Chris Bryant
Main Page: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda and Ogmore)Department Debates - View all Chris Bryant's debates with the HM Treasury
(2 years ago)
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Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)
Goodness! Here is a surprise. I call Chris Bryant.
Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)
That was a bit of a surprise, Madam Deputy Speaker. I do not think that you carried the House there.
This is really grim. The public finances are in a really difficult situation, and even more importantly the OBR figures show that disposable income for households will fall after what the Chancellor has done today by 7% over the next two years. Will he confirm that that is the biggest fall in our history? That means families not being able to afford things, and that is, in the end, at the doorstep of No. 10, is it not?
Jeremy Hunt
The first part of what the hon. Member said is broadly correct. There will be a very big fall—[Interruption.] Would Members like me to answer the question or not? There will be a big fall in disposable income, but the OBR says that the measures that I took today mitigate that, reducing the effect by around 25%. That is very important, but to say that somehow this has nothing to do with a global pandemic and a war in Ukraine—
Jeremy Hunt
Yes. The hon. Member said it was at the doorstep of No. 10. I think that is to ignore the reality staring him in the face.