ECOFIN
George Osborne Excerpts(8 years, 7 months ago)
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The First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council will be held in Brussels on 10 November 2015. Ministers are due to discuss the following items:
Ministerial dialogue with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Countries
ECOFIN Ministers will meet their EFTA counterparts before the Council proper to exchange views on economic growth and structural reforms.
Current Legislative Proposals
The presidency will update the Council on the state of play of financial services dossiers.
Capital Markets’ Union
The Council will be invited to adopt conclusions on the Commission’s capital markets’ union action plan.
Implementation of the Banking Union
The Commission will give an update on several dossiers linked to the banking union: the single resolution fund, the bank recovery and resolution directive and the deposit guarantee scheme directive.
Single Resolution Mechanism—Rules for Bridge Financing
Ministers will be asked to provide guidance on the proposal for providing bridge financing for the single resolution mechanism.
Economic Governance and Follow-up to the Five Presidents’ report
The Council will have an initial discussion on the Commission’s recent package of proposals following the Five Presidents’ report.
Climate Finance
The Council will examine draft conclusions on climate finance which constitute the second part of the COP21 negotiating mandate.
Follow-up to the G20 and IMF meetings in Lima of 8-11 October 2015
The presidency and the Commission will report on the G20 and IMF meetings in Lima in October.
[HCWS298]
Oral Answers to Questions
George Osborne Excerpts(8 years, 7 months ago)
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Naz Shah (Bradford West) (Lab)
4. If he will bring forward transitional provisions for the proposed changes to the tax credits system.
The First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
Last night, unelected Labour and Liberal peers voted down the financial measure on tax credits approved by this elected House of Commons. That raises clear constitutional issues that we will deal with. We will continue to reform tax credits and save the money needed so that Britain lives within its means, while at the same time lessening the impact on families during the transition. I will set out these plans in the autumn statement. We remain as determined as ever to build the low tax, low welfare, high wage economy that Britain needs and the British people want to see.
Mrs Lewell-Buck
Six thousand, eight hundred children in South Shields are growing up in families who rely on tax credits. One of my constituents told me, “Tax credits at the moment only just make it possible for families to feed and clothe their children as it is. If this Government keep making cuts on those of us who are lowest paid we may just give up hope.” The public, the experts, some of the Chancellor’s own MPs and the other place all agree that his plans will victimise working parents and their children, so will he please give my constituents some hope and shelve these ridiculous tax credit cuts?
Mr Osborne
We will give the hon. Lady’s constituents, and indeed the constituents we all represent in this House, support by continuing to deliver economic security in this country—economic security that has seen unemployment fall in her constituency by 44% since 2010. One of the ways we deliver economic security is by controlling our welfare bill and making sure this country lives within its means. That is what we will continue to do.
Kirsten Oswald
The Chancellor has singularly failed to listen to the SNP and to this House when we have said that he needs to think again about tax credits. He sounds like he is keener on dealing with peers than on listening to them, so how about he listens to the people and just drops these tax credit plans once and for all?
Mr Osborne
This House of Commons voted three times for the changes that were rejected by the House of Lords. I am sure that we look forward to the support of the Scottish National party on that constitutional question. I would make this point to the hon. Lady’s constituents: we need to have a welfare system that works. We need to move to a lower welfare, higher wage economy. We do that by introducing the national living wage and having a welfare bill that the country can afford. That is the best thing we can do for the security of the people she represents.
Wes Streeting
If the Chancellor had listened to the evidence from the outset, he would not be in this mess. If his Back Benchers had voted with their consciences, there would be an alignment of opinion between this House and the other place. Instead of manufacturing a phoney constitutional crisis, why will he not put his toys back in the pram and appreciate that he needs to go back to the drawing board with his failed policy that hits working people the hardest?
Mr Osborne
We will deliver the welfare savings that we were elected to deliver in this Parliament. We will help people in the transition to that lower welfare, higher wage economy. I remember a time when the Labour party used to support moving from welfare to work; it has entirely abandoned that approach. We will be the party that stands up for working people, and working people need controlled welfare and a country that lives within its means.
Mr Andrew Tyrie (Chichester) (Con)
Does the Chancellor agree that whatever our views may be in this House on the tax credit dispute, in overturning the settled will of the elected Chamber, the unelected Lords has exercised the powers of a Chamber of Parliament in the tax area, whereas for at least 100 years it has been well established that it has, and should have, only the legitimacy of a consultative assembly?
Mr Osborne
The Chair of the Treasury Committee makes an important point. Of course, on only five occasions in recent decades has the House of Lords blocked or rejected a statutory instrument, but never on a financial matter. We heard a whole range of opinions yesterday—from Lord Butler, the former Cabinet Secretary, to constitutional experts such as Vernon Bogdanor—telling us that this was unprecedented. We are going to have to address it—the Prime Minister has made that very clear. That is what we have to do to make sure that the elected House of Commons is responsible for the tax-and-spend decisions that affect the people of this country.
Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)
I have written to the Chancellor about a lady in my constituency, Stacey, to whom I have talked at length. She earns only £11,000 a year and says that £31 a week is being cut from her budget. I know that the Chancellor will meet me to discuss that. Surely the point is that we should have the conversations here, and he will listen, and that ultimately we will be held responsible and chucked out. What is not right is that unelected people, who never have to stand again, should decide how the people are taxed and how we spend our money.
Mr Osborne
I agree with my hon. Friend on the constitutional point, which is a matter that the whole House of Commons will want to address. I take very seriously the point he raises about his constituent. I have made it clear that we will listen with regard to how we make the transition to a lower welfare, higher wage economy. When we introduced controversial welfare changes in the last Parliament, such as the removal of child benefit from higher earners and the introduction of the welfare cap, we made changes, having listened to Parliament, to smooth the transition to both those important reforms. Of course we will listen to the House of Commons in this respect, but the end goal is clear: this country cannot have an unlimited welfare budget that squeezes out other areas of public expenditure. We cannot have a situation whereby we have 1% of the world’s population and 4% of the world’s economy, but 7% of the world’s welfare budget.
Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)
May I urge the Chancellor to stick to his guns on tax credits? Gordon Brown spent billions of pounds he did not have on tax credits, to try to buy votes at the 2010 election. Does the Chancellor agree that there is no painless way out of huge debt and that people would do well to remember that before they ever elect a free-spending Labour Government again?
Mr Osborne
I completely agree with my hon. Friend. Spending on tax credits went up three times during the last Labour Government, yet working poverty increased during that period. In other words, it had completely the opposite effect from that intended. The people who suffer when the country loses control of its public finances are, indeed, the low paid. They are the people who get turned out of work. It is not the richest in the country or the trade union barons who lose their jobs when that happens; it is the poorest in the country. What we can deliver for them is economic security. So, yes, we will listen on the transition, but we are determined to deliver controlled welfare and economic security for the working people of this country.
Sarah Champion (Rotherham) (Lab)
The Children’s Society estimates that 10,000 children living in 5,100 families in Rotherham will be punished by the tax credit changes. What transitional provisions will the Chancellor put in place to support them?
Mr Osborne
I will set out at the autumn statement how we make sure that we smooth the transition to the lower welfare, higher wage economy that the people of Rotherham and the rest of the country want. We have to make choices in this country. Are we prepared to see our country decline, our budget go out of control and jobs lost, or do we want to continue delivering the economic security that sees a record number of people in work and that has seen employment increase in Rotherham?
Dr Liam Fox (North Somerset) (Con)
The average taxpayer in this country now pays £2,000 a year in extra tax just because of the Government’s debt interest payments. Is not it time that we saw that debt tax on this country’s payslips, so that those who believe they can spend with impunity, including the unelected Chamber, recognise the cost it will provide to future generations?
Mr Osborne
My right hon. Friend is quite right to call it a debt tax. Indeed, one of the largest items of Government spending is paying the creditors we owe, who fund our national debt. That crowds out the spending that we could be putting into our education and transport systems. We have, of course, taken forward an innovation proposed by a Government Back Bencher in the last Parliament, and we now send a tax statement to every taxpayer so that they can see how much we spend on debt interest and how urgent it is that we remove this deficit and reject those who want to borrow forever.
Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)
On the constitutional point, will the Chancellor read out the specific sentence in the Conservative party manifesto where he promised he would cut tax credits?
Mr Osborne
I am very glad that the hon. Gentleman has a copy of the Conservative manifesto. It is an excellent document, which says we are going to deliver better schools for people, we are going to put more money into the national health service for people, we are going to invest in transport for people and we are going to make £12 billion of welfare savings.
Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)
It is good to see the Chancellor in listening mode. There is another group that can assist practically but which we are not talking about—companies. Are our companies in listening mode about the measures that they can take in moving their employees to the national living wage much more rapidly? What can the Chancellor say about what they are doing to help on this issue?
Mr Osborne
My hon. Friend makes a very important point. The savings we make in welfare are part of a package that includes a national living wage. Although the national living wage starts to come in next year, over 200 major companies—such as Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Costa Coffee and many others—have already, since the Budget, introduced wage increases that match what we are proposing to do by statute, so we are already seeing the benefits of the national living wage coming into effect before it is even introduced.
Stewart Hosie (Dundee East) (SNP)
We know that there are 500,000 more children in poverty since 2010—[Hon. Members: “No.”] There are 500,000 more children in poverty since 2010, and there will potentially be 4 million children in poverty by the end of this Parliament. If the Chancellor is in listening mode, knowing that he does not need to make these cuts to balance the budget, why does he not listen to those who say, “Stop now with the policy of tax credit cuts”?
Mr Osborne
I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman is just not correct on the numbers. Child poverty is down by 300,000 since 2010, and the number of children in workless households is now 500,000 fewer than it was when the Government came to office. The truth is it is difficult to take any lectures from Scottish National party Members about balancing the books. They made forecasts for their oil revenues that would have left Scotland with a £30 billion black hole if they had ever got their way. We will go on delivering economic security for the people of Scotland, and indeed the rest of the United Kingdom, by taking the difficult decisions that his party ducks.
Stewart Hosie
The Chancellor is in denial—absolute denial. Did not yesterday, 26 October, demonstrate two things—the Chancellor has lost his political touch, and his chance of being Prime Minister has just gone up in a puff of ermine-clad smoke?
Mr Osborne
As ever, when pressed, all that SNP Members want to talk about is party political gains, rather than sorting out the mess that this country was in six or seven years ago. As a result of the changes we have made, there are hundreds of thousands more people in Scotland with jobs, businesses are investing in Scotland, as they are across the United Kingdom, and we will go on making those changes. The hon. Gentleman can go on praying in aid a House of Lords that he has spent his whole life campaigning to abolish. I will go on delivering the reforms to our economy that are needed to help Scotland to continue to grow.
Victoria Atkins (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)
At the end of the previous Labour Government, nine out of 10 families with children were eligible for tax credits, some of whom earned up to £60,000. In other words, they were paying their taxes and then getting some back. Is it not better to reduce taxes in the first place so that people keep more of their hard-earned income?
Mr Osborne
My hon. Friend speaks for her Lincolnshire constituents and for the whole United Kingdom in saying that we want to move to a lower tax, lower welfare, higher wage society. We took such a step in the Budget by increasing the personal allowance to £11,000. We also cut taxes for business, reducing corporation tax and expanding the employment allowance so that smaller businesses could take on more people. It is all about continuing to deliver the record levels of employment we see in our country, and indeed the growing economy that today’s GDP figures confirm.
John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (Lab)
May I remind the House that for 3 million people out there who have done everything asked of them and have been bringing up their children and going to work, this is not a constitutional matter? Those people will lose £1,300 a year. Given what happened in the other place last night, may I reassure the Chancellor that if he brings forward proposals to reverse the cuts to tax credits, fairly and in full, he will not be attacked by Opposition Members; indeed, he will be applauded? Can he assure us that whatever proposals he brings forward, he will not support any that an independent assessment demonstrates will cause any child to be forced to live below the poverty line?
Mr Osborne
I am, of course, happy to accept any proposals that the hon. Gentleman puts forward—[Interruption.] I am happy to listen to those proposals, but there is a difference between those who say, “We want to make no savings to welfare at all; we want to abolish things like the benefit cap; we are not prepared to make any savings at all to the tax credit system”, and those who say, “Yes, we want to move to a lower welfare society, but we want help in the transition.” If the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) has proposals to help with the transition, of course I will listen to them, but if he is again promoting uncapped welfare and unlimited borrowing, I do not think that the British people will listen to him.
John McDonnell
The Chancellor has a choice before him: he can push on with tax giveaways to multinational corporations, and press on with cuts to inheritance tax for the wealthiest few that he announced in the summer Budget, or he can reverse those tax breaks for the few, and instead go for a less excessive surplus target in 2019-20. He can avoid penalising 3 million working families with cuts to tax credits, and stick to his self-imposed charter. Is he prepared to listen to reason on this matter? Is he, or any Government Member, prepared to step up and show some leadership on this issue?
Mr Osborne
Let us remember that we inherited a tax system where City bankers were paying lower tax rates than the people who cleaned for them, and multinationals were paying no tax at all. We have introduced a new tax to ensure that multinationals do not divert their profits, and we increased capital gains tax precisely to avoid that abuse of tax rates. We will not take lectures from the Labour party about a fair tax system.
In a way, the hon. Gentleman reveals what he believes, which of course I completely respect. He says that we should abandon our surplus rule and run a deficit forever, but I profoundly disagree with that central judgment. If we borrow forever and are not prepared to make difficult decisions on welfare, we will condemn this country to decline. As a result, people will become unemployed and living standards will fall. That is not the Britain I want to see. We will go on taking difficult decisions to deliver that lower welfare, lower tax, higher wage economy, and this elected House of Commons will continue promoting the economic plan that delivers that.
John Nicolson (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)
5. What recent discussions he has had with Ministers in the Scottish Government on a future fiscal framework for Scotland.
James Morris (Halesowen and Rowley Regis) (Con)
7. What assessment he has made of recent trends in the level of employment.
The First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
We have a record number of people in work. Today’s GDP data show that Britain continues to outperform other western economies, but there are clear global risks and there is still much more to be done to fix our economy. In the autumn statement, we will take more steps to ensure the recovery is felt right across the country, make long-term investments for the future, and, crucially, continue to make the tough decisions required so that Britain lives within her means.
John Howell
The total number of unemployed in my constituency is 219, with youth unemployment at only 36. Will my right hon. Friend join me in praising institutions such as the Henley college, which is providing excellent apprenticeship training?
Mr Osborne
It is very good to hear about the success the people in my hon. Friend’s constituency have had in finding work over recent years and the clear business confidence that exists in Oxfordshire. The Henley college is doing an excellent job in making sure that young people have the skills they need to take the opportunities now out there in the jobs market. We will, of course, go on helping such institutions by increasing the number of apprentices we fund in this country, so that we deliver the 3 million apprenticeships mentioned in our election manifesto.
James Morris
Unemployment in my constituency has fallen by 50% since 2010, but, given the recent news about the difficulties in Caparo in the west midlands, we must not be complacent. Does the Chancellor agree that we need to do more to invest in training and skills, such as the new advanced science, engineering and technology centre at Halesowen college, so we can equip local people with the skills they need to take future opportunities?
Mr Osborne
I visited with my hon. Friend a number of the very successful businesses in his constituency; they are exactly the kind of small and medium-sized businesses that are the backbone of the British economy. They need help with their training, and Halesowen college can help to provide that training to the young people in the area, so they can get the jobs that are being created in his area.
Caroline Flint (Don Valley) (Lab)
The Chancellor claims he is on the side of working people but, as far as I can see, he has been afraid to publish an impact assessment of changes to working tax credits on people taking up or remaining in work. Will he guarantee, given last night’s decision and the delay, to look at that and that, in any proposals, he will include an impact assessment on people taking up work, increasing their hours or staying in work and how that affects employment levels?
Mr Osborne
We have published an impact assessment, an equalities assessment and a distributional analysis of the measures we produced in the Budget. None of those were ever produced by any Labour Chancellor, so we continue to provide the information that people seek. What matters above all is getting the central judgment right about fixing our economy, making sure we deal with our deficit, and going on delivering economic security for the people the right hon. Lady represents.
Mark Durkan (Foyle) (SDLP)
The Chancellor is fond of telling us about 2 million more people in employment, and then he usually does a little facial lap of honour of the Chamber. Has he estimated how many of those 2 million people would be hit by his proposed changes to tax credits? How many would he be comfortable with still hitting in any revised changes?
Mr Osborne
The measures to save welfare—as I say, we will help with the transition—come alongside the increase in the national living wage, the increase in the personal allowance and the action we have taken to cut social rents. They are all part of a package that is delivering economic security to the people in Northern Ireland and across the United Kingdom. The hon. Gentleman remembers what the situation was like five or six years ago in Northern Ireland: high unemployment, a lack of business investment and people looking for work. Now we are in a situation where jobs are being created and people are finding work. Do I say that everything has been done that needs to be done? Absolutely not. We have more to do to bring jobs and investment to Northern Ireland. Let us work together to make that happen.
David Morris (Morecambe and Lunesdale) (Con)
My local council keeps bleating on about cuts, saying how they are going to affect everybody living there. But, on the front page of a newspaper, a management consultancy company that the council brought in said that in my constituency and the region, 10,000 jobs are going to be created over the next five years. [Interruption.] Yes, very lucky. Does the Chancellor agree that his economic policies have put that on track and that my area of the world is going forward, making it better for the people who live there?
Mr Osborne
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. As a result of the combination of him being a very effective local MP and the fact that we have a Conservative Prime Minister and a Conservative Government, we are delivering more jobs into my hon. Friend’s part of Lancashire. Indeed, I remember on visits with him seeing the work being done on the link road to the port, which for decades—including when there were Labour MPs representing the constituency—was campaigned for, but never delivered. Now it is actually being built and delivered as a result of my hon. Friend’s local efforts.
Rob Marris (Wolverhampton South West) (Lab)
Contrary to what the Chancellor believes, my party does want to deal with the deficit; we just think he is going about it the wrong way. We are worried about certain employment trends. The Solar Trade Association, for example, has warned that up to 27,000 jobs could be at risk due the Government’s announcement of the withdrawal of support for solar energy schemes. What steps do the Government propose to take to avoid large-scale redundancies and this employment trend in the solar industry and what support will the Government offer to the industry?
Mr Osborne
Of course we are in a constant dialogue with the solar industry, and solar energy use has dramatically increased over the last five years, but so have the costs of that technology. Quite reasonably, then, we have reduced the subsidy going to solar. There has to be consistency in what Labour Members argue for. On the one hand, they say, quite reasonably, “Please deal with the energy prices that are affecting the steel industry”, but then their spokesman gets up and says, “Please add more cost on to energy bills in order to subsidise renewables.” The trouble is we cannot have both.
Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)
8. What support his Department provides to people affected by large-scale redundancies.
Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
The First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
The core purpose of the Treasury is to ensure the stability and prosperity of the economy.
Karl Turner
But for the Government’s defeat in the other place, 4,000 struggling families in east Hull would have lost, on average, £1,300 a year. Now that the Chancellor is in listening mode, would he please commit to dropping this vicious assault on hard-working families?
Mr Osborne
In Kingston upon Hull, which the hon. Gentleman represents in this House, unemployment has fallen by 32% since the Government came to office in 2010. That is because we have delivered economic security and committed to the fact that Britain should live within her means. Yes, of course we will listen, as I have said, during the transition we make to that lower welfare, higher wage economy, but we have to go on making savings in our welfare budget or else it will crowd out spending on our national health service and education system. That will mean that Hull does not have the resources it needs to thrive and prosper.
Lucy Allan (Telford) (Con)
T6. Wage increases reduce the burden of tax credits on the taxpayer. What assessment does the Chancellor make of wage increases in my constituency, in the west midlands and in the UK?
Mr Osborne
We have very strong wage growth at the moment in the west midlands and across the country. That is, of course, very welcome. The introduction of the national living wage will benefit, I think, around 300,000 people in the west midlands, including my hon. Friend’s constituents. That is part of a package to support the working people whom she represents and to give economic security to that west midlands engine that we all want to see.
Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)
T2. Following last night’s votes, the Chancellor said that he would listen. Will he confirm that he will not be writing to the 3 million families before Christmas delivering the devastating news that their tax credits will be slashed? Surely the Chancellor—an aspiring future Prime Minister—does not want to go down in history as Scrooge delivering devastating news to millions of people. Or does he?
Mr Osborne
Obviously, we will inform families once the changes that we have made become law.
Damian Collins (Folkestone and Hythe) (Con)
T7. The channel tunnel and port of Dover are very important pieces of national infrastructure. When there are disruptions to services, as we saw in chaotic scenes this summer, they cause misery for people in Kent. Will my right hon. Friend agree to meet me and other Members from Kent to discuss what funding can be made available to find a long-term solution to managing road freight in Kent and ending the misery of Operation Stack?
Mr Osborne
Of course I would be very happy to meet my hon. Friend and other Kent MPs affected by the traffic jams that build up when there is disruption at the channel tunnel. We have made available Manston airport as a temporary measure to help alleviate the congestion caused by Operation Stack. There is a proposal from Kent about a much bigger investment in a longer-term solution and I will be happy to talk to my hon. Friend and his colleagues about that.
Carolyn Harris (Swansea East) (Lab)
T3. Given the growing evidence that fixed-odds betting terminals are being used as a prime vehicle through which to launder money, will the Chancellor assure the House that there will be a prominent focus on the machines in his upcoming anti-laundering action plan?
Mr Osborne
I hear the hon. Member for Wolverhampton South West (Rob Marris) saying, “Well said!” Let me make this point. In the west midlands we have the real prospect of a further big devolution to the combined authorities with an elected mayor. We are working with the local authorities, the three excellent local enterprise partnerships and the local MPs. We are close to an agreement, but let us try to get it over the line. That would give the people of the west midlands the control over local decision making that we have now given to the people of south Yorkshire, Manchester, the north-east and Teesside.
Vicky Foxcroft (Lewisham, Deptford) (Lab)
T4. In my constituency, there are 9,000 families with children claiming tax credits. Some 5,500 of those are working families. The Chancellor said that he is listening but has dismissed every proposal so far. Millions of families need him to change course and make work pay. Will he listen now and introduce transitional relief so that those working families will not be out of pocket by £1,300?
Mr Osborne
We are listening, and we are listening in particular to what we can do to help with the transition to the lower welfare, higher wage economy that we want to see in the hon. Lady’s constituency and across the country. We will also take steps, as we always do, to ensure that work pays by increasing the personal allowance—we are committed to increasing it to £12,500 in this Parliament—by introducing the national living wage, which will help many thousands of people in her constituency, and by supporting the businesses in her constituency, without which we would not have the jobs that are now employing local people.
Chris Green (Bolton West) (Con)
Since 2010, more than 37,000 of my constituents have had their taxes cut, enabling them to keep more of what they earn. Some of them have begun to accumulate savings for the first time. Can the Chancellor assure my constituents that the Government will continue to cut their taxes and support them with their future saving?
Mr Osborne
I can absolutely give that assurance to my hon. Friend, who represents his constituents in Bolton so well. We will go on delivering lower taxes to help the working people in his constituency. We will also ensure that we go on supporting savings in his constituency. We are introducing a new savings allowance and a help-to-buy ISA to help the people he represents to get on the housing ladder.
Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South) (Lab)
T5. The Chancellor seems to have taken issue with being told to think again by the other place last night. Will he now reflect on how thousands of my constituents—people who work hard and do the right thing—must feel at the prospect of losing thousands of pounds every year as a result of his actions?
Mr Osborne
As I have said, the people who suffer the most when the economy fails and when the country fails to control its public finances are precisely the people the hon. Lady is talking about: the low paid. They are the people who lose their jobs. They are the victims of economic insecurity. We are determined to deliver economic security and a controlled welfare bill—which, after all, the people she represents have to pay for through their taxes—and we will set out how we will ease the transition to that lower welfare, higher wage economy.
Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)
The coalition Government freed pensioners from mandatory annuities and encouraged saving through ISAs and auto-enrolment. However, tax relief on contributions to pensions is expensive and favours higher-rate taxpayers much more than others. Does my right hon. Friend agree that that is an area in which sensible reform could be considered, in order to help to balance the budget without disincentivising saving?
Mr Osborne
My hon. Friend is right to say that we have taken significant steps to encourage saving, not least by giving pensioners control over their pension pots in retirement and by trusting those who have saved all their lives with the money that they have earned and put aside. He is an expert in these matters, and he will know that we are open to consultation on the pensions taxation system at the moment. It is a completely open consultation and a genuine Green Paper, and we are receiving a lot of interesting suggestions on potential reform. We will respond to that consultation fully in the Budget.
Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)
T9. Will the Chancellor confirm that there is nothing in the passing of the charter for budget responsibility that will restrict the Scottish Government’s ability to borrow, which is already enshrined in statute under the Scotland Act 2012?
Mr Osborne
I am happy to confirm that the deal we struck with the Scottish Government on capital borrowing remains intact. Indeed, we want to strike a new agreement with them involving a new fiscal framework, and we are having a good discussion around capital borrowing powers, resource borrowing powers and the mechanism to ensure that Scotland genuinely sees the benefits and bears the costs of any decisions taken by the Scottish Government. That represents the true nature of devolution, which I am sure the Scottish National party wants to see, so let us make sure we get that agreement.
Johnny Mercer (Plymouth, Moor View) (Con)
I welcome my right hon. Friend’s comments last night on transitional arrangements, but does he agree that we simply must reform this crazy tax credit system, which enforces low pay, and that we will take no lessons from the Opposition, who have failed cities such as mine when it comes to helping the working poor? This tactic of bribing our lowest earners and most vulnerable people, not to improve social mobility or to help them but simply to win votes, is deplorable and must end in this country for good.
Mr Osborne
My hon. Friend makes a powerful point: we have created a welfare system that subsidises low pay, and surely it is better to increase that pay. That is why we are introducing the national living wage and I know that will help many of the people my hon. Friend represents in Plymouth.
Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)
T10. Under the devolution deal, the Chancellor has committed £30 million a year to create a new investment fund for the north-east. Will this be wholly new money or will existing grants be cut? Where is the guarantee that he will not be robbing Peter to pay Paul?
Mr Osborne
It is additional new money and it is a long-term commitment to the north-east of England. Of course, we could not have reached this agreement without the support of the local Labour council leaders who have come together through the combined authority to strike what I think is an historic deal. There has been lots of conversation over many years about devolving power to the north-east; now we are going to have the elected mayor with powers that are currently exercised in London being exercised in the north-east. That is proper devolution.
James Heappey (Wells) (Con)
Last week Mudgley cider producer Roger Wilkins told the local press that cider is
“an agricultural lubricant, an agricultural wine for the working man”.
Will the Chancellor continue to support hard-working people and lubricate the Somerset economy by cutting tax on cider?
Mr Osborne
I very much remember my visit, I think with the Prime Minister, to a cider producer in my hon. Friend’s constituency before the election. It turned out to be an extremely productive visit of which he is the living representative. He will know that in 2010 we reversed the cider tax that was being proposed by the previous Labour Government and we have been able to help cider producers. I think the industry is incredibly important and I will take what steps I can to support it in the future.
Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and Whiston) (Lab)
The Resolution Foundation has found that all tax and benefit measures announced, including the national living wage, will push an additional 200 children into poverty by 2016. Two thirds of those children will be in working families. By 2020 up to 600 further children will be pushed into poverty. Chancellor, you said you would listen to the Lords, and indeed the bishops, last night; will you now share with the House what constructive action you will take to protect the poorest families and children?
Mr Osborne
The hon. Lady raises her question in a perfectly fair way. I will listen to the concerns that have been raised in this, the elected Chamber, about the transition of the welfare reforms we have put forward precisely so that we continue to help working families. Those families are best helped when we have economic security, a controlled welfare budget and a system where we do not subsidise low pay but we increase wages through the national living wage. We will make sure in the autumn statement that we help working families.
Several hon. Members rose—
Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) (Con)
Over the last three years unemployment in Tamworth has fallen faster than anywhere else in the country. As my right hon. Friend is in listening mode, will he tell the House whether he has heard any sensible representations from the shadow Chancellor or others about how to decrease business taxation and regulation to create more jobs in the west midlands?
Mr Osborne
I am sorry to say I have not, because the only proposals that have so far been put by the Opposition are for an increase in business taxation—that was in their election manifesto—and a wealth tax, which at the weekend, the shadow Chancellor was talking about potentially introducing in this country. So his proposals—and to be fair to him he has been entirely consistent on this for 30 years—are essentially for a high tax, big state economy where, frankly, private businesses do not have such a big role to play. I think that is the wrong direction for our country.
Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)
How much would the Chancellor save for the public purse by abolishing the House of Lords?
Mr Osborne
That is a very decent proposal for the autumn statement, to which we will give proper consideration. People who have been in Parliament with me for the last 14 years know that my view is pretty clear—we should have an elected House of Lords—but of course that view has not prevailed in this Chamber in the years I have been both on the Opposition and Government Benches. However, I do think that while we have an unelected House of Lords, it should respect a constitutional convention that has existed for 100 years, and we need to look at that now.
Several hon. Members rose—
Charter for Budget Responsibility
George Osborne Excerpts(8 years, 8 months ago)
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The First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
I beg to move,
That the Charter for Budget Responsibility: autumn 2015 update which was laid before the House on 12 October, be approved.
Despite all the details of fiscal policy that we will discuss, and the mechanisms in the charter we are debating, the questions before the House and the country are very simple: is Britain going to pay its way in the world? Are we going to live within our means and bear down on our debts, so that next time disaster strikes we are better prepared? Do we have the strength and determination to finish the job that we started of turning Britain around and providing security to working families at every stage of their lives? Or will we be profligate again and spend money that we do not have, borrow for ever, mortgage the future of our children with debts that we could not pay ourselves, and consign Britain to a future of high debt, instability and low growth? No. Our answer, and the answer in the charter, is that we will put economic security first.
We resolve to put the livelihoods and living standards of working people ahead of the irresolution of politicians who lack the discipline to control public spending and deliver financial stability. We commit to learn from the mistakes of the past, not to repeat them, and we choose to put security first. After all that Britain has been through, it is remarkable that the proposition in this charter for budget responsibility should even be contentious. It states that now the economy is growing we should be reducing our exorbitant debts, and that we should do that each year by reducing the deficit until we eliminate it altogether and run a surplus. Once we have achieved that surplus, in normal times we should continue to raise more than we spend and set aside money for when the rainy days come. It is as simple as that: we should fix the roof when the sun is shining.
Several hon. Members rose—
Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)
I am clear that we should not turn our face against a surplus, but it is important that the Chancellor’s definition of “normal times” safeguards some of our vital public services and ensures that we protect the most vulnerable in our society. Is there a danger in automatically going for a surplus without protecting some of those very basics for society? [Interruption.]
Mr Osborne
I was about to pick up on the point that the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr Skinner) just made, which is that the hon. Gentleman has shifted his position in the last few days. The former shadow Chancellor was telling us that the position adopted by the Labour party on this charter sends the wrong message to the general public, and in the brief period when he was shadow Chancellor he argued from this Dispatch Box that we should run a surplus. At the time I think he was trying to make the argument that the people who suffer most when Governments lose control of the public finances are precisely the most vulnerable in society and those who lose their jobs or get cast out of work. It is not trade union barons who lose their jobs when the economy fails; it is the poorest, not the richest in society who pay the price, and the most progressive thing that a Government can do is to run a sound fiscal policy and provide financial stability to the working people of this country. That is what we are debating.
What are the objections to our approach? There are those who say—including in the last couple of days—that the economy is not strong enough and that we need more growth before we cut the deficit. That advice on growth and the deficit normally comes from those who gave us the greatest recession and the largest deficit in our modern history, but let us put that aside for a moment. The British economy has been pretty much the fastest growing of any major advanced economy in the world, this year, last year and the year before.
We have had the latest jobs numbers today and they show we have more people in work than at any point in the history of this country—the highest employment rate in the history of this country. Unemployment is down 79,000, full-time work is up and, while inflation is falling, pay is now rising strongly at 3% a year. This is the strong economy that the British people have built with their hard work and sacrifice. If this is not the time to be reducing your deficit and your debt, when is? We are aiming for a budget surplus in 2019, because if we are not running a surplus nine years or more after the end of the recession, when the economy has been growing for these nine years, when will we ever run a surplus? The real answer from people who oppose this charter is never. Speaking of which, we turn to the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann).
John Mann (Bassetlaw) (Lab)
When the Labour Members of the Treasury Committee rightly identified this proposal as a gimmick in the Treasury Committee hearings in July, did the Governor of the Bank of England, or any of the other eminent economic brains we questioned, give a single word of defence for this political gimmick?
Mr Osborne
It is not a political gimmick to have sound public finances. What is a political gimmick is coming out on the eve of your conference with some policy that says you support what we are doing, and then two weeks later turning up in the House of Commons and voting against it. Indeed, the hon. Member for Bassetlaw has described the policy of the Labour party as “a huge joke”.
Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)
That was two days ago. Two days is a long time in politics.
Mr Osborne
The hon. Member for Bolsover has got back his party and we’re pleased for him.
Several hon. Members rose—
Mr Osborne
Let me make a little progress, because we only have a 90-minute debate.
The truth is that the people who oppose this charter never want a surplus. They want to run a deficit forever. They never want Britain to be earning more than it spends. [Interruption.] They say “Nonsense.” Will they give me a date when they would like a surplus to be run from? I am setting a date—2019, years from now, at the end of this decade, nine years after the end of the recession. That is the date we are voting on. The truth is that they want to borrow forever. They want to run a deficit forever. They believe our debts should rise and rise, and never come down; they just do not have the courage to admit it to the British people.
Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)
The Chancellor is completely wrong. The objection to the game he is playing and the trap he thinks he has so cleverly set is that he has completely failed to hit all of the promises and all of the targets that he has established. Instead of indulging in this ridiculous game-playing, he should be concentrating on preparing Britain to weather the international storm and preparing for the problems we could face as a result of the slide in China.
Mr Osborne
That is precisely what we are doing. We are precisely preparing Britain to weather the storms. We came in five years ago. We promised to turn this economy around. We promised to take Britain back from the brink of disaster. And do you know what? We have a record number of people in work. I can see my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions over there. A record number of children are no longer in workless households. We have the gender pay gap at the lowest rate in its entire history. Inequality is down, child poverty is down and the shambles we were left, as Ben from Exeter might put it, by the Labour party is what we are clearing up right now and we will continue to do so.
The second objection to the charter is that somehow reducing the deficit and running a surplus is inconsistent with a progressive state and great public services. Tell that to the Canadians or the Swedes, two great social democracies with surplus rules for two decades or more. Tell that to all the other countries in the world which, like Britain under this Government, are on course to run a surplus by 2020—Australia, Germany, Cyprus, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore and Korea. Tell that to the British taxpayers, who have seen the deficit reduced while their public services have improved over the past five years, with crime down, satisfaction with local government services up, and more children than ever in outstanding schools. The truth is that running a deficit forever is not socialist compassion; it is economic cruelty and Britain wants no more of it.
The very purpose of this charter is that we prepare for the future, reduce our debts and run a surplus in normal times, precisely so that we do have the resources to help the poorest and the most vulnerable when economic bad times come.
We do not stand here and claim we have abolished boom and bust—that ridiculous and dangerous suggestion that got Britain into this mess in the first place. We know there are ups and downs to the economic cycle. We warn again and again of the risks out there—from slowing emerging markets to the endemic weakness of the eurozone—and it is precisely because no one knows when the economy will be hit by the next shock that we should take precautions now. That is what we are doing in this charter.
Britain’s national debt as a share of its national income is more than 80% of our GDP. Unless we reduce it, we will not be able to support the economy and the British people in the way we would like to do when the shock comes, because we would not have the room for manoeuvre. Failing to address that is deeply irresponsible.
Steve Brine (Winchester) (Con)
According to today’s figures, unemployment among 18 to 24-year-olds in my constituency is down 72% since the Chancellor walked into No. 11. That is what budget responsibility looks like. Will he promise to stay in the centre, moderate ground of British politics and keep fixing the roof while the sun is shining and reject the hard-left nonsense we are hearing from the Opposition?
Mr Osborne
I absolutely give my hon. Friend that commitment, because we have a responsibility to represent the working people of this country, who have been completely abandoned by the Labour party. That makes us the true party of labour here in this House of Commons.
Mr Osborne
I will give way to the hon. Gentleman in a moment.
Of course, the problem with people who say that now is a good time to borrow is that they always say it is a good time to borrow: in bad times they say we should borrow because we cannot afford not to, and in good times they say we should borrow because we can afford it. According to them, there is never a right time to stop borrowing and start saving. That is precisely the thinking that got Britain into a mess eight years ago.
This budget charter provides the discipline we need along with the flexibility we might require. It says that debt as a share of GDP should be falling every year when the economy is growing normally, but when recessions come or economic growth is very weak and below 1% the rule is suspended and the automatic stabilisers kick in. Then the Chancellor of the day will come to Parliament and present a plan to return the public finances to health and Members will either support or reject that plan. That is simple, clear, accountable, strong and flexible. It is a commitment to sound money and stability—the bedrock of economic security for working people.
The third argument we have heard today is that we do not need fiscal rules at all and that they are meaningless. Again, I disagree. I believe that democratic Governments should set out their approach to public spending. It is the public’s money, after all, and we should be held to account by them. Successful countries do set out long-term objectives and hold their Government Departments to account, rather than lurch from one year to another.
Of course, rules are meaningless if people are their own judges of the rules they set—we know that from the golden rule the Labour party set when it was in office—but we have an independent Office for Budget Responsibility and it is the impartial judge of whether we deliver what we promise.
There is an argument that because we have the OBR it can come to its own conclusion about the soundness of our fiscal policy, but that is profoundly undemocratic. Public spending should be determined by this House of Commons. That is why we are having this debate and this vote tonight. Under our system, the rules are set democratically and are independently judged, and the people can hold us to account.
Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green)
This might be clever politics, but it is staggeringly bad economics. The Chancellor is incredibly irresponsible to imply that borrowing is always bad. If we borrow to invest, we increase jobs, stabilise the economy and increase tax revenues. That is good for the economy, not bad for it.
Mr Osborne
That is borrowing forever. There is never—[Interruption.] When would the hon. Lady stop borrowing and run a surplus? I am happy to give way to her as the representative from the Green party. When is the moment to stop borrowing and run a surplus?
Caroline Lucas
The moment to stop borrowing is when we can no longer afford to pay it back—[Laughter.] We can perfectly afford to pay back our investment, which is why economists are laughing at the Chancellor—[Interruption.]
Caroline Lucas
Thank you, Mr Speaker. If we are investing in jobs, that gets taxes going back into the Revenue, which is good for the economy. That is why economists are saying that the Chancellor’s silly trick is very bad economics, even if it is very clever politics to make all his friends laugh a lot. People across the country are not laughing, because he is increasing austerity and increasing the burden on the poorest.
Mr Osborne
Borrowing until it cannot be paid back leads to national bankruptcy. That might be a good pitch from the hon. Lady to be the next shadow Chancellor, but it is not how we should run this country’s economic policy.
Several hon. Members rose—
Mr Osborne
Let me make a little progress, because I know that many people want to speak and this is a short debate—
Mr Osborne
I will give way to the hon. Gentleman in due course—[Hon. Members: “Go on.”] Oh, all right. Come on, let’s hear him.
Mr Skinner
If everything in the Tory garden is lovely and if the Chancellor believes in fixing the roof while the sun is shining, why did he desert the people of Redcar?
Mr Osborne
We have not deserted the people of Redcar. We have provided £80 million of support to local people affected by the closure of that steel plant. That steel plant tragically closed under the previous Labour Government and there was nothing like that support for the workers then. We stand behind the workers of Redcar and we stand behind the workers in every steel plant to see what we can do, but I can tell the hon. Gentleman this: we will not have steel plants or any other plants open in this country if we do not have economic stability in Great Britain.
That point brings me to the final and perhaps most dangerous objection to this charter rule, which is when people say that Britain does not have to go to the bother of saving money and trying to pay for things but can instruct the Bank of England to print the money and use it to finance Government spending directly. The leader of the Labour party calls it
“quantitative easing for people instead of banks”—
that is an accurate quote from his leadership campaign. It sounds seductive, but it is actually called monetary financing. It might be a novel argument in this House of Commons and in the British political debate, but that is because no one has seriously proposed that approach in our country in recent decades. It is a very old argument.
Mr Speaker
Order. The hon. Lady is pressing the point. The Chancellor is not giving way at this stage.
Mr Osborne
I think, quite frankly, that a period of silence from the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Helen Goodman) would be very welcome.
Monetary financing is a very old argument in the economic history of the world and we know that it invariably leads to rising prices, soaring inflation, savings being wiped out, money being debased, stability being destroyed, jobs being lost and total economic chaos. It might sound new and attractive, but it is in fact very old and very dangerous.
This is what current and former Labour Members have said about that approach. The right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper), the former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, warns that it is “really bad economics”. Jack Straw, pointing to the history of Weimar Germany and Venezuela, said it was
“bound to end in tears”.
The last Labour—[Interruption.] The Labour party now dismisses the views of Jack Straw and the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford. It probably also dismisses those of the hon. Member for Nottingham East (Chris Leslie), who said to me a few weeks ago, “This approach will hurt the very people we should be standing up for, they will pay the price—the poor and the vulnerable.” Yet it is the much advertised economic policy of the shadow Chancellor and his Labour leader. It has been supported by the Labour movement, and it must be challenged and defeated.
Mr Osborne
I am going to make some progress.
I welcome the shadow Chancellor to his place, and I look forward to working with him when we can agree. In that respect, he made a good start, with his first big pronouncement on Labour’s approach to fiscal policy two weeks ago. He said:
“We will vote for it on the basis that we want to assure people that we will tackle the deficit, we will balance the budget, we will live within our means”.
That is precisely what the charter is for, and I thank him for encapsulating precisely the basis on which I urge all Members to support it, whatever their party. If they cannot support us, I urge them at least to abstain.
Mr Osborne
I am going to make some progress. [Interruption.] I think we are making quite a lot of progress as it happens.
Of course, since the shadow Chancellor spoke a couple of weeks ago, he has performed the most spectacular U-turn. We were told when he got the job that he would be a divisive figure. I just did not realise the split would be between two opposing views both held by himself. I have been standing at these two Dispatch Boxes for 10 years, and today, as on such occasions in the past, I have a sheaf of quotes from people in the Labour party from the past couple of days. I could read them all out, but the truth is that the complete chaos, confusion and incredibility of Labour’s economic policy is more eloquently expressed by Labour MPs than by any of my colleagues. To call the whole episode a shambles is an understatement—like saying the charge of the Light Brigade did not achieve all its objectives.
The serious point is this: in my experience, shadow Chancellors come and go, but what is permanent is the economic approach the Labour party is committing itself to tonight. It is becoming the party of permanent fiscal irresponsibility and never-ending borrowing, the party that would run a deficit forever—a Labour party that is a standing threat to the economic security of the working people of this country. It is not too late for Labour MPs to dissociate themselves from this reckless cause that their party has embarked upon, so I say to them: join us tonight, vote for budget responsibility and economic sanity, for eliminating our deficit and for reducing our debt, and help us prepare Britain for an uncertain future. Let us give those who elect us a Government that live within their means, a country that earns its way in the world, and economic security for the working people of Britain. I ask the whole House to support the charter tonight.
Double Taxation Arrangement: UK and Guernsey
George Osborne Excerpts(8 years, 8 months ago)
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The First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
An exchange of letters signed in London on 22 September 2015 and in St Peter Port on 7 October 2015 amends the 1952 Double Taxation Arrangement with Guernsey. The texts of the letters have been deposited in the Libraries of both Houses and made available on the gov.uk website. The texts will be scheduled to a draft Order in Council and laid before the House of Commons in due course.
Attachments can be viewed online at: http://www. parliament.uk/writtenstatements
[HCWS235]
Charter for Budget Responsibility: Autumn 2015 Update
George Osborne Excerpts(8 years, 8 months ago)
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The First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
Today I have laid before Parliament an updated Charter for Budget Responsibility. It sets out a fiscal framework to entrench a commitment to reach surplus and maintain it in normal times. It also includes the updates to the Charter recommended by the HM Treasury review of the Office for Budget Responsibility, led by Sir Dave Ramsden and clarifications on the operation of the welfare cap.
The updated Charter laid today was published in draft on 14 September 2015. The Charter was first published in draft as it includes modified guidance to the Office for Budget Responsibility. Under Section 6(4) of the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act, if the Treasury proposes to modify the guidance to the Office for Budget Responsibility included in the Charter, a draft of the modified guidance must be published at least 28 days before the modified Charter is laid before Parliament.
A debate and vote in the House of Commons on the updated Charter has been scheduled for 14 October.
[HCWS226]
Informal ECOFIN
George Osborne Excerpts(8 years, 9 months ago)
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The First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
An informal meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council was held in Luxembourg on 11 and 12 September 2015. Ministers discussed the following items:
Implementation of the investment plan for Europe
Ministers discussed the implementation of the investment plan for Europe, following a presentation by the Commission and the president of the European Investment Bank.
Climate finance
Ministers held an exchange of views on climate finance on the basis of a presidency note and presentations from Bruegel and the European Investment Bank.
Minimum effective level of taxation
On the basis of a presidency note, Ministers discussed key issues on tackling tax avoidance, including in relation to a minimum effective level of taxation in the EU and to third countries.
Five presidents report: deepening of economic and monetary union
The presidency introduced their note on deepening of economic and monetary union, which formed the basis of discussion among Ministers on the way forward. Statements were made by representatives of Eurogroup, the European Central Bank, the European Commission, European Parliament and Economic and Financial Committee.
SRF bridge financing
In the final session, Ministers discussed possible ways forward with regard to SRF bridge financing.
[HCWS212]
Charter for Budget Responsibility (Autumn Update)
George Osborne Excerpts(8 years, 9 months ago)
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The First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
Today I have published a draft updated “Charter for Budget Responsibility”, a copy of which has been deposited in the Libraries of both Houses. Copies are also available in the Vote Office and Printed Paper Office. Alongside the new fiscal framework (announced at summer Budget 2015), the draft includes the updates to the charter recommended by the HM Treasury review of the Office for Budget Responsibility, led by Sir Dave Ramsden and clarifications on the operation of the welfare cap.
The draft charter includes modified guidance to the Office for Budget Responsibility and has been published in line with Section 6(4) of the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act. This requires that if the Treasury proposes to modify the guidance to the Office for Budget Responsibility included in the charter, a draft of the modified guidance must be published at least 28 days before the modified charter is laid before Parliament. The updated charter will be laid before Parliament, and a debate and vote scheduled, later in the autumn of 2015.
Attachments can be viewed online at: http://www. parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2015-09-14/HCWS194.
[HCWS194]
Oral Answers to Questions
George Osborne Excerpts(8 years, 10 months ago)
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Sir Simon Burns (Chelmsford) (Con)
1. What progress he has made on his long-term economic plan.
The First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
The long-term economic plan is working, but when it comes to building a Britain that lives within its means, we now need to finish the job. Today I am launching the spending review, which will support our priorities such as the national health service and national security. Savings will have to be made in other areas, but we have shown that, with careful management of public money, we can get more for less, and give working people real control over the decisions that affect them and their communities. The spending review will deliver better government and economic security, and the results will be announced to the House on 25 November.
Sir Simon Burns
The summer Budget took clear steps towards the delivery of a higher-wage, lower-tax, lower-benefits society, with the new national living wage as the centrepiece. Does that not clearly demonstrate that the Conservatives are the natural party for hard-working people and their families?
Mr Osborne
My right hon. right Friend is absolutely right. We are building the higher-wage, lower-tax, lower-welfare economy that our country needs if it is to compete in the future and give real opportunities to working people. The new contract that we offer is this: businesses will pay higher wages and pay lower taxes and people will receive bigger pay cheques, but there will be lower welfare. That, I think, is a contract that the British people support.
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
The Chancellor’s plan will not look very well planned or very long if it does not include some reference to productivity, higher-quality management, and, indeed, manufacturing. What is he going to do about those key issues?
Mr Osborne
We entirely acknowledge that we need to improve the productivity of the British economy. That is why, after the Budget, we published the productivity plan, which will introduce, for example, an apprenticeship levy to ensure that young people are given the skills and training that they need, and roads funds that will help to ensure that we have the right infrastructure for our country’s future.
As the hon. Gentleman acknowledged this morning in an interesting tweet, I think it was, the Labour party is going back to the 1980s. Those were his words. Unfortunately, the sensible voices of the old intake—
Mr Speaker
Chancellor, sit down, man! I told you to sit down, so sit down! Mr Andrew Tyrie.
Mr Andrew Tyrie (Chichester) (Con)
I am sorry about that, Mr Speaker. I thought that the Chancellor was just getting into gear.
Growth will, of course, depend partly on what the Bank of England does. Over the past five years, the Chancellor and Parliament have granted the Bank huge new powers over not only monetary but, in particular, financial policy, which directly affect millions of people. Does that not make the reforms of the way in which the Bank runs itself that the Chancellor will propose, along with greater accountability for its new board—for which the Treasury Committee, among others, has been pressing for a long time—all the more essential?
Mr Osborne
I pay tribute to the work that was done during the last Parliament by the Treasury Committee, some of whose members are still in their posts, and I again congratulate my right hon. Friend on remaining Chair of that Committee. Today we are publishing the consultation document on the new Bank of England Bill, which will come before Parliament in due course. The Bill follows the reforms announced by the Governor of the Bank, which built on the work done by the Treasury Committee and others. It will ensure that a modern Bank of England is able to exercise the leadership that is required for the delivery of economic and financial stability. Moreover, for the first time—this is crucial, and I think that Parliament will appreciate it—the Bank will be open to the advice of the National Audit Office, and the value for money that that can deliver.
Stewart Hosie (Dundee East) (SNP)
The success of the economic plan, long-term or otherwise, and the potential to improve productivity must be driven in part by sustained infrastructure capital investment, so can the Chancellor confirm that, instead of doing that, the plans he laid out in the summer Budget show total capital expenditure down every single year between 2015 and 2019-20 compared with the March Budget?
Mr Osborne
We made some in-year savings in this financial year in capital budgets that were not going to be well spent. We want to deliver value for money for Scottish taxpayers, as well as for taxpayers across the United Kingdom, but we will be spending more as a percentage of national income on capital investment in this decade than occurred under the last Labour Government.
Stewart Hosie
That is a fascinating answer, because of course the real answer is that in cash terms the spending is down—from 2015-16 onwards down £1.2 billion, £0.8 billion, £0.9 billion, £0.7 billion, and £1.3 billion by the time we get to 2019-20. So we know the forecasts are reduced, we know the Chancellor is cutting more than he needs in order to run a balanced budget, and we know he is undermining the potential for long-term growth, so why did he ignore all the advice, particularly from the OECD who told him two days before the Budget that “gross investment is low” and
“Transport infrastructure investment is poor”?
Does he really expect us to believe every—
Mr Speaker
Order. Questions are too long. We have got the general drift of the argument; let’s hear the answer.
Mr Osborne
We are investing a record amount in our transport system, and the new roads fund will help with transport investment in England, but there will be consequentials and money for Scotland as well. I make this general observation to the hon. Gentleman: if the Scottish Government think we are not spending enough in Scotland, they can raise taxes on the Scottish people and spend all the money in Scotland. They should have the courage to make that argument to the Scottish people.
Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon) (Con)
My constituents would like to commend the Chancellor on the long-term economic plan, which is seeing great success in Wimbledon. Does he agree that the Budget measures, such as the apprenticeship levy and the drop in corporation tax, provide an incentive for employers to take on more apprentices and to reduce the productivity gap in the economy, and see further success in the long-term economic plan?
Mr Osborne
I thank my hon. Friend for the support he has given and welcome the fact that the people of Wimbledon understand that economic security is the bedrock on which we can support the aspirations of working people. The apprenticeship levy addresses the key problem of the lack of skills in the British economy that has bedevilled us for decades. We are now going to introduce a system whereby companies that train their workforces get rewarded, and companies that do not have to make a contribution to the training that they free-ride off.
Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op)
Was it always part of the Chancellor’s long-term plan to scrap the maintenance grants for students from lower-income backgrounds? The Institute for Fiscal Studies said this morning that this change
“will raise debt for the poorest students, but do little to improve Government finances in the long run.”
Can the Chancellor tell us why this was not in his manifesto?
Mr Osborne
We put building a first-class university system right at the heart of our manifesto, and I think the person who made the best observation about this is the person the hon. Gentleman is backing for the leadership of the Labour party: the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper). This is what she said in the House of Commons in 1998 when the last—[Hon. Members: “1988?”] There was a Labour Government then, who abolished grants and introduced loans, and this is what she said:
“I ask the House, having listened to the debate this evening, not to vote for”
maintenance grants which have
“not helped my constituents, but to take the radical approach, to go for the new, fair student loan system”.—[Official Report, 8 June 1998; Vol. 313, c. 831.]
There we have it: support from the right hon. Lady. The hon. Gentleman is old Labour.
Chris Leslie
Well, that fell a bit flat. I was asking about the Chancellor’s manifesto and what he promised. Taking away maintenance grants was always part of his plan, but he did not have the guts to tell students and their families before an election. However much he spins it, he is hitting students with more fees, more repayments and more debt—much more debt. Will he confirm that the poorest students will graduate not with the current £40,000 of debt, but now with an average of £53,000 of debt?
Mr Osborne
We are increasing the maintenance support that students have. We heard all that in the previous Parliament, when the Opposition said our reforms would put off people from low-income backgrounds going to university. In fact a record number of students from low-income backgrounds are now going to university. The Labour party that he is a member of once supported getting rid of grants and introducing loans, but this shows the distance it has come—that it now opposes this measure to support our university system. It has a new intake of old Labour MPs dragging them back to the 1980s, and we know the direction they are heading in: left, left, left—away from the centre ground of British politics and away from support for working people.
James Berry (Kingston and Surbiton) (Con)
3. What steps the Government are taking to support (a) people with savings and (b) home ownership.
The First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
We need to move Britain from an economy built on debt to a society built on savings and investment and home ownership. That is why we have reformed pensions and rewarded savers. To back home ownership we are building more starter homes, and our new Help to Buy ISA will be available from the beginning of December, because this Government support the aspirations of working people to buy their own home and provide for their future.
James Berry
In my weekly surgeries in Kingston and Surbiton a constant theme is how difficult it is to get on the housing ladder in London. Will my right hon. Friend explain how his Help to Buy policies will help my hard-working constituents? Does he agree that plans for more tax, more borrowing and more spending would put house building and families striving to save for a deposit at risk?
Mr Osborne
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are going to help his constituents to buy their own home. The Help to Buy scheme has helped 100,000 people; the new Help to Buy ISA will help the families he represents save up for that deposit; and of course we all still want to see more starter homes being built. We have to address the acute housing shortage in London, and we have the policies to do it.
Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)
Why are the Government abandoning people with savings and those who own their own homes? They are going to be forced to spend their savings and sell their homes to pay for their social care costs. The Chancellor raised the hopes of those older and vulnerable people before the election with a pledge that no one would have to sell their home to pay for care. Those people will feel badly let down by the Government’s U-turn. Did he ever intend to keep that manifesto pledge?
Mr Osborne
We are going to introduce that cap on care costs in this Parliament. It is a bit rich coming from a Labour party that was in power for 13 years and did absolutely nothing to cap those costs. That is why we are introducing the cap. We have also already introduced the changes that enable people to provide for their future care costs without having to sell their home. We are making those changes, alongside the support for savers and pensions, so that we move away from the society and economy built on debt that was left to this Government to an economy that builds and rewards savers.
Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)
4. What steps he is taking to support the creation of new enterprise zones.
Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (SNP)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
The First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
The core purpose of the Treasury is to ensure the stability and prosperity of the economy.
Ian Blackford
We hear from the Institute for Fiscal Studies that the gross impact of the higher minimum wage will be about £4 billion, but that the cuts to tax credits represent about £6 billion. The proportion of children in poverty who are from families in work rose from 54% to 63%, and that statistic can only get worse. It is little surprise that the Government want to redefine child poverty. To change a definition is to change the truth—
Mr Speaker
Order. I thought the hon. Gentleman had a background in the financial world. He cannot have been allowed to prate on at that length when he was busy making important decisions with commercial substance involved. He will really have to practise.
Mr Osborne
Let me give the hon. Gentleman a figure: 200,000 workers in Scotland will gain from the new national living wage, which is 9% of the workforce. The Budget is offering people in Scotland and across the United Kingdom higher wages, lower taxes and, yes, lower welfare, as part of a new contract whereby this country lives within its means. That is one reason why jobs are being created in Scotland.
Luke Hall (Thornbury and Yate) (Con)
T2. I welcome the Chancellor’s recent announcement on Sunday trading hours. What steps can he take to ensure that neighbouring authorities take a joined-up approach, so that consumers have confidence in the consistency of Sunday trading hours and we provide the maximum possible benefit to our economy?
Mr Osborne
I remember visiting a vibrant high street in my hon. Friend’s constituency before the general election. It is for local areas to decide whether to extend Sunday opening hours and to work in partnership with other local authorities. My personal view is that doing so will help to protect the high street because an increasing amount of online shopping is done on Sundays. However, it will be for local people and local authorities to make that decision.
Kate Osamor (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op)
T5. The Treasury loses out on hundreds of millions of pounds each year by allowing high-earning hedge fund managers to pay capital gains tax at 28%, rather than income tax of 45%, on carried interest payments. Does the Chancellor agree that we should close that loophole so that we can invest the money in properly paid apprenticeships and tackling child poverty?
Mr Osborne
Under the last Labour Government, such people were paying 18% tax. Indeed, people in the City boasted that they were paying lower tax rates than the people who cleaned for them. We have changed that and increased the capital gains tax rate to 28%. As a result of the Budget, we are also insisting that that rate is paid across the venture capital industry.
Rebecca Pow (Taunton Deane) (Con)
T3. I am delighted that in the Budget an allocation of £7.2 billion was made for transport infrastructure in the south-west. Will the Chancellor kindly confirm that that allocation includes funding for the much needed upgrade of the A358, the Henlade bypass and junction 25 of the M5, all of which will pave the way for a new strategic employment site?
Mr Osborne
The short answer is yes. All those vital projects for Somerset and the south-west are included in a massive investment in the transport of the south-west.
Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)
T7. How can the Chancellor justify making people who go out to work worse off while he spends £1 billion on cutting inheritance tax for people who are already wealthy? That is not rewarding hard working; it is rewarding the fortunate few.
Mr Osborne
We have increased the personal allowance, taking low-paid people out of tax, and we are now introducing a national living wage, but we make no apology for supporting aspiration and the human instinct that people have to pass something on to their children. If the Labour party is against that as well, it really is moving backwards rather than forwards.
Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)
T4. The Chancellor’s announcement on the living wage was widely welcomed, but what assurances can he give to residential care homes that offer subsidised places, of which there are many in Worthing, which will suffer from the proposed changes but will not benefit on the other side from the record reductions in corporation tax?
Mr Osborne
The reduction in corporation tax now applies to small companies as well as larger ones, and we have increased the employment allowance, which will help with the national insurance bills of companies in my hon. Friend’s constituency. We are of course aware of the pressures on the social care system, and that is one thing we will address in the spending review.
Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab)
The Institute for Fiscal Studies pointed out last week that although the number of workless households in poverty has fallen, that fall has been matched by a rise in the number of working households in poverty. Will the Chancellor acknowledge the scale of in-work poverty, and does he accept that cutting tax credits for working families and repealing the child poverty legislation will make the situation worse, not better?
Mr Osborne
I do not accept that cutting people’s taxes and introducing a national living wage will in any way hurt working people—it will help working people. The people who suffer most when we cannot afford Government services and welfare are the poorest in our country, and we saw that when Labour was in office. We have taken the approach of entrenching economic security by making sure that Britain lives within its means. Last night this House voted through the important welfare package. Now we have launched the spending review to finish the job.
Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)
T6. The announcement that the free childcare available for working parents of three and four-year-olds will double to 30 hours a week in 2017 is excellent news for families across Pendle. Does not the fact that we are delivering that commitment demonstrate that only by taking tough decisions can we afford to provide the high-quality services that hard-working families deserve?
Mr Osborne
My hon. Friend is right, and he does a brilliant job representing his constituents, bringing in investment, and supporting working people in Pendle. Working parents now have the added help of 30 hours of free childcare, which his Labour opponent in Pendle—and indeed Opposition Members here—have still failed to welcome.
Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)
The Northern Ireland Assembly faces a £600 million overspend on its budget this financial year as a result of the blocking of welfare reform changes. What steps does the Chancellor intend to take to deal with this fiscal anarchy that is causing disruption in schools and hospitals and for all those who depend on public spending, and drives a coach and horses through spending limits?
Mr Osborne
We are well aware of the difficult situation with the finances of the Northern Ireland Executive, and of the objections in some quarters of the Assembly to what are, I think, sensible welfare reforms that will help people in Northern Ireland into work. We are working with the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister to resolve that impasse, but it is clearly not sustainable to allow a devolved Administration to ignore the controls placed on them. I know that the hon. Gentleman and his party support that position, and we are working with him, and others, to resolve the issue.
Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)
Will my right hon. Friend continue to encourage Opposition Members to support our Budget proposals, noting that the legislation for a budget surplus comes before the House later this year?
Mr Osborne
There will be another interesting question for this House when we vote on the new fiscal rules. Two weeks ago the shadow Chancellor said that he supported a surplus, yet he has objected to every single welfare change that is being introduced in this House, and he refused to support our legislation last night. We shall see what he says about the spending review in the next few hours, but we cannot will the ends if we do not will the means, and that means difficult choices to ensure that our country lives within its means.
Paula Sherriff (Dewsbury) (Lab)
This Chancellor has missed every one of his own deficit reduction targets, and borrowed more than any other Chancellor in history. Will he confirm that, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast, the fiscal changes in the summer Budget mean £26.8 billion more public borrowing in the next two financial years, and that since 2010 he will have borrowed a full £200 billion more than he planned?
Mr Osborne
I think that is exactly the same question that was read out about half an hour ago—I am not sure that it says much for improved productivity on the Labour Benches.
Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)
In her reply to my Westminster Hall debate last week, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury spoke warmly of bank sharing. Will she join me in encouraging HSBC and NatWest, which are proposing to close their branches in Barton-upon-Humber, to delay that closure so that sharing can be seriously considered?
Mr Osborne
What the hon. Gentleman and the Labour party fail to understand is that we cannot stand up for working people unless we create a strong economy that lives within its means. I would only make this observation: he has a Labour party he is very happy with now, and so do I.
Lucy Frazer (South East Cambridgeshire) (Con)
Does the Chancellor agree that the national living wage will not only improve the lives of working people on lower incomes but will improve the gender pay gap, because it is often women who are the worst paid?
Mr Osborne
My hon. and learned Friend is right. The good news is that the gender pay gap is at its lowest level in history, but we have more work to do and that is why we have introduced the new audits for companies. Of course, women will be the biggest group of winners from the national living wage.
Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)
I listened to the Minister and Chancellor talking about tax credits earlier, but here is a bit of reality. A couple in my constituency told me that as carers for a disabled child, they work part time and will lose around £2,000 in tax credits under the Chancellor’s reforms. But they will not benefit from a higher minimum wage because their jobs are professional level and their hourly pay is already above that rate. Does the Chancellor think it is fair that his reforms will make families with disabled children poorer?
Mr Osborne
We have to look at the entire Budget package, because that is the new contract. Part of that is a tax cut, which I suspect will help the hon. Lady’s constituents, because we have increased the personal allowance. They may also be eligible for the new 30 hours of free child care. Many more of her constituents will also benefit from the national living wage. But what is the alternative? It is to have an unsustainable welfare system, the cost of which goes up and up and squeezes out spending on infrastructure, education and science, and puts our country at risk from economic storms abroad. That is what we lived through 10 years ago and we do not want to go back there.
Mr Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley) (Con)
The Chancellor is the darling of beer drinkers throughout the country, with his three tax cuts on beer and getting rid of the tax escalator. Will he continue his support for the brewing industry? Should he do so, it may even help any leadership bid that he may or not make at some time in the future.
Mr Osborne
I shall take that as an early representation for next year’s Budget. We have been able to help by reducing beer duty and ending the beer duty escalator that was putting pubs out of business. Other measures, such as those on apprenticeships and the employment allowance, are also helping the pub industry which is such a big employer of young people in our country.
Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (SNP)
The Scottish renewables sector supports more than 11,000 jobs, as well as contributing to a sustainable economy. Will the Chancellor please explain his reasoning for the removal of the climate change levy exemption for renewables, and tell the House whether he plans to start charging alcohol duty on soft drinks next?
Mr Osborne
I can certainly rule out the latter point. The point about the renewables levy is that it was introduced before the framework that we now have in place to support long-term investment in renewable energy through the levy control framework and the renewables obligation. We found that a third of the money, which after all comes from the electricity bills paid by the people we represent in Parliament, was going to overseas generators, so it was not really a fair approach. The approach we are taking now—supporting long-term investment in renewables and building up the UK industry—is the right one.
ECOFIN
George Osborne Excerpts(8 years, 11 months ago)
Written StatementsRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council was held in Brussels on 14 July 2015. Ministers discussed the following items:
Current Legislative Proposals
The presidency informed delegations about the state of play of current legislative proposals in the field of financial services.
Presentation of the work programme of the Luxembourg presidency
The Luxembourg presidency presented its six-month work programme in the ECOFIN area.
Five Presidents’ Report: Completing Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union
The Commission presented the Five Presidents’ report on the plan for completing Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union. There was an exchange of views on short term measures.
[HCWS155]
ECOFIN
George Osborne Excerpts(8 years, 11 months ago)
Written StatementsRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council will be held in Brussels on 14 July 2015. Ministers are due to discuss the following items:
Current Legislative Proposals
The presidency will inform delegations about the state of play of current legislative proposals in the field of financial services.
Presentation of the work programme of the Luxembourg presidency
The Luxembourg presidency will present its six-month work programme in the ECOFIN area and invite an exchange of views.
Five Presidents’ report: Completing Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union
The Commission and the Eurogroup president will present the Five Presidents’ report on the plan for completing Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union.
[HCWS98]