Richard Drax
Main Page: Richard Drax (Conservative - South Dorset)Department Debates - View all Richard Drax's debates with the Cabinet Office
(12 years ago)
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The Prime Minister
I think the reference to growth-friendly consolidation is right. That is why, for instance, in the autumn statement, we have put more money into capital spending in the immediate years, and also taken some difficult decisions on welfare spending—decisions which I know the hon. Gentleman’s party is unprepared to support—to make sure that we can focus on those things that will help with growth. But when we look across Europe, we can see that because we set out a long-term plan for getting on top of the problems in our public finances, we are able to take it in reasonable stages and at a reasonable pace—one of the advantages of not being trapped in a system where we are told what to do by the European Commission.
Richard Drax (South Dorset) (Con)
I refer the Prime Minister to an earlier question about certain countries adopting their own currencies. He said that if we believe in democracy, the right decision will be made. Does he agree that there is no democracy in this federalist state at all? Does he also agree that true democracy can only be the repatriation of all the powers to sovereign countries?
The Prime Minister
The point that I was trying to make in response to the earlier question is that we have to respect the outcomes of elections in other countries. In Greece elections have been held. In Spain elections have been held. We may think that those countries have taken the wrong decisions with respect to the euro or whatever, but those are decisions for them to take, not for us to take. We in this country, through this House of Commons elected by the British people, should determine the right approach for Britain, but I do not think it is possible to say that we have a right in this House to decide the right approach for Greece, Spain or Italy. We may have strong views, but the idea that we can go to the European Council and just tell all those people that they are not listening properly to their own publics is incredible.