Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Lucy Powell

Tuesday 24th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Last but not least, Lucy Powell.

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

May I take this opportunity to welcome today’s announcement of the partnership between Manchester city council and the Abu Dhabi United Group to build 6,000 new homes in my constituency? Does the Chancellor agree that that shows that when we give freedoms, powers and budgets to good local authorities, they can increase housing supply in their areas and build the economy locally?

[Mr Osborne]

I certainly join the hon. Lady in commending the work that Manchester city council has done. One of the things I talked about yesterday was what we can do to make sure that cities such as Greater Manchester have more powers, perhaps through elected mayors. We should also pay tribute to Lord Deighton, who is in Abu Dhabi at the moment, for negotiating that deal. There was a good partnership between the city council and the Treasury, and it is fantastic news that Abu Dhabi United Group is making that big investment in the UK.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Lucy Powell

Tuesday 28th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the remarkable success story of many women entrepreneurs. Karren is a role model for many of them, and she is helping with a mentoring programme to encourage more women to set up their own business and become entrepreneurs. It is all part of the picture where we now have a record number of women in work, and our proposals to bring in tax-free child care next year will help as well.

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Chancellor will know that one of the main barriers for women setting up a business is the cost of child care. Given that it has risen five times faster than wages in this Parliament, what help is he offering to women in this Parliament to meet those costs?

Economic Policy

Debate between George Osborne and Lucy Powell

Monday 25th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

We have inherited a very tough economic situation from our predecessors, but we have confronted the problem and taken difficult decisions on spending. What is remarkable about the Labour party is that in all its questions at Treasury questions, Prime Minister’s questions and the like, it complains about every cut, but never tells us about a single cut that it supports. That is why it does not have a credible shadow Chancellor or a credible economic policy.

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

In 2011, the Conservative party issued a dossier that said that a credit rating downgrade

“could add £5,000 per year to a family’s mortgage interest bill”.

Does the Chancellor stand by that laughable remark?

[Mr Osborne]

We are very clear that if we lost control of the country’s credibility in the international markets, as Labour would, interest rates would go up and families would pay more. The truth is that because of the credibility of our economic policy, interest rates are low and have stayed low today.

Autumn Statement

Debate between George Osborne and Lucy Powell

Wednesday 5th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

The ISA uprating takes place as normal. The draw-down limit will be in the Finance Bill, which we will introduce next week.

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Is this Chancellor not presiding over a series of false economies? There is a long list, but let me draw his attention to one of them. Recent analysis has shown that the level of his draconian and unfair cuts to Manchester’s local government budget is the same as the increase to the benefits bill in Manchester since the election. Would it not be better if he invested in our future rather than us all paying the price for his failure?

[Mr Osborne]

I welcome the hon. Lady to the House of Commons and congratulate her on her by-election victory—[Interruption.] I did not find time to visit Manchester Central during the by-election. We are providing a great deal of investment in Manchester. We have the new enterprise zone and we are working with Manchester city council on the northern hub, which will have an enormous impact—in a good sense—on Manchester. We have listened to and worked with the local authority on that. As someone who represents many of the people who go to work in her constituency, I think that over the past couple of years, in working with the local authorities, we have done a great deal to improve Manchester’s prospects.