Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: HM Treasury

Oral Answers to Questions

Nick Timothy Excerpts
Tuesday 29th October 2024

(1 month, 3 weeks ago)

Commons Chamber
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Rachel Reeves Portrait Rachel Reeves
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I thank the Chair of the Treasury Committee for that question. She is absolutely right that in our July statement, we set a 2% productivity target, not just for the Department of Health and Social Care, as the previous Government did, but for all Departments. Ministers are absolutely determined to deliver against those targets, because that is the way to ensure that we have resources for the frontline public services—our schools, hospitals and police—that we all rely on.

Nick Timothy Portrait Nick Timothy (West Suffolk) (Con)
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Under the last Government, the Chancellor said that interest rates and gilt yields were driven by Government policy. Will the Chancellor guarantee that neither will rise higher than they did under the Conservatives?

Rachel Reeves Portrait Rachel Reeves
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The last Government crashed the economy with a mini-Budget and sent interest rates and mortgage rates soaring, putting huge pressure on the costs borne by families and businesses. We will set out our Budget tomorrow, including robust fiscal rules on paying for day-to-day spending through tax receipts and borrowing only to invest, whereas the previous Government borrowed for day-to-day spending, which is why we are in the mess we are in today.