The Economy and Living Standards

Debate between George Osborne and Penny Mordaunt

Thursday 12th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I will give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth North (Penny Mordaunt) who made an absolutely brilliant opening to this Queen’s Speech debate.

[Penny Mordaunt (Portsmouth North) (Con)]

I can understand why the shadow Chancellor does not want to congratulate those on the Government Front Bench. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the people in Portsmouth—those who have taken a risk and set up a business, and the 2,000 people who have got back into work—ought to be praised for their achievements rather than have them dismissed by the Labour party?

[Mr Osborne]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. The progress being made in Portsmouth—the jobs created, the businesses set up and the support people get from their Member of Parliament—is an example of how the long-term economic plan is working for the people of Portsmouth, and how we need to go on working with that plan, rather than abandoning it.

The hon. Member for Wirral South (Alison McGovern) asked me what we can do to get the budget deficit down. I suspect that even the shadow Chancellor does not know. He tabled a motion today, although he did not speak to it. The cost of implementing it would be £14 billion. There is not a single measure in it that would reduce public spending or pay for that £14 billion price tag. It is completely incredible.

Economic Policy

Debate between George Osborne and Penny Mordaunt

Monday 25th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

Unless something happened while the shadow Chancellor was on his feet, the gilts market was flat on the day.

[Penny Mordaunt (Portsmouth North) (Con)]

The shadow Chancellor has admitted that his plan is to borrow even more. Although the Chancellor has a tough shift sorting out the disaster of Labour’s economic legacy, is he not glad that it is our shift when he stares at the car crash of an alternative opposite him?

IMF

Debate between George Osborne and Penny Mordaunt

Monday 23rd April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I can be very clear that the British Government would not allow the loan we are talking about—the loan from Britain—to be used for the eurozone bail-out fund. It is for specific countries, not currencies, as set out in the communiqué.

[Penny Mordaunt (Portsmouth North) (Con)]

What my constituents want to know is whether their money will be safe. Is the Chancellor aware of any instance of a country that has lent money to the IMF not being repaid in full?

[Mr Osborne]

No, there are no such instances. Every single country that has lent money to the IMF has got its money back.

Autumn Statement

Debate between George Osborne and Penny Mordaunt

Tuesday 29th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I explained that, pound for pound and in each year, we were paying for infrastructure spending with savings in current spending or underspend, so the position is absolutely consistent with the plan that I set out before. On jobs, I have not put a figure on the total number of jobs created by all this infrastructure—I do not want to over-promise and under-deliver. It will create jobs, but we do not have a figure. We are dramatically expanding the number of apprenticeships. I want to ensure that they are in the construction sector, and I would certainly hope that large firms taking part in Government infrastructure investment projects—and, indeed, firms in our small business scheme—are also taking on apprentices.

[Penny Mordaunt (Portsmouth North) (Con)]

May I welcome the Chancellor’s vote of confidence in the space sector today? I hope that Portsmouth, via Astrium, might benefit directly from that investment, but wherever the money goes, can he confirm that this Government will be—if he will forgive the expression—a “launch customer” and that our procurement will support those companies in massively increasing their exports?

[Mr Osborne]

We are giving specific support to new satellite manufacturing, which is a real success story in Britain—it is one of those untold stories. I know that the sector is particularly successful in the area that my hon. Friend represents. From memory—I will certainly correct the record if I have got this wrong—we are providing £25 million to support the development of new satellites, as a result bringing, we think, an additional £150 million of private sector investment into the small satellites sector, which I think is also taking place in the area that she represents. That is a good example of the Government trying to encourage the private sector and get jobs across the country.

Eurozone Crisis

Debate between George Osborne and Penny Mordaunt

Thursday 27th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. The European single market has helped the UK economy over the last couple of decades. We want to see it completed further and we want to see the services directive properly implemented. Competition has brought great benefits not just to the economy, but to European consumers, including those in this country. To my mind, that is what the European Union exists to do. It should make its contribution to growth across the continent.

[Penny Mordaunt (Portsmouth North) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend assure my constituents that the euro preparations unit has been abolished and that under this Government it will never be re-established?

[Mr Osborne]

That is an easy assurance for me to give to my hon. Friend’s constituents. There was a euro preparations unit in the Treasury when I arrived. It was shut down and it will not be reopened.

Eurozone

Debate between George Osborne and Penny Mordaunt

Monday 10th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I have made it a policy not to comment on the value of sterling and I do not intend to break that policy right now.

[Penny Mordaunt (Portsmouth North) (Con)]

Many of my constituents do not want the UK to be part of any new, permanent EU bail-out mechanism. Will the Chancellor confirm that under this Government we will not be part of such a mechanism?

[Mr Osborne]

I certainly can confirm that, and it is down to the hard negotiating effort of the Prime Minister at the European Council where it was agreed to wind down the temporary EU27 fund and that the permanent bail-out fund would not include Britain.

Bank Bonuses

Debate between George Osborne and Penny Mordaunt

Tuesday 11th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

The apology should start with the previous Labour Government. Unemployment is high in the right hon. Gentleman’s constituency because it rose under the previous Labour Government and we are having to deal with welfare costs because they soared under the previous Labour Government. When it comes to student fees, I believe that he was the Minister responsible for higher education who commissioned Lord Browne to do his report. Frankly, opportunism and the Labour party go hand in hand these days.

[Penny Mordaunt (Portsmouth North) (Con)]

When my constituents complain about bankers’ bonuses, it is usually in the same breath as highlighting poor banking practices such as overcharging as well as issues with their ability to get credit for their business. What assurances can the Chancellor give that those poor practices will stop?

[Mr Osborne]

It is explicitly those sorts of practices that are part of the discussions we are having with the banks. We want to ensure that they treat customers, including small businesses and households, more fairly, to look at the overcharging issue and to make sure that families and business are given good advance warning of the need to renegotiate terms. That is all part of what we seek to renegotiate. As I have said, we have heard absolutely no positive proposals from anyone in opposition. That says a great deal.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Penny Mordaunt

Tuesday 16th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt (Portsmouth North) (Con)]

Can the Chancellor confirm that, unlike the shadow Chancellor, he is not an instinctive cutter?

[Mr Osborne]

I did see that rather remarkable comment from the shadow Chancellor over the weekend. We are doing what we are doing because we have to—because of the size of the Budget deficit.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Penny Mordaunt

Tuesday 12th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

As the hon. Gentleman may know, I have met the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland and I am looking at the points that they raised with me. If he will forgive me, I will make an announcement on 20 October.

[Penny Mordaunt (Portsmouth North) (Con)]

Does the Minister think that we will stand a greater chance of having fairer taxation now that Finance Bills are published and properly consulted on, and will that stop appallingly unfair policies such as the abolition of the 10p tax rate ever being introduced again?

Office for Budget Responsibility

Debate between George Osborne and Penny Mordaunt

Monday 14th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

We have demonstrated that the OBR, alongside some of the other things we have done, is a commitment to the long-term sustainability of the British public finances, and I remind the hon. Gentleman of the following words of the Governor of the Bank of England:

“The most important thing now is for the new Government to deal with the challenge of the fiscal deficit. It is the single most pressing problem facing the United Kingdom”.

[Penny Mordaunt (Portsmouth North) (Con)]

One of the consequences of the previous Chancellor playing fantasy forecasts with this country’s growth projections is that the men and women of my constituency—and, I am sure, of elsewhere—feel they have been treated with contempt and as mere collateral damage of an election campaign. It is vital that we restore these people’s trust and confidence in Treasury reporting; it is, after all, they who are going to put this country back on its feet again. What will this Treasury team do to support that?

[Mr Osborne]

First, I will tell the Prime Minister what I am up to, because another thing that emerged over the weekend was that the former Chancellor of the Exchequer hid the numbers not only from the rest of the country, but from his own Prime Minister.