Lilian Greenwood
Main Page: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)Department Debates - View all Lilian Greenwood's debates with the HM Treasury
(11 years, 2 months ago)
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Mr Osborne
We are now looking, through the Basel agreement, at a leverage ratio as a back-stop to regulation in this country, and of course we have the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Bill coming through Parliament better to protect and regulate our financial services. My hon. Friend is quite right to remind us of who was the City Minister when the City blew up.
Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)
In February 2010, the Chancellor asked:
“What investor is going to come to the UK when they fear a downgrade of our credit rating?”
What I and my constituents want to know is this: does he still think that a downgrade will drive investors away, and if not, what has changed?
Mr Osborne
I am very clear, and was clear then, that the test of the Government’s economic credibility is out there in the markets with the interest rates that we can charge and in the corporate tax environment and the general competitiveness of the economy that we offer. Since I made those statements, this country has actually become more competitive and climbed up the league tables of international competitiveness. There was a survey last week on business tax, which said that this country had gone from being one of the least competitive business tax regimes in the world to being one of the most competitive.