Budget Resolutions
Gareth Davies Excerpts(5 days, 16 hours ago)
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Gareth Davies (Grantham and Bourne) (Con)
It is a great pleasure to speak in this debate. I thank all Members from across the House for their contributions tonight, particularly my hon. Friends the Members for Bromsgrove (Bradley Thomas), for Bridgwater (Sir Ashley Fox), for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore), for Mid Bedfordshire (Blake Stephenson) and for South West Hertfordshire (Mr Mohindra). I am also grateful for the very thoughtful contributions, particularly on welfare spending, from my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith), and from my constituency neighbour and the Father of the House, my right hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh). I particularly enjoyed his contribution.
Most of all, let me congratulate the hon. Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Sagal Abdi-Wali) on delivering her maiden speech. I gave my maiden speech in a Budget debate, and it is a hard thing to do. I still remember how nervous I was, and I can tell her that it does not quite go away, I am afraid. I enjoyed her speech, which was excellent, and I know that her constituents and her family will be very proud to see her sat where she is. I wish her the very best for the future.
It is a genuine pleasure to close this day of the Budget debate on behalf of the official Opposition. Ironically, this has been billed as a “breathing space” Budget by the same people who have taken all the air out of the economy. The British people do not just want a breather. They want to get on, and there is little in this Budget for them.
The subject of today’s debate is growth—a subject that was apparently chosen voluntarily by the Government. That is interesting, because paragraph 2.48 of the OBR’s assessment of this Budget clearly says that next year’s growth has been downgraded to 1%—cut by a third. The Chancellor said that this Budget would deliver “growth in every postcode”, but the OBR has read it and found that there will be lower growth across the country. [Interruption.] I have got to know the hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Dan Tomlinson), who is chuntering away, and I know that he is about to stand up and say that the OBR has upgraded growth for this year by 0.1%. That is great, and I am delighted for him, but in March 2024, the OBR did not expect growth under a Conservative Government to be 1.2% this year. It expected the Conservatives to deliver 2% in 2026, so I am afraid to say that the OBR has downgraded its growth expectations and projections for this year, too.
The Secretary of State, who was very energised, said that the Government have cut business rates, but these are the guys who inherited high-street relief at 75%, cut it to 40% and then abolished it altogether. Under pressure from high-street businesses across the country, they are handing a little bit back and think it is all fine. It is like a burglar returning your TV and asking for a thank you. My hon. Friend the Member for Keighley and Ilkley was absolutely right to highlight that point.
Then there is the high-street bank tax. This is a tax on lending, mortgages and the high-street branches that people rely on in constituencies across the country. I thought this Government wanted to see more bank branches, not fewer, but fewer branches is exactly what will happen. The Minister is probably going to stand up and claim that this Budget is delivering for working families on the cost of living, but that is not the whole picture, is it? Living standards this year, across every postcode, are set to fall under a Labour Government, but it is okay because they can all live off cheaper gherkins.
The Government do not like to hear this, and no doubt I will be accused of talking down the economy, so let me be very clear: I talk up my country, but I talk down this Labour Government. I am not the only one; there are plenty of us. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said that the Budget has
“very little that will move the dial on growth”.
The CBI said that the Budget
“lacks the bold moves that would have made it easier for firms to invest, hire and grow.”
The British Retail Consortium said costs will
“keep climbing as the Chancellor failed to provide the breathing space he promised.”
Even the Government’s friends in the Resolution Foundation said the Budget
“did not rise to the scale of the challenges”.
Do not get me wrong: I do not believe that the Government are bad people. I just do not think they have any grasp of basic economics and reality. Just this weekend, as my hon. Friend the Member for Bromsgrove said, we heard that they do not even think that employers are working people.
In all of this, let us spare a thought for poor old Keir Starmer, who must have been sat watching the TV on Lord Alli’s sofa and wondering, “What was it all for?” The new Prime Minister booted him out with a story of transformation, almost revolution. After years and years of trying, the right hon. Member for Makerfield (Andy Burnham) finally becomes First Lord of the Treasury, and we all eagerly awaited his first Budget—his first chance to mould the country to his Mancunian grand vision—but what we got was the same old Labour: higher taxes, no action on welfare, and no real answers to the challenges facing our country today. This is continuity Keir without the mandate. Tinkering with little policies like the £2 bus cap is not going to keep us safe from Putin. It is not going to take a family out of poverty; it will just get them to the bank branch, which is closing, near the house that they cannot afford, with a mortgage that they will not be lent. When will Labour learn?
It does not have to be this way. Instead of fuelling a rise in unemployment and overseeing a spiralling benefits bill, the Government could reduce costs to businesses and cut the regulatory burden. We could get people off welfare and into work. We will happily work with the Chancellor in the national interest, if only he is brave enough to stand up to the Members chuntering behind him. Nothing has changed—not the tax hikes, not the welfare bill, not the excuses. All that has changed is the person holding the microphone.
I accept that the Prime Minister has been busy. We have watched him bounce from the Downing Street desk to the “Gogglebox” sofa and back home to Manchester. We know his favourite crisps, but we do not know his plan for the economy. He is a TikTok Prime Minister who chose a Chancellor on a tuk tuk. He has had a ride, and now he has taken the British people for one, too. A Chancellor who, for some reason, carried a miner’s lantern to the Labour party conference is now leading the economy down a dark tunnel, with no plan to get out. Back during the days of the coup, the Prime Minister told us, with a nauseating dose of cheddar cheese, that he wanted “hope in every heart”, but we got a hand in every pocket, with tax at record levels, debt higher, debt interest higher and youth unemployment spiralling. This is not just a missed opportunity; it is a dereliction of duty.
Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Bill
Gareth Davies Excerpts(3 years, 11 months ago)
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Gareth Davies (Grantham and Stamford) (Con)
It is a pleasure to follow the excellent and thoughtful speech by my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes North (Ben Everitt). Along with all my colleagues, I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) on bringing this Bill to the House and on all the work he has done. I recognise the work of the Select Committee and express gratitude for being part of this important debate.
It is also a particular pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Truro and Falmouth (Cherilyn Mackrory), who captured the mood of this debate when she said that debates and subjects such as this show that all of us across the House care about how we can support those in most need and how we can all make a positive difference to vulnerable people in our constituencies. She was absolutely right about that.
There are big questions to answer about how we can best support those who may have made mistakes or suffered misfortune in their lives, but, at a very simple level, how can we possibly expect anybody to rebuild their life without the basic requirement of adequate shelter? I welcome this Bill, because it will improve the quality of supported housing and improve governance at both local and national level. It will also ultimately improve taxpayer efficiency, by providing the means for people to live more independently of the state.
No matter what a person’s background, condition or circumstances, we in this place have a duty to ensure that quality accommodation and care is the baseline. We should acknowledge, as my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley (Robbie Moore) rightly did, the Government’s work to date in this area. I acknowledge the national statement of expectations in 2020, which set out minimum standards guidance for supported housing. It set out, for example, that housing should be accessible and be assessed by local council commissioners and that housing staff should be trained. The National Housing Federation endorsed and supported that guidance, but the Bill clearly builds significantly on that work to date, and quite right too.
In the many excellent speeches today we have heard examples of terrible things happening in this area. Landlords are still providing unacceptable housing. New residents are still being placed with unsuitable co-residents, as my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East pointed out, and some accommodation is not fire safe, frankly. I warmly welcome this Bill and, in particular, three measures: the introduction of a supported housing advisory panel makes a ton of sense; the requirement for local authorities to review exempt accommodation and publish a supporting housing strategy is something we all completely agree with; and then we have the powers given to the Secretary of State to make licensing regulations for exempt housing.
This is an excellent Bill. I am not surprised that it will go through today with cross-party support. I warmly congratulate my hon. Friend. If I can build on the praise that my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Tom Hunt) set out, my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East has shown that if a Member acts with strong purpose in this job, they can, with the right energy, drive real change. He showed it in 2017 with his Homelessness Reduction Act. He has shown it through his tremendous work to build relations between the UK and India, for which he has received one of India’s highest civilian honours. He is the only person I know with a Padma Shri. I am also very familiar with his campaigning for a smoke-free England. I am greatly proud to share these Benches with him.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)
I call the shadow Minister, Matthew Pennycook. [Interruption.] I beg your pardon; I did not know that the hon. Gentleman had already spoken. I am sorry I missed his speech. I call the Minister, Felicity Buchan.
Solar Farms and Battery Storage
Gareth Davies Excerpts(4 years, 4 months ago)
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Gareth Davies (Grantham and Stamford) (Con)
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way, given the limited time. He is absolutely right that it is vital that local voices are heard when it comes to solar farm planning applications. Will he join me in encouraging all of my residents who may be impacted by the Mallard Pass development to contribute to the consultation? That is a vital part of the process, and their voices can be heard through it.
Anthony Mangnall
It should come as no surprise that even in south Devon we have heard about the issues concerning Mallard Pass. I encourage all residents of Grantham and Stamford to take part in that consultation, and to register their voices—as indeed should all our constituents.
Secondly, we have a food security crisis at the moment, but we also have a global supply chain crisis. We must now have a national target that pushes us to produce food. My hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake) mentioned 75% as a potential target, and we should look at doing that. Anything that takes out productive agricultural land from farming must be reviewed. Solar panels have got to be in the sights of Government to stop that from happening.
Thirdly—I will make this point in my last 33 seconds—a year ago, the Local Electricity Bill was tabled as a private Member’s Bill. We should look at finding local sources to power the network and feed back into the grid. The hon. Member for Reading East (Matt Rodda) was bright and clever enough to make an excellent point about his station in Reading: every time I pass through that station, I will think about that proposal, and I would certainly support it. Tidal, wind and solar, in the right places and the right spaces and used in the right way, are absolutely essential.
My last point is about brownfield sites. If I understand correctly, the CPRE report on brownfield sites identifies 21,000 sites across the country totalling 26,000 hectares, equating to what would be 1.3 million houses. Let us use those brownfield sites and commercial spaces, and make sure we keep our countryside as beautiful as possible.
Oral Answers to Questions
Gareth Davies Excerpts(5 years, 6 months ago)
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Robert Jenrick
I met representatives of the Scottish Government two weeks ago.
Gareth Davies (Grantham and Stamford) (Con)
Robert Jenrick
As champions of freedom and democracy, we are living up to our historical responsibilities to the people of Hong Kong. I have made it the mission of my Department to ensure that all BNO status holders and their families have the very best start as soon as they arrive here. That includes an additional £43 million package across all UK nations to provide targeted support for new arrivals, including English language tuition where necessary and help with housing costs for those who need it. We are creating 12 welcome hubs across the UK to give practical support for everything from applying for a school place and registering with a GP to setting up a business. This month, I met four Hong Kong families who have recently arrived in the UK, and their profound sense of optimism about the future reaffirmed my belief that this programme will enrich our country for generations to come.