Julian Brazier
Main Page: Julian Brazier (Conservative - Canterbury)Department Debates - View all Julian Brazier's debates with the HM Treasury
(10 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Nicky Morgan
My hon. Friend is, of course, right. The fall in living standards is a consequence of the economic crisis left to us, and the best way to deal with living standards is to deal with that economic crisis so that families can find work in a growing economy.
Mr Julian Brazier (Canterbury) (Con)
Does my hon. Friend agree that the reason we have had a big drop in living standards is that we had the largest drop in output since the second world war? As my hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Andrea Leadsom) says, we need to rebuild that output, as we are now doing, if we want to rebuild living standards.
Nicky Morgan
My hon. Friend is right. As I said, Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies said:
“We’ve have had the biggest recession we’ve had in 100 years”.
It is hardly surprising that household incomes and wages have fallen. We recognise that times have been very tough for households and for businesses, but as my right hon. Friend the Chancellor’s autumn statement showed last week, we are on the right path to a responsible recovery now.