Economic Update

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Monday 17th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

For three and a half weeks, the Government have gambled with people’s pensions, with their mortgages and with their futures. I notice that the Chancellor, in the list of people he has met, did not mention the Pensions Regulator, yet pensions have taken a significant hit over this period. Can he say that pension schemes will not be deemed unviable over this period, that they will get the support they need from Government, and that he will ensure they are stable for the future as both defined contribution and defined benefit schemes?

[Jeremy Hunt]

Well, I have had many discussions on pensions issues with the Governor of the Bank of England who, as the hon. Lady knows, has taken extensive action to protect the viability of pension funds. She will be as pleased as I was that he announced today that he thinks that he has basically succeeded in resolving that issue in nearly every case.

Economic Situation

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Wednesday 12th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Chris Philp]

We have every sympathy with people who are struggling. That is why we have the energy price guarantee. It is why we have had the £37 billion intervention. It is why we are cutting taxes, particularly for people on lower incomes. It is why the minimum wage increased by so much a few months ago. It is why we have increased the national insurance threshold to help people.

On interest rates, I have explained more than once this afternoon that there is a global cycle that has been going on for about nine months. So far in this calendar year, interest rates in the United States, a comparable economy, have increased one and a half times as much as in the UK: by 300 basis points, compared with 200 basis points. It is very important that the House keeps that context in mind.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Yesterday, when I asked the Chancellor, he could not tell me how private pension schemes will be protected since the Bank of England has confirmed that it is ending its refinancing scheme. The Pensions Regulator has a responsibility to ensure that pension schemes are viable. However, in the current economic situation, without making demands on employers and workers, those pension schemes will collapse. How is the Chief Secretary going to respond?

[Chris Philp]

I have to say that the speculation in which the hon. Lady is engaging is slightly reckless, if that is perhaps not too strong a word. We have extremely capable regulators: the Bank of England, the Prudential Regulation Authority, the Pensions Regulator and others. Their responsibility is to make sure that our financial system, including pensions, is safe and secure for our constituents. The Government have complete confidence in our regulators, and I think the House should as well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Tuesday 11th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

Absolutely. I am in frequent contact with my right hon. Friend the Business Secretary, and we have sequestered and dedicated a pot to help people who are off the gas grid. We are happy to help my hon. Friend and her constituents in this challenging time.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

T6. Given that the Bank of England is having to go even further to refinance the UK Government bond market, what discussions has the Chancellor had with the Pensions Regulator about the viability of defined benefit schemes and the devaluation of defined contribution schemes and annuities—or will workers have to pay for this?

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

My hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury and I are engaged with all the regulators, particularly the Prudential Regulation Authority, and we will be absolutely committed to getting to the bottom of what has happened, particularly in the long-dated gilt market, which has been over-levered in the past few weeks.

The Growth Plan

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Friday 23rd September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Because of careful stewardship of the public finances, we can withstand the exogenous shocks represented by covid-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We have the second-lowest net debt to GDP in the G7 and we will use our fiscal position to help the most vulnerable in society.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Since the Chancellor came to his feet, the value of UK Government bonds has plummeted, which will put the national debt into a serious crisis for generations to come. How will he mitigate that loss?

Economy Update

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Thursday 26th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

I am proud that the minimum wage has gone up significantly this year, which puts £1,000 extra into people’s paycheques. Actually, we have a long-term target to increase it to two thirds of median earnings, which will ensure that it tends to rise faster than inflation in normal times, but I am happy to work with my hon. Friend on making that happen.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Chancellor is slowing one crisis while accelerating another: the climate crisis. Why is he investing in hydrocarbons, which should be staying in the ground, instead of investing in retrofitting properties, which would ultimately save energy costs, as Labour has proposed, and would make a real difference to people’s energy bills?

[Rishi Sunak]

Unlike the Labour party, we believe in the North sea and in our domestic energy industry. It employs hundreds of thousands of people, and it will help us to increase our energy security, and to transition to net zero. That is why it is wrong to stigmatise it and absolutely right to support it, and to support its investment ambitions as we do.

Cost of Living: Fiscal Approach

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Wednesday 25th May 2022 Westminster Hall

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley Central (Dan Jarvis) for bringing forward today’s debate.

I will always recall Mo Mowlam telling the story of a pensioner who came to her surgery, put their pension book in front of her and laid out the bills they had to pay—the sums did not add up. When Labour came to power, we restored respect and dignity to people and made a difference to them. We never thought we would return to the days in that story, but we have—and worse. When my constituents make hard choices because their bills and income do not add up, they too struggle to understand how they will get through the next three months, let alone the autumn and winter. They are having to make those hard choices every day, making pristine accounts and budgets just in order to survive. One constituent debated whether she would end going to the day centre, her only social contact. Another said that, when she went to the food bank, she had to select foods that did not require cooking. Those are real choices that my constituents are making right now.

If the bill drops through the door, and you dare to open it before reaching for help, your mind is in the echo room, with your mental resilience evaporated. That was the case for one of my constituents when they fell short by £3.45 on their utilities bill. That spiralled out of control and did not end well. That is the reality that people are living in. As many hon. Members have said, the Government have solutions in their hands, if only they would see this as a priority.

Wages are so low that people cannot survive on them. These are the people who never received those promised pay increases, particularly in the public sector, which did not even get 1%. Meanwhile, people paid themselves profits in the many multibillion-pound companies that benefited from Government handouts during the pandemic. The Government need to put the money where it will make the greatest difference. People will spend that money in the local economy, which is how we can get the economy moving. The pay remits should focus on those at the bottom of the pay scales, ensuring that they get not just percentage increases, which benefit the best paid in the workplace.

I, too, want to concentrate on housing. In York, we have a low-wage economy but an extortionately high cost of living because of the housing crisis. The house price to earnings ratio in York is 8.21 and rising. The rental cost figures published just this week show a rise of 10.2% over the past year, averaging £945 a month—35% of people’s income. We need rent controls to hold down those rents. People are not only using their hard-earned money to pay for a roof over their head, but that money is being extracted from the local economy.

We have seen family homes, which people would have bought and lived in in the past, being bought by investors who turn them into Airbnb lets. We have lost 1,785 homes into the Airbnb market, extracting more money out of our local area. We need those reforms now, to stop the crisis getting worse.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Tuesday 17th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Helen Whately]

As my right hon. Friend knows, we have set out our plans to make alcohol duty simpler and fairer—a change that is long overdue. That includes a new relief for draught beer, small producer relief for craft cider makers and the end of the higher rate for sparkling wine. I am listening to the sector and I have visited businesses to hear for myself, to make sure that the reforms work in practice.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Rishi Sunak)]

First, I wish the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for South East Cambridgeshire (Lucy Frazer), a very special and very happy birthday.

The Government of course appreciate that global inflationary forces are currently making life difficult for families, which is why we have brought forward, as we have heard, £22 billion-worth of support this year to help those in work and the most vulnerable in our society. We stand ready to do more as the situation evolves. That support is part of a broad plan that will grow our economy, encourage investment and create more skilled and high-wage jobs. That is this Government’s priority.

[Rachael Maskell]

With so much affluence in our country, poverty is a political choice—the choice of the Chancellor and his Government. In York this week, energy companies are cutting off people’s energy supply, landlords are evicting people, budgets do not balance, poor mental health is spiralling and fear is gripping people on low wages, ill and disabled people and the elderly. That is the Chancellor’s choice. Why will he not increase social security payments? Such payments should pay, not punish, and keep people safe and secure.

[Rishi Sunak]

The track record of this Government and previous Conservative Governments is very strong on reducing the number of people in poverty, because that is of course something that we want to achieve. On what is without question the No. 1 challenge that families currently face—energy bills—we have brought forward £9 billion-worth of support; many people in the hon. Lady’s constituency will have already benefited from £150 of that, and there is £200 more to come. Some of the actions of energy companies that the hon. Lady mentioned do not sound appropriate and I would be happy to look into the specific cases.

Financial Statement

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

The hon. Gentleman is simply wrong on VAT. If he looks at the figures published today, he will see that the OBR’s estimate of VAT receipts in the forthcoming year is actually lower than the amount it had expected in the autumn. We are providing a tax cut for small businesses today—£1,000 due to the increase in the employment allowance, and that will kick in in just a couple of weeks.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

As always, the Chancellor has forgotten the poorest—those claiming pensions, those claiming social security and those living below the minimum income threshold, who have been hit by the cost of living crisis. All that my poorest constituents want is food, warmth and shelter against soaring house prices. All they got was 6p a day from the housing support fund on average. Will the Chancellor go back again and review the rise in social security payments? Those people need that money, or else they will go hungry, they will experience hypothermia and they will be homeless.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Order. It is important that the questions are very brief at this stage if I am going to get the last few people in.

Economic Update

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Thursday 3rd February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

I can give my hon. Friend the reassurance that the vast majority of people in his constituency will receive £350. Those in council tax bands A to D will get £150 in April. That is more than a VAT cut would have given them, and it will come faster. I am grateful to have his continued support.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Older people, sick people at home and many disabled people will need to put on their heating for longer, and therefore will be paying more. What additional steps will the Chancellor take to ensure that they are not pushed further into poverty, and not least as he has tangled with the pensions triple lock this year, what has he got against older people?

[Rishi Sunak]

This Government and previous Conservative Governments have a proud track record of supporting those who are retired and are pensioners. Because of the triple lock, which has been in place because of a Conservative Government, pensions are now at their highest level relative to earnings in 30-odd years, and we are protecting pensioners with a double lock this forthcoming year. Of course, the winter fuel payment, with up to £300 of support for those over the state pension age, will address exactly the hon. Member’s concerns.

Downing Street Garden Event

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Tuesday 11th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Michael Ellis]

No, I do not agree with that characterisation. The Government buildings around Downing Street are not domestic buildings in the way that the hon. Gentleman characterises them, so as a general point he is wrong to make that assumption or characterisation. I accept that these allegations have caused considerable upset and apologise unreservedly for the upset they have caused, but we will await the results of the investigation.

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

When someone’s alleged conduct undermines the integrity of their role, the authority of their role, and trust in their role, they are suspended. When somebody is under investigation they are suspended, so why is the Prime Minister not suspended?

[Michael Ellis]

The investigation is about gatherings, not about individuals necessarily. The investigation which has been in progress since around 9 December is about gatherings, and gatherings on various dates. I have already said that if those inquiries lead to other developments, remedial action will follow, and that includes civil servants. But we have expected, and continue to expect, anyone who is asked to co-operate with that investigation to do so.