Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Graeme Morrice

Tuesday 10th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that wage restraint in the private sector and the public sector has helped preserve jobs during the economic shock that we experienced under the previous Government. That is partly a credit to the labour market flexibility of the policies that previous Governments introduced in the 1980s and early 1990s and the last Government did not reverse. The wage restraint has helped us preserve more jobs than would otherwise have been the case in the public sector, which is why at least until recently it was supported by the Labour party.

[Graeme Morrice (Livingston) (Lab)]

23. Will the Chancellor confirm, however, that after three years of flatlining growth and with prices still rising faster than wages, working people are on average £1,500 a year worse off than in 2010?

[Mr Osborne]

People have been helped with their low mortgage rates which our credible economic policy is delivering. They are helped by the increase in the personal allowance—£600 this year, £700 next year. They will be helped by our tax-free child care, but above all they are helped by an economy that is turning the corner. The worst thing for living standards, the worst thing for household incomes, would be a return to the disastrous economic policies of the Labour party.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Graeme Morrice

Tuesday 1st November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

We are bringing the deficit down from the record levels that we inherited, which has in part provided stability in the financial markets for sterling and our interest rates. That has been absolutely crucial, as we can see in the very high interest rates faced by not just Greece and Portugal, but now even by countries such as Italy and France, which face significantly higher interest rates than we do. That is of course a huge boost to the British economy.

[Graeme Morrice (Livingston) (Lab)]

Does the Chancellor think that rising unemployment and growth of just 0.5% in 12 months will make it easier or harder to get the deficit down?

[Mr Osborne]

This morning’s GDP numbers are a positive step, but of course the British economy has a difficult road to travel from the very high debts—the record debts—that we inherited. That is made more difficult by the international situation, as people can plainly see today, but we are determined to make that journey to the growth and prosperity that this country was so lacking under the previous Government.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Graeme Morrice

Tuesday 22nd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee is of course independent. It is set a target by the Chancellor, and I expect the Bank to pursue that target.

[Graeme Morrice (Livingston) (Lab)]

T10. Contact a Family and the Children’s Trust have been campaigning for a change to the current rule that suspends disability living allowance payments for children under 16 once they have spent 84 days in hospital. The cost of this is around £3 million, compared with the overall deficit reduction measures of £80 billion. As this is a financially driven measure, will the Chancellor undertake to discuss the funding issue with colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions so that some of the most severely disabled and sick children and their families continue to receive the financial support required when they need it most?