James Wild
Main Page: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)Department Debates - View all James Wild's debates with the HM Treasury
(1 month, 1 week ago)
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James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)
It is good that the Chancellor has had those meetings, but perhaps they have come too late, because when the former Defence Secretary resigned, he said that the Treasury was “unwilling” to provide the resources needed to defend the country against rising threats. The Chancellor has said that national security always comes first, so why this dereliction of duty? Why is she failing to tackle the ever-expanding welfare budget and blocking the defence investment plan from getting the funding needed to meet the threats that we face?
Rachel Reeves
The hon. Gentleman is literally sitting two places away from the right hon. Member for Central Devon (Sir Mel Stride)—the former welfare Secretary who presided over a record increase in welfare spending.
We have commissioned Alan Milburn to do a review—the first part of which was published recently—to address the problem that we inherited of young people not in employment, education or training and get young people back into work. I am proud to be the Chancellor who has overseen the biggest uplift in defence spending since the end of the cold war. We funded that through our difficult decision to reduce overseas development assistance, but that was the right choice. When we set out the defence investment plan ahead of the Ankara NATO summit, the whole House will see the further changes we are making in order to better support defence in an increasingly unstable world.
James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)
Next week, those swingeing 50% tariffs on steel imports will hit manufacturing businesses across the country, putting thousands of jobs at risk. While they are intended to protect domestic production, industry is warning that many grades simply are not made in the UK in the quantity needed. It is a simple question for the Chancellor: will she guarantee that tariffs will not apply where businesses cannot get steel in the UK?
Rachel Reeves
Our steel strategy protects the UK steel industry, so that more orders can come to British Steel and other steel manufacturers in the UK. We will not allow our steel sector to be undercut by cheap foreign imports.