Treasury and Work and Pensions

In a few moments. The Queen’s Speech and the response of the hon. Member for Tatton (Mr. Osborne) have made it clear that the dividing line at the next election will be between progressives on this side of the House, who believe in rights and responsibilities and in strong communities supported by an enabling Government, with a strengthened voluntary sector to guarantee fairness and justice to all, and the unchanged Conservatives, who do not accept that there is collective responsibility and would cut spending, leaving the vulnerable with less support and charities stepping in to fill the gap. The Conservatives will not commit themselves to increasing tax credits to help the low and middle income majority in Britain. Instead the shadow Chancellor’s top priority is abolishing stamp duty on share deals and handing out a £1 billion bung for those hard-pressed merchant bankers struggling to get by. Just at the point at which boosting skills has become more important than ever, the Conservatives want to abolish the new deal. Last week, they offered warm words to people with personal debt problems. The right hon. Member for Wokingham did not want earlier to discuss the work of the economic competitiveness policy group, which he chairs, but my understanding is that is has published plans to abolish consumer protection for mortgages, pensions, insurance and credit cards.