UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue

Paul Holmes Excerpts

Tuesday 14th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

The best way to grow an economy is to boost investment in an economy. The truth is that, under the Conservatives, we were the only G7 economy where investment stood at less than 20% of GDP. That is the inheritance that our party was bequeathed by the Conservatives, but we are beginning to turn that around through the creation of a national wealth fund to leverage in private sector investment, through planning reform to get Britain building again, and through pensions reform to unlock £80 billion of investment to help small and start-up businesses to grow. We are turning things around after 14 years of failure from the Conservative party.

[Paul Holmes (Hamble Valley) (Con)]

While the Chancellor was in China securing her measly £600 million, borrowing rates reached the highest they have been since 2008. In 2024 she said that her Budget would be

“a Budget with real ambition, a Budget to fix the foundations…a Budget to rebuild Britain.”

How is that going, given that her mess has caused borrowing to be the highest it has been since 2008, making real working people in this country suffer?

[Rachel Reeves]

I am not sure whether the hon. Gentleman follows global financial markets, but borrowing costs have increased for countries around the world. What we saw under Liz Truss’s mini-Budget was unique to the United Kingdom, because it was only UK markets that were affected by the decisions of the Conservatives.