Productivity

Of course I will. How could I not?

Surely the hon. Gentleman must admit that, given that the Chancellor was here yesterday at Treasu...

I am sure the Chancellor is very much focused on being the Prime Minister in waiting. He is, of c...

The hon. Gentleman is being a little churlish. I am sure that we can all be accused of all sorts ...

I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman finds my remarks a little churlish. When did he last speak to ...

Clearly, the hon. Gentleman is not a barrister. One should never ask a question to which one does...

I am delighted to hear it. I only wish that the Chancellor would come and talk to the rest of us ...

Order. For the record and for the avoidance of doubt, it is not normal practice, although I will ...

Thank you for that sage advice, Madam Deputy Speaker. I suspect that the Chancellor will be force...

I think that my hon. Friend is being a little unfair on the Chancellor. I have asked the Chancell...

That is why I think it is so appalling that the Chancellor could not be bothered to mention it in...

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I will give way in a moment to the hon. Gentleman, who will, I know, have plenty to contribute on...

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I will give way to my hon. Friend after I have given way to the hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Mark...

The shadow Chancellor is absolutely right: productivity is incredibly important. The Treasury Com...

I will send the hon. Gentleman the anthology of Chris Leslie’s speeches, because I am sure that h...

The Chancellor is always very keen to make economic comparisons between the United Kingdom econom...

We can see that the problem is particularly stark when we make those international comparisons. O...

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Will my hon. Friend give way?

I give way to my hon. Friend.

Surely we can take the argument further when we talk about productivity. This is not a new debate...

As my hon. Friend says, it is incredibly important to invest in new production process technologi...

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The hon. Member for North West Leicestershire (Andrew Bridgen) was on his feet first, and I would...

The shadow Chancellor talks about productivity and the need to invest in plant and machinery, and...

Labour Members have consistently supported proper and sustained capital allowances for business i...

Why does my hon. Friend think that productivity has been so stagnant for the past three years in ...

The evidence is very clear that we have had persistently poor productivity in recent years. I wil...

I commend the hon. Gentleman for introducing this debate on an important subject. Does he accept ...

It is important to recognise that productivity problems are not the same across every single sect...

Some apprenticeships are undoubtedly very good, but I am aware of some in north Staffordshire and...

I agree that we need far better scrutiny of the nature of apprenticeships and of skills and train...

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I ought to give way to the right hon. Gentleman.

This is a very important debate, and we can learn together about how we can do better. During the...

Normally, I have a lot of respect for the right hon. Gentleman, but I am afraid his facts on that...

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that employers also have a big role to play? The appetite for low-...

There is indeed a problem in the shift away from the added-value, higher-skilled economy that we ...

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I will make a little progress, if I may, and then give way.

The Office for Budget Responsib...

The figure that the hon. Gentleman has not mentioned is, of course, the productivity figure for 2...

This might be a shock to the hon. Gentleman, and I am not sure where he was at the time, but ther...

The hon. Gentleman is making a very good speech. Does he agree that the culture of long working h...

I think there is a case to be made for ensuring that we focus on the morale of those in employmen...

It is important to look at the facts. The hon. Gentleman quoted the ONS. Does he agree that when ...

As I said earlier, different sectors face different productivity challenges. Ultimately, if we th...

When my hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake) intervened and mentioned ...

As one industry declines, others will have to fill the gap. It is also important to recognise tha...

My hon. Friend is being extremely generous with his time. I was hoping that he might touch on the...

That is a crucial point. A far healthier environment is one in which the workforce feel valued an...

I am delighted to respond to this debate on productivity, because it is absolutely central to our...

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No, first of all I am going to tell the hon. Gentleman what it says:

“The deficit remains t...

The key thing is the difference between the Budget document and the Budget speech. The Budget spe...

Surely the most important thing is the delivery of the Budget, not just the speech. The delivery ...

Can the Chief Secretary confirm whether the success or otherwise of his productivity plan will be...

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. Of course the OBR looks at all Government proposals ...

Does the Chief Secretary recall that Labour took into public ownership Network Rail, a crucial in...

I thank my right hon. Friend for that intervention. Infrastructure will be a key part of the prod...

Productivity is vital for the British economy, and the way to achieve good productivity is by hav...

My hon. Friend is quite right. Labour seems not to be learning the lessons of the general electio...

At least twice during his opening speech the shadow Chancellor said that we are now seeing highly...

My hon. Friend makes his point in his usual way. All that I can say—

At least he is here.

Yes, my hon. Friend is here, unlike half the shadow Treasury team who went into the election and ...

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I shall give way shortly. I think I have awakened the hon. Gentleman’s interest with my reference...

Is the Chief Secretary aware that the high productivity in British automotive products is an opti...

It is a bit churlish to debate the precise details like that. The fact remains that car productio...

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

Let me make a bit of progress.

The high productivity that I have mentioned is very good, bu...

What the Chief Secretary is saying does not meet the reality of what has been happening for the p...

Order. Several people this afternoon, not just the hon. Gentleman who has just spoken, have used ...

I dispute the premise of the hon. Gentleman’s question. Productivity in this country is rising, a...

Over the past seven years, it has declined.

Okay, I hear the hon. Gentleman.

To answer the point raised by hon. Member for Nottingham E...

We are looking for the right hon. Gentleman’s support in commissioning the OBR to look at the spe...

The OBR remit is pretty clear on this kind of thing. Let me just say that I have listened to the ...

Does the Chief Secretary recognise that in constituencies such as mine 90% of all businesses empl...

I welcome the hon. Gentleman to this place and thank him for his intervention. I do not necessari...

Will the Minister give way?

No, I am going to make a bit more progress.

We will invest more than £100 billion in infras...

Will the Minister give way?

I will come back to the hon. Gentleman in a moment.

We are investing in broadband and home ...

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I give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Weaver Vale (Graham Evans) and welcome him back to th...

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend. Will he remind the House of the previous Labour Government...

My hon. Friend is right that the previous Labour Government had a dreadful record on manufacturin...

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I have allowed the shadow Chancellor quite a bit of time already, so I will give way to the Membe...

I am the Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland. I welcome the Minister to his new rol...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that series of questions, but his use of statistics was highly sel...

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I will give way to the very patient Member for Nottingham.

I thank the Member for Fulham for giving way. Would he be so good as to look at the point he was ...

The position is unchanged. It is as set out in our manifesto. We await the publication of the Dav...

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I am going to make some more progress, because I know that others wish to speak.

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I will give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Marcus Fysh)

I thank my right hon. Friend.

The A358 runs from my constituency up to the M5 and all the n...

I congratulate my hon. Friend on his amazing election result. It was a fantastic achievement. Ind...

Will the Minister give way?

No. I am going to finish now.

As I was saying, it is, in so many ways, a vindication of our...

I commend the Chief Secretary on his speech. He has clearly been reading the SNP manifesto, given...

Does the hon. Lady not recognise that during that period we were more