Oral Answers to Questions

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Tuesday 29th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

As I have just pointed out, we have given extra grant funding to the police forces. We are also achieving better efficiencies in conjunction with the Home Office, and we have covered the cost of additional pensions as well.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

Workers at Dyson, Jaguar Land Rover and Ford are among the casualties of the threat of no deal. Given the number of jobs at risk, is it not time for the Chancellor to get off his backside and ask the Prime Minister to rule out the threat of no deal and to stop holding Parliament and the country to ransom?

[Mr Philip Hammond]

Parliament speaks for itself, and Parliament clearly has the opportunity to speak on this issue. I will continue to work with the Prime Minister to try to ensure that the deal that we place before the House of Commons is improved in a way that allows Members of Parliament to get behind it to ensure that we are not faced with the unacceptable choice of either no deal or no Brexit.

Draft Short Selling (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Wednesday 21st November 2018 General Committees

[John Glen]

I will seek to address the specific points raised, but in response to the hon. Members for Stalybridge and Hyde and for Glasgow Central it is worth repeating that the Treasury is taking this exercise very seriously, and a lot of work and rigour is going into the SIs and the consultation process that goes with them. It is obviously exacting to get on top of all the details about what needs to happen, but each SI is taken seriously and there is a process of engagement, in this case with trading venues such as the London Stock Exchange, the FCA, the Bank of England and those who participate in the market. In response to the first question from the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde, a considerable amount of work was done over that two-month period before the SI was published. An impact assessment has also been made, which will be published later today.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

Usually, impact assessments are provided for these Committees. My office contacted the Treasury for an impact assessment, so can the Minister explain why it is being provided after the Committee? We do not have the opportunity properly to scrutinise SI Committee presentations of legislation, which is not acceptable.

[John Glen]

I understand the hon. Lady’s concern, and this reflects the unusual nature of the process. The Treasury has made five impact assessments on these SIs, and I have been in dialogue with the Regulatory Policy Committee about the unusual nature of this process and the contingency arrangements for no deal. Those impact assessments will be published in due course.

[Rushanara Ali]

This is a broader issue that has been raised in previous debates, because we do not have the opportunity properly to scrutinise these measures with the relevant facts and information. Will the Minister give an undertaking that Committees will be provided with information in advance, to the best of the Treasury’s abilities, rather than saying, “Sorry, we don’t have anything to provide to you”? That is not acceptable because it means that these Committees are a rubber-stamping exercise without the relevant information and support to enable Members properly to conduct their roles and scrutinise the Government.

[John Glen]

The issues with impact assessments are extremely complicated, and we have taken the time needed to ensure that they are as robust as possible in a very constrained timeframe. This is not an optimal process, and I and my fellow Ministers and officials are doing everything we can to bring the impact assessment process to the scrutiny of the House as quickly as possible. The hon. Lady is correct—ideally we should have published these impact assessments sooner. We have proactively sought to engage Members on the issues with the SIs, anticipating concerns that may be raised, and we are doing everything we can. [Interruption.] I cannot give more comfort, I am afraid, but I am happy to give way if the hon. Lady thinks we can edify the Committee further.

[Rushanara Ali]

I am grateful to the Minister and apologise for taking up his time, but can he provide an undertaking that this will not happen in future? It is unacceptable that the impact assessment is provided after Committee sittings. Will the Minister give an undertaking that that will not happen, and that Committees will be held after the impact assessment has been made available?

[John Glen]

I undertake to continue to do everything I can to bring these impact assessments to the House as quickly as possible in the imperfect conditions that we have. Where possible, we will do that, but I also have to balance that with ensuring that the statutory instrument that I bring before the House is fit for purpose, because the objective is to provide a contingent regime in a no-deal scenario that is fit for the market and avoids the instability that we wish to avoid.

Turning to the second point by the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde on thresholds, he asked me to elaborate on the transfer of powers from the European Commission to the Treasury. This SI onshoring process does not permit us to specify additional changes in policy. The Treasury is well equipped to make those judgments and will do so in a no-deal situation, as part of a larger piece of financial services regulation.

The hon. Member for Glasgow Central quite legitimately raised concerns, as she has done on a number of occasions, about the FCA’s capacity to carry on the functions of EU bodies to implement this instrument and the resources available. I can reassure her once again that those resources are available. The FCA does have the resources to account for the additional work. Processes such as notifying a regulator of net short positions under the SSR will remain the same, and market makers in the UK will continue to report to the FCA in the same manner as they currently do under the European Security and Markets Authority, which delegates its implementation powers to the national competent authorities. In this country that is the FCA, so the FCA is equipped and ready to do that.

General concern was expressed about whether this means that we will go down a deregulatory route in a no-deal situation. It is my instinct, and, I think, that of the regulator, that we would wish to remain closely aligned. A no-deal situation, as undesirable as it is, does not mean we are in a situation of hostility. From my conversations with my counterparts in European countries, I know that they wish us to have a strong relationship even in a no-deal situation. I believe the lines of communication are open and the UK has been a force for good in securing high-quality regulations.

In conclusion, I believe that this SI is necessary to ensure that the regulatory regime relating to short selling and certain aspects of credit default swaps will work effectively if the UK leaves the EU with neither a deal nor an implementation period. I hope the Committee has found this morning’s sitting informative and will join me in supporting the regulations.

Question put and agreed to.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Tuesday 11th September 2018 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

My hon. Friend is right: we have seen a number of beneficial city deals in Scotland, and we have devoted £1 billion to them. I am delighted that we are making progress on the Tay cities deal; I will be visiting the Tay cities very soon to have further discussions.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

A recent Treasury Committee report on household finances found that arrears to local authorities are growing, and there is an overzealous pursuit of those arrears by bailiffs. The same goes for some central Government Departments. What will the Treasury do urgently to ensure that people are not penalised, and vulnerable households are not criminalised, by the Government?

[John Glen]

We have made several interventions since we responded in 2014 with bailiff law reform. I have spoken to the Ministry of Justice, and we continue to look carefully at the matter. We have arrangements in place through the Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs time to pay scheme, and the Cabinet Office has its fairness group as well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I look forward to learning more about blockchain. I am uninitiated on the matter, as the hon. Member for Walsall North (Eddie Hughes) can tell, but I feel sure that he will put me in the picture erelong.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

The Governor of the Bank of England has stated that economic uncertainty caused by the Brexit vote will knock 5% off wage growth and is costing the UK economy £10 billion a year. Does the Chancellor agree with the Governor?

[Mr Hammond]

We have not yet concluded our negotiations with the European Union, so it is impossible to make any assessment of the impact of our departure until we know what the future relationship with the EU will be. This Government’s agenda is to get the best possible deal for Britain that protects jobs, prosperity and businesses, so that we can protect our existing trade with the EU as well as build new trade opportunities beyond Europe.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Tuesday 27th February 2018 Commons Chamber

The Chancellor of the Exchequer was asked—

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

1. What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on trends in the level of funding for local authorities since 2010.

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton, Kemptown) (Lab/Co-op)]

2. What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on trends in the level of funding for local authorities since 2010.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Elizabeth Truss)]

It is right that more of our money that is spent locally is raised locally. In 2010, councils were 80% dependent on Government grants. By 2020, they will largely be funded by council tax and other local revenues.

[Rushanara Ali]

Local councils have faced devastating cuts. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that, between 2010 and 2020, councils will have had their direct funding cut by 79%. In Tower Hamlets, we have lost £138 million through budget cuts since 2010. With one of the Conservative party’s own councils going bust, will the Minister now finally commit to funding local authorities properly, so that they can provide vital services to their communities?

[Elizabeth Truss]

As I have pointed out, it is right that we rebalance council spending from central Government grants to locally raised taxes, to help to keep councils accountable. We have seen councils up and down the country finding innovative ways of working, such as sharing back-office services and doing things such as installing wi-fi and improving waste collection. We have also seen Labour councils wasting money. For example, Momentum-supported Birmingham City Council bin strikes have cost the taxpayer £40,000 a day, and Reading—

Budget Resolutions

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Nicky Morgan (Loughborough) (Con)]

Thank you very much indeed, Mr Deputy Speaker, for calling me to take part in a Budget debate for my first time as Chair of the Treasury Committee. If media reports are to be believed, I am not the only former Education Secretary who is using “long, economicky words” at the moment. At this point in the debate, my predecessor as Chair of the Committee would always congratulate the Leader of the Opposition on making the most difficult speech of the parliamentary year. I am happy to continue that tradition, although much of the Leader of the Opposition’s speech appeared to have been written in advance, and I suspect he will want to look at more of the detail of the Budget and to find more to welcome in the remarks of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor.

Today, it was perhaps the Chancellor who had the hardest task. Beset by demands for more public spending, rising economic uncertainty and downgrades in forecasts, he has taken a common-sense approach that will no doubt displease many on both sides of the Chamber. We have to remember, however, that it is only thanks to seven years of common sense and concerted efforts by Conservative-led Governments to reduce the deficit and restore credibility to the public finances that the UK has the resilience necessary to face the challenges ahead.

The reclassification of housing associations might have given the Chancellor some timely room for manoeuvre, but it does not alter the underlying picture or the risks in the outlook, and those risks could grow. Although the OBR has made a more negative assessment of productivity, it still forecasts a relatively benign Brexit—a smooth adjustment to the new trade arrangement, with no cliff edge in March 2019. But that cannot be guaranteed, and even though a transitional arrangement that would allow for such a smooth adjustment is manifestly in the interests of both the UK and the EU, it might, of course, not happen. The Treasury Committee will be looking closely at the consequences of failing to reach a deal on transition and expects to make a report to the House in the coming weeks.

Beyond the public finances, household balance sheets are also under pressure. Rising interest rates, high inflation, lower wage growth and a working-age benefits freeze all stand to put pressure on ordinary households. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor has set out two important principles for Conservative-led Governments: first, work should always pay; and, secondly, people should keep more of the money that they earn. I am happy, as I think all Conservative Members are, to support him on those two principles.

The pressures on household finances—the Committee is looking at them as part of our inquiry into household finances—will be exacerbated, particularly for the younger generation, if action is not taken to tackle long-standing problems in the housing market, as my right hon. Friend said. I therefore welcome the measures on housing. He has announced a comprehensive package on skills, land availability and financial incentives to get Britain building. I also welcome the review that will be chaired by my right hon. Friend the Member for West Dorset (Sir Oliver Letwin). We always know there is a problem when my right hon. Friend is sent for to solve it. He will look at the gap between permissions granted and houses built, and why it exists.

I also hugely welcome, as I think all Conservative Members will, the stamp duty cut for first-time buyers. As the Chancellor said, it will make home ownership a reality for more young people. The Committee intends to hear from housing experts as part of our Budget scrutiny, and we will investigate whether the rousing wartime rhetoric of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government matches the reality of what has been announced today.

Of course, pressures on the public finances and on household balance sheets can be alleviated in the long term only if, as the Chancellor said, productivity growth improves. I welcome very much his further investment in the national productivity investment fund, and he was right to emphasise the challenge regarding productivity in the UK, which is now the weakest in the G7. The average UK worker has to slog from 9 until 5 to produce the same value of output that a worker in Germany produces between the hours of 9 and 3. The regional disparities in the UK are even greater, so I welcome what the Chancellor said about more devolution. I do not know where the Leader of the Opposition got the idea that Conservative Members do not take seriously the northern powerhouse and the midlands engine. I can tell him, as a midlands Member of Parliament, that we take them very seriously. We believe in devolution.

There are no easy solutions to the UK’s weak productivity, but we can do two things to help with the productivity puzzle. The first is better infrastructure, including digital infrastructure. The chair of the National Infrastructure Commission told the Treasury Committee recently that the big political divide in infrastructure policy is not between the parties, but between action and inaction. The Chancellor must act on the commission’s recommendations when they are published, and I welcome his commitment today to implement its recommendations on the Oxford-Milton Keynes corridor. I also welcome the proposal for discounted lending to local authorities so that they can invest in infrastructure.

The second response on productivity is to retain the UK’s historical commitment to openness to trade, investment and migration. Global Britain must be a reality, not just a slogan. The economic case for leaving the EU has always rested—and continues to rest—on openness, and we must not allow the Brexit process to mark the start of a descent into economic nationalism. It is only through productivity growth that households can be weaned off consumer credit without cutting their consumption and reducing their living standards. It is only through productivity growth that the Chancellor has any hope of meeting demands for additional spending—on welfare, social care, prisons, the NHS, public sector pay and Brexit contingency measures—without damaging the Government’s hard-won reputation for fiscal credibility.

For the avoidance of doubt, let us for the thousandth time dismiss the idea that a Brexit-induced fiscal windfall will relieve the pressures on our health service. There are no easy choices and there is no pot of gold under the Brexit rainbow. Those who persist with this myth may win short-term approval from certain quarters of the media, but only at the cost of long-term damage to trust in politics.

On the industrial strategy, the Chancellor is absolutely right to have identified the technology revolution and to say that Britain is at the forefront of it. He is right to identify the need for more young people to learn maths and computer science to a higher level. We have to find a way of exciting everyone in this country—the next generation, and their parents and grandparents—about the technology revolution. We need them to be confident that they have the skills that will meet the demands of the future labour market, rather than frightened by change in the 21st century. This key part of our plan for a fairer Britain will unlock prosperity.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

May I pick up the point about education funding? The Government proposed £3 billion of cuts, which was reduced to just under £2 billion, but that means that there is still a £2 billion gap in our education funding system, and the Chancellor said nothing about how schools will cope with that. Does the right hon. Lady agree that there ought to have been some thinking about investment in our schools to prevent the reversal of the progress that has been made?

[Nicky Morgan]

First, I can say to the hon. Lady—I am pleased to serve with her on the Treasury Committee—that educational standards have actually improved dramatically in this country during the past seven years. I do not recognise her figures. The Secretary of State for Education announced an extra £1.3 billion for schools in July, and this Government are spending more on schools than any previous Government. If the hon. Lady is really concerned, she will want to deal with the debt that this Government are still paying off, given that we spend almost as much as our schools budget on paying debt interest.

The Chancellor announced a number of new tax measures. I was pleased that he said that our tax system can help to protect our environment. That is an important signal to send to those who are particularly concerned about the environment and to the next generation.

Tax Avoidance and Evasion

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Tuesday 14th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Dame Margaret Hodge]

I will, for the last time.

[Rushanara Ali]

Does my right hon. Friend agree, in the light of what she has said, that Britain has a unique leadership role? Developing countries lose income amounting to between $100 billion and $160 billion a year. Imagine what we could do to tackle poverty if that money were available.

[Dame Margaret Hodge]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend’s very powerful point.

Unbelievably huge sums of money are hidden in these jurisdictions. It is impossible to measure accurately how much tax is lost through the presence of tax havens, but it runs into hundreds of millions of pounds every year. We do know that developing countries lose three times as much in tax avoidance as they gain from the global investment in international aid. Our tax havens, acting as secret, low or no-tax jurisdictions, are utterly central to much of the tax avoidance. We cannot continue to pretend that we are leading the international fight against tax avoidance and evasion when, by what we do and what we fail to do, we allow avoidance to prosper; and not just tax avoidance, but money-laundering, corruption, bribery and other financial crimes, which prosper through the secrecy that we allow to prevail. Our failure to tackle our tax havens, our weak regulatory regime and some of our tax rules means that we are now seen as the country of choice for kleptocrats and criminals as well as tax avoiders and evaders, as they seek to hide their money and minimise their tax bills.

We need our Government to hold to the commitments made by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor in 2013 and 2014. They understood that transparency was the key ask. We need public registers of beneficial ownership, showing who owns what and where. That, at a stroke, would undermine so much. Would Bono have invested in tax havens if he had thought that we would all know? Would Lewis Hamilton have created a complex structure of companies to avoid VAT? Would the actors in “Mrs Brown’s Boys” have hidden their earnings in artificial financial structures if they had thought that we would find out? The answer is no.

David Cameron understood that when he told the UK tax havens to rip aside “the cloak of secrecy” in 2013, when he urged them in 2014 to consult on a public register that was

“vital to meeting the urgent challenges of illicit finance and tax evasion”,

and when he proclaimed in 2015 that

“if we want to break the business model of stealing money and hiding it in places where it can’t be seen: transparency is the answer.”

However, in the last two years the Government have fundamentally watered down that commitment to public registers in British tax havens, and now we hear Ministers say that we must wait for other countries to go first. The proper call for international action on transparency has become the lame excuse for inaction in our own territories.

We should lead by example. We should demonstrate that transparency can and does change behaviour. We should compel our overseas territories and Crown dependencies to publish public registers. In the past, a Conservative Government used their powers to outlaw capital punishment in our Crown dependencies and overseas territories, and a Labour Government used the same powers to outlaw discrimination against gay people. Today we should work together to outlaw the secrecy of those jurisdictions, which leads to such massive tax injustices.

The Paradise papers show us that the problems created by secrecy are much bigger and more complex than we ever thought possible, and that is why we need to legislate for transparency in our tax havens. We should help them to transform their economies, so that they stop depending on hidden wealth, unsavoury people, and questionable financial practices. I cannot think of one good reason for us not to do that, and to do it now. Indeed, there is more that we can do, right now: it simply requires the Government to have the necessary political will. They will certainly have the support of the whole House, and the whole country, if they demonstrate by their actions, not their words, that they will work to stamp out tax avoidance.

We can and should now implement the legislation requiring multinational companies to report their activity and profits on a country-by-country basis—legislation successfully steered through Parliament by my right hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint). We can and should also introduce immediately the public register of property ownership that was enacted before the general election, promoted by Transparency International and Global Witness and supported by members of the all-party group on anti-corruption. Nobody knows why this legislation has not been implemented; it is a key element in the fight against corruption, avoidance and evasion. We can and should properly resource HMRC now so that it has the capability to pursue all who seek to avoid paying tax, not just the small businesses who form an easy target that can be hounded with little effort. Every £1 invested in HMRC enforcement yields £97 in additional tax revenues. It is a complete no-brainer that we should be strengthening HMRC and reversing some of the cuts.

The Paradise papers have helped place tax avoidance back at the heart of the political agenda and back at the top of the list of public concerns. The Government need to grasp this moment to act. They have an opportunity to do so in next week’s Budget. Britain will never get rich on dirty money, and our public services cannot function if the wealthiest individuals and the most powerful companies deliberately avoid paying their fair share towards the cost of those services. And this Government will not be forgiven if they fail to heed the lessons we can all learn from the Paradise papers. Proper transparency will come. The Government can choose whether they lead the changes needed or whether they want to be dragged kicking and screaming into implementing essential reforms. I hope they will listen, learn and act.

Money Laundering: British Banks

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Tuesday 21st March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Simon Kirby]

I would imagine that the FCA is in contact with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and, if appropriate, they will have conversations about this issue. What is important is that, if these allegations are correct, and any new information is presented, the NCA and the FCA act on it appropriately.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

May I ask why the Chancellor is not here, because, frankly, the Minister’s answers today have been appalling? Some £80 billion could have been laundered, according to this story. Should we not think again about the powers the FCA and other regulators have to prevent these things from happening? Can he please answer some questions?

[Simon Kirby]

I am very sorry, but I have been doing my very best to answer the questions that have been asked. Sadly, I cannot be held responsible for the quality or the content of the questions. What I would say is that I am the Minister responsible for financial services, and the Government are responsible for legislating in this place and in the other place. To answer the hon. Lady’s question, the Criminal Finances Bill is an example of what we are doing now, as we speak, to improve things. The FCA is in constant dialogue with not only the banks but the Government to make sure it moves with the times.

Oral Answers to Questions

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Tuesday 19th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Greg Hands]

The hon. Gentleman mentions the figure of 18 percentage points, and I refer him to an earlier answer in which I said productivity has been a long-standing issue in the UK. In fact, the figure was 17 percentage points back in the 1990s. As he well knows, the action we have taken on steel includes securing state aid to compensate for energy costs, securing flexibility over EU emissions regulations, ensuring that the procurement rules can also allow social and economic factors to be taken into account, and continuing to tackle unfair trading practices. The Government have been very active on steel, and that has not ended today.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

4. What steps he has taken to reduce the number of tax havens worldwide.

[Neil Gray (Airdrie and Shotts) (SNP)]

5. What his policy is on requiring multinational companies to disclose to the public the profits they hold in tax havens (a) in British overseas territories and Crown dependencies and (b) elsewhere.

--- Later in debate ---

[The First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)]

The Government are leading the world in the fight against tax evasion and it was Britain that first demanded that multinationals publish, country by country, where they pay tax. Thanks to our leadership, that is now being taken up at a European level. Multinationals selling into Europe will be required to report the tax they pay, including in ultra-low tax locations. Britain has also got its leading allies to agree to share information on the beneficial ownership of companies. We are now seeking international leadership on a blacklist of tax havens, with punitive action against the jurisdictions on that blacklist. We want the rest of the world to follow our example; where we lead, others should follow.

[Rushanara Ali]

I thank the Chancellor for that answer, but Conservative MEPs have voted six times on instruction from the Treasury to block EU-wide measures against tax avoidance. What action will the Chancellor take to get all Crown dependencies to establish a public register of beneficial ownership?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Osborne]

First, we are now in conversation with Swansea about what we can do for the city deal. We are of course acutely aware that we need to help the steelworkers in Port Talbot. We are working to achieve a sale of the site, but we are also helping those who have already been made redundant. We are also looking very closely at the tidal bay lagoon scheme and at whether we can make that fly as well.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

T3. Analysis by the House of Commons Library, including that on the 2016 Budget, shows that, cumulatively, 86% of savings in the period between 2010 and 2020 will come from women’s pockets. What has the Chancellor got against women?

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Harriett Baldwin)]

The analysis by the House of Commons Library is fundamentally flawed. First, it assumes that every pound of Government borrowing benefits people. It also does not highlight the fact that it is higher rate taxpaying women such as me, whose child benefit has been ended, who form the largest part of that group. Is the hon. Lady saying that her party wants to reinstate child benefit for higher rate taxpayers?

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Rushanara Ali Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd March 2016 Commons Chamber

[John McDonnell]

I have been extremely generous in giving way, but we are running out of time.

On schools, this was far from a Budget for the next generation, as the Chancellor claimed it was. Not only is the plan to turn every school in the country into an academy unpopular with parents and teachers, but we now know that schools face an 8% real-terms cut in their funding. This is the first time since the 1990s that schools’ funding has been cut.

As the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) said, at the heart of all this failure is the Chancellor’s economic incompetence. His huge mistake was to force through a fiscal rule that has proved to be unworkable. Against all sound economic advice, he put politics above economics and imposed a fiscal rule that now, like his Budget sums, simply does not add up. Virtually every target he set himself has been missed. On the deficit, which he promised would be eradicated last year, he has failed. The debt was supposed to be falling, but it is rising.

[Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)]

The former Work and Pensions Secretary described the cuts to PIP as deeply unfair when juxtaposed against tax cuts for the wealthy. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Chancellor should consider scrapping that tax decrease for the wealthy to help to fill the £4.4 billion black hole, which might help to improve his competence?

[John McDonnell]

That is the sort of proposal we should be considering and voting for today.