Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Chris Williamson

Tuesday 10th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

Of course one of the key things as the economy recovers is not to make the mistakes of the past and not to have the unbalanced economy that we had before the financial crash, when, for example, even in the boom years, private sector employment fell in some regions such as west midlands. What we must do in my hon. Friend’s constituency and elsewhere is support small businesses that are starting up, get the capital to the small businesses that want to expand and encourage the big companies to invest. In all those areas, there is positive news, but we have to stick at it.

[Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)]

T5. Yesterday, the Chancellor said that those who opposed austerity had lost the argument, but wages are falling, child poverty is increasing and he is presiding over the slowest economic recovery in over 100 years. Unless the Chancellor is living in cloud cuckoo land or residing on planet Zog, he will surely admit that his record of economic competence has been less than satisfactory—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am sorry, but we have a lot to get through, so much shorter questions are required.

Spending Review

Debate between George Osborne and Chris Williamson

Wednesday 26th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

The short answer is yes, and the Exchequer Secretary is doing an excellent job in changing that culture, with the Department.

[Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)]

The Chancellor talked about rail investment in his statement. How many jobs is he creating in Dusseldorf, now that his Government have finalised their plans to spend £1.6 billion building the Thameslink trains in Germany, rather than in Derby? Is that a sensible use of taxpayers’ money?

[Mr Osborne]

Well, we were operating under the procurement rules of the previous Government.

Economic Growth

Debate between George Osborne and Chris Williamson

Wednesday 15th May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

We inherited an 11.5% budget deficit that was adding to our national debt every year, and what the hon. Gentleman and the shadow Chancellor want to do is add further to borrowing. The shadow Chancellor was asked time and again what the cost of the proposals in the amendment the Opposition are asking the House to vote on tonight would be. He would not give that figure, but I will give it for him: it is a £28 billion amendment that would add to borrowing. He comes up with the ludicrous argument that by borrowing more, we can borrow less. That is why he is making so little progress with his economic argument.

[Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)]

Will the Chancellor at least acknowledge that when he came into office he inherited a growing economy, and his policies have led to it flatlining?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Osborne]

I will give way to Labour Members in a moment if they can help me answer this question. What on earth is the policy of the Labour party towards an in/out referendum on Europe? The shadow Chancellor was asked that again and again. The question is this: do the Opposition rule out offering an in/out referendum at the next general election—yes or no? What is the answer?

[Chris Williamson]

Perhaps the Chancellor can answer this question. Toyota, just down the road from my constituency and the biggest inward investment in western Europe, came to Derbyshire because it gave access to the European market. Does the Chancellor think that, if an in/out referendum was hanging over this country and Toyota was thinking about investing now, it would take that decision to invest in Derbyshire, or would it take its investment somewhere else inside the EU?

[Mr Osborne]

A lot of those big Japanese car plants came to Britain under a Conservative Government who were offering them a competitive place to do business in the world. I am pleased to say that under this coalition Government we now export more cars than we import for the first time since the mid-1970s, and we will go on having a successful car industry because we have specific policies to back the car sector, but above all because we have cut corporation tax and made this a competitive place in which to do business.

Autumn Statement

Debate between George Osborne and Chris Williamson

Wednesday 5th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I know my hon. Friend speaks with great knowledge on these subjects and she chairs the all-party group on trade and investment. We have provided a 25% increase in UKTI’s budget. We are seeking to strengthen the capacity of overseas chambers. It is not just about exports from this country; it is also about attracting investment into this country, and we want Britain to remain the No. 1 destination for foreign direct investment in Europe.

[Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)]

The reality of this Chancellor’s period in office is that poverty is rising, growth is falling and debt is increasing. Why does he not just admit that his ideologically-driven tea party experiment has been a complete and utter failure?

[Mr Osborne]

I suggest the hon. Gentleman wakes up and smells the coffee of the situation that we inherited. We inherited a country that had just been through the biggest recession and banking crisis in modern history. We have dealt with the question about Britain’s credibility and its ability to pay its way in the world. The deficit has gone down, 1.2 million jobs have been created and he should give us some credit for cleaning up the mess that his party created.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Chris Williamson

Tuesday 26th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend—a knight of the realm—is absolutely correct. Despite these very difficult and challenging economic times, the private sector is creating jobs. We of course have to help it to create more jobs through the measures I have already outlined—cutting the small companies tax rate, help with credit and the like—but we also need to help those looking for work. That is why we have the Work programme and the youth contract, instruments that are much more effective than the programmes promoted by the previous Government at helping people who are out of work to link up with companies that want to employ people.

[Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)]

Britain is the only G20 country in a double-dip recession, youth unemployment is at record levels, poverty is on the increase, public services are in meltdown, and the Government are borrowing around £4 billion more this year than they did last year. The lessons of the 1930s demonstrate that the austerity programme that the Chancellor is pursuing will not work. Will he learn the lessons of history—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are extremely grateful, but I am afraid that we do not have time to go back to the 1930s now. We have the gravamen of the hon. Gentleman’s question.

Autumn Statement

Debate between George Osborne and Chris Williamson

Tuesday 29th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

It is indeed a plan B for bankruptcy. It is striking that no mainstream or centre-left party in Europe, other than the Labour party, currently advocates more spending. I can reach only one conclusion: the Labour party does so only because the man that it has chosen to be its shadow Chancellor is the man more identified than almost anyone else apart from the previous Prime Minister with the financial and economic mess that this country got into.

[Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)]

The Chancellor claims to support the manufacturing industry and told the House at the conclusion of this year’s Budget speech that he wanted to be

“carried aloft by the march of the makers” —[Official Report, 23 March 2011; Vol. 525, c. 966.]

in order to create jobs and support families. Will he explain, therefore, why he thinks it a good idea that the Government are undermining and potentially destroying the British train-building industry by building trains for the Thameslink line in Germany rather than at the Bombardier factory in Derby?

[Mr Osborne]

The hon. Gentleman should be straight with the House. That was a contract signed by the previous Labour Government—[Hon. Members: “No it wasn’t.”] It was a procurement process initiated by the previous Labour Government that left no other option for the British Government than the contract signed. That was the contract that we were forced to deal with under the rules of the previous Labour Government. In the autumn statement document, we set out changes to procurement rules to ensure that these sorts of things do not happen again. I can also confirm that we have committed to building 130 carriages on Southern Rail, and I very much hope that they can be built in Britain.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Chris Williamson

Tuesday 1st November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

First, may I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on keeping his job in the clear-out of the Labour Treasury Front-Bench team—although on the basis of that question, I am not sure why he did? The whole purpose of our negotiations in Europe and the whole purpose of what we are doing at home is to stabilise the British economy and set it on a path of growth and jobs. We inherited a situation where unemployment had rocketed under the Labour Government and we had the deepest recession of any country in the world, apart from Japan. We are rescuing that situation, and it is reflected in the very low interest rates paid in this country in comparison with all those other countries.

[Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)]

2. What assessment he has made of the effects of the 2011 Budget on long-term unemployment.

Global Economy

Debate between George Osborne and Chris Williamson

Thursday 11th August 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

The hon. Gentleman shakes his head. He obviously did not know that there was to be an increase in small business taxation. We have cut it.

We have also introduced support for the exports of small business. A central part of the strategy developed by Stephen Green as trade Minister is helping small businesses to export. I have already mentioned the Merlin lending agreements with banks, which are beginning to bring about an increase in lending to businesses that simply was not happening last year.

[Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)]

In view of the flatlining economy, and given that inflation is set to hit 5%, the spectre of stagflation looms large. Can the Chancellor tell us why he is so wedded to crackpot Tea party economics when it is plainly failing the country?

[Mr Osborne]

It sounds like the shadow Chancellor wrote that question. Let me repeat what I said earlier: the proposal Barack Obama put forward in his speech at the George Washington university is for a deficit reduction in the United States of the same pace and scale as the one we are pursuing in Britain. That is because in America, too, they understand that they have to deal with their budget deficit.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Chris Williamson

Tuesday 21st December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

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

The core purpose of the Treasury is to ensure the stability of the economy, promote growth and employment, reform banking and ensure that Britain lives within her means.

[Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)]

Is the Chancellor embarrassed that independent analysis by the House of Commons Library shows that the provisional local government settlement will result in the most deprived areas bearing far bigger cuts than more affluent parts of the country? The two councils in his constituency of Tatton will see their spending reduced by less than 2 and 3%, compared with more than 8% cuts in deprived constituencies. Will he therefore stop saying that his austerity measures are fair, and admit that we are not all in it together after all?

[Mr Osborne]

The Prime Minister explained from this Dispatch Box that the cuts in his constituency are considerably greater than the cuts in the Leader of the Opposition’s constituency. Our reforms give local government greater control over budgets, but let me make another observation. Local government is responsible for a quarter of all Government spending. Labour proposed £44 billion of expenditure cuts. If Opposition Members are saying that they would not include local government in those proposals, they are less credible than I thought they were.

Autumn Forecast

Debate between George Osborne and Chris Williamson

Monday 29th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

It is of course an independent forecast, and although the Chancellor does—and will under legislation—have the right to disagree with it, I have not exercised that right today.

[Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)]

What words of comfort can the Chancellor offer the construction industry and the thousands of unemployed building workers who are still reeling from his Government’s decision to scrap the Building Schools for the Future programme and end housing targets? Does he not accept that a private sector-led recovery will be impossible without a vibrant construction industry? What will he do to support the industry?

[Mr Osborne]

We certainly want to support the construction industry. It is one of the specific sectors that we are looking at, as the growth review that we publish today sets out. If I can just correct the hon. Gentleman, however, I must say that the capital investment programmes of this Government are actually higher than the capital investment programmes set out in the March Budget. If he is not aware of what the Labour party fought the election on, so be it.

Financial Assistance (Ireland)

Debate between George Osborne and Chris Williamson

Monday 22nd November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I think my hon. Friend is referring to the period between the general election and the creation of this Government. I have given the House my account of that. I thanked the former Chancellor for keeping us out of the eurozone facility, but I did not agree with his decision to commit us to the mechanism, and I communicated that to him. However, I also made it clear at the time there can only be one Chancellor of the Exchequer operating for the UK, even in the unusual situation between the general election and the formation of this Government. He will account for his decisions and I will account for mine.

[Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)]

I know that a week is a long time in politics, but can I take the Chancellor back to when he was the shadow Chancellor? He wrote an article for The Times in which he said:

“Ireland stands as a shining example of the art of the possible in long-term economic policymaking…They have much to teach us, if only we are willing to learn.”

Does the Chancellor stand by or repudiate that article?

[Mr Osborne]

Yes. The shadow Chancellor read out the same quotation.

Office for Budget Responsibility

Debate between George Osborne and Chris Williamson

Monday 14th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

First, I will tell the Prime Minister what I am up to, because another thing that emerged over the weekend was that the former Chancellor of the Exchequer hid the numbers not only from the rest of the country, but from his own Prime Minister.

[Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)]

May I begin by congratulating you, Mr Deputy Speaker, on your elevation to your new role? Will the Chancellor explain why he is obsessed with pursuing economic policies that failed in the 1930s, failed in the 1980s and failed in the 1990s?

[Mr Osborne]

The most obvious set of failed economic policies is that pursued by the Labour party.