Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Hammond of Runnymede and Ian Blackford

Tuesday 18th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (SNP)]

T3. As we are congratulating football teams, I am sure the House will want to join me in congratulating Hibernian football club, which has returned to the top league in Scotland.The Chancellor of the Exchequer has a brass neck when he talks about a stable and resilient economy. The growth in the money supply, which has been trending at around 6%, is mainly down to an increase in personal borrowing and credit card debt. When are we going to get fiscal measures that will stimulate the economy, rather than relying on the boom and bust we are seeing again?

[Mr Hammond]

I can confidently predict for the hon. Gentleman that, after the general election on 8 June, there will be a Budget that will give him the answers he is seeking.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Hammond of Runnymede and Ian Blackford

Tuesday 19th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

The UK continues to run a very large fiscal deficit by international standards and we will have to address that deficit. We have already announced that we will no longer seek to bring the budget into balance by 2019-20, but that does not mean that we can go forward without a clear framework for achieving fiscal balance over an appropriate timeframe. We will address that issue in the autumn statement.

[Ian Blackford]

I welcome the new Chancellor to his place and wish him all good luck—for all our sakes, he is going to need it. A Deloitte survey of 132 FTSE 350 chief financial officers found that nearly two thirds of them expect revenues to fall. As the Financial Times puts it, business confidence is now lower than at the time of the collapse of Lehman, with 82% of companies expected to reduce capital spending. This crisis has been caused by Brexit. What tangible steps will the Chancellor take to restore confidence? Don’t just give us waffle—give us real plans.

[Mr Hammond]

The hon. Gentleman is right; the figures that he quotes are right. The evidence is anecdotal in the early stages, as he would expect. As he would also expect, the initial response to this kind of shock must be a monetary response delivered by the Bank of England. In announcing that interest rates were not to be lowered last week, the Governor made it clear that the Bank is developing a monetary package that will be announced in due course.