Oral Answers to Questions

Gerald Howarth Excerpts

Wednesday 17th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

We have been able to address some of the concerns about lending rights in the past couple of years. I am very happy to look specifically at the issue the hon. Gentleman raises to see if there is more we can do.

[Sir Gerald Howarth (Aldershot) (Con)]

Today’s unemployment figures provide further compelling evidence of the strength of the United Kingdom’s economic recovery, thanks in large measure to the long-term economic plan for this country. But given the strength of that recovery, may I lodge an appeal to my right hon. Friend that we now commit to spending 2% of GDP on our defences, both to plug the military capability gaps we have had to sustain and, in these troubled times, to assure our principal ally, the United States of America, that so long as we have a Conservative Government, defence of the realm will be the No. 1 priority of this Government?

[Mr Osborne]

First, I welcome my hon. Friend’s support for the economic plan that is delivering those jobs in Aldershot. Of course, the military and defence industries are an incredibly important employer in his constituency. He is absolutely right that we cannot have strong defence without a strong economy, and he is right to link the two. We are spending 2% of our GDP on defence. We have made a big commitment to the future equipment programme for defence, and we will set out our future plans at the spending review.

Since my hon. Friend raises a military matter, I will, if I may, Mr Speaker, at the end of this session, say that this is the 75th anniversary of the sinking of HMT Lancastria. It was the largest loss of British lives at sea in the history of this maritime nation. Some of the survivors are still alive today, and many of course mourn those who died. It was kept secret at the time for reasons of wartime secrecy. It is appropriate today in this House of Commons to remember all those who died, those who survived and the families who still mourn them.

Oral Answers to Questions

Gerald Howarth Excerpts

Wednesday 4th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

First, I support the living wage and I think that those employers who can pay it should pay it. But what we do to help all people in this situation is to make sure that the minimum wage is properly enforced, to see it increased over time and then, of course, to lift people out of tax. We have lifted 3 million people out of tax by raising to £10,600 the amount of money that someone can earn before they start paying tax. That has benefited low-paid people and has benefited women, and if we get a Conservative Government after the next election, we will raise that threshold to £12,500 so that someone can work 30 hours on the minimum wage and pay no income tax whatsoever.

[Sir Gerald Howarth (Aldershot) (Con)]

As we approach the general election, may I urge my right hon. Friend to abandon his natural reticence and remind the British people that the last Labour Prime Minister destroyed the public finances, ran up a massive £156 billion budget deficit, plundered the pension funds and sold off the gold at a ridiculously low price, whereas under my right hon. Friend’s stewardship and five years of hard graft the United Kingdom now has the fastest-growing economy in the G7, with average wages rising in real terms for the first time since 2007? What we need is, as my right hon. Friend said, a Conservative Government.

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that. I have not felt particularly reticent today, but what I would say is that the economy is recovering. We see that in jobs, we now see that in living standards and we see it in the lowest rate of inflation that we have had for many years in our country. The economy has turned around, we have turned that corner, things are getting better and we must not let Labour wreck it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Gerald Howarth Excerpts

Wednesday 21st January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Sir Gerald Howarth (Aldershot) (Con)]

As the Member privileged to represent the home of the British Army in Aldershot, which I can tell the Father of the House was established as a direct result of the inquiry into the Crimean war and the failures thereof, may I ask my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to reassure me that press reports this morning about discussions on reducing the regular Army from the already low level of 82,000 to 60,000, are wholly unfounded and that, so long as he remains Prime Minister, no such cuts will be contemplated?

[The Prime Minister]

I can absolutely give my hon. Friend that assurance. Those ideas are absolutely not on the table. As long as I am Prime Minister, the regular Army will stay at its current size.