Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Rupert Lowe and Torsten Bell

Tuesday 3rd November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Rupert Lowe (Great Yarmouth) (Restore Britain)]

We spend hundreds of billions of pounds on debt interest, migrant accommodation, foreign aid, public sector fraud, benefits for foreigners and, let us not forget, the healthy indolent. We are leaving a record tax burden and a shameful £3 trillion of national debt to our children and our grandchildren. Let me say this in a way that even Members on the Labour Front Bench understand: we are bankrupt. My question to the Chancellor is this: is bankrupting Britain a consequence of Government policy, or is it now the actual objective?

[Torsten Bell]

Let me say two things to the hon. Member. First, it is absolutely right that the public finances be put on a sustainable basis, and that is what this Government are doing. We are bringing down borrowing every single year, and were praised by the International Monetary Fund for standing out from other G7 economies. Secondly, it is moral bankruptcy that Labour Members worry about when we see the behaviour of the hon. Member, who is whipping up division up and down this country, rather than bringing it together, saving our public services, and investing for the future.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Rupert Lowe and Torsten Bell

Tuesday 9th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rupert Lowe (Great Yarmouth) (Ind)]

The Chancellor has embarked on a Fabian programme of brutal tax-and-spend economics that might please the dwindling number of Labour voters, but is hollowing out the nation’s productive base. Those who take risks, invest long term and create high-quality jobs are increasingly voting with their feet. Record numbers of top earners—the rain-makers who actually bankroll public services—are leaving the UK for good, taking their wealth and, more importantly, their brain power with them. Does the Chancellor even begin to understand the lasting and irreversible damage that she is causing to the British economy?

[Torsten Bell]

We have all watched the hon. Member voting with his feet by leaving the bunch of crazies that he was with before. Let us get back to what this Government are doing to drive growth: we are increasing public investment by £120 billion over this Parliament and making sure that things get built. We are building housing and giving a default “yes” to developments around train stations. We are building transport infrastructure, including the lower Thames crossing and expansion at Heathrow and Gatwick airports. We are expanding energy infrastructure at Wylfa and Sizewell. This Government are backing the builders, month after month.