Tax Credits (Income Thresholds and Determination of Rates) (Amendment) Regulations 2015

Lord Spicer Excerpts

Monday 26th October 2015 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

Look, I cannot take those comments in any sort of context, having not read them. Of course, I accept what the noble Lord has reported about the leader of the Conservative Party in Scotland, but I am not aware of the general context in which she was speaking and I hope he will understand that.

[Lord Spicer (Con)]

Will the noble Earl say how these figures compare with the budget for the nation’s entire defence spending, which he deals with in his day job?

[Earl Howe]

The regulations before us account for £4.4 billion of public expenditure in the next financial year. That is a large slice of the defence budget, but it is not the total defence budget. It will however mean that the Chancellor has more money at his disposal to spend on schools, hospitals and those with disabilities. Incidentally, I say to the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of York that the national living wage is possible only because the economy of this country is strengthening, and it is strengthening because there is a high degree of confidence in the Government’s economic programme and their ability to deliver economic stability by, among other things, reducing the deficit. One has to look at the totality of what the Chancellor’s programme consists of.