Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Austin of Dudley Excerpts

Tuesday 6th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

We are cutting down on tax evasion. Whereas under the previous Government tax evasion coverage was reduced—the number of staff dealing with tax evasion was reduced—it can be seen that the number of people working on tax evasion in HMRC is now increasing.

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

9. What assessment he has made of the effect of fiscal policy on the level of economic growth in 2011.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander)]

Tackling the deficit is necessary for supporting sustainable economic growth. The Government’s credible consolidation plan has restored confidence in the UK’s fiscal position, helped avoid a rise in market interest rates, and allowed a more activist monetary policy to support the economy.

[Ian Austin]

We know that this Government’s Ministers think they are always right and everyone else is always wrong, but how do they explain why growth in America, which took a more balanced approach to dealing with the deficit, was twice the rate here in the UK, and if it is, as they insist, all the eurozone’s fault, why was it only exports that prevented the British economy from lurching back into recession last year?