Oral Answers to Questions

John Robertson Excerpts

Wednesday 14th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The report said specifically that

“the increase in net immigration to the UK was not driven primarily by the economic performance of the UK or other countries.”

Instead, the report points to immigration policy. The fact is that the previous Government quadrupled immigration and let an extra 2.2 million people into the country. The answer is to deal with the bogus colleges, and we are doing that; to put a limit on economic migration from outside the EU, and we are doing that; and to have proper border controls and a border police command, and we are doing that as well.

[John Robertson (Glasgow North West) (Lab)]

Q6. The autumn statement saw 400,000 Scottish children lose more than £40 million as a result of changes in the tax system. In my constituency that meant that £600,000 was taken from children. Why is the Prime Minister taking money out of children’s pockets, while allowing it to remain in the pockets of bankers?

[The Prime Minister]

I am afraid the hon. Gentleman is just plain wrong: the child tax credit is going up by £135. He talks about the bankers, but it is this Government who have put in place a bank levy that will raise more every year than Labour’s one-off bonus tax raised in one year.