in this country—this Government’s No. 1 mission —by unlocking investment and bringing forward reforms, such as those to planning and in the Mansion House speech.

May I say to the shadow Chancellor that that work stands in stark contrast to the negligent and shameful horror of a circus performance that the Conservative party in government unleashed on this country only a few years ago? Until he can come to the House with an apology for the British people, I will not take any lectures from the Conservative party about how to run the economy.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.

[Mel Stride]

The performance we have just seen was a slightly anxious and breathless one, which leads me to the question: where is the Chancellor? It is a bitter regret that at this difficult time and given these serious issues, she herself is nowhere to be seen.

In the last 48 hours, borrowing costs have reached a 27-year high, and it is the Chancellor’s decisions that have led us here. Before the election, the right hon. Lady promised that Labour would get debt falling, would not fiddle the figures, would not raise taxes and would grow the economy, but the economy is now flatlining. Survey after survey is showing that business confidence has simply evaporated, and at the Budget, the Chancellor hiked up taxes, increased borrowing by an average of £32 billion a year across the forecast, and conveniently adjusted her fiscal rules to allow her to do so.

Higher debt and lower growth are understandably now causing real concerns among the public, among businesses and in the markets, and despite what the Chief Secretary has said about international factors, the premium on our borrowing costs compared with German bonds recently hit its highest level since 1990. With those rising costs, regrettably, the Government may now be on course to breach their fiscal rules. The Chancellor has committed to no further tax rises, so does the right hon. Gentleman stand by her commitment not to increase taxes even further? If so, does that mean that the public should expect cuts to public service spending if the OBR judges that her fiscal headroom has evaporated?

There are media reports that the Chancellor will make an emergency intervention to soothe markets, but with no confirmation that such a statement will occur in this House. Will the right hon. Gentleman confirm that any such statement will be made first to Members in this House? Rates on Government bonds ultimately feed through to the broader credit market, so what estimates has the Treasury made of how recent market movements will impact mortgage costs and lending across the economy?

I will make one final point, Mr Speaker. Every pound that we spend on debt interest is money that we cannot spend on the public’s priorities. The Government’s decision to let rip on borrowing means that their own tax rises will end up being swallowed up by higher borrowing costs, at no benefit to the British people. Far from this Government laying the foundations for a stronger economy, the Chancellor is squandering the endeavours of millions of hard-working people up and down our country, who are now having to pay the price for yet another socialist Government taxing and spending their way into trouble. Does the right hon. Gentleman not now accept that it is time to change course?

[Darren Jones]

I am pleased that the right hon. Gentleman enjoyed my performance—I have not even had my first cup of coffee yet this morning. Let me answer some of his questions. [Interruption.] Conservative Members might like to listen, if the questions are so important to them.

The right hon. Gentleman asked me about the fiscal rules. As I said in my statement, those rules are non-negotiable. As the Chancellor set out at the Budget, we have two fiscal rules: first, that day-to-day spending should be met by tax receipts, and secondly, that debt should be falling as a share of the economy.

The right hon. Gentleman talked about the debt burden that this country has. Maybe we should reflect a little on why we have so much debt—[Interruption.] From pre-pandemic, Mr Speaker. Let us look at the burden of debt inherited by this Government from the Conservatives. From 2010 onwards, why did the last Government have to borrow so much money every single month, not just to invest but to pay the day-to-day bills? Because of an absolute failure to get growth into the economy. They could not make the numbers add up. They stacked up the country’s credit card and left it to the Labour party to deal with, and we are going to deal with it. That is why those fiscal rules are non-negotiable, and it is why public spending will be within the numbers set out at the Budget.

We are starting the spending review now, and it will conclude in June. Public services will have to live within their means—the Chancellor has been very clear about that. That is why with this Government, you get economic stability and absolute clarity on public spending. That is why the British people trust this party and booted that lot out of office.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Treasury Committee.

[Dame Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)]

We all know that fiscal rules and certainty are vital for the markets and the good stewardship of the public finances, so will the Chief Secretary to the Treasury explain what process he will be going through as he conducts the spending review, and what notice he will give to Departments about extra cuts that they may have to make in order to meet the fiscal rules? In addition, when the Chancellor comes in front of the House for the OBR forecast in March, will she be making a fiscal statement at that point?

[Darren Jones]

I thank the Chair of the Select Committee for her question. As the House knows, we have started the second phase of the spending review, to set public sector budgets from 2026-27 onwards. The Chancellor confirmed in a written ministerial statement before the House rose for Christmas that there will be a forecast from the OBR and a statement on 26 March. As I said in my response, that will be the next time the OBR will give a view about the UK economy and the levels of funding for public services. Between the OBR forecast in March and the conclusion of the spending review in June, the House will be updated in the normal way.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

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[Darren Jones]

My hon. Friend knows very well that this Government’s approach has been about stability, investment and reform: the stability we have brought following the chaos of the years under the Conservative party, as has been recognised by the British people and by the markets; the investment we have been unlocking, from our global investment summit all the way through to the work we have been doing in the Budget and since; and the reforms we are bringing forward—for example, planning reform—to make sure we can deliver infrastructure better in this country and unlock the investment that private capital has wanted to put forward in the UK for many years, but could not because of the chaos from the Conservatives when they were last in government.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Father of the House.

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[Mr Speaker]

Order. Mr Stuart, I need no advice from you. I think you are on the Panel of Chairs, and I need to see some better behaviour if you are going to stay on it.

[Darren Jones]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. It is important, when you are paid by the House, to act responsibly; I agree with you.

My hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (John Slinger) makes a really important point, and Conservative Members who have their head in their hands may wish to listen to him. It will be important for the Conservatives to apologise for their behaviour before the British people start listening to them again, but for as long as they wish to grunt and groan and claim that everything was wonderful, the better for us, so long may it continue.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Darren Jones

Tuesday 3rd December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Minister, you’re running out of road.

[Darren Jones]

The Government will always support local authorities to deliver good value for money road enhancements to support economic growth and improved connectivity. The Norwich western link road is currently the subject of a live planning application, so I am afraid that I cannot comment further on the specifics.