Oral Answers to Questions

Richard Ottaway Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd November 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The right hon. Gentleman asks for a change of course. Let me just say to him what the leading economic organisations in our country and, indeed, across the world say about that issue. The IMF says this:

“'Is there a justification for a shift in the policy mix', we think the answer is no.”

Let us listen to the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King:

“There has to be a Plan A”—

[Interruption.] The Leader of the Opposition says that he would not listen to him; it was Labour who appointed him.

“There has to be a Plan A…this country needs a fiscal consolidation starting from its largest peacetime budget…ever”.

Who was it who gave us that peacetime budget? The Labour party. Let us listen to the CBI, the leading business organisation in this country:

“Priorities for the next 12 months: Stick closely to the existing credible plan”.

That is what the experts say; that is what business says; that is what the Bank of England says. Would you listen to them or would you listen to the people who got us into this mess in the first place?

[Richard Ottaway (Croydon South) (Con)]

Q2. Returning to next week’s public sector strikes— [Interruption.] They don’t like it up 'em, do they? Is the Prime Minister aware that, of the three largest unions, the turnouts in the strike ballot were 32%, 31% and 25% respectively? Does my right hon. Friend agree that any striker has the right to strike if he so wishes, but he should not engage in mass action unless he has the support of the majority of those unions’ membership?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes a very important point. As I said, it is wrong that these strikes are going ahead when negotiations are under way. It is wrong to strike and to close so many classrooms and essential services, but it is being done on the basis of those turnouts. Just one quarter of Unison members voted to strike, and just 23% of those balloted at Unite voted in favour. [Interruption.] I am not surprised that Labour Members want to shout me down. We know why they will not condemn the strikes, because we got the figures today on where they get their money from. In the right hon. Gentleman's first year as leader of the party, 86% of Labour’s donations have come from the trade unions—86%! Under the previous Labour leader, it was 56%. That is about the only thing the Leader of the Opposition has improved since the time of Gordon Brown.