Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sam Gyimah and George Osborne

Tuesday 6th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Sam Gyimah (East Surrey) (Con)]

T5. The Opposition’s policy of more spending, more borrowing and more debt is not credible and will result in higher interest rates. Will the Chancellor tell the House what impact just a 1% rise in interest rates would have on businesses, mortgages and the cost of servicing the colossal national debt racked up by the previous Government?

[Mr George Osborne]

I gave these figures to the House before and will give them again because they remind us how irresponsible the Labour party’s policy is: a 1% rise in mortgage rates would add £10 billion to family mortgage bills; a 1% rise in interest rate loans would cost businesses £7 billion; and a 1% rise in interest rates would add £21 billion to debt interest payments. The policy that the Labour party claims to pursue, at least this week, would definitely put market rates up, which is what has happened to other countries without a credible fiscal policy, and taxpayers, families and businesses would pay for the mess they got us into.

Eurozone

Debate between Sam Gyimah and George Osborne

Monday 10th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

We are also arguing strongly for a real freeze in the budget and—I alluded to this earlier—a change in the direction of European policy making so that we do not price this entire continent, including ourselves, out of the world market.

[Mr Sam Gyimah (East Surrey) (Con)]

Does the Chancellor agree that, in the short term, quantitative easing could produce a weaker pound, and that within clearly defined limits that could help to boost exports and therefore drive growth?

[Mr Osborne]

I have made it a policy not to comment on the value of sterling and I do not intend to break that policy right now.