LIBOR (FSA Investigation)

Debate between George Osborne and Matt Hancock

Thursday 28th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I am happy to take away, because it has been raised by several Members, the issue of the total impact on the economy and on individuals. I would point out to the hon. Lady that that might be extremely difficult to work out, because the LIBOR rate was manipulated up as well as down. Sometimes the rate was too low for the true market price, and sometimes it was too high. It was manipulated by its derivative trading floor to suit the particular position that the bank had taken on that day, and that is why it is a difficult calculation to make. The FSA has made it clear, however, that that contributed to a risk to the country’s financial stability, and the cost of that is enormous.

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

In January, I set out the case for criminal sanctions against irresponsible management at significant financial institutions, so I welcome the announcement that that will be taken forward. May I push the Chancellor to make those sanctions as firm as can be done responsibly to ensure that those who profit from deep irresponsibility do not face the threat of walking out of the door and spending more time with their money but instead have the full force of the law against them if they do things wrong?

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend was prescient in making his case. He has pointed to something that concerns a number of people: the apparent ability of, for example, authorities in the United States to use criminal sanctions, while the authorities in the UK have not been granted those powers by Parliament. That is precisely what we are looking at.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 26th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

In conducting its most recent assessment of the UK economy, the IMF explicitly looked at unconventional monetary policy tools that are currently being used, and concluded that quantitative easing was having a positive impact. I think that we should welcome that. I believe that we are able to pursue loose monetary policy—that we are able to use all the tools that are available to us on the monetary policy side—precisely because we have international credibility on the fiscal side.

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

21. I, too, warmly welcome the action of the Bank of England last week to increase liquidity in its liquidity auction, but should not the role of the Financial Policy Committee be not only to stand against procyclical financial policy and liquidity buffers, but to lean against the wind and make sure that we can get the lending to businesses in our constituencies?

[Mr Osborne]

The Government established the Financial Policy Committee because under the previous tripartite regime, designed and implemented by the shadow Chancellor, absolutely no one was paying attention to overall levels of debt and credit in the economy. That is why we had such a deep recession, and why we went from such a large boom to such a big bust—to coin a phrase. My hon. Friend is entirely right: the FPC should be symmetrical in the way in which it looks at risks. We have made that clear, and we are amending the Financial Services Bill in the House of Lords to ensure that that the FPC has, as a secondary objective, due regard for the Government’s broader economic policy.

IMF

Debate between George Osborne and Matt Hancock

Monday 23rd April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I said very clearly in my statement that the principal reason the world economy is unstable is the problems in the eurozone, and, as all the questions have demonstrated, there is of course a connection between those problems and the need to have a well resourced IMF, but, as I said last autumn, we are not prepared to see IMF resource going into eurozone bail-out funds. It needs to be for individual countries and for individual country programmes, and that is a view which not just I or Britain happens to have, but which Japan, South Korea, Australia and European countries that are not in the European Union, such as Norway and Switzerland, share. Ask yourself the question, Mr Speaker, and the House can ask itself, too: why have all those other countries thought it is in their interests to help to deal with a problem that is actually on Britain’s doorstep as well?

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

What would the Chancellor say to the exporters of west Suffolk about the purpose of the loan, when they need expanding markets in Europe and across the world?

[Mr Osborne]

The exporters of west Suffolk, like people in every other part of the country, have an enormous interest in there being greater stability in the eurozone and in the world economy. What has been so damaging in the past six months has been the flight of confidence from those countries, and its impact on exporters in Britain and elsewhere in the world. We want confidence to return. As I said in the statement, there was a sense in the spring meetings that things were a little better than before Christmas. However, the risks are real and they remain.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 6th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Does my right hon. Friend agree with the statement made this morning:

“The last Labour government didn’t regulate the banks properly. That’s what caused the financial crisis”—

not my words but those of the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband)—or does he, like me, think that it was caused not just by a failure to regulate the banks but by the Labour Government spending more money than they had?

[Mr George Osborne]

Of course, it was a double failure: the catastrophic failure of Labour Ministers, including the then City Minister, the right hon. Member for Morley and Outwood (Ed Balls); and the failure to get a grip on public spending. We are having to clean up both messes at the moment.

Bill Presented

Planning Applications (Appeals by Town and Parish Councils)

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Martin Caton, supported by Philip Davies, Mr Elfyn Llwyd, Andrew George, Caroline Lucas, Bob Blackman, Paul Flynn, Kate Hoey, Robert Halfon, Steve McCabe, Kelvin Hopkins and Sir Bob Russell, presented a Bill to allow town and parish councils to appeal against the granting of planning permission in their area in certain circumstances; to make provisions for Wales; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the first time; to be read a Second time on Friday 27 April, and to be printed (Bill 314).

Financial Services Bill

Debate between George Osborne and Matt Hancock

Monday 6th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I give way to my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock), who has worked in the Bank of England.

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

Does the Opposition’s proposal not seem to be an attempt to re-create a tripartite structure in which there is more than a relationship between one and one other? We have problems with the concept of “too big to fail”, and the example of Barings has been cited. That bank did not bring the rest of the system down: the directors ended up losing their jobs and the person responsible went to prison. Will the Chancellor consider the scale of that failure, compared with what happened in 2008 when the whole system collapsed?

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There was a failure of regulation with Barings, but the collapse of Barings did not bring down the financial system, either in the City of London or more broadly.

Banking Commission Report

Debate between George Osborne and Matt Hancock

Monday 19th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

I very much welcome the report, which, along with all the other measures, I hope will help to change the culture of finance. With that end in mind, will the Chancellor set out what he hopes we can achieve in terms of having a direct impact on individuals’ personal pay and compensation in the financial sector?

[Mr Osborne]

We expect the bonus pool to be lower than last year and very much lower than four or five years ago, when it was probably four times what it will be now, so bonuses have come down. We have a very transparent regime, which did not exist when we took office, with the pay of the eight highest-paid non-board executive members now having to be disclosed. Above all, however, people should pay attention to what the Financial Policy Committee has just advised, which is that banks should retain earnings to build up capital at a time such as this, not pay them out in bonuses. The Governor of the Bank of England, the Financial Services Authority and I have all made it clear that banks would do well to pay attention to that advice over the next couple of months.

Independent Banking Commission Report

Debate between George Osborne and Matt Hancock

Monday 12th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I do not think the hon. Gentleman is being entirely fair. A specific part of the report deals with the remit of the new Financial Conduct Authority, and it says that—although we have changed our proposal in the light of the interim report, as I announced at the Mansion House—we could go further and make the requirement to promote competition an overriding duty on the authority. We should look at that over the next couple of months. I would welcome the input of the Select Committee, and we could respond later this year.

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

On the impact of these reforms on lending, does the Chancellor agree that bad banks are bad for growth too, and therefore strengthening our banks and financial services industry, as proposed in the report, is good for the UK economy?

[Mr Osborne]

Yes, in short: I agree with my hon. Friend. John Vickers and his commissioners explicitly address the costs and benefits of these changes, and although they accept that there will be some additional costs, they will be more than outweighed by the broader benefits that include the benefits of having an environment in which banks are seen as more stable and the benefit to the UK economy of retail banks using their retail deposits to support retail lending.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 6th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I think the hon. Gentleman is being rather harsh on Hugh Dalton, who I think also went to Eton.

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

Do not recent revelations show that the previous Government were masters of nothing?

[Mr Osborne]

That is a brilliant plug for my hon. Friend’s new book. I am sure that the whole House will want to read it, because it will remind us of everything that went wrong under the previous Government.

Global Economy

Debate between George Osborne and Matt Hancock

Thursday 11th August 2011 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

In terms of the stimulus to the British economy, what does the Chancellor think would be the effect of increased borrowing, which would then have an impact on increased mortgage rates for millions of people up and down the country? What would be the aggregate impact, say, of a VAT cut?

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend is right that there is a significant monetary stimulus in place through the very low market interest rates and of course the official rate. Both of those would go up, almost certainly in the case of the markets and probably in the case of the Monetary Policy Committee, although it is independent, and that is why all this talk of more fiscal stimulus is a debate that is happening only in the Labour party of the United Kingdom, alone in the world. It is very difficult to find an opposition anywhere in Europe arguing for less deficit reduction coming off the published plans of a Government. As I say, if the shadow Chancellor turned up at one of these meetings and put forward his proposal, he would be laughed out of the meeting.

Sovereign Grant Bill

Debate between George Osborne and Matt Hancock

Thursday 14th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I should make it clear that it is an established principle that the income from that property, which is held in trust, is for the private purposes of the royal family.

In response to the hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Jones), I point out that there are of course some areas of royal financing—I will come on to say something about royal protection—where it is very difficult to be public about some of the sums of money involved. The Bill—I hope that we will soon get into the meat of it—is a mechanism for helping to continue the current level of spending. As I say, it is perfectly within the rights of the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee, if they want to, to look at payments from the Ministry of Defence, but that has to be a matter for them.

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

As the most senior member of the Public Accounts Committee in the Chamber—because I am the only one here—I think that I speak for everybody on that Committee when I say that we welcome the additional transparency and very much look forward to bringing the royal household before it to answer the questions that have rightly been raised across the Chamber.

[Mr Osborne]

I thank my hon. Friend. When the Chair of the PAC, the right hon. Member for Barking (Margaret Hodge), spoke in the debate two weeks ago, she was very generous in her tribute and made it pretty clear that the PAC would be getting to work on its job. I served on the PAC, as its most junior member, with the hon. Member for Glasgow South West, and I remember us making an interesting visit to Kensington palace to investigate royal finances. For some years, therefore, the PAC has been establishing a reputation for examining the books in this area.

Banking

Debate between George Osborne and Matt Hancock

Wednesday 9th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

Unfortunately, if we sold those shares today, we would lose money as a country. Of course we want to return those banks to the private sector. That is clearly an objective of this Government, and I suspect that it will be an important issue in this Chamber during this Parliament. The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point: a huge sum of money was put in to bail out the banks and no conditions were attached. With all the things that I have talked about today and all the things that the shadow Chancellor asked about, such as pay and transparency, when the previous Government had the leverage, they did not use it. Unfortunately, we have to deal with that inheritance.

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

Yesterday, before the Public Accounts Committee, Treasury civil servants explained that the previous Government had the opportunity to seek to put constraints on this year’s bonuses at the partly state-owned banks, but that they chose not to. Is the Chancellor disappointed by that?

[Mr Osborne]

I am not only disappointed by it; it has been a constraint in what we have been dealing with. It is very explicit—[Interruption.] The shadow Chancellor says this is rubbish, but that was the agreement that he and his colleagues signed up to. That is the problem on this issue, and I think that that is beginning to dawn on them. They have a past—they have a record. It is a record of letting the City get away with murder, and of the rest of us having to pick up the pieces.

Bank Bonuses

Debate between George Osborne and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 11th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

We have introduced a permanent bank levy. An argument was made at the general election by Labour Treasury Ministers and the Labour Prime Minister that we should not introduce a levy unilaterally, as it would make Britain uncompetitive. That argument was aired then, and we have now introduced a permanent bank levy. I do not know whether the Labour party supports it or not, but it will raise almost £10 million during this Parliament, and it applies each and every year, rather than being a one-off.

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

Has the Chancellor noted that in The Guardian this morning, when given the opportunity to support the idea of continuing the bank payroll tax, the right hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Mr Darling), whom I cannot see in the Chamber, refused to back the opportunistic policy of the Leader of the Opposition?

[Mr Osborne]

The former Chancellor has clearly made his views known, and I would suggest that he has more credibility on the subject than the shadow Chancellor.

Autumn Forecast

Debate between George Osborne and Matt Hancock

Monday 29th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

Will the Chancellor give us his assessment of what would happen if we ignored the advice of the IMF, the OECD and the EU, and moved from the path of putting our own house in order?

[Mr Osborne]

It is not a bad test of the policy offered to the Government from the Opposition to consider what would happen if we actually did it tomorrow. If the shadow Chancellor stood up tomorrow, or if I adopted his plan, and announced that the UK was backing off its fiscal consolidation plan and that it would take much longer, where do we actually think the UK would be within about 30 minutes of that statement?

Financial Assistance (Ireland)

Debate between George Osborne and Matt Hancock

Monday 22nd November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

As I say, I do not think that it is sensible for me to speculate about any other country in Europe or anywhere else in the world in the current environment. I would make two observations. One is that the IMF is well resourced and is now on the road to reform, so that it properly reflects the balance of economic power in the world. It is therefore well placed to deal with whatever situation emerges, in whatever part of the world. As for the eurozone stability facility, that has to be a decision for members of the eurozone. They contribute to the facility, and they have set aside a considerable sum of money—€440 billion.

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

Is not the lesson from what is happening in Ireland clear: that countries need to get their own houses in order? Would it not be utter folly for us to take as the lesson that we should divert from the path of getting our house in order here in the UK?

[Mr Osborne]

I agree with my hon. Friend. I make the point again that if we followed the prescription advanced by the Opposition—they suggest that tomorrow I should get up and announce a brand-new Budget, and engage in fiscal loosening at a time when we have the largest budget deficit in the G20 and at a time of heightened concern about sovereign debt—that would be a completely irresponsible path to take.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 12th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

Since the formation of a Government who are determined to deal with the deficit, market interest rates have in some cases halved. What impact does the Chancellor think that has had on both our GDP growth and the interest payments that we have to make on Government debt?

[Mr Osborne]

First, the fall has helped to reduce interest payments, and secondly it has helped many companies during the recovery. It is striking how our market interest rates have fallen since taking the steps that we announced in the Budget. That is not the case in some other countries in Europe that had similar market interest rates to ours at the time of the general election.

Proposed Public Expenditure Cuts

Debate between George Osborne and Matt Hancock

Monday 13th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

The people who are talking down the British economy are the Opposition. Since the hon. Gentleman mentioned the IMF, let me remind him what it said this weekend:

“Fiscal consolidation remains essential for strong, sustained growth over the medium term.”

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

Since the election, the interest rates on gilts at two and three years—the kind of time periods that people borrow for their mortgages—have halved. Does the Chancellor think that that has anything to do with the new Government getting to grips with the nation’s finances?

[Mr Osborne]

I think it does have something to do with the new Government setting out their plan, and it is easy to see why. We can compare what has happened to market interest rates for the United Kingdom with market interest rates for countries such as Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Greece. At the time of the general election, it was well understood that people in the world were concerned about the record UK budget deficit, the largest in the G20. As a result of the steps that we have taken in the Budget—which we now need to see through in the spending review—we have restored stability to the economy and helped to bring down market interest rates. That would not have happened if Labour had stayed in office.

Financial Services Regulation

Debate between George Osborne and Matt Hancock

Wednesday 16th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I think everyone would acknowledge the work the right hon. Gentleman has done on the issue, over many years, on behalf of his constituents and other people who were so badly affected by that scandal. I was of course present at the exchange between him and the shadow Chancellor about the publication of the secret Bingham report—if I can put it like that—and I have asked for urgent advice about that and for a copy of the report so that I, too, can read it.

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

In a similar exchange in a debate last week, did my right hon. Friend hear the shadow Chancellor say that the former Government did not understand the systemic risks in the banking system? Does he share my surprise that Members on the Labour Front Bench are no longer willing to engage in an argument about putting right the system of banking regulation that so spectacularly failed?

[Mr Osborne]

I am surprised, and I am not sure whether the shadow Chancellor is committing his party for the rest of this Parliament to be against reform of the structure of banking. I see quite a lot of heads shaking, so perhaps he is not. We shall wait and see. It is worth noting that on 8 June Lord Young of Norwood Green, a Minister at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in the last Government, referred to

“the tripartite relationship that was supposed to identify and regulate the systemic risk in British banking—a relationship that we all know failed somewhat spectacularly.”—[Official Report, House of Lords, 8 June 2010; Vol. 719, c. 630.]

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 8th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

The ambition, of course, is to try to get unemployment falling, but it is rising at the moment. That is the situation that we inherited—as is inequality, which we inherited too.

[Matthew Hancock (West Suffolk) (Con)]

Is the Chancellor aware of the recent Institute for Fiscal Studies report which showed that, going into the recession, the budget deficit in the UK was already one of the highest in the developed world?

[Mr Osborne]

I am absolutely aware of that report, because my hon. Friend drew it to my attention about three months ago, for which I thank him.