Tax Credits
Debate between Baroness Laing of Elderslie and Ian Blackford(9 years, 1 month ago)
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Madam Deputy Speaker (Mrs Eleanor Laing)
Order. Before the hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber responds to that intervention, I must tell him that he has been talking quite a lot about “you”. I am sure that he does not mean the Chair. Perhaps it would work rather better if he addressed the Minister.
Ian Blackford
Thank you very much for those wise words, Madam Deputy Speaker.
I agree with the hon. Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy) that what the House has today is an opportunity to send a message to the Government that they ought to reflect on what has been proposed. I think that they have made an honest mistake. I hope that it is an honest mistake, that we can reflect on it, and that we will not punish people in the way that the tax credit changes will do.
Productivity
Debate between Baroness Laing of Elderslie and Ian Blackford(9 years, 5 months ago)
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Ian Blackford
What the Chief Secretary is saying does not meet the reality of what has been happening for the past seven years. Productivity in the UK has fallen and the Government have failed to deliver prosperity. The root of that has been the failure of macroeconomic policy. Your big idea was quantitative easing, with £375 billion of new assets being created, but none of that has fed through to bank lending. That is why we have not seen the underlying investment in our economy that is required. You need to address that and make sure that we see investment in infrastructure, industrial investment and a plan for growth, not some meaningless productivity, which is just hot air and words, but no reality.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Mrs Eleanor Laing)
Order. Several people this afternoon, not just the hon. Gentleman who has just spoken, have used the word “you”. When one uses the word “you” in this Chamber, it refers to the Chair. I have not done any of the things I have been accused of this afternoon. I do not want to pick on individual Members at this early stage of the Parliament, but please let us use the correct language.