Employer National Insurance Contributions
Debate between Kevin Bonavia and Caroline Nokes(2 weeks, 5 days ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Melanie Ward (Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy) (Lab)
My hon. Friend is talking about fixing the foundations and that point was also made by the now absent hon. Member for Angus and Perthshire Glens (Dave Doogan) earlier in the debate. Today was Budget day in the Scottish Parliament, where of course the Scottish Government had a record amount of funding to spend. I just want to share with the House what was said about that Budget by the Fraser of Allander Institute. It said—
Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)
Order. We simply cannot have interventions of that length. Only nine Members are going to get to speak this evening and the hon. Lady is on the list, but those who choose to make long interventions might find themselves removed from it.
Kevin Bonavia
I totally agree with my hon. Friend that this Government are supporting people across the whole country, including Scotland today, and I really hope the Scottish Government use the money they have been given well.
Returning to the Opposition motion, were they also opposed to our country being left a £22 billion black hole by the last Government? Where they also opposed to the disastrous Liz Truss mini-Budget, which included £45 billion of unfunded tax cuts, and which shocked the markets, crashed the pound and skyrocketed mortgage rates? Were they also opposed to the last Government’s spring Budget, which included myriad damaging unfunded promises in an attempt to flash the cash at the public ahead of an election? If they do now oppose all the above, they must agree with me that we have to restore economic stability by funding our pledges. That means finding money, and if it is not through this measure, would they tax working people or make another black hole? We have to face down the reality of these choices for what they are.
It is overwhelmingly clear that the shadow Cabinet, who were exiled into opposition this summer, have not learned a single thing. They have made £6.7 billion in unfunded spending commitments in just four weeks. At least we can be grateful that they are not in the position to do more damage at the moment. Turning to what the funds raised from this measure will do, are the Opposition opposed to investing an extra £25.6 billion to fix the foundations of our NHS or cutting waiting times with 40,000 extra elective appointments a week?