Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Harrington of Watford

Wednesday 17th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

Of course we continue to provide that support. Indeed we have, through the operational independence of the Metropolitan police, seen the police focusing more on these heinous crimes. One of the better pieces of news is that there has been increased reporting as well, and women coming forward who have been victims of this horrific crime, but I am always prepared to look at extra requests for resources if there is more we can do to help.

[Richard Harrington (Watford) (Con)]

Q4. In my constituency, in Watford, in one year alone in the last Parliament, the number of apprenticeships doubled. They were among more than 2 million apprenticeship starts in the country as a whole, and clearly very beneficial to businesses and young people alike. Would my right hon. Friend confirm that a further growth in apprenticeships is an important priority for this Government?

[Mr Osborne]

I can confirm that 3 million apprenticeships is the objective of this Government in this Parliament, building on our success of providing 2 million apprenticeships in the last Parliament. I think the whole House will want to congratulate my hon. Friend on becoming the apprenticeships adviser to the Prime Minister. He has a very important role to play, because there are many great companies who run great apprenticeship programmes, but not enough companies do have apprenticeship programmes. I hope they will receive a knock on the door from my hon. Friend.

Autumn Statement

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Harrington of Watford

Thursday 5th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

Of course, it was the Labour Government who left us with six energy companies—[Interruption.] I do think that is relevant, because it is this Government who are seeking the competition that will bring new entrants. Let me address the specific point that the right hon. Lady makes. To compensate for the fact that we are rolling back some of the levies, for example in the energy company obligation, we have set out schemes today that will reward home owners who use energy efficiency measures to improve the efficiency of their home. Those include an additional bonus for solid wall insulation. There is also extra money for public sector organisations and private landlords to make their buildings more efficient. Across the board, we are supporting the insulation industry, but we are doing so in a way that does not penalise people through their electricity and gas bills. That is something that she should support.

[Richard Harrington (Watford) (Con)]

In Watford, as I am sure my right hon. Friend the Chancellor is aware, unemployment is coming down every month, the number of apprenticeships has doubled in the past two years, a new university technical college is opening, and the Government are investing significant capital expenditure on infrastructure in the shape of the Croxley rail link. It seems that the shadow Chancellor’s policy is to spend more and borrow more, which would lead to exactly the reverse of what has happened in Watford. I hope that the Chancellor can assure me that he will be undeterred by what has been said today by the Opposition and will stick to his policies that support growth.

[Mr Osborne]

I want to return the compliment that my hon. Friend has paid me. He has been an outstanding Member of Parliament. His jobs clubs have helped many young people and his offer of work experience is helping people to get on the jobs ladder. The rail measures that we have announced today will help his constituents in Watford. He is right that for Watford, a Labour Government would mean higher unemployment, higher mortgage rates, more borrowing and more debt. That would put Watford and the rest of the country back into the economic mess we are taking them out of.

IMF

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Harrington of Watford

Monday 23rd April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

The parliamentary authorisation is expressed in special drawing rights, and on the exchange rate at the moment the loan is just less than £9 billion.

[Richard Harrington (Watford) (Con)]

I realise that mind reading is not among my right hon. Friend the Chancellor’s talents, but does he think that as the shadow Chancellor did his gallant marathon yesterday, he suddenly had a Saul-on-the-road-to-Damascus moment and thought, “Ah, the organisation that I have supported for so long, the IMF, now has enough money, so I don’t agree with increasing its resources”, or does my right hon. Friend think, as I do, that the shadow Chancellor’s act is one of blatant, naked political opportunism that should be condemned?

[Mr Osborne]

I do think it is an act of political opportunism. As I have said, there was complete astonishment at the IMF when I said that the Opposition would probably oppose what I was doing. The people there all know the shadow Chancellor, because he negotiated on behalf of the Treasury as Britain’s representative at the IMF, so they find his decision very difficult to understand.

Banking Commission Report

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Harrington of Watford

Monday 19th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

That is an issue that some building societies have raised with us. That is why we say in the report that we are attracted to a leverage ratio—indeed, it is now part of the international regulatory architecture—but that we will consult on exactly how to implement it so that it does not have a perverse impact on building societies, which have served customers well throughout this period.

[Richard Harrington (Watford) (Con)]

On behalf of my knees, Mr Speaker, I thank you. [Laughter.] I commend the Chancellor on his statement. Will he confirm that had these proposals been implemented before 2007, the RBS-ABN AMRO deal could not have taken place?

[Mr Osborne]

The RBS-ABN AMRO deal stands out as the moment of greatest folly in banking regulation, not just because—[Interruption.] The shadow Chancellor was the City Minister. He has incredible amnesia about his role, but thankfully we are here to remind him. It is extraordinary that the ABN AMRO deal was given the go-ahead after Northern Rock had failed. People do not appreciate the fact that it happened after that. We were highly critical of the Government’s regulatory system then, and we remain highly critical of the regulatory system that we inherited.

Autumn Statement

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Harrington of Watford

Tuesday 29th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Richard Harrington (Watford) (Con)]

I commend the Chancellor on his statement, particularly the parts about young people and small businesses, which will be gratefully received in my constituency. I am sure that he shares my concern about the shadow Chancellor’s seeming lack of interest in interest rates and the amount of national debt. With that in mind, will my right hon. Friend confirm that a top priority of the Government is to reduce the £130 million per day that taxpayers in my constituency—and all taxpayers—pay to get the interest on the debt down?

[Mr Osborne]

Despite the deterioration in the borrowing forecast, the debt interest payments that we are making are £24 billion less than forecast. That is the burden of the debt, and it would be billions more if the shadow Chancellor ever got his hands on the British economy again.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Harrington of Watford

Tuesday 22nd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

Our country’s credit rating was on negative watch when we came to office and as a country we did not have a credible plan to reduce the budget deficit. Since that plan has been put in place we have been able to see the effects because our market interest rates and our spreads over bunds have come down. We have interest rates that are closer to Germany’s despite, as I have said, having a budget deficit left to us that was higher than either Greece’s or Portugal’s.

[Richard Harrington (Watford) (Con)]

Would my right hon. Friend the Chancellor like to inform the House which organisations have made representations to him that the deficit should be halved over the course of this Parliament?

[Mr Osborne]

The Guardian newspaper.

Financial Assistance (Ireland)

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Harrington of Watford

Monday 22nd November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

Of course, an absolute precondition of the package being negotiated is that not just the UK but the IMF and others believe that it will work. An enormous amount of effort is going into putting together a package that will deal not just with the sovereign debt situation, but—the former Chancellor alluded to this—with the Irish banking situation. That is a key part of the package.

[Richard Harrington (Watford) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that a main cause of the problems in Ireland is the pursuit of those very policies that Labour Members would have us carry out here—borrow, borrow, borrow and spend, spend, spend?

[Mr Osborne]

Ireland had over-leveraged banks, and they were poorly regulated. We are all picking up the pieces of something similar in the UK.

Comprehensive Spending Review

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Harrington of Watford

Wednesday 20th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

We are spending more on transport projects over the next four years than was spent during the last four years. I have made every effort to prioritise transport spending, which has led to other questions coming down the line. Given that the hon. Lady is a Liverpool MP, I thought she might at least welcome the Mersey Gateway project. I am an MP for the north-west, as is the right hon. Member for Blackburn (Mr Straw), and we have been talking about the Mersey Gateway project for an awful long time. It is going ahead.

[Richard Harrington (Watford) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend confirm to me and my constituents that the purpose of today’s announcement is to take public expenditure back to 2008 levels, not 1888 levels as some Opposition Members have implied?

Office for Budget Responsibility

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Harrington of Watford

Monday 14th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I suspect that everyone in the House is concerned about the situation in the eurozone, but let us be clear what has brought that about. It is a result of market concern about the sustainability of public finances in eurozone countries such as Greece. Those countries are having to take action to reassure markets and therefore keep their interest rates lower. I think that interest rates in Greece rose to more than 10% higher than those of other eurozone countries at one point. That is what happens to countries that do not get a grip on their public finances, and I want to ensure that no question mark is ever put against the name of the United Kingdom.

[Richard Harrington (Watford) (Con)]

The complacency of the former Chancellor of the Exchequer about the small reduction in the expected budget deficit is rather like my saying that I am losing weight because I missed breakfast. We want clear, credible plans to deal with the budget deficit, and we need to know what they are as soon as possible.

[Mr Osborne]

I suggest to my hon. Friend that he turns up here next Tuesday.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Lord Harrington of Watford

Tuesday 8th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I should have joined the right hon. Gentleman in wishing the right hon. Member for East Ham (Mr Timms) a speedy recovery. I understand that he has now sworn in, which is fantastic for everyone here concerned. The fact that he was assaulted in his constituency surgery doing his job as a constituency MP makes the incident all the more chilling, and we all wish him very well.

Let me deal specifically with the right hon. Gentleman’s question. We have set up the Office for Budget Responsibility on a non-statutory basis because we need to pass legislation to make it statutory. The model that we have followed is the approach taken by the right hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Mr Brown) when he set up the Monetary Policy Committee. Sir Alan Budd will be available to answer questions from the Treasury Committee on exactly the kind of points that the right hon. Gentleman raises—such as the underlying assumptions. It is ultimately up to him how he publishes his information, and I do not want to prejudge that, but the purpose of the exercise is for people to have confidence in official figures and growth forecasts, and confidence means transparency. I am sure that the spirit of what the right hon. Gentleman says will be taken on board by Sir Alan.

[Richard Harrington (Watford) (Con)]

4. If he will estimate Government expenditure on external consultants in (a) 1997 and (b) the last year for which figures are available.