Income tax (charge)

Debate between Graeme Downie and Torsten Bell

Thursday 31st October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Graeme Downie (Dunfermline and Dollar) (Lab)]

The right hon. Member was keen to quote the IFS earlier. Does he also agree with the IFS that

“it was not credible for Jeremy Hunt to claim that planned departmental spending limits would hold”

and there was

“no world in which 2 per cent rises would have happened and been sustained”?

[Torsten Bell (Swansea West) (Lab)]

Hear, hear.

[Jeremy Hunt]

I always listen to the IFS, and indeed to the Resolution Foundation, very carefully. I think that the IFS was right—[Interruption.] Let me answer the point, if I may. The IFS was right to say that it would be very challenging to hold to 1% spending assumptions, but in the Budget earlier this year I explained exactly how we would do that. I asked the NHS, “How are we going to improve efficiency so that we can live within tight spending limits?” The NHS said, “We need to overhaul the IT systems.” We gave the NHS £3.5 billion to do so, and in return it was able to deliver 2% productivity savings.