Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Iain Stewart Excerpts
Wednesday 20th March 2013

(11 years, 7 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton Portrait The Prime Minister
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First, let me remind the hon. Gentleman that only the Labour party could call a welfare reform a tax. It shows how little they understand how tax and benefits work. We are making available a discretionary fund that is there for the hard cases, but we are also recognising that there is a basic issue of cost—about £23 billion is spent on housing benefit every year—and a basic issue of fairness, not just between the private sector and the social sector but in recognising that there are 1.8 million people on housing waiting lists who would love to have a bedroom.

Iain Stewart Portrait Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South) (Con)
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Is my right hon. Friend aware that the Business Location Index has just cited Milton Keynes as the best place in the country to do business and that, with more than 2,000 business start-ups in the past year, it is Milton Keynes that is rebuilding our economy?

Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton Portrait The Prime Minister
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I was aware of that statistic, because my hon. Friend helpfully reminded me of it when we were in Milton Keynes together recently, talking about what a fantastic location for business it is, about how it is encouraging business start-ups and about how it is leading to a growth in employment in the region.