UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue

Debate between Rachel Reeves and Nick Timothy

Tuesday 14th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

This is the first economic and financial dialogue between our two countries since 2019. Since then, other countries around the world have continued to engage with China, securing tangible benefits for their economies. I do not want UK businesses and the people working in our country to miss out, which is why this weekend we secured £600 million-worth of tangible benefits for businesses that export to China, thereby helping to create more good jobs paying decent wages in our country.

[Nick Timothy (West Suffolk) (Con)]

I am slightly worried that investors will be watching this statement and wondering what planet the Chancellor is on. She just said that she is investing in transport infrastructure, but she is actually cutting transport capital budgets. She has previously said that she wants only one Budget a year, and the March statement is billed only as a fiscal forecast. Can she rule out any new tax rises or departmental spending cuts in the March statement, or will the fiscal forecast become an emergency Budget?

[Rachel Reeves]

We have committed to having just one Budget a year to provide businesses with the certainty they need to invest, so we will have an update from the Office for Budget Responsibility in March. I also give the commitment that, as I have already said, the fiscal rules mean we will balance day-to-day spending with tax receipts, and we will get debt down as a share of GDP within the forecast period. We will continue at all times to meet those fiscal rules.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Rachel Reeves and Nick Timothy

Tuesday 3rd December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

I am happy to arrange a meeting between my hon. Friend and the relevant Minister.

[Nick Timothy (West Suffolk) (Con)]

Last week, the Chancellor told the CBI conference that she would not come back

“with more borrowing or more taxes”.

Last Wednesday, the Prime Minister hung her out to dry and refused to repeat those words. Will she repeat them today and rule out any more borrowing or any more taxes—yes or no?

[Rachel Reeves]

At the Budget in October, we had to fill a £22 billion black hole left by the previous Government. We will never have to repeat a Budget like this one, because we will not have to clear up the mess of the previous Government ever again.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Rachel Reeves and Nick Timothy

Tuesday 29th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

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 (West Suffolk) (Con)]

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]

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.

Public Spending: Inheritance

Debate between Rachel Reeves and Nick Timothy

Monday 29th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

We could do with some masterclasses in short questions and short answers.

[Nick Timothy (West Suffolk) (Con)]

Earlier, the Chancellor quoted Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, but she omitted the end of his comments. He said that half of the spending hole she claims is public sector pay

“over which govt made a choice”.

That is the truth, is it not? The Chancellor does a good shocked face, but she chose to create her own spending hole, did she not?

[Rachel Reeves]

It was the previous Government who set the mandate for the pay review bodies. It is extraordinary that they did not include in that remit a measure of affordability, but they did not, which is why the pay review bodies made these recommendations. The previous Education Secretary could have rejected those recommendations, but she let them sit on her desk, because the previous Government were not willing to make tough decisions. We have made those decisions, including making sure that a third of the cost of these pay awards is absorbed, but there is a cost to inaction: last year, there was a £1.7 billion cost to the NHS alone because of industrial action.