Comprehensive Spending Review

Sajid Javid Excerpts

Thursday 28th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

Outlandish predictions by politicians were the prerogative of the previous Government. We have established an independent Office for Budget Responsibility to make forecasts. We do not make the forecasts, and I am merely quoting what the OBR had to say.

[Sajid Javid (Bromsgrove) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the biggest risk to our economy is the record deficit of 10% of GDP, the highest in the G20? Had we not taken action, that would have posed a big risk and we would have lost more than 490,000 jobs. Opposition Members should think about the jobs that we would have lost had the Government not taken decisive action.

[Danny Alexander]

I agree wholeheartedly with my hon. Friend. If we had not tackled the deficit, the poor in this country would have suffered most.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sajid Javid]

The hon. Lady is fond of saying, “Let’s have a grown-up, sensible debate”, so it would be useful if she followed her own rules. Why is she refusing to give way to my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock)?

[Ms Eagle]

There we see it—the old boys’ network writ large. They stick together, don’t they?