John Stevenson
Main Page: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)Department Debates - View all John Stevenson's debates with the Department for Education
(12 years, 3 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Greg Clark
I will, but it is fair to point out that, under the Labour Government, youth unemployment increased by 40%, so I think the hon. Gentleman is wrong to imply that that phenomenon has just established itself. He will know that the best and only way to create jobs is on the basis of a successful, stable economy. He will have seen the Institute for Fiscal Studies report yesterday that made it very clear that had the previous Government’s plans been in place, borrowing would have been at £76 billion in 2016-17 rather than £26 billion. That would have been disastrous for the credit rating of this country and the interest rates on which job creation depends.
John Stevenson (Carlisle) (Con)
Does the Minister agree that one way to create jobs and promote job creation is for cities to embrace the concept of elected mayors and would he encourage the Scottish Executive to do so?
Greg Clark
That is a matter for the Scottish Executive, but my hon. Friend will know that we are debating orders in Parliament to require referendums in the cities of England to give people the choice of whether they should have elected mayors. We would not be doing that if we did not think that elected mayors gave the kind of leadership that London has benefited from considerably through the leadership of the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, in recent years.