Oral Answers to Questions

Kwasi Kwarteng Excerpts

Tuesday 10th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I have not heard in the 54 minutes of these questions either an apology for what happened under the Labour Government or a single economic policy being advanced. If the Labour party is against our welfare cuts or spending cuts, let it have the courage to get up and say that it would reverse them. We have not heard that at all in this questions session.

[Kwasi Kwarteng (Spelthorne) (Con)]

T8. My right hon. Friend is well aware that 80% of the employment in my constituency comes from the private sector. Will he tell us his plans for increasing private sector involvement in the economy and for giving that vital sector some support?

[Mr Osborne]

Of course one of the key things as the economy recovers is not to make the mistakes of the past and not to have the unbalanced economy that we had before the financial crash, when, for example, even in the boom years, private sector employment fell in some regions such as west midlands. What we must do in my hon. Friend’s constituency and elsewhere is support small businesses that are starting up, get the capital to the small businesses that want to expand and encourage the big companies to invest. In all those areas, there is positive news, but we have to stick at it.