Economic Update

Richard Burgon Excerpts

Monday 17th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Hunt]

I can confirm that the council’s members will be independent; I can confirm that there will be no improper influence exerted; and I can confirm, as the hon. Gentleman will be pleased to hear, that all donations to the Conservative party are vetted and legal.

[Richard Burgon (Leeds East) (Lab)]

I have listened carefully to what the Chancellor has said. Our public services are on their knees after 12 years of Tory misrule; they really cannot cope with any further cuts. In contrast, the very richest have seen their wealth soar threefold over the past decade. Surely, rather than further cuts to our public services, would it not be fairer to impose a wealth tax on the very richest in our society?

[Jeremy Hunt]

The trouble with those kinds of taxes is that they end up inhibiting the wealth-creating capacity of the economy to fund the very public services that the hon. Gentleman supports. I support wealthier people paying more tax, but only when it creates more resources to put into the public services that we all need.