Oral Answers to Questions

Glyn Davies Excerpts

Tuesday 16th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

I have to say that that sounds like rather an overestimate, but the hon. Lady is right to say that employers are spelling out their own plans for redundancies and for managing their work force in an appropriate way. I recognise that many staff will be very concerned about that, but I believe that it is right that they hear about specific plans from their own management, rather than draw conclusions from higher level aggregate numbers.

[Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)]

17. What recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the co-ordination of efforts to reduce Government deficits.

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Justine Greening)]

The UK has been actively engaged in G20 discussions. The Prime Minister and the Chancellor attended the G20 summit on 11 and 12 November, which delivered the Seoul action plan and pledged to continue co-ordinated efforts to generate strong, sustainable and balanced growth. In this action plan, the advanced economies committed to

“formulate and implement clear, credible, ambitious and growth-friendly medium-term fiscal consolidation plans in line with the Toronto commitment, differentiated according”—

of course—

“to national circumstances.”

[Glyn Davies]

Bearing in mind reports of continuing threats to some of our EU partners, does the Minister agree that the International Monetary Fund’s recent growth forecasts underline the need for an ambitious and credible strategy for dealing with the budget deficit?

[Justine Greening]

My hon. Friend is right about that. The IMF clearly supported the efforts that the coalition Government have been making both in the emergency Budget and the spending review to get to grips with the terrible fiscal deficit handed over by the previous Government. The OECD also welcomed the balance that we struck in the spending review between not only protecting growth, but tackling debt.