Autumn Statement

Debate between Jonathan Ashworth and George Osborne

Wednesday 3rd December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend has been a great champion for Plymouth—I have visited some of the economic developments taking place there with him—including for better rail services, and the work on how to improve those services is under way because of his interventions. In addition, there are now major improvements on roads into the south-west. There was never any investment into the south-west when there was a Labour MP representing his constituency. This is all proof that Conservatives in the area are champions for the south-west and are delivering for the region.

[Jonathan Ashworth (Leicester South) (Lab)]

The Chancellor asked in 2010 that we judge him on whether he balanced the books by 2015, and he is set to fail that test. Will he explain why, compared with March, he has had to revise up borrowing for this year and next by £12.5 billion?

[Mr Osborne]

The hon. Gentleman, like the shadow Chancellor, neglects to say that borrowing has been revised down for the following three years of the forecast and that the structural deficit continues to fall at the same rate. The problem for Labour is that it has been parading around the television studios for the past two weeks saying, “Wait for the autumn statement and the big deterioration in the public finances.” Unfortunately for them, it has not happened. That is the problem with a shadow Chancellor who keeps staking the credibility of the Labour party on his terrible economic predictions.

Autumn Statement

Debate between Jonathan Ashworth and George Osborne

Thursday 5th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend has campaigned on behalf of his Rugby constituents for more opportunities for young people, and we are providing those opportunities through the abolition of the jobs tax and the steps that we have taken to enable his young constituents to obtain apprenticeships and go to university. Above all, however, we are helping the businesses in his constituency. He in particular campaigned for me to do something about business rates, so he can share the credit: he is part of the Government who have delivered today.

[Jonathan Ashworth (Leicester South) (Lab)]

My constituent Mrs Patricia Zachariah complained to me yesterday that her gas bill was set by to rise by 86%. Does the Chancellor think that that is acceptable? If not, why did he not take strong action today to deal with the energy companies that are causing so much difficulty to our hard-pressed constituents?

[Mr Osborne]

First, we have taken action to take £50 off people’s energy bills. Secondly, we are looking at competition in the market that was left to us by Labour where there were only six energy companies, in order to ensure that there are new companies for people to choose. We are also insisting that people are put on the lowest tariffs, and giving them a real opportunity to switch so that they can obtain a better deal.

Autumn Statement

Debate between Jonathan Ashworth and George Osborne

Tuesday 29th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Ashworth (Leicester South) (Lab)]

May I push the Chancellor a little further on borrowing, because so far in the exchanges he has not quite brought himself to admit that he is going to be borrowing £158 billion more than he planned to borrow a year ago? Will he confirm that that is the case—yes or no?

[Mr Osborne]

I set out the borrowing figures to Parliament and what the hon. Gentleman should admit is that the plan he is pursuing would add to the borrowing. We cannot borrow our way out of a debt crisis, and as long as the Labour party goes on advocating that approach, I suspect that its credibility will fall and fall.

Eurozone Crisis

Debate between Jonathan Ashworth and George Osborne

Thursday 27th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I can just say yes to that.

[Jonathan Ashworth (Leicester South) (Lab)]

May I just press the Chancellor a little further on the Prime Minister’s desire to repatriate powers over employment and social policy? What discussions has he had so far with eurozone Finance Ministers on these matters and how many of them would he expect to support the Prime Minister’s position?

[Mr Osborne]

The discussions on treaty change, which the Council conclusions on the eurozone mention, have only just begun, so I have not had those discussions.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jonathan Ashworth and George Osborne

Tuesday 21st June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr George Osborne]

As my right hon. Friend will know, the supply-side reforms that were set out in the growth review, including the reduction in corporate tax rates, are key. At the same time, as banks’ balance sheets inevitably contract after the credit crunch and after the dramatic increase in the size of balance sheets over recent years, we need to ensure that we try to protect small and medium-sized businesses from the effects of that. That is why we concluded the Merlin deal with the banks.

[Jon Ashworth (Leicester South) (Lab)]

The Minister will be aware that the claimant count has continued to rise in the past three months and that unemployment in many inner-city constituencies such as mine remains stubbornly high. Why will he not consider taxing the banks sufficiently to fund an inner-city youth jobs programme to help the young people on the estates in my constituency?

[Mr Osborne]

We have introduced a permanent bank levy that applies each and every year. There was a bank bonus tax for one year of the 13 years of the Labour Government; other than that, there were no charges on the banks. The former Chancellor of the Exchequer—my immediate predecessor—said that we could not repeat that because the bankers would find a way round it. We therefore looked to the advice of international bodies such as the IMF, and we introduced a bank levy that will raise more each and every year, net, than the Labour Government raised from the banks in any one year. That shows that we are asking the banks to make a decent contribution to the economy.