Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Austin of Dudley

Tuesday 19th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend is right. Our objective is to make it easier for businesses, and indeed individuals, to complete their tax returns by making use of modern digital technology, and we are introducing a simple and secure personalised digital tax account. We estimate that that will reduce the administrative cost to businesses by £400 million.

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

The best way to support manufacturing businesses in the midlands would be to free the region from London’s control, because it has been stifled by Whitehall for far too long. If the Chancellor gives us the powers and the funds that we need to strengthen the economy, develop brownfield sites and tackle congestion, we will deliver more jobs, better skills, quicker transport and new homes.

[Mr Osborne]

We have a deal, because that is exactly what we are doing with the west midlands. We have worked with different political parties: I have met both Labour and Conservative authority leaders and Members of Parliament in the region, and we have collectively agreed to have an elected Mayor and to hand significant powers from this place and the Government to the people of the west midlands. I think that that is one of the most exciting steps that have been taken in the devolution of power in this country.

Charter for Budget Responsibility

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Austin of Dudley

Wednesday 14th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[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.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Austin of Dudley

Tuesday 29th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Since the shadow Chancellor made his prediction, the economy has grown by more than 3% and almost 1 million jobs have been created. In Worcester the claimant count is down by 20% in the past year, so we have more of these predictions from the shadow Chancellor and the economy just keeps growing.

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

Does the Chancellor not understand that despite the belated but welcome growth in the economy, the only people who are not worse off than they were four years ago are the super-rich—people such as him and the other multi-millionaires sitting around the Cabinet table? His wilful refusal to accept what every ordinary family in the country know, from their daily experience just goes to show how out of touch he is.

[Mr Osborne]

Of course families are feeling the impact of the great recession over which the last Government presided, but the hon. Gentleman talks about who has felt the benefit of growth. What about the people in his constituency who have got a job, where unemployment has fallen by 17% and youth unemployment is down 18%? What about the 1.5 million people who have got jobs as a result of this Government working through their long-term economic plan?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Austin of Dudley

Tuesday 29th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I know that my hon. Friend has a strong constituency interest in this issue. We want to see the shale gas revolution come to the United Kingdom—it has done wonders for the United States economy—but that must, of course, happen in a way that does not damage the environment and enables communities to benefit. I shall be happy to work with my hon. Friend, and other Members of Parliament throughout the House who may be affected, to ensure that communities share the benefits—which I hope can be shared by the whole economy—of this new form of energy extraction.

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

On the many other occasions on which the economy has gone into reverse under this Chancellor, he has blamed the snow, and he has blamed the floods. When people took time off in the summer to go on holiday, he presumably blamed the sun. He has blamed the Americans, and he has blamed the Europeans. He blamed the Queen’s jubilee. He even blamed her grandson for getting married. Whose fault is it this time?

[Mr Osborne]

I think that I have been pretty consistent in blaming that lot opposite.

Autumn Statement

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Austin of Dudley

Wednesday 5th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. I congratulate him on the work he has done to make the case for capital allowances to help small and medium-sized businesses in Lancashire and in his Burnley constituency. He wrote a report, which I thought was compelling, and he put in the work of listening to his local manufacturers. He is completely right about manufacturing. I have been to some very high-tech manufacturing businesses in north Lancashire, which make components for some of the most up-to-date jet engines in the world. We are investing more money in the aerospace supply chain, and as I announced today, we are investing more in the advanced manufacturing supply chain. With the help of my right hon. Friend the Business Secretary, we are determined to make sure that Britain’s premier place in aerospace is maintained.

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

If we look at the small print, we see that the only reason why borrowing has fallen this year is that the Government have added in the proceeds of the 4G mobile spectrum auction into this year’s figures, even though Government delays have meant that the auction has not yet taken place. If those figures were not added in for this year and we did not have this £3.5 billion pencilled in for the receipt from that, borrowing would be £2 billion higher this year than it was last year. Is that not the case?

[Mr Osborne]

The deficit and borrowing are falling any way the public figures are presented. We have done this in a completely transparent way. As I was explaining to the shadow Chancellor, the 4G money has been used to refurbish, for example, the further education college in Morley.

Bank of England

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Austin of Dudley

Monday 26th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I will not make the mistake of the last Prime Minister and claim to have abolished boom and bust. I do not know which young adviser of his put that idea into his mind. [Interruption.] With transparent and independently audited public finances, an excellent central bank Governor and new responsibilities for the Bank of England, we have a better framework than the one that we inherited.

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

Is it not the case that Mr Carney ruled himself out some months ago? So what does the Chancellor think changed his mind—could it have had anything to do with Labour’s new lead in the opinion polls and the new Governor’s long-standing friendship with the shadow Chancellor?

Professional Standards in the Banking Industry

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Austin of Dudley

Thursday 5th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I have taken many interventions, and I know that many people want to speak in the debate. That is why we will have a time limit on speeches. I want to say one final thing to the House. We are sent here to hold people to account on behalf of the public. What does it say about us if we fail to investigate? We talk about a lack of trust—

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Is it in order for a Member of this House, outside the Chamber, to smear his opponents with utterly false allegations for which he has no evidence whatever, and then to refuse to substantiate or withdraw them when he gets here? It is a complete disgrace.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Mr Austin, I think you know that I am grateful for the fact that I am not responsible for what Members choose to say in the House. Each Member needs to reflect on the accusations and counter-accusations, whoever they are. That is not a point of order. It is a matter of debate, and Members are making their feelings felt very forcefully on that point.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Austin of Dudley

Tuesday 24th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

Why does the Chancellor think his Budget is now widely seen as a complete and utter shambles?

[Mr George Osborne]

We cut business tax to make this country more competitive and to create jobs; we delivered an income tax cut for 24 million working people; we took 2 million low-paid people out of tax altogether; and, above all, we continue to clear up the economic mess left to us by the Labour party.

The Economy

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Austin of Dudley

Wednesday 22nd June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

It went beyond that—my hon. Friend makes a good point—not only did the shadow Chancellor attack the IMF, but he also attacked in the speech that I have just mentioned the IMF’s acting managing director. So he laid into the Governor of the Bank of England a couple of months ago, and he is now laying into the IMF’s acting managing director. Anyone who disagrees with the shadow Chancellor, which means most of the world, has become his political opponent.

[Ian Austin]

rose—

[Mr Osborne]

Of course, I give way to one of the henchmen.

[Ian Austin]

I want to apologise to the Chancellor for something that I said yesterday. On who said what in 2008, I said yesterday that the Chancellor had praised the previous Government’s spending plans in 2008, despite now condemning what he refers as a decade of over-investment. I was wrong, and I want to apologise. In July 2008, it was in fact the Prime Minister who praised Labour’s then spending plans. He said:

“we are sticking to Labour’s spending totals.”

It was in 2007 that the Chancellor said that a Conservative Government would match our spending plans.

[Mr Osborne]

The hon. Gentleman should get better handouts if he is one of the shadow Chancellor’s close advisers. [Hon. Members: “Answer the question.”] I have answered the question. At the 2005 general election, we fought against Labour’s spending plans. In 2008, the year that he mentions, we came off Labour’s spending plans. Thank God that we did, because it has given us the mandate and the power to put the public finances back on track.

The extraordinary thing about the shadow Chancellor is that he takes credit for the things that went right. On Bank of England independence, he has completely written out of the script the then Prime Minister and Chancellor. He now takes sole credit for keeping Britain out of the euro, although, as far as I am aware—I am happy to take an intervention—the Labour party’s official policy is still that we join the euro in principle. Is that right? I do not know whether the policy has changed. [Interruption.] We have heard quite a lot from the Labour party in the past couple of hours about being on top of the detail. Surely, the shadow Chancellor knows what his party’s policy is on the euro. [Hon. Members: “He doesn’t.”] Oh, dear. Let me give him a clue. When I became Chancellor, I had to close down the euro preparations unit in the Treasury.

Of course, the shadow Chancellor takes credit, but he is nowhere to be seen when the discussion turns to the fiddled fiscal rules, the failed tripartite regulation, the doubling of the debt, the bank collapses and the destruction of our pensions—none of those things has anything to do with him at all. Now, he is at it again. This is what a member of the shadow Cabinet said a couple of weeks ago:

“he increasingly thinks his party is heading for the buffers and doesn’t want to be in the cab when the collision comes.”

His boss was called Macavity, and it turns out that Macavity has a kitten—son of Macavity. There is a reason for all this: because he cannot construct a credible story about the past that does not cast himself as a villain, he lunges forward in opposition from one incredible uncosted policy to another.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Austin of Dudley

Tuesday 21st June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

First, we offer a national insurance tax break for new employees in new companies. We have cut the small companies tax rate, which was due to go up when I came to office. We are also cutting the headline rate of corporation tax by 2% this year and then by a further 3%, making it a 5% reduction over the course of the Parliament.

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

Is the Chancellor who now complains about a decade of over-investment by the previous Government related to the George Osborne who wrote an article in The Times in 2008 not just praising that Government’s spending plans, but promising to stick to them?

[Mr Osborne]

I think the hon. Gentleman has his years wrong, for a start. We fought the 2005 general election warning that Labour was spending too much and we fought the 2010 general election giving that warning. The British people listened to us, and realised that people like him had been supporting a Government who had brought our country to the brink of bankruptcy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Austin of Dudley

Tuesday 8th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

First, I will look at my hon. Friend’s FOI request, because I have not seen it. The broader point that I would make is that my predecessor as Chancellor, in the weekend between the general election and the creation of the new Government, agreed to the creation of the European stability facility. That involves a UK commitment which takes place on the basis of qualified majority voting; we do not have a veto. I made it clear to the previous Chancellor at the time that I did not support what he had done. However, it has happened and we have to live with the consequences.

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

In a speech to the City in 2008, several months after the collapse of Northern Rock, the then Leader of the Opposition—now the Prime Minister—complained that the City had been subjected to too much regulation and to “excessive bureaucratic interventionism”. He also said that

“government needs to do less taxing and regulating”.

Can the Chancellor tell us what he meant?

[Mr Osborne]

I am reminded of the speech in the City made by the right hon. Member for Morley and Outwood (Ed Balls), when he said in 2006:

“In my first speech as City Minister at Bloomberg in London, I argued that London’s success has been based on…light-touch…regulation”.

He also said that he hoped the City would take comfort from the way the Labour Government had responded to new risks and to events. That is the Bloomberg speech that he likes to forget.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Austin of Dudley

Tuesday 8th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I am sure that my hon. Friend will be glad to know that in my first ECOFIN I proposed to the Council that we freeze the EU budget, and there was support from other countries around the table. [Interruption.] If the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) is supporting an increase in the EU budget, he should tell the House.

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

I welcome the Chancellor and his team to their new posts. As part of the consultation on cuts that is being announced today, would he be prepared to visit Dudley, so that we can discuss the importance of maintaining investment in education and training as our No.1 priority, so that we can bring to the area the new industries and jobs on which our future prosperity will depend? While he is there, I can take him to Priory road, and he can see the devastating impact that his decision to cut spending on housing is having on that community.

[Mr Osborne]

I am always very happy to visit Dudley. I have done so many times in the last three or four months—which was half successful.

We have found additional money to support social housing. We discovered that the housing commitments made by the Labour Government just before the general election were completely unfunded. We have found money to fund additional social housing, which during the past 13 years the previous Government almost completely failed to do.

Economic Affairs and Work and Pensions

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Austin of Dudley

Tuesday 8th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I want to make progress, as I know that a lot of people want to make their maiden speeches; I was talked out of my maiden speech on the day I wanted to give it by over-long Front-Bench speeches. However, I want to give way to the hon. Member for Dudley North (Ian Austin), because I want to know where his Friend the right hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Mr Brown) is.

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

This morning, we all read the Prime Minister’s comments telling us that the cuts would affect every family in the land, and that no one would be exempt from the deep pain that those cuts would cause. Given that we are all in this together, can the Chancellor tell me which public services he and his family rely on, and which they will miss the most?

[Mr Osborne]

If that is the quality of the intervention by the Labour party as the country faces a very serious economic challenge, it confirms my view that, at the moment, it is not a serious player on the national political stage.