Economic Growth

Debate between Richard Fuller and Emma Reynolds

Monday 7th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Richard Fuller (North Bedfordshire) (Con)]

I thank the Minister for her statement and for early sight of it. On a day when the country was listening for a message of change, it was the same old, same old: a continuity Chancellor, with continuity policies and a continuity team of Ministers in the Treasury. Does the Minister recognise the harsh irony that—given the Government could find plenty of money to hire 14,000 more civil servants in SW1—the Chancellor chose to go to the west midlands, just a few miles away from Jaguar Land Rover, but had nothing at all to say about it?

The Minister talked about Government borrowing falling to its lowest levels, but I wonder: can she also talk about the cost of Government borrowing? Can the Minister confirm that the cost of Government borrowing for 30 years is now at its highest rate for 28 years? The Minister talks about there being nothing progressive about spending £1 in every £10 on debt interest—well, amen to that—but why then did this Government choose to increase borrowing by £500 billion over the course of this Parliament? The Minister talked about the northern scale-up fund, which is an interesting initiative, but can she advise us who will be making the investment decisions and assure the House that they will not be subject to political direction?

The Minister talks about a National Wealth Fund with new strategic partnerships and a permanent transfer of power and resources from Whitehall to the regions. Did she listen to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government say that local government reform is on hold? Can she confirm to the House what proportion of the country will qualify under that measure to be part of Labour’s largesse? My fear is that many parts of the country will not.

The Minister did talk, smartly, about removing the thicket of consultation and looking at judicial review and the consultation culture. The Opposition will be supportive of measures that she comes forward with in that regard. But then, after a brief moment of common sense, the Minster talked about reducing the discount rate from 3.5% to 3%. Can she confirm that the cost at which the Government are borrowing is going up and up—5.9% for 30 years—yet she has chosen this moment to reduce the rate at which the Government expect to get money back from 3.5% to 3%? Can she explain how those numbers add up?

Then, of course, there is the final cherry on the parfait: the Government will “identify and back” unicorns in this country. How will the Government identify those unicorns, and can the Minister explain how that is different from the discredited policy of Governments picking winners?

The Minister then returned to common sense with the announcement that Mr Milburn will set out his recommendations to the Government. Will she please advise the House—many Members will be concerned about this—on what date Mr Milburn will make his recommendations?

Today, the Government—the Minister and the Chancellor—had an opportunity to at least have mentioned the high cost of energy that is crippling British manufacturing. They could have ruled out tax increases, providing more certainty for businesses that they can invest. The Government could have said that they would take up the offer from the Conservative Leader of the Opposition to work together on meaningful reform and reductions in welfare, so that we make work pay. But we did not hear any of that. Instead, we are heading to a Budget where a Labour Government have again run out of money and where a Labour Government will once again increase taxes to cover their fiscal incompetence—same old continuity Labour.

[Emma Reynolds]

It is a great pleasure to be opposite the hon. Gentleman again, as we were earlier in this Parliament. I will address his points, but I say kindly to him that I would rather be continuity Labour than continuity Liz Truss.

The hon. Gentleman was right to mention Jaguar Land Rover. It is a concerning time for the workforce, and the Business Secretary is working closely with the chief executive and the leader of the trade union Unite, bringing them together tomorrow to discuss the situation. Jaguar Land Rover has made clear that it faces competitive global headwinds, but we have done a lot to support the automotive industry, and Jaguar Land Rover in particular, given the loan guarantee that we provided last year in the wake of its cyber-attack. The Business Secretary and the Government are also providing help to the automotive sector to bear down on the cost of energy.

I think the hon. Gentleman said that he agreed with me in some areas, which is always good to hear. We can agree that there is nothing progressive about spending so much money on servicing our debt. As a Government we are committed to fiscal discipline and the fiscal rules because we want to bring down the cost of Government borrowing, but we are not immune to the global instability that means that the cost of borrowing is also increasing for every other G7 country. However, we have the fastest growth in the G7, and we are cutting our deficit faster than any other G7 country; business confidence and investment are up; productivity is up; interest rates have been cut six times since the election; and consumer confidence is up. While the hon. Gentleman talks down our economy, me, the Chancellor and the whole ministerial team will be talking up the British economy.

The hon. Gentleman asked a serious question about the northern scale-up fund. The British Business Bank will make those decisions independently of Government, as should always be the case. He is right to ask for reassurance about that, and I have provided it. We are a Government that are serious about devolving power to every part of the country. We will have more to say about that at the Budget and will set out a fiscal devolution road map as well.

The hon. Gentleman accused me nicely of talking smartly about the thicket of consultation, saying that I had some common sense, and I thank him for that. He has been in Government too, in the Treasury, and I fondly remember our meetings together back then. It is good that there is agreement across the Chamber that we need to ensure that those sorts of things do not gum up the system, that Ministers are able to take decisions, and that we are able to get infrastructure built in this country.

I respectfully disagree with the hon. Gentleman on the Green Book discount rate. We say proudly that we are reducing the discount rate to 3%, because there have been times in the past when the Treasury has stood in the way of good regional infrastructure projects that have a long-term benefit. I am proud that we are ensuring that those projects get a fairer hearing.

The hon. Gentleman will know that we have made changes to tax to support unicorns in last year’s Budget, and we are opening up opportunities to public procurement. I think he mentioned pudding at the end—parfait, I think it was—and although I am a big fan of pudding myself, I will not respond to that.

On the serious question of the Alan Milburn review, I cannot give the hon. Gentleman a timeline, but I will repeat what I said in my statement: it is our moral duty as a Government to ensure that we have more young people back in the labour market. That is why we have already introduced the youth guarantee, so that young people who have been out of work for longer than 18 months will get a paid placement by the Government, as well as introducing a grant for businesses that take on unemployed young people. It is a very serious issue, and one that we will address.