Financial Services Reforms

Debate between Andrew Griffith and Desmond Swayne

Tuesday 11th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Griffith]

Yes.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

This is an excellent package, but one way to ensure that investment flows to productive enterprise is to prevent it from being crowded out by growing Government debt, isn’t it?

[Andrew Griffith]

Our objectives are threefold in that respect: to bear down on inflation; to reduce Government debt, with the benefits that my right hon. Friend seeks; and to grow the economy. These are long-term plans and ambitious programmes, and ultimately, the acid test will be how we can grow our economy.

Mortgage Market

Debate between Andrew Griffith and Desmond Swayne

Tuesday 13th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Griffith]

It may cause the hon. Lady some distress, but I am enormously proud of the £94 billion the Government have provided to support households in these difficult times. I am proud, too, of the Government’s response to the covid pandemic and to Ukraine—would it ill behove any Opposition seeking office to mention those things a little more when talking about the economy? Above all else, I am enormously proud that when any Conservative Government leave office they do not leave notes behind saying, “Dear Chief Secretary, I am afraid to tell you that there is no money left.”

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

Inevitably, the level of Government borrowing itself is a determinant of interest rates, isn’t it?

[Andrew Griffith]

My right hon. Friend—I congratulate him as well—is right to say that one factor is the level of Government borrowing. This Government have had to borrow unprecedented amounts due to the covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine, and to provide households with that support of about £3,300 over this year and last. That is one reason why one of our key priorities is to reduce the level of debt.

Silicon Valley Bank

Debate between Andrew Griffith and Desmond Swayne

Monday 13th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Griffith]

It is not uncommon for banks to have a particular specialism. Labour Members have worked to bring forward regulations that will help us have more credit unions, which tend to have a geographical concentration, and there are agricultural banks and other wholesale banks, so it is not of itself an unusual feature. In this case, we were able to take action precisely because of the UK regulatory structures and the interventions we can make. We will learn any lessons, but this is a Government who are on the side of technology companies and the life sciences, and we have been proud to deliver this outcome—this important certainty—and to remove the jeopardy they otherwise faced at the opening of business this morning.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

What estimate had the Bank of England made of the health of SVB before the events of the weekend?

[Andrew Griffith]

It would not be right for me to answer on behalf of the Bank of England, if my right hon. Friend will forgive me. We have an independent regulator that looks at these matters. The Treasury Committee regularly takes evidence from the Bank of England, and I am sure it will do so in future.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Griffith and Desmond Swayne

Tuesday 25th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

What steps he is taking to accelerate the production of clean energy.

[Andrew Griffith (Arundel and South Downs) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to increase renewable energy production.