Autumn Statement

Andrew Love Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. Of course, he knows that we embarked on this work on how to extend support to postgraduates when he was Minister for Universities and Science—it might have been him who first proposed the idea to me—and I am absolutely delighted that it has come to fruition. This is one of the biggest reforms I have announced today. It will provide real support for postgrads, who do not currently get any support. In almost all the reports that one reads on social mobility, including the report by Alan Milburn, that has been identified as a barrier to entry for people from low-income backgrounds into the professions. It is a really important step forward. Again, I suspect that it will not be the headline in tomorrow’s newspapers, but that does not mean that it is not going to change lots of people’s lives.

[Mr Andrew Love (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op)]

Yesterday, the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke), a former Chancellor, gave an extended interview to the BBC in which he said, among other things, that the Government should keep tax increases in the locker in case they are needed. Does the Chancellor intend to consult former Chancellors on his long-term economic plan? If not, will he now deny that a VAT rise will be imminent after the next election?

[Mr Osborne]

I have set out today how our plans to bring the deficit down and bring borrowing down can be achieved through spending reductions in Departments and through welfare savings, and therefore do not require tax increases. I also explained that if we were to achieve over the next period the same as we have achieved during this Parliament in dealing with tax avoidance, tax planning and aggressive tax evasion, we could achieve £5 billion of savings, or extra revenue, in that space of time as well. That is a better way to proceed, and that is the course we have set.