Opportunities for the Next Generation

Alison Seabeck Excerpts

Tuesday 13th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Willetts]

In our affordable homes programme we have set out arrangements whereby new providers will deliver extra homes for a given amount of rental income. We aim to generate and achieve more house building as a result.

[Alison Seabeck (Plymouth, Moor View) (Lab)]

Will the Minister give way?

[Mr Willetts]

I want to make a tiny bit more progress.

Although we are doing those very important things on higher education, skills, schools and houses, the most important single way in which we can help the younger generation is by reducing the burden of Government debt that they will have to pay for. That is at the heart of our programme. Every time the previous Government introduced some unaffordable expenditure programme paid for not out of taxes but by issuing Government bonds lasting for 25 years, they were paying for public expenditure out of burdens being placed on tomorrow’s younger generations. That is the fundamental moral failure behind the levels of debt that we inherited from the previous Labour Government.