George Osborne
Main Page: George Osborne (Conservative - Tatton)Department Debates - View all George Osborne's debates with the HM Treasury
(13 years, 1 month ago)
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Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)
1. What assessment he has made of the potential effects on UK interests of the creation of an economic government of the Eurozone.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
We have had positive gross domestic product numbers this morning, but the biggest single boost to the British economy this autumn would be a lasting resolution of the euro crisis. Such a resolution requires, among many other things, greater fiscal integration within the eurozone as it follows the remorseless logic of monetary union. We have made it clear that Britain will not be part of that fiscal integration, and that issues affecting Britain, such as the single market and financial services regulation, must continue to be decided at EU level.
Dr Lewis
If the Liberal Democrats had had their way, we would have joined the euro with disastrous consequences. Now, the liberal Conservatives are advising us to support fiscal union in the eurozone, which will lead to economic union and a single government. How does my right hon. Friend really feel about a policy undermining the system of democratic states in Europe that gave the continent peace for more than half a century?
Mr Osborne
Those who were against Britain joining the euro, including my hon. Friend and me, were against it partly because we felt that it would lead to greater fiscal integration. That was one of the arguments for keeping Britain out. There is a remorseless logic driving monetary union towards greater fiscal integration, but it is in Britain’s overwhelming economic national interest to have stability in the eurozone, so I think that that fiscal integration is part of what is required. Of course, we have to ensure that Britain’s interests are protected, that we are not part of that fiscal integration, and that issues such as the single market and financial regulation are conducted at the level of the 27.
Mr Wayne David (Caerphilly) (Lab)
The Chancellor talks a great deal about fiscal integration in the eurozone, but will he tell us precisely what he means by fiscal integration?
Mr Osborne
We shall see the 17 members of the euro attempting to co-ordinate their budget policies better, and more mutual surveillance, with sanctions, for those who do not do what has been agreed. I have to say that the confusion, if there is any, is in Labour’s policy, because it is now holding open the prospect of membership of the euro, which would be the ultimate fiscal and monetary integration.
Mr Andrew Tyrie (Chichester) (Con)
Does the Chancellor agree that it is wholly unacceptable that the rest of Europe should be held to ransom by Greece? What would be the consequences for the UK and the eurozone of a no vote in a Greek referendum?
Mr Osborne
There is no doubt that the decision by the Greek Prime Minister has added to the instability and uncertainty in the eurozone. We can see that today. We are trying to create stability and certainty in the eurozone. Ultimately, it is up to the Greek people and the Greek political system to decide how they make their decisions, but I believe that it is extremely important for the eurozone to implement the package that it agreed last week. I said at the time that that was crucial, as did everyone else involved. We need to get on with it, sooner rather than later.
Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)
Is not the truth that the Chancellor cannot urge any real action in the eurozone because he is stuck with a failed plan that has resulted in our economy bumping along the bottom? It will take more than him wearing a high-visibility jacket on the rolling news to put that right.
Mr Osborne
As I was saying, this morning we had the news that our GDP is growing by 0.5%—[Hon. Members: “Ooh!”] Well, GDP fell by about 6% when Labour was in office and when the right hon. Member for Morley and Outwood (Ed Balls) was advising the last Prime Minister. If we look at growth in France or Germany, the most recent figures show that it was either negative or growing at about 0.1%. The instability in the eurozone and the uncertainty in the world are having an effect on all western economies at the moment, and we have to sort that out, but that is not an excuse for Britain not to deal with its problems, which were created by that lot sitting over there.
Mr John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con)
Will my right hon. Friend ensure, if he is not using our veto against more fiscal integration, that Britain gets something out of the deal? Do we not need the right to opt out of any past or future EU measure that could damage jobs and prosperity at home?
Mr Osborne
We have already extracted a price for the European Stability Mechanism treaty that the eurozone wants to put forward by getting ourselves out of the EU bail-out mechanism to which the last Government had committed us. We are working to keep the increase in the EU budget to a real freeze. In other words, we have, I think, proved in office that we can extract important concessions and in the case of the EU bail-out fund we have actually taken a power back to Britain. That will be the approach we take to future discussions and negotiations—putting Britain’s national interest first.
Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)
Why did the Chancellor’s statement last Thursday about economic governance in the eurozone fail to mention the most important missing ingredient—a strategy for jobs and growth? Was it an accident or was it deliberate? He has been telling us all summer that Britain is a safe haven, yet growth is weak, unemployment is rising and construction and manufacturing are both contracting. What kind of safe haven is that?
Mr Osborne
First, may I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on keeping his job in the clear-out of the Labour Treasury Front-Bench team—although on the basis of that question, I am not sure why he did? The whole purpose of our negotiations in Europe and the whole purpose of what we are doing at home is to stabilise the British economy and set it on a path of growth and jobs. We inherited a situation where unemployment had rocketed under the Labour Government and we had the deepest recession of any country in the world, apart from Japan. We are rescuing that situation, and it is reflected in the very low interest rates paid in this country in comparison with all those other countries.
Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)
2. What assessment he has made of the effects of the 2011 Budget on long-term unemployment.
Stuart Andrew (Pudsey) (Con)
3. What steps he is taking to reduce tax avoidance and evasion.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
We have made it clear that tax evasion is both illegal and immoral, and that this Government will not tolerate it. We are increasing the number of staff at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs who are dedicated to tackling tax evasion and tax avoidance to 2,500. We also aim to increase the amount of tax collected by £7 billion, and, unlike the last Government, we have concluded a treaty with Switzerland to get back the money that individuals should have paid here in the United Kingdom.
Stuart Andrew
I have been contacted by a fair number of constituents who have expressed concern about tax avoidance. I welcome many of the measures that the Government have introduced to tackle this unfairness. Is the scope of the recent tax avoidance agreement between our Government and the Swiss likely to include cases in which tax is not paid by individuals who are tax-exiled in Switzerland, such as the widely reported case of Mr Andrew Rosenfeld?
Mr Osborne
Actually, you just have. You made him your general election strategist. However, I will not comment on the tax affairs of individuals, although I suspect that many will over the coming years.
David Miliband (South Shields) (Lab)
The Chancellor will remember, in his first Budget, fixing a target for debt
“to place our fiscal credibility beyond doubt”. —[Official Report, 22 June 2010; Vol. 512, c. 167.]
That target was for debt to be reduced by the end of the Parliament, but, according to figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility, it depends on economic growth of 2.8%. How far below 2.8% must growth fall for the Chancellor’s fiscal mandate and his fiscal credibility to be shot to pieces?
Mr Speaker
Order. The question refers to a reduction in tax avoidance and evasion.
Mr Osborne
Tackling tax evasion and avoidance—to which the question refers—will help us to reduce both the deficit and the debt. We have the fiscal mandate and the debt target. That has been independently verified by the Office for Budget Responsibility—which is in marked contrast to the situation when the right hon. Gentleman was in the Cabinet—and on 29 November it will provide its update.
Mr Gary Streeter (South West Devon) (Con)
Although we are all in favour of dealing with tax avoidance and evasion, are not some of the heavy-handed tactics used by HMRC to collect tax, including the imposition of late-payment penalties under the Labour Government, helping to stifle some growth in small and medium-sized businesses? Will the Chancellor examine the position to ensure that HMRC is being fair?
Mr Osborne
Of course we always want HMRC to approach things in a proportionate manner, and it certainly handles large companies and their tax bills better than it did several years ago. However, we must collect the tax that is owed. That is a very important principle at any time, and it is particularly important at a time when we are all having to make difficult decisions in our attempts to reduce the budget deficit. We will not tolerate tax evasion, and we do apply penalties to people who do not pay their tax on time.
Owen Smith (Pontypridd) (Lab)
The Chancellor is talking a good game, and yesterday the Exchequer Secretary announced the establishment of an “affluent unit” to tackle tax avoidance. For the sake of clarity, I should add that that is not a pet name for the Tory Front Bench, but a department in HMRC. However, the £900 million is not new money. It is not additional, and nor are the 200 staff. Is not the reality that the Government are more interested in offering tax breaks to the wealthiest than in tackling tax avoidance?
Mr Osborne
This is the Government who have introduced additional charges for long-staying non-doms; Labour had 13 years in which to do that, but they did not. This is the Government who have concluded a tax treaty with Switzerland; the previous Government had an opportunity to do that—[Interruption.] Well, this is what a Europe Minister in the last Government said:
“Swiss…deal offered to HMG…more than decade ago but GB turned it down thus losing billions in revenue”.
They had 13 years to deal with tax avoidance and evasion. We are dealing with it now, while they must account for their new general election strategist.
Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)
4. What assessment he has made of the effects of the 2011 Budget on unemployment amongst women.
Damian Hinds (East Hampshire) (Con)
5. What recent estimate he has made of the size of the structural deficit.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
The estimate is that the structural deficit for this year will be 5.3% of GDP, which is down from the record 8.9% in the last year of the previous Government, with it having been the highest in the G7 before the crisis. Of course, these estimates are now provided independently by the Office for Budget Responsibility, rather than being fiddled by the close advisers of the Chancellor and the Prime Minister, as used to happen.
Damian Hinds
Other countries face fierce criticism for their tardiness in addressing not only their immediate deficit, but their growing medium and long-term liabilities. How is progress in that regard for the British Government?
Mr Osborne
We are bringing the deficit down from the record levels that we inherited, which has in part provided stability in the financial markets for sterling and our interest rates. That has been absolutely crucial, as we can see in the very high interest rates faced by not just Greece and Portugal, but now even by countries such as Italy and France, which face significantly higher interest rates than we do. That is of course a huge boost to the British economy.
Graeme Morrice (Livingston) (Lab)
Does the Chancellor think that rising unemployment and growth of just 0.5% in 12 months will make it easier or harder to get the deficit down?
Mr Osborne
This morning’s GDP numbers are a positive step, but of course the British economy has a difficult road to travel from the very high debts—the record debts—that we inherited. That is made more difficult by the international situation, as people can plainly see today, but we are determined to make that journey to the growth and prosperity that this country was so lacking under the previous Government.
Mark Garnier (Wyre Forest) (Con)
6. What recent discussions he has had on social impact bonds.
Tony Lloyd (Manchester Central) (Lab)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
The core purpose of the Treasury is to ensure the stability of the economy, promote growth and employment, reform banking and manage the public finances so that Britain lives within her means.
Tony Lloyd
Will one of the Treasury Ministers confirm that public sector workers who work part-time earning less than £15,000 will still pay the 3% income tax? Is this fair, and should not the Government negotiate in good faith, and not simply try to ram this through?
Mr Osborne
The Chief Secretary will shortly set out the full details of our pension offer to the public sector. When people see it, they will see that it is fair to the public sector—people in the public sector will get a much more generous pension than is available in almost any part of the private sector—but it is also fair to the taxpayers. It is, of course, based on the work of John Hutton, a former Labour Pensions Secretary.
Jake Berry (Rossendale and Darwen) (Con)
T3. Labour-controlled Blackburn with Darwen council has abandoned pensioners and schoolchildren in my constituency because of a £10,000 bus cut, but it can still find £94,500 to fund trade union officials. Does my right hon. Friend think it is right that the taxpayer picks up the tab for trade union officials?
Mr Osborne
In central Government we have announced that we are reducing the facility time, as it is called, in the civil service because we do not think it is fair that taxpayers should be paying for so many full-time trade union officials. Obviously, it is up to Blackburn with Darwen council to decide how it spends its council tax payers’ money, but from what my hon. Friend is telling me, it does not look as if the council is spending it particularly well.
Ed Balls (Morley and Outwood) (Lab/Co-op)
Today’s figures have shown that the British economy has grown over the past 12 months, since the Chancellor’s spending review, by just 0.5%, and Treasury officials have apparently admitted to the BBC this afternoon that the economy is now set to worsen. The IMF says that if the British economy continues to undershoot, the Chancellor should change course to boost growth and jobs. How much longer does the country have to wait before the Chancellor will finally listen?
Mr Osborne
I welcome the right hon. Gentleman back from America. We missed him in our debates last week—even though, by some coincidence, the tone of the debate markedly improved. We have been keeping an eye on what he was saying while he was in America. This is what he told American television: “What the world needs are balanced plans on deficit reduction, and you can’t duck that.” In America he has to say that so that he is not laughed out of the TV studio. Here he not only ducks deficit reduction; he runs away from it. We are clearing up the mess that he left when he was running Britain’s economic policy for 13 years.
Ed Balls
I am afraid people watching this will think that was a deeply complacent answer. Today’s figures mean that the Chancellor’s figures for growth will be downgraded. They will undershoot the OECD and the IMF growth forecast as well. He tried to blame the eurozone, but the fact is that our recovery was choked off a year ago. Families watching this programme and struggling with their bills, businesses on the edge and young people losing their jobs will all think the Chancellor is completely out of touch. Why does he not understand that if we are to get the deficit down, the country needs a plan for growth and jobs, and it needs it now? How much longer will we have to put up with this prevarication before it is too late, and the Chancellor finally acts?
Mr Osborne
The GDP numbers showed this morning that the British economy is growing, and that is positive news. But of course we have a difficult journey to take, from the deepest recession of our lifetimes and the biggest banking crisis in British history, which the right hon. Gentleman presided over when the Labour party was in government—and it is made more difficult by what is happening elsewhere in the world. [Interruption.] Of course that is the case, which is why the growth figures in the British economy are similar to the growth figures in the American economy, or the French economy, or the German economy.
Mr Osborne
The right hon. Gentleman shakes his head, but in 2011 the British economy has grown at exactly the same rate as the United States economy. It has taken a completely different course from the one that he suggested as shadow Chancellor and yet it has the same growth, which shows that what we are doing is bringing stability to the British economy. Frankly, for him to get up every week and say that we need a deficit reduction plan, but not to give us any details, shows how hopelessly out of touch he is.
Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)
T4. If the Greeks can have a referendum on Europe, why can’t we?
Mr Osborne
What the Greek Prime Minister has apparently offered the Greek people is a referendum on difficult decisions required to get the budget deficit down. That is what he is talking about. We talked about these things in advance of a general election. Two parties here talked about those difficult decisions. We got elected, we are in government and we are now doing it, and we are recovering from the deep mess that the Labour party left us in.
Mr David Crausby (Bolton North East) (Lab)
T2. Will the Chancellor intervene to prevent directors’ pay from increasing by another 49% this year? Or if he is not willing to intervene, will he at least explain to those suffering cuts in pay and the loss of their jobs, just how we are all in this together?
Mr Osborne
I have made it very clear, and the Prime Minister has made it very clear, that at all levels of society people have to be mindful of the current economic situation, and that includes highly paid directors and people working for the financial services. Bonuses are significantly lower than they were under the Government whom the hon. Gentleman supported, and we are also introducing measures to encourage transparency in pay, and to give shareholders greater control over executive pay as well.
Mr Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (Con)
T5. Is my right hon. Friend aware of the TaxPayers Alliance’s excellent report published last week on abolishing national insurance and merging national insurance with income tax? Does he believe that the merger of national insurance and income tax would be a good way to simplify tax in the way that he promised, and will he make it happen?
Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)
T8. What does the Chancellor say to the Federation of Small Businesses, which describes his policies as too timid, and out of touch with the sluggishness of the UK’s economy?
Mr Osborne
The FSB, like many other business organisations, has supported what we have done to try to get the deficit down—and of course it also welcomes the fact that not only did we reverse the increase that the Labour Government planned in the small companies rate, but we have also been able to reduce the small companies rate and freeze business rates for another year.
Stephen Lloyd (Eastbourne) (LD)
T6. Does the Minister agree that new plans for the Government to lend directly to small businesses and start-ups through credit easing will be beneficial to the economy and will create more jobs? Will the Minister also give me examples of how that will be put into practice?
Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)
T9. Youth unemployment now stands at a shocking 34% in Tameside and 23% in Stockport. Is not the right thing to do to listen to Labour’s five-point jobs plan, get the bank bonus tax reinstated and invest in 100,000 jobs for young people?
Mr Osborne
In his pitch for a job, the hon. Gentleman failed to mention that youth unemployment rose by more than 40% under the Labour Government. There is complete amnesia about the fact that 16 months ago they left this country with high unemployment, a high budget deficit, the deepest recession this country has seen in the last 100 years, and the biggest banking crisis in our history.
Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)
T7. Some of the most needy children in the Vale of Glamorgan and across the UK will benefit from today onwards from the Government’s junior ISA. That presents an opportunity to return to a culture of savings among families. What plans have the Government to develop that further?
Mr Osborne
We have indeed announced today the launch of the junior ISA, which will enable many millions of parents to save for their children up to £3,600 a year tax free. It should help more than 6 million children who will be eligible for it immediately and many more as they are born and grow up. It is all about trying to foster a savings culture after the age of irresponsibility and the culture of debt that we saw over the past decade.
Stephen Pound (Ealing North) (Lab)
T10. I can assure the Chancellor of the Exchequer that I am not looking for a job—unlike many of my constituents. He talked earlier about fiscal integration. Does he agree that the possibility of a differential rate of corporation tax within the United Kingdom contains severe dangers?
Mr Osborne
As the hon. Gentleman well knows, we are consulting on the possibility of introducing a different corporation tax rate in Northern Ireland, reflecting the fact that the Irish Republic has a much lower corporation tax rate. The consultation is ongoing, and we are of course in discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive. We are clear that Northern Ireland would have to bear the cost of that in forgone revenues, and an important part of the discussions will be working out what exactly those forgone revenues would be.
Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire) (LD)
I am concerned by reports that the Government are considering breaking with the 20-year convention of uprating pensions and benefits by the September inflation figure, now that the CPI has come in at 5.2%. Does the Chancellor recognise that it would be unfair to change the rules of the game suddenly, hurting vulnerable pensioners and disabled people in the process?
Mr Osborne
We are absolutely committed to the triple lock that we introduced on pensions so that they rise by CPI, earnings or 2.5%, whichever is greater. That is one of the really significant achievements of this Government, which two parties came together to create, and I think that it is something we can be very proud of.
Mr David Winnick (Walsall North) (Lab)
May I tell the Chancellor that what is happening in the economy reminds me very much of the havoc and destruction caused by the Thatcher Government in the 1980s, with mass unemployment and poverty? Is it not perfectly understandable why many people are protesting against the sheer injustice, including those who are protesting, and rightly so, outside St Paul’s?
Mr Osborne
Again, there is absolutely no recognition that the Government the hon. Gentleman supported presided over the second deepest recession in the entire world. What is the Opposition’s explanation for that? Why was Britain so badly affected? Why was the British economy so unbalanced? Why had the gap between the rich and the poor grown? Why had manufacturing halved as a share of GDP? They have absolutely no answers on Labour’s record in office.
Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)
Will the Chancellor, or the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, expand on the advantages that the Warton local enterprise zone in my constituency will bring to businesses, particularly from tax breaks and improved planning rules?
Mr Osborne
I am very pleased that we were able to announce that additional enterprise zone for my hon. Friend’s constituents, which reflects the fact that the cut in the US defence budget had an impact on BAE Systems. I am glad that we were able to move quickly to create an enterprise zone, not only in the north-west but in east Yorkshire, to take into account the impact of that decision.
Mr Andrew Love (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op)
If the Government’s overriding priority is to eliminate the deficit by the end of this Parliament, why is the Chancellor having to borrow an additional £46 billion during that period?
Mr Osborne
We inherited the highest—[Interruption.] The Opposition do not want to hear this. We inherited the highest budget deficit in Britain’s peacetime history. That budget deficit is now coming down, and that has contributed to financial stability in this country, in marked contrast with what we see on our television screens around Europe.
Mr William Cash (Stone) (Con)
Will my right hon. Friend pass on the message to the Deputy Prime Minister, with his accusations that Conservatives who advocate repatriation and renegotiation are committing economic suicide, that we are facing not only a disastrous two-tier Europe, but now also a two-tier Government?
Mr Osborne
Of course I do not agree with my hon. Friend on this occasion. The coalition Government have been able to get Britain out of the European Union bail-out that we found ourselves in when we came to office. We have been able to keep the budget increases down—again, in marked contrast with what we found on coming into office. We must now have some serious negotiations to make sure that Britain’s interests are protected in Europe, as the remorseless logic of monetary union—I am sure that he accepts this—leads to greater fiscal integration among eurozone countries. That is the reality of the situation facing us, and I think Britain under this Government will be able to negotiate well in our national interest.
Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)
If the Chancellor cannot bring himself to extend the national insurance holiday to small and micro-businesses because the shadow Chancellor suggested it, will that be easier now that the CBI is also recommending it?
Mr Osborne
The CBI has been absolutely staunch in its defence of our deficit reduction plan, and says that it is crucial for business confidence. If the shadow Chancellor wants to make proposals to increase spending and borrowing, which he is perfectly entitled to do, why does he not also make proposals to cut Government spending and to get the budget deficit down? He talks about providing a medium-term deficit reduction plan, but we have not heard one single line item of it.
Stephen Williams (Bristol West) (LD)
Whatever one thinks of the tactics of those who are camping outside St Paul’s and in the middle of my constituency, one issue that they are raising that resonates with the British public is the feeling that people are not paying their fair share of tax. Will my right hon. Friend update us on what progress we are making across the House, particularly on lifetime loans—disguised remuneration?
Mr Osborne
My hon. Friend raises a good point. At a time like this, people want to make sure that everyone pays their fair share of tax. We have taken action on the situation in Switzerland and on long-stay non-doms, but he raises a third point about disguised remuneration. That is a way in which people, often in financial services, get away with a much lower rate of tax. Guess who in the House voted against that action? The Labour party.