Economic Update

Darren Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 8th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for those comments, and he is absolutely right about how I have approached this. As I have said, for me, it is a question not just of economics but of values, and we demonstrate those through the actions we take and the people that we prioritise. He is also right to highlight the importance of sustainability in our public finances, which he knows I passionately care about and have spoken about repeatedly from these Benches. He can rest assured that as we come to the autumn, we will set our public finances on a path back to sustainability.

[Darren Jones (Bristol North West) (Lab)]

The Chancellor failed today to set out sector-specific help for British manufacturers. In doing so, he is gambling with an important industry and making the UK less competitive compared with countries such as Germany, France and the United States. Perhaps the Chancellor can set out for the House today what it is that he has against British workers making British aeroplanes, British cars and British steel?

[Rishi Sunak]

I am not entirely sure about the tone of the hon. Member’s question. The support schemes we have put in place have benefited equally all sectors and all workers in every region and part of our United Kingdom. Manufacturing companies have been large users of the furlough scheme and are very grateful for it. They are now in the process of bringing those workers back and adding shifts, and they are grateful also for the flexibility that that scheme provides. What they are more interested in when I speak to them are our ambitious commitments, such as our plans to double research and development investment. We will be working closely with the private sector to do that, helping create the innovations that will drive growth, productivity and employment tomorrow.