Local Government Finance

Steve Rotheram Excerpts

Monday 18th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

That, of course, is a matter for the Leader of the House and the usual channels. However, my hon. Friend is a perceptive Member, and he will have noticed that we are hoping to introduce the system by 2013, so we are not talking about the long term.

[Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

The American novelist John Updike once said:

“Government is either organised benevolence or organised madness; its peculiar magnitude permits no shading.”

Given that the Government show no benevolence towards Liverpool—perhaps people can fill the in blanks for themselves—can the Secretary of State specifically guarantee that Liverpool will not see a real-terms cut in its funding after the first two years?

[Mr Pickles]

It is a wonderful thing to be quoting John Updike—but listening to the hon. Gentleman, I sometimes think that he might consider himself to be Master of the Universe, from another novel, “The Bonfire of the Vanities”. Let us be clear: which authority would have benefited the most from this scheme? It is Liverpool, which would have done exceptionally well. If the hon. Gentleman had been paying the slightest attention to what I have been saying, rather than working up some smart quotation, he would have realised that Liverpool does well out of this system, because it—

[Steve Rotheram]

Yes or no?

[Mr Pickles]

Yes, it is going to do better out of this system, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will get those on his Front Bench behind the process, because the system is designed to ensure that proud cities such as Liverpool no longer have to rattle the begging bowl. They can bring more money and resources in, and the people of Liverpool are the ones who will benefit.