Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Evans of Rainow and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 12th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

The House will know that the Department for Education has already announced that the first 41 highest priority schools are being funded by direct capital. We will be in a position soon to make a statement about the rest, and we have announced recently additional investment in school places to expand school buildings in areas under pressure. All that adds up to an £18 billion investment programme in schools over the course of this Parliament, which I think is a credit to the Government.

[Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that infrastructure projects such as the Mersey Gateway bridge, the northern rail hub and High Speed 2 are good news for my constituents, good news for greater Cheshire, and good news for the north of England as a whole?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Evans of Rainow and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 11th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con)]

15. What steps he is taking to reduce the cost of living.

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

The Government continue to take steps to support households. We will increase the personal allowance further to £9,440 in April 2013 to support hard-working individuals. That cash increase of £1,335 in 2013-14 is the largest ever. We have also cancelled the 3p fuel duty increase that was planned for January, and announced a third council tax freeze and a two-year reduction in the cap on rail fares.

--- Later in debate ---

[Graham Evans]

Indeed, Mr. Speaker.

[Danny Alexander]

Ensuring, through increases in the personal allowance, that low and middle-income workers in particular can keep more of the money that they earn rather than handing it over to the Exchequer helps those people to deal with pressures related to the cost of living. I can certainly assure my hon. Friend that I will continue to push that policy, along with my Liberal Democrat and Conservative colleagues. At the time of the last general election I made a key promise to lift the income tax threshold to £10,000, and I intend to deliver that promise as soon as possible. [Hon. Members:“ Like the promise about tuition fees?”]

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Evans of Rainow and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 6th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

The hon. Lady was a pro-European once; I still am. We seem to be seeing an outbreak of amnesia on the Labour Benches. Not only has the hon. Lady forgotten what Labour did in the last multiannual financial framework negotiation, when it gave away half of Britain’s rebate by not forming any alliances and instead giving up vast amounts—billions of pounds—of Britain’s money, but the shadow Chancellor seems to have forgotten that more recently his party was running the largest structural deficit in the world economy in the good times, leaving this country more exposed than ever to the financial crisis. This country does not want amnesia from Labour—it wants an apology.

[Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con)]

T5. Manufacturing in this country halved during the Labour period, falling from 22% of GDP in 1997 to 11% in 2010, and during that period the sector employed half the number of people it did in 1997. With this in mind, what recent representations has my right hon. Friend received regarding investment in manufacturing industry in the north-west?

[Danny Alexander]

My hon. Friend is right to highlight the work that we are doing to increase manufacturing through, for example, the advanced manufacturing technology institute and investment from the regional growth fund. We have had a number of representations from the north-west, not least from my hon. Friend the Member for Burnley (Gordon Birtwistle), who has made representations on capital allowances for businesses.