Economic Update

Baroness Laing of Elderslie Excerpts

Monday 17th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

In the history of British democracy, have we ever had such a calamitous start for a Prime Minister? We have now had four Chancellors in four months, but it was a majority of Conservative MPs and members who inflicted fantasy trickle-down economics upon our country, when they naively decided to take a holiday from reality, which has left many of my Slough constituents struggling to pay their bills. Given that the new Chancellor has effectively dumped the kamikaze mini-Budget, does he agree that he and the Prime Minister no longer have a democratic mandate to continue in their positions and that they should step aside and let the exasperated British people make their decision?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

Order. Just before the Chancellor answers that question and responds to the very neat speech that the hon. Gentleman has just made, I must appeal to colleagues for quick questions. We have had all the speeches; we do not need to hear all the same things all over again. We need quick questions so that the Chancellor can give brief replies, because otherwise we will never get on to the other business.

[Jeremy Hunt]

A general election would not contribute to stability if people had to worry about the disastrous policies of a future Labour Government.

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[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

I call Brendan O’Hara. [Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman disappeared before my very eyes. I call Ronnie Cowan. [Hon. Members: “He is not here either.”] Fine—they are falling like ninepins. Goodness me, we had better try something different. I call Kirsten Oswald.

[Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. It has been reported that No. 10 was briefing that the Chancellor’s statement was due to unspecified global headwinds, rather than the mini-Budget, but the former deputy governor of the Bank of England, Charles Bean, disagreed and said that the Prime Minister’s insistence that the UK’s economic turmoil was part of a global phenomenon was “disingenuous”. To be clear, what does the Chancellor believe has happened? Who does he agree with? Who does he think is responsible for the terrible financial thumping that now affects my constituents?

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[Jeremy Hunt]

Before I was Chancellor, with great respect to the hon. Gentleman, I think I did put my money where my mouth was. When I became Health Secretary we were funding the NHS at the OECD average and now it is the fifth highest in the OECD, so I have started to fix years of disastrous Labour underfunding.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

I call Jim Shannon. [Interruption.]

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Sorry, Madam Deputy Speaker, you threw me off there. I was looking round to see who it was. Thank you very much for calling me. Can I say how very pleased I am to see the Chancellor in his place? I wish him well, and I think this House wishes him well in the job he has to do.

Northern Ireland is a global leader in areas such as cyber-security and advanced manufacturing, and it is also the top location in the UK outside London for foreign direct investment. However, the rate of economic inactivity in Northern Ireland is higher than anywhere in Great Britain, which costs the economy some £16 billion annually. Can I ask the Chancellor if he can give any indication as to whether Northern Ireland will receive a fair proportion of the levelling-up funding under round 2, rather than in the first phase, when the 3% share target was missed?

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[Jeremy Hunt]

We have had very decisive action from the Bank of England to do exactly that, and I hope the hon. Gentleman is encouraged by what the Governor of the Bank of England said today about his belief that he has largely solved those issues.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

Finally, the prize for patience and perseverance goes to Daisy Cooper.

[Daisy Cooper (St Albans) (LD)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker; I now know what it feels like to have the knees of the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon). [Interruption.] It is a fleeting thought, but it has gone.

Pubs and hospitality businesses in my seat of St Albans are really up against it. Suckerpunch is a bar that closed its doors just a couple of days ago because it can no longer continue. Others are clinging on until Christmas and we know that around the country hospitality businesses are saying that they are going to go into complete hibernation until the spring, and that means redundancies. Will the Chancellor confirm that he understands that hospitality is one of the sectors that is most affected and will therefore attract support, and will he look again at the broken business rates system, which is killing our pubs and high streets while letting multinationals off the hook?

[Jeremy Hunt]

Another of the promises I now vainly wish I had not made in the summer as to policies we should do is a fundamental review of business rates, so I have a great deal of sympathy for the hon. Member on that front and I will happily look at those issues. I do not want to promise we are going to make any progress in the next two weeks because there are so many other things we have to consider, but what she has said has been well heard—and I, too, congratulate her on her patience.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

That concludes the statement. I thank the Chancellor for taking questions for a whole two hours—perfect timing.

Bill presented

Benefit Cap (Report on Abolition) Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

David Linden presented a Bill to require the Secretary of State to report to Parliament on the likely effects of the abolition of the benefit cap, including on levels of absolute and relative poverty, poor mental health, food bank use, borrowing of money from friends and family, evictions from homes and problem debt, and on different groups including women, lone parents and people from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 21 October, and to be printed (Bill 161)