Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Brooks Newmark

Tuesday 10th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

Gross lending is up under the funding for lending scheme, which we operate jointly with the Bank of England. We are aware of the specific challenge of small business finance, which is why, just before the summer, with the previous Governor, we launched a focus of the scheme on small business funding.

The hon. Gentleman says investment is failing under this Government. He is an MP from the midlands. Given his personal history, I would have thought he would welcome the announcement by Jaguar Land Rover of the 1,700 jobs being created in Solihull. As he well knows, four years ago there was a choice of closing either Castle Bromwich or Solihull. Not only are both open, but a huge investment in the new technology of ultra-light cars is coming along with 1,700 new jobs. The hon. Gentleman is a midlands MP and used to work for the company, so I would have thought he would welcome that.

[Mr Brooks Newmark (Braintree) (Con)]

19. I met the Braintree district business forum last week. The feedback was very positive—the economy is turning around and demand for business is growing—but, as businesses grow, they face a working capital squeeze. What are the Government doing to enable businesses to access working capital more easily?

[Mr Osborne]

The business bank is up and running, and £300 million is in the market to help support small business lending. My hon. Friend has gone around the country promoting some of the investment tax breaks we have provided, such as the seed investment tax break, which provides that crucial, early-stage capital so that the many businesses now being created have the money to grow.

Spending Review

Debate between George Osborne and Brooks Newmark

Wednesday 26th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Brooks Newmark (Braintree) (Con)]

Most of my constituents care about two things: whether they have a job, and what level of interest they pay on the mortgage or their business. More than 1.3 million new jobs have been created in the private sector, over a quarter of a million new businesses have been created and we have record low interest on mortgages and on businesses. Does my right hon. Friend feel, like me, that that would be jeopardised if we followed the shadow Chancellor’s borrowing plans?

[Mr Osborne]

I fear that it would be jeopardised and this country would be back in intensive care. It is remarkable that the shadow Chancellor did not have the courage at that Dispatch Box to say that Labour would borrow more. Labour did say that for three years and now it has completely gone silent.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Brooks Newmark

Tuesday 25th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Brooks Newmark (Braintree) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend share my concern that, notwithstanding the Alice in Wonderland economic world of the shadow Chancellor, a plan to borrow more will not actually bring borrowing down?

[Mr Osborne]

I completely agree that Labour’s plan to borrow more to borrow less is completely nonsensical. It really is extraordinary that a day after the Labour leader said that Labour had ruled out borrowing more, the shadow Chancellor committed the party to doing just that. It is a catastrophic position for his party to hold. Frankly, I do not think that the country will ever adopt it.

Economic Policy

Debate between George Osborne and Brooks Newmark

Monday 25th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

There seems to be amnesia about Labour’s 13 years in office. The hon. Gentleman talks about a double-dip recession. The first recession was a 6% contraction in our economic activity while he was supporting a Labour Government, with a 12% budget deficit, a higher rate of unemployment and more youth unemployment than we have today. We are sorting out these problems. Of course it takes time, but, frankly, the prescription of the hon. Gentleman and other Labour Members would put us right back in the mess that they left this Government with.

[Mr Brooks Newmark (Braintree) (Con)]

Does the Chancellor agree that the only two countries that have maintained their triple A credit rating across the board—Canada and Germany—are the two countries that fixed the roof while the sun was shining?

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Germany and Canada went into the financial crisis with the two lowest structural deficits of the G7, and the United Kingdom went into the financial crisis with the highest structural deficit in the G7—5%. That was confirmed recently by the International Monetary Fund. I think that, quite extraordinarily, the only person in Britain who still denies that we had a structural deficit is the shadow Chancellor. The former Chancellor accepts it and the former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, accepts it; only the shadow Chancellor does not accept it. He cannot accept it because that would mean admitting he got it wrong, and if he admitted he got it wrong, people would not put him in charge again.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Brooks Newmark

Tuesday 29th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Brooks Newmark (Braintree) (Con)]

6. What fiscal steps he is taking to encourage private sector job creation.

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)]

More than 1 million private sector jobs have been created since the first quarter of 2010 and employment is at a record high. We are supporting more job creation by further reducing the rate of corporation tax to 21%, and since 1 January we have been helping businesses large and small to invest, with a temporary tenfold increase in the annual investment allowance. We can afford these tax reductions in part because we are taking tough action on tax evasion. I can confirm to the House that last night Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs received £340 million from the Swiss Government, a first instalment of the deal we have struck, and the first time in our history that money due in taxes has flowed from Switzerland to the UK, instead of the other way round.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend is right, and I am glad she welcomes the deal we have struck with Switzerland—a deal, by the way, rejected by the previous Government. Apprenticeships are vital in helping to create that skilled work force. More than 1 million people have started apprenticeships since 2010 and in her constituency alone there has been a 42% increase. I am delighted that successful businesses in her constituency are helping to train the work force of tomorrow.

[Mr Newmark]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the Government’s generous tax incentives provided by the seed enterprise investment scheme not only stimulate investment by angel investors for start-ups, but help create jobs in the private sector?

[Mr Osborne]

I do agree. The seed enterprise investment scheme has succeeded in getting money into start-up businesses and we currently have the fastest rate of business creation in our history. I take this opportunity to thank my hon. Friend for all the work he has done, going around the country promoting the scheme.

Autumn Statement

Debate between George Osborne and Brooks Newmark

Wednesday 5th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

First, I thank the hon. Gentleman for his support of our decision to provide ultra-fast broadband to Derry/Londonderry, and I congratulate the city on a very good bid, which competed against other bids across the UK. He is also right to say that we are helping the Northern Ireland energy sector with decisions on the carbon price floor, which I did not have space in my statement to announce, but they are in the book. I am glad that he acknowledges those aspects. More broadly, Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK will benefit when we help people who work hard and want to get on with the personal allowance and when we help small businesses and motorists with the fuel duty. We are doing all these things and are making sure that they apply to Northern Ireland as well.

[Mr Brooks Newmark (Braintree) (Con)]

Given that income tax has been cut for 25 million people, the income tax of people on the minimum wage has been cut in half and up to 2 million people have been taken out of tax altogether, does my right hon. Friend agree that our Government, and indeed our party, are on the side of ordinary working men and women?

[Mr Osborne]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. We have made difficult decisions on welfare uprating—we have asked the rich to pay more—but, as I have said, we have done that not only to help to deal with the deficit, but to help people who work hard and want to get on. That is precisely what we have done today