Amendment of the Law

Lord Evans of Rainow Excerpts

Monday 28th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con)]

Before I dive into my speech, I just want to provide clarity on a matter that has caused considerable trouble for Labour Members. In last Thursday’s Budget debate, the shadow Chancellor rightly referred to Members getting confused between debt and the deficit, but one of the worst offenders is the hon. Member for Streatham (Mr Umunna). Given his extremely confident exterior, his no doubt lengthy experience of working in the City and his position on the Treasury Committee, one would not expect him to be so easily confused about basic economic terms, but he has talked about “paying down the deficit”. For his benefit, let me explain: you can pay off or pay down debt, but you cannot pay down a deficit. The deficit is the gap between income and expenditure, and therefore the level of borrowing required. This is not just pedantic semantics, because it really matters when the Labour party confuses debt and the deficit. It makes a policy of halving the deficit over the course of this Parliament appear reasonable, but it is in fact a policy that involves continuing with massive levels of borrowing well beyond 2015, and saddling our children and grandchildren with even more debt. That is why a structural deficit is something that we need to eliminate and why two political parties have come together to achieve this goal by the end of this Parliament. I am very pleased that this Budget keeps us on track to do this.

Having got that off my chest, may I say that I am delighted to speak in this Budget debate and I am delighted at the announcements made last week by my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne)? My constituency stretches from the border with Tatton in mid-Cheshire all the way to Runcorn and Merseyside. As I have mentioned before, I am the only Government Member with a constituency on the Mersey estuary, so I am very pleased to welcome this Budget, which does more for Merseyside than any of Labour’s 13 Budgets between 1997 and 2010. The plans for enterprise zones in both Merseyside and Greater Manchester are great news for my constituents, who commute to both cities in large numbers. Along with the reduction in corporation tax and increased relief for small businesses, the zones will bring investment, help boost growth and create jobs.

I am also thrilled about the decision to invest £100 million in science capital development, with a substantial share going to the Daresbury science and innovation campus, in my constituency. That investment provides a sharp contrast with the Labour years, when funding was taken away from Daresbury and the north, to be put into alternative centres in the south-east. Many Members may be growing tired of my constant references to this world-class facility, but I will continue to support it in any way I can, and I welcome the creation of thousands of high-tech local jobs.

The timing of that investment also happens to be rather helpful for me. Just two days before the Budget, Rob Polhill, the Labour leader of Halton borough council attacked me in the local paper, asking:

“What new money has he actually won for Halton since he became the MP?”

Councillor Polhill has been very quiet since the Budget. But to be fair to him, he is not the only Labour politician struggling to respond to the Budget. The Leader of the Opposition’s Budget response last week was the most astonishing performance I have ever seen in this Chamber. He talked for 15 minutes but said nothing. Labour lack any credibility on the economy. Despite their leader ordering Front Benchers not to make any unfunded spending commitments in February, they went on to make £12 billion of spending commitments in just four weeks. The Labour Party has not changed: it is still suffering from spending diarrhoea—or, to use the correct medical Latin, “Balls-itis”.

I could list every welcome measure in the Budget, but I would run out of time. So let me focus on three areas that will help to reduce the burden on families. The 1p cut in fuel duty and the scrapping of Labour’s fuel escalator is very welcome. Many constituents have got in touch to express their concerns about rising prices, and I know that the cost of running a car falls particularly heavily on those with children. I have three young children and “Mum’s Taxis” takes them to football, cricket, rugby, jujitsu and parties. When we bought our Vauxhall Zafira five years ago, it cost £30 to fill the tank and it is now nearly £60. I congratulate the Government on the action they have taken; if Labour were still in power, people would be paying 6p a litre more in fuel duty. Labour is the party that punishes the motorist at every opportunity.

I welcome the help for home owners and the help on to the property ladder for first-time buyers. The Firstbuy programme of equity loans is an excellent initiative. When I knock on doors in my constituency, I regularly hear people’s worries that their children or grandchildren will never get to own their own home and will have no choice but to move away from Cheshire, so I am proud to support a Government who are taking practical steps to encourage more house building and to help people on to the property ladder. Finally, I congratulate the Government on raising the personal tax free allowance again. That is a big help for many people and has now taken more than a million of the lowest earners out of paying income tax altogether.

I shall finish by giving my full support to this excellent Budget, which boosts growth, helps families and is exceptionally good news for my constituency.