UK Parliament / Open data

The Economy

Proceeding contribution from George Osborne (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 22 June 2011. It occurred during Opposition day on The Economy.
I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from ““House”” to the end of the Question and add:"““welcomes the fact that in the last year a record 520,000 new private sector jobs were created, with the second highest rate of net job creation in the G7, exports grew by 13 per cent. and manufacturing activity was 4.2 per cent. higher and the latest labour market data showed the largest fall in unemployment for more than a decade; notes that the Government inherited a budget deficit forecast to be the largest in the G20; further notes that the previous administration and now Opposition has no ""credible plan to deal with the deficit and that the Shadow Chancellor's recent proposal for a temporary cut in VAT has been widely criticised for lacking credibility and would put the stability of the economy at risk; notes that the Government has introduced a permanent bank levy that raises more revenue than the previous administration's one-off bonus tax and that the Government has set out a credible plan that has been endorsed by the IMF, OECD, European Commission and the CBI, that has led to greater stability, lower market interest rates and an affirmation of the UK's credit rating that had been put at risk by the previous administration; and notes that this stability provides a platform for rebalancing the economy and the Government's Plan for Growth that includes reducing business taxes, investing in apprenticeships, creating a new Green Investment Bank, reforming the planning system, reducing the burden of regulation and reforming the welfare system to make work pay.””" I very much welcome this debate, and it was certainly worth attending for that priceless phrase, ““I do my politics on the record””. That is right up there with, ““There will be no whitewash at the White House””, ““I did not have sexual relations with that woman”” and ““No more boom and bust””. Really, we must put that phrase away, because we will need it in the weeks ahead. It is good that we are discussing the economy, and the shadow Chancellor made a speech about what has happened to the economy over the past year—the subject of this debate—but he completely failed to mention that exports are 13% up, manufacturing is 4% up, investment is 6% up and, most importantly, the 520,000 net new jobs in the private sector. Remember the question a year ago, ““Where will the jobs come from over the next year?”” Well, we have had 500,000 answers from businesses around this country—indeed, the second highest job creation rate in the G7—but that is not a fact that we are likely to hear from the Opposition, because they are determined to talk this economy down. That is the truth.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
530 c345-6 
Session
2010-12
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
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