Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

The Chancellor is making working people worse off by cutting tax credits and scrapping grants for...

Order. There are too many conversations and too many comments being made. I want to hear the Lead...

Clearly, what hon. Members do not understand and have not worked out yet is that, even with the h...

I would like to start by thanking the House of Commons—[Interruption] —or what is left of it, as ...

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving way, because there is a party here that does...

That was a very interesting short speech. The hon. Lady made some important points, which I will ...

Does my right hon. Friend agree that one of the biggest vulnerabilities of the economy is househo...

Yes. We have a long way to go before we can fully restore a savings culture in this country. The ...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will give way to the hon. Lady, who is a new member of the Treasury Committee. I welcome her to...

I am grateful to the Chair of the Committee.

If we want debt in the personal sector to fall...

That is an interesting theoretical point. In fact, it travels under a very fancy name, “Ricardian...

One would expect marginal productivity to fall, but the fact is that there are 800,000 fewer peop...

Responding to that would require me to do a bit of calculation on my feet, but I would guess that...

rose—

I give way to my hon. Friend, who is another member of the Treasury Committee.

I am most grateful to my right hon. Friend. He may not have had a chance to look at the financing...

One of the advantages of not having to make a speech immediately after the Leader of the Oppositi...

Does the right hon. Gentleman, as Chair of the Select Committee, feel that HMRC is fit for purpos...

Yes I do, and I think it is in better shape than it was. It is important to remember that HMRC is...

May I start by making a couple of brief observations? First, the Chancellor got his tone complete...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Order. There are to be no interventions on this speech as the hon. Member for Dundee East (Stewar...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker.

Also, the Chancellor promised at the election that he would i...

We will now have a maiden speech. Victoria Atkins.

2.29 pm

“To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield.” Those are wise words for a maiden speech and they...

It is a real pleasure to follow the very accomplished maiden speech of the hon. Member for Louth ...

Growth in this country is currently running at 3%—the highest of any developed economy. That is h...

The OBR has today revised down the growth forecast for this year. It is not 3% but 2.4%. Over the...

Does my right hon. Friend recall that in May 2010, when the Labour Government left office, the an...

My hon. Friend is right. If the Chancellor had not choked off Labour’s recovery, and the economy ...

Perhaps I can anticipate something that my right hon. Friend will not welcome in this Budget. Doe...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right and anticipates my point. What he says signals serious trouble...

rose—

Order. Before I call the next speaker, it has been pointed out that a vast number of people are t...

I remind the House of my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, which reveals tha...

Has the right hon. Gentleman seen the OBR report, accompanying the Red Book, which states:

...

I am perfectly comfortable with that. It is the direct result of easing the squeeze on spending t...

Like the right hon. Member for Wokingham (John Redwood), I congratulate the hon. Member for Louth...

The Chancellor came to the House this week to make a statement on just that and was very clear. T...

I agree, but if the right hon. Gentleman is saying that there will be no effect on our financial ...

It is interesting to follow the hon. Member for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Mr Mahmood). I enjoyed mo...

It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for North East Somerset (Mr Rees-Mogg). I wonder whethe...

I, too, welcome you to the Chair, Madam Deputy Speaker. I congratulate the hon. Member for Coatbr...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will not give way, because I am concluding.

As my right hon. Friend the Member for Chiche...

May I start with an unusual and perhaps uncharacteristic thank you to the Chancellor, on one issu...

Does the hon. Gentleman concede that the education and training of the workers whom he describes ...

No, I do not. I will address that issue in a moment.

Before the recession, productivity ave...

The Red Book describes the midlands as the “engine for growth”. When the Chancellor visited the m...

Absolutely, and what the Chancellor said before the election, and what he does afterwards, is alw...

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. It is an even greater pleasure to speak with you in the...

Maiden speech!

It is well beyond that, thank you. [Laughter.]

These towns play a key role in the future pr...

rose—

Order. Quite a number of people have dropped out of the debate, so the limit, which is not a fixe...

I think this is the first time I have spoken while you have been in the Chair, Madam Deputy Speak...

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that, at about the time of the referendum in Scotland, the Secretary ...

I was not aware of that commitment, but I do see the danger in the proposal that is before us tod...

My hon. Friend has raised an important point. Is not the irony that those who shout loudest about...

That is the final point that I was going to make. There are those who complain that we are in the...

I welcome today’s Budget. The coalition Government inherited an awful economic legacy in 2010—the...

I pay tribute to the two Members who have made their maiden speeches today, the hon. Members for ...

The hon. Gentleman is extremely kind to give way. [Interruption.] Yes, I wish him extremely well ...

I welcome the fact that the Chancellor has changed the method of calculating poverty to produce t...

Does my hon. Friend agree that this Budget is particularly bad for Londoners? Two thirds of Londo...

Indeed; my hon. Friend is absolutely correct. Although London has very high property prices and a...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, I will not give way a second time.

First, the Chancellor does nothing to address the ho...

On the subject of the Budget’s green credentials, the Red Book also sets out that renewable energ...

Well, indeed. I hope there will be sufficient opportunity to question the Chancellor on the whole...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No. I am conscious of the time and want others to be able to contribute.

The BBC has been p...

It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn). Perhaps tha...

Does the right hon. Lady really think that women will applaud paragraph 2.103, at the top of page...

The hon. Lady is picking up on a very small detail that I have not yet had a chance to go through...

I enjoyed the speech from the hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn). I am not making a ...

I want to declare an interest. I have one very small buy-to-let mortgage that ought to be brought...

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that the apprenticeship rate is currently set at £2.73, as part of...

I think the hon. Lady will find that good apprenticeships become very good jobs. I always said, a...

I pay tribute to the hon. Members for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill (Philip Boswell) and for...

rose—

Oh God; it’ll be a good one, I know.

I admit that we did not build enough houses. I was her...

Does my hon. Friend agree that investment in affordable housing, particularly social housing, has...

That is absolutely right; it gets the supply side going as well.

The OBR figures in this bo...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Yes, I will; I cannot resist.

The hon. Gentleman is very kind indeed. I find it slightly difficult to believe that he is compla...

Other benefits such as tax credits are taken into consideration in calculating the minimum wage. ...

rose—

Order. Before I call the next speaker, I must draw attention to the rule that, for reasons of cou...

I join others in congratulating the Members who have made their maiden speeches today: the hon. M...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way so early in his speech. Can he point to any measures in...

I thought that the former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, had abolished boom and bust, but he had c...

My hon. Friend may wish to remind the hon. Member for City of Chester (Christian Matheson) that t...

My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the success that the Labour Government enjoyed while...

I do not think anyone in the House would disagree with the hon. Gentleman’s interpretation of how...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that point. I am afraid I disagree with his concerns and I...

I shall help the hon. Gentleman out a little. Does he accept that the cuts to tax credits are goi...

The benefits of people who are not working are unaffected, and people who are working will have t...

Again, the issue of tax credits worries me greatly, as my constituents have contacted me over the...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. The number of children in relative poverty—this ...

rose—

As the hon. Gentleman gave way to me, I shall do the same for him.

The hon. Gentleman just cannot get away with what he said. That money was left over from the Labo...

As Labour’s outgoing Chief Secretary to the Treasury pointed out in his very helpful note, there ...

I start by welcoming the announcement about the living wage. I would feel a good deal happier abo...

The hon. Gentleman may know that, under the original planning Acts introduced by the Labour Gover...

I am so glad I took that intervention, because the hon. Gentleman makes an extremely important po...

rose—

Order. There is one hour left for this debate and I notice that there are six Members trying to c...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker; I will stick as closely as I can to your request. I would first ...

I thank my hon. and gallant Friend for allowing me to intervene. The commitment also sends to our...

I welcome my hon. and gallant Friend’s comment. In fact, he pre-empts the next part of my speech....

One of the problems in our reconnaissance capability, particularly our maritime reconnaissance an...

The hon. Gentleman’s point is interesting, but I would argue that the manufacturing capability in...

Given the budget constraints the hon. Gentleman is talking about, does he consider Trident renewa...

Yes, I do, and on the same basis that I believe that insurance is not something that should be cu...

I welcome parts of this Budget, including the announcement on vehicle excise duty; the reduction ...

I warmly support the Budget that the Chancellor delivered today. I hope that the House will permi...

In my constituency, which is relatively rich, many people go to work and raise a family on well u...

I thank my hon. Friend for making that point. It applies to my constituency, too, which is just f...

You got in the Budget!

Indeed. I was therefore delighted that the Chancellor may perhaps have watched my speech on the t...

The hon. Gentleman mentioned affordable housing. Is he aware that the Office for Budget Responsib...

That brings me to a point raised by the hon. Member for Eltham (Clive Efford). The Government aim...

I am afraid that I have to start by disappointing you somewhat, Madam Deputy Speaker—and no doubt...

Today’s Budget is the final act in a financial crisis that has seen debts moved from the financia...

Does the hon. Lady not agree that segregating retail banks from investment banks makes it less li...

I absolutely agree that separating the investment arm from the high street banking arm was one of...

I welcome the chance to contribute to this debate. On 16 March 1944, Mr Henry Willink—later Sir H...