Fairness and Inequality

Thérèse Coffey Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Guto Bebb]

The hon. Gentleman has made this point on numerous occasions. He is absolutely correct to say that the level of debt has increased under this Government, but for a party that says the level of debt should have increased at an even faster pace, it is hardly reasonable to argue that this Government have therefore failed. It should also be pointed out that we have an NHS that is, rightly, much more expensive and costly than it was in 1948, so that is a false analogy.

[Dr Thérèse Coffey (Suffolk Coastal) (Con)]

Dare I say it, but the comment by the hon. Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr (Jonathan Edwards) shows that until we balance our books and are in surplus we will never start to pay down debt. His motion contradicts his desire to reduce the debt to GDP ratio.

[Guto Bebb]

I fully accept and endorse my hon. Friend’s comments. It is important, when we debate public spending and the level of so-called cuts, to bear in mind that we are running a state that is not meeting its obligations. Even in this financial year, we are borrowing £110 billion. We are not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination. It would be an irresponsible Government who would damage the opportunity for people to have more equality through a willingness to borrow more without any plan to reduce the country’s level of debt.