Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Glyn Davies and George Osborne(9 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Osborne
Every single Finance Bill we have introduced has been about tackling tax evasion and tax avoidance. Indeed we have also introduced into this country the diverted profits tax—almost a first in the world—which is tackling those international businesses that move their profits offshore to avoid tax. I can tell the hon. Gentleman that in the Budget we will take further action to clamp down on avoidance and evasion.
Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)
T2. Last week, the Chancellor announced a simple new rule to ensure that we run a surplus in normal times. Does he agree that the Opposition’s description of this as no more than a “distraction” proves that no lessons have been learned and that they would make exactly the same mistakes if they were ever given the opportunity again?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Glyn Davies and George Osborne(11 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Osborne
That is not part of the Government’s programme. We are seeking to help young people into work through the Work programme and the Youth Contract. The good news is that the youth claimant count has fallen by many tens of thousands. I would have thought that the hon. Gentleman would use this opportunity to get up and point out that unemployment has fallen in his constituency over the last year, and there are—[Interruption.] Unemployment has fallen in his constituency, and every job created is one that he should be celebrating. He should remind his constituents of the enormous damage done to the north-east economy by the previous Labour Government.
Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)
T3. The most important financial issue in the lives of many young families is mortgage interest. Does my right hon. Friend the Chancellor agree that the best way—indeed, the only way—to keep mortgage rates low is to stick with the Government’s economic plan of cutting the deficit?
Mr Osborne
I completely agree with my hon. Friend. Of course, one of the consequences of the higher borrowing that the Labour party is advocating would be not just higher taxes, but higher interest rates, which would be absolutely disastrous for families. That is precisely why we have to stick with the economic plan that is delivering the recovery.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Glyn Davies and George Osborne(11 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr George Osborne
The US fiscal consolidation is faster this year than the UK consolidation. The structural deficit in the UK has fallen by more than in the US. But look at the UK—we have created over a million new jobs in the private sector. That is one of the most impressive employment records anywhere in the world.
Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)
T6. Devolution is a continuing process. Does my right hon. Friend agree that if the National Assembly for Wales is to develop into a fiscally responsible governing institution, it must have responsibility for raising a significant part of its own budget?
Banking Commission Report
Debate between Glyn Davies and George Osborne(13 years ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Osborne
I believe this is quite a complex operation. We have looked at this, as has John Vickers—and he thought 2013 was the appropriate timetable. We are trying to create a seamless service through which people can indicate that they want to change their current account; that happens within seven days without any charges and all the direct debits and the like will follow people to the new bank. It is, as I say, quite complex to achieve and we want the service to be seamless for the customers, so I would rather spend a few months to get it right rather than try to rush its introduction.
Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)
Notwithstanding the benefit to individual taxpayers, the banking sector is unlikely to welcome the separation of its retail banking from its investment banking activities, so will my right hon. Friend assure us that he will stand his ground and ensure that our banks cannot look to the taxpayer to save them from the consequence of high-risk borrowing in future?
Mr Osborne
I can absolutely assure my hon. Friend that we will stand our ground. While I have been on my feet, I have received the news that John Vickers has welcomed our response. I absolutely commit to my hon. Friend, to John Vickers and to others that we will implement the proposals in the report to make sure that our banking system is safer, that taxpayers are better protected, that customers get a better service and that we do not repeat what went so badly wrong under the previous Government’s regulatory regime.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Glyn Davies and George Osborne(13 years, 3 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)
12. What recent assessment he has made of the financial crisis in the eurozone.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
The financial crisis in the eurozone is extremely serious. Fortunately, Britain is not in the euro; unfortunately, however, we are not immune to the instability on our doorstep. The euro area must implement its policy commitments to address the crisis, made most recently at the July summit. As I have said, the euro area should follow the remorseless logic of monetary union with greater fiscal integration. We must ensure that we are not part of that integration and that our national interests are protected and promoted at all points.
Mr Osborne
As my hon. Friend knows, the treaty does not provide for a member state to leave at the moment, and there is no immediate prospect of major treaty renegotiation—something that the German Government have made very clear again this week. In other words, we need to focus on the task at hand, which is implementing all the agreements, communiqués and commitments made in recent months by the eurozone. That is absolutely crucial to the stability not just of the eurozone but of the wider global economy.
Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)
Is the Chancellor aware that under the previous Labour Government, of whom the current shadow Chancellor was a prominent member, a euro preparations unit with a staff of 17 worked for 13 years on 11,500 documents to prepare Britain for joining the euro?
Financial Assistance (Ireland)
Debate between Glyn Davies and George Osborne(14 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Osborne
If the hon. Lady looks around the western economies, she will see that countries with large budget deficits—we have the largest—are moving to take further steps to show how they are reducing them. I cannot see around the international scene a single group of people other than the Opposition who actually believe that the UK should be loosening the fiscal position from what we have set out. That really is completely incredible and carries absolutely no conviction in any other part of the world. As part of the Labour party’s re-evaluation of its entire economic policy, I suggest that it start with that.
Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)
I would like to ask a question from a Welsh perspective. We all understand the impact of a strong economy in Ireland on Northern Ireland, but does the Chancellor recognise that a strong Irish economy is also particularly important to Wales?
Mr Osborne
Yes, I do. Ireland’s links are not just with Northern Ireland, they are also with Wales, Scotland and England. The Irish banks were of course engaged in lending into the UK economy, UK banks have engaged in lending into the Irish economy, and many companies export to each other’s countries. We are deeply interconnected, which is why I have proposed this set of measures.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Glyn Davies and George Osborne(14 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)
6. What recent representations he has received on steps to reduce the budget deficit.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
The Government’s plan to tackle the record budget deficit they inherited has been supported by the CBI, the OECD and, now, the International Monetary Fund. We have received more than 60,000 representations from the public as to how to go about deficit reduction and many of their suggestions are being put into effect. To date, we have received no proposals and no suggestions from the official Opposition, who created the deficit in the first place.
Mr Osborne
My hon. Friend is absolutely right about debt interest; this country is now paying £120 million a day in debt interest. Debt interest under the previous Government was forecast to rise to £60 billion a year, making it one of the largest items of Government expenditure. He talks about suggestions from Members of Parliament. The new leader of the Labour party said:
“I think whoever is the Labour leader will, by the time of the spending review, have to show that they have an alternative plan”.
So the clock is ticking.
Glyn Davies
The Chancellor attended the IMF conference at the weekend. Can he share with us what our international partners are saying about the coalition Government’s efforts to deal with the deficit?
Mr Osborne
As I am sure my hon. Friend is aware, the IMF’s article IV study of the United Kingdom said:
“The government’s strong and credible multi-year fiscal deficit reduction plan is essential to ensure debt sustainability.”
That is in marked contrast to last year’s IMF report on the UK. At the IMF annual meetings, which I attended last weekend, it was made clear that concerns about sovereign debt issues in Europe were one of the greatest threats to the world recovery. Of course, the decisions that we have taken in this House have moved Britain out of the financial danger zone and helped to deal with that potential threat.