Public Finances: Borrowing Costs
Max Wilkinson Excerpts(1 day, 17 hours ago)
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Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. His constituents will know from their family finances that they cannot just put the bills on the credit card every month without having a plan for how to pay it off. That is not a sustainable way to manage household finances, and it is the same for the country. One of the reasons why we have such a mess left to us by the Conservative party is that it did just that—borrow money every month to pay for the day-to-day bills, and stack up the promises. That is why in the end there were so many promises and not enough pounds to pay for them. That is not a way to run the economy or family finances. That is why fiscal responsibility is at the heart of the approach taken by the Chancellor and the Government. We will never play fast and loose with the nation’s finances, as the Conservative party did.
Max Wilkinson (Cheltenham) (LD)
According to media reports today, the former Member of Parliament for South West Norfolk is issuing cease and desist letters to those who have accused her of crashing the economy—[Interruption.] I hope I will not get one; Members will be conscious that I am being very careful with my wording. I wonder whether the Chief Secretary might wish to take advantage of parliamentary privilege to compare and contrast the impact of her disastrous mini-Budget with what is being discussed today.
Darren Jones
You will correctly tell me, Mr Speaker, that it would not be right for me to comment on legal proceedings, but I am happy to say that one of the huge lessons for the country, for the British voting public and perhaps, one day, for the Conservative party is that the actions that the Conservative party took were not just reckless and negligent, but had a direct impact on public finances in every single constituency. There was a direct connection: it was Conservative Ministers’ hubris, ego and lack of focus on working people that ruined the lives of people across the country. I say that today and I will say it every day, because the British people must never forget the recklessness of the Conservative party.