Public Spending

Baroness Bray of Coln Excerpts

Thursday 17th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

The position on that is as I set out to the shadow Chief Secretary: the biggest risk to jobs and growth in this country is failing to take appropriate action to deal with the deficit. That is the context of this Government’s policy. If we continued with the irresponsible habits of the previous Government, we would soon be in a great deal worse a position than the one in which we now find ourselves.

[Angie Bray (Ealing Central and Acton) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that job losses are the tragic consequence of 13 years of misgovernment and massive overspending?

[Danny Alexander]

That is at least partly the case. The challenge that we now face is how to tackle the fundamental economic problems that this country faces. The most serious economic challenge that we face is the scale of the deficit. We have seen in countries elsewhere in Europe and further afield the consequences of failing to act on fiscal consolidation. If we fail to act, the problems for jobs and growth and the prospects for our economy will be a great deal worse than they are today.