Jim Shannon
Main Page: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)Department Debates - View all Jim Shannon's debates with the HM Treasury
(1 day, 20 hours ago)
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Torsten Bell
I certainly can. Our reforms to the local government pension scheme will support local investment in every part of England and Wales. Our defence spending plans will be felt on the ground—total defence spending in the west midlands totals £1.6 billion a year. We are building reservoirs again, including one in the west midlands. We are also getting the country trading once again, including businesses in Tamworth, where PI-KEM, a specialist chemical supplier, recently won a major export order, with £100,000 in UK Export Finance support. Britain, and Tamworth, are open for business.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I want to ask about 18-year-olds, who are just starting off, being encouraged to take out a pension. Whenever I was 18, my mother took me down to see John Thompson, the pensions man in Ballywalter, and he said, “You’re going to take a pension.” I asked, “What for, Mum?” She said, “You’re taking a pension.” So I took the pension. Does the Minister agree that what everybody really needs is somebody like my mother to encourage them to take a pension?
Torsten Bell
I did not know where that was going, but I know that I speak for everybody in the House when I say that the whole country needs someone like the hon. Gentleman’s mother.