Middle East: Economic Update

Debate between Luke Charters and Rachel Reeves

Monday 9th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

I said in my statement that despite what we did in last year’s Budget to take £150 off domestic energy bills, there is a unique situation with regard to heating oil. That is why I was pleased to receive representations on that topic over the weekend—the Treasury is working through those proposals—and it is why the Financial Secretary to the Treasury will meet MPs this week. The reason prices are going up, though, is the challenges in getting oil and gas out of the middle east. That is why it is so important to de-escalate, but it is wrong for anyone to profiteer off the back of this crisis.

[Mr Luke Charters (York Outer) (Lab)]

Many of my constituents stranded in the middle east have been left out of pocket because of their travel insurance. In my view as a former regulator, those policies have overly broad exclusion terms. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on her meetings with the insurance sector, the Financial Conduct Authority and consumer groups, and will the City Minister meet me to discuss this issue?

[Rachel Reeves]

I am sure that the relevant Minister—whether that is a Minister in the Department for Transport or the Economic Secretary to the Treasury—will meet my hon. Friend. It is important that everybody who wants to get home from the middle east is able to do so. We welcome the work that airlines are doing with the support of the Government to get people home, but it is also important that people are not ripped off for that.

Public Spending: Inheritance

Debate between Luke Charters and Rachel Reeves

Monday 29th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Luke Charters (York Outer) (Lab)]

The OBR chair’s letter referenced earlier suggests that we could now be facing one of the largest ever year-ahead expenditures outside of a pandemic. This level of cover-up would never be tolerated in the private sector. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this is exactly why my constituents deserve transparency about the state of the public finances?

[Rachel Reeves]

My hon. Friend speaks powerfully on behalf of his constituents in York Outer. They voted for change because they were sick and tired of unfunded commitments, broken public services and the deterioration in living standards after 14 years of Conservative Government. Today, they found the legacy the previous Government left is even worse than we could have anticipated, with a £22 billion black hole in the public finances.

Economy, Welfare and Public Services

Debate between Luke Charters and Rachel Reeves

Monday 22nd July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

The Treasury Committee, as the right hon. Gentleman knows, can call in the chair and other members of the Office for Budget Responsibility, but his comments show exactly why we need this Bill: so that never again can we have a repeat of the mini Budget. The Bill will require every announcement that makes significant permanent changes to tax and spending to be subject to an independent assessment by the Office for Budget Responsibility. Why? Because unfunded, reckless commitments do not just threaten our public finances; they threaten people’s incomes and they threaten people’s mortgages. We saw that in the wake of the mini-Budget presided over by the former Member for South West Norfolk. I understand that she has taken umbrage in recent days at the idea that that episode was disastrous. Well, if any Conservative Member would like to dispute that fact today, I would be more than happy to give way. [Hon. Members: “Come on then!”] They cheered it at the time, but they are not cheering it now, and I do not imagine that they would put it on their leaflets.

The Conservatives should be ashamed of what they did because people up and down the country are still paying the price for the chaos that they caused. We say: never again. The Budget Responsibility Bill will enshrine that commitment in law.

[Mr Luke Charters (York Outer) (Lab)]

During the pandemic, the friends and family of Conservatives were awarded contracts for work that were never fulfilled. My constituents would love to know how we can get their money back, perhaps through the covid corruption commissioner.

[Rachel Reeves]

I enjoyed campaigning for my hon. Friend in York Outer, and it is great to see him in his place today. Stability means a tough set of fiscal rules, but it also means spending public money wisely, as he says. The last Government hiked taxes while allowing waste and inefficiency to spiral out of control. At no time was that more evident than during the pandemic, especially when it came to personal protective equipment. The former Prime Minister, when he was Chancellor, signed cheque after cheque after cheque for billions of pounds-worth of contracts that did not deliver for the NHS when it needed it—that is simply unacceptable.

Today, I can announce that I am beginning the process of appointing a covid corruption commissioner to get back what is owed to the British people. That money, which is today in the hands of fraudsters, belongs in our public services, and we want it back. The commissioner will report to me, working with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and their report will be presented to Parliament for all Members to see. I will not tolerate waste. I will treat taxpayers’ money with respect and return stability to our public finances.

The second Bill I will speak to is the national wealth fund Bill. We know that economic stability is vital for investors and for business—the small business looking to grow; the global business looking to expand in the UK; the entrepreneur looking to take their first steps. To support them, stability must sit alongside investment.