Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Mosley Excerpts

Tuesday 10th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. One of the many things we share in common, apart from both being west midlands MPs, is that by the official measure I was also homeless as a child. I agree with his assessment that the best way out of poverty is through work and a growing economy.

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

Another excellent way out of poverty is giving children from disadvantaged backgrounds the best education possible. How many children are benefiting from the £2.5 billion that has been put into the pupil premium, which will, in the long term, boost their educational chances and their chances of obtaining work?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Osborne]

I hope this is not our last encounter across the Dispatch Box, because we are enjoying this. We are enjoying the fact that the shadow Chancellor simply does not admit to the mistakes he made, not only in office but in opposition. He is increasingly like Monty Python’s black knight defending that bridge. When unemployment falls, he says that it is but a scratch; when business confidence rises, he says, “I’ve had worse”; the recovery—it is just a flesh wound. The limbs are falling off his economic argument, and it would be a comedy if it were not for the fact that Labour’s economic policies were a tragedy for this country.

[Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)]

T6. Next week, along with the university of Chester riverside innovation centre, I am organising a small business fair in Chester to try to encourage people to set up their own small businesses. Will my right hon. Friend the Chancellor tell us what the Government are doing to encourage people to set up their own businesses and create jobs in addition to the 1.3 million that have already been created in the private sector?

[Mr Osborne]

There is a record number of business start-ups in this country at the moment, and I congratulate the business community and people in Chester who want to set up their own business. We are doing everything we can to support them. The new employment allowance will help many hundreds of businesses in my hon. Friend’s constituency. Together, as Cheshire MPs, we can of course make a broader argument that Cheshire is a great place to invent.