Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ben Spencer and Kwasi Kwarteng

Tuesday 11th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

We are absolutely committed to fairness and to helping the most vulnerable in our society—we are always committed to that—and I will not prejudge or anticipate measures in the medium-term fiscal plan this afternoon.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the cuts to national insurance will help not only working households, but businesses and the public sector, such as schools?

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

My hon. Friend and constituency neighbour is absolutely right. The reversal of the planned increase in national insurance will help businesses, individuals and the institutions to which he refers.

The Growth Plan

Debate between Ben Spencer and Kwasi Kwarteng

Friday 23rd September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

We are always looking at ways in which we can encourage people who are helping the most vulnerable in society to do what is a critically important job. We are always looking at how we can improve that.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

What has been announced today is more than just a fiscal event; it is a vote of confidence in Britain—a statement to the country that we can grow, we can aspire and we can achieve. Rather than wilt in the face of our challenges, we can and we will flourish. Does my right hon. Friend agree?

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We have a dynamic population of highly skilled people. Our job in Government is to empower people to grow, to achieve and to thrive in the ways he suggests.

Russian Oil Import Ban

Debate between Ben Spencer and Kwasi Kwarteng

Wednesday 9th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor and I, and our Departments, speak all the time about these issues. The hon. Member will appreciate that there is a spring statement, but at the beginning of February my right hon. Friend announced an extensive £9 billion of projects. We will be looking across the year at how this market develops, but fiscal interventions, as she will appreciate, are a matter for my right hon. Friend.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

I very much welcome my right hon. Friend’s announcement today. It cannot be right that we are bankrolling the Russian state and war machine through buying Russian oil and gas, and I am glad that we are moving to fix this at pace. He will know that we import quite a lot of aviation fuel from Russia, and his Department has done fantastic work in developing sustainable aviation fuel and its manufacture in the UK. Will he use this as an opportunity to drive that forward at even greater pace to set up SAF manufacture in the UK?

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

My hon. Friend raises a really important point. With the dismal prospect of the ferocious aggression and violence that we are seeing, one of the things we are thinking about is a more sustainable future. A very thin silver lining on a very dark cloud is the fact that we are talking about resilience and sustainability, and I am absolutely delighted to be working with my hon. Friend and with right hon. and hon. Friends in the Department for Transport to make sure that we accelerate the adoption of sustainable aviation fuel.