Public Spending

Lindsay Hoyle Excerpts

Thursday 17th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)]

Order. Many hon. Members wish to get in. We have another statement to follow and there is business after that. I will certainly try to call as many hon. Members as possible, but if we can have quick questions and succinct answers, that will be of benefit to all.

[Michael Fallon (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

Is it not pretty clear that some of those projects were hastily scribbled cheques on a long overdrawn account? Would not today’s painful announcement have been completely unnecessary if Labour had carried out a proper comprehensive spending review last autumn, building into it a sustainable reserve?

--- Later in debate ---

[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Mr Deputy Speaker]

Order. Questions must be addressed—and the Minister must respond—not to the former Government, but to this Government and to today’s statement.

[Mr Angus Brendan MacNeil (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (SNP)]

How much does this review bring into question private finance initiatives or public-private partnerships that, at their inception, had bogus public sector comparators and have cost the public purse a lot more over the period? Will the Chief Secretary also ensure that there is no threat to the service provided by search-and-rescue helicopters, despite the suspension of procurement for helicopters? That service is vital to island communities such as mine.

--- Later in debate ---

[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Mr Deputy Speaker]

Order. I remind Members to try to keep to the subject of the statement; the Minister is not responsible for previous Government policies.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

If the Chief Secretary thinks that the biggest risk to jobs is the deficit, why does Britain have a better employment rate among all other European countries than America?

--- Later in debate ---

[Danny Alexander]

There was one—

[Mr Deputy Speaker]

Order.

[Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North) (Lab)]

This morning, when I asked the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker), for clarification of the Government’s commitment to funding for the reinvigoration of the Tyne and Wear metro, I was told to wait for the statement from the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Unfortunately, his statement has made it no clearer to the people of Tyne and Wear whether that vital transport infrastructure will be given the investment that it needs in order to survive—investment that has not been made for 30 years—or whether it will be left to die on its feet.