Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

On that fateful day, in those dramatic circumstances, a Conservative-led Government did what hist...

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I will give way to the hon. Member for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald)—the Member for my home town....

May I tell the Minister what is truly terrifying? It is his Government’s proposal to introduce a ...

The hon. Gentleman can make that intervention in the parliamentary Labour party meeting later thi...

I know that the right hon. Gentleman is committed to devolving powers to the regions. However, in...

I share the hon. Gentleman’s view that that project is very important, and we are committed to it...

Did the Minister also welcome the news that BAE Systems announced last week that it wishes to tak...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right; that is marvellous news and a reflection of the confidence in...

I absolutely agree with my right hon. Friend about the importance of devolving power in the way t...

I can give that reassurance to my hon. Friend. That is the essential difference between the progr...

Will the Secretary of State explain to me and the residents of Greater Manchester how the devolve...

The hon. Lady, who is a Greater Manchester Member of Parliament, should talk to her leaders in Gr...

Would my right hon. Friend look favourably on an enterprise zone application for Morecambe White ...

I know from the last Parliament what a fighter my hon. Friend is for his area. I would welcome an...

The Secretary of State is a most cerebral Minister, so I wonder whether he can help with a proble...

I served my apprenticeship with my hon. Friend on the Public Accounts Committee, and partly as a ...

I have listened carefully to what the Secretary of State has said about giving local people a say...

I listen to the north-east all the time, and I have met its civic leaders in recent days and will...

There is a real desire in Corby for a new enterprise zone, not least because of the success of en...

I do agree, and I encourage my hon. Friend and his local business and civic leaders to make an ap...

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The hon. Lady has been very patient, so I will give way to her now.

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for his generosity.

What would the Secretary of Sta...

I would say to the people of Islington that they should be pleased that the highest rate of affor...

On that point, the Budget changed the future rental income forecast for social housing from the c...

The justification is clear: over the past three years the rate of increase in rents for social te...

The Secretary of State mentions the great productivity plan, but what a damp squib that is. It fa...

I do not think that the hon. Gentleman has read the productivity plan. If he does he will find it...

The plan includes important planning reforms such as new transport hubs that many Conservative Me...

My hon. Friend, who made a distinguished contribution as housing Minister, is right. Permitted de...

I am interested in the Secretary of State’s proposals to reform planning regulations, but will he...

The hon. Gentleman makes a reasonable point in a reasonable way. He is absolutely right, which is...

Will the Secretary of State give way?

I will indeed give way to the Mayor.

I just want to thank the Secretary of State and the Minister for Housing and Planning for their w...

My hon. Friend is right, and it is part of his record as Mayor of London of which he can be very ...

If I may bring the Secretary of State back to the importance of local plans, part of the problem ...

I am grateful for the support of my hon. Friend, who has contributed to the Select Committee’s de...

On the issue of brownfield sites, my constituency has areas that are heavily contaminated and nee...

One of the benefits of devolving some of the powers and funds to local authorities is that by com...

I welcome the opportunity to open the third day’s debate on the Budget on behalf of the official ...

The hon. Lady’s acting leader, the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms H...

Let me be absolutely clear. The Budget presented last week is regressive. It hits some of the poo...

Will the hon. Lady confirm that even with the changes to working tax credits, they will still be ...

I say to those on the Government Benches that they are simply out of touch with the lives of work...

I know that the hon. Lady has a good memory. Does she recall regional spatial strategies? What we...

It seems from the details of the Government’s productivity plan, which were published on Friday, ...

Like my hon. Friend, I strongly support the devolution of powers to Greater Manchester, but does ...

I could not agree more. When we were in office we devolved power to the Scottish Parliament and t...

The details of this new measure are going to be interesting. Either we are going to have a cliff-...

Indeed, and the Government introduced a similar measure in the last Parliament, but the threshold...

Is it still Labour party policy to re-establish the regional development agency, which inflicted ...

We support the local plans. It seemed that the Minister for Housing and Planning was not that bot...

What does my hon. Friend think of the fact that the housing benefit bill has gone up by 60% and t...

My hon. Friend raises an important point. In this area, we spend a lot of government money—95%—on...

I was back in my constituency this week, where I had long talks with people from my local council...

It is wonderful that the hon. Lady has been visiting her constituency—I was in mine, too. Since t...

The reality is, as I am sure the hon. Lady would acknowledge, that the Conservative Government ar...

I will not take lectures from somebody who believes that 80% of market rent is affordable for peo...

Having visited my constituency, my hon. Friend knows that one thing the local authorities are doi...

Order. As we have so many Members who wish to speak, we need short interventions.

We will look at those proposals in detail. As for what my hon. Friend has just said, we need to e...

I normally regard my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State as one of the most generous-hearted...

Has my hon. Friend heard anything today about the Opposition’s current view on the welfare cap? H...

Not at all. As there are probably something in the order of 230-plus different views, we could no...

I always enjoy debating with the hon. Gentleman. To clarify, we are not anti-mayor. We believe th...

That is useful and I regard it as a step forward. I hope the hon. Lady is able to remain in place...

The hon. Gentleman has moved on, but may I extend an invitation to him to come to Leicester where...

I believe there is a Blairite in Leicester. It might be too difficult for me to go up there.

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I must be careful with the number of interventions I take, as other Members want to get in, but I...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. He referred to some excellent legislation introduced by the prev...

Sadly, it does happen. One of the disappointments I have had is, I am sorry to say, that local au...

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Order. Before I call the Scottish National party spokesperson, I warn Members that a six-minute t...

It is a dubious honour to be called to speak in this Budget debate—not because I am not keen to s...

I am listening to the hon. Lady with interest. Does she believe that there is any room at all for...

When the powers this Government have force people into poverty and do not help to support them at...

The acting leader of the official Opposition has said that their goal is not to oppose just for t...

The hon. Gentleman will find that the Scottish National party takes its own stance on many issues...

The hon. Lady is making her case, but is there anything in the Budget with which she agrees? Does...

I have made it abundantly clear that it is not a living wage; it is a rebadging of the national m...

The hon. Lady is making an interesting point, but if she trusts local authorities in that regard ...

Having come from local government, of course I trust it to do those things, but it should not be ...

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Order. I remind Members that there is a six-minute limit on speeches.

5.10 pm

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for calling me to speak. It is a pleasure to serve under you for th...

Budgets, perhaps more than anywhere else, are where rhetoric meets policy. Rhetoric is an inescap...

Does the right hon. Gentleman not welcome the fact that the Budget closes tax loopholes and helps...

I do welcome parts of the Budget, but I do not welcome a party fighting an election on a platform...

The Prime Minister has a vision—a vision of one nation—but recognises that it must be built from ...

Does my hon. Friend agree that if Cornwall is to be given devolution, it should have to work with...

I have no doubt that it will.

Before the election, the Government set out a six-point plan ...

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I inform the House that today I have been contacted by a ...

The hon. Gentleman is correct in what he has said, and whether or not to release those letters is...

Productivity is the pressing economic challenge of this Parliament. Unless the country addresses ...

While my hon. Friend is on the subject of exports, can he tell us how he thinks withdrawal from t...

I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend who speaks eloquently on these matters. With regard to our ...

May I say what an extraordinary privilege it is not only to speak for the first time in this Hous...

I commend the speech of the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (David Warburton). I have spent a ...

This is a Budget that can make a step change in the British economy. It is a Budget that can step...

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is not just the specific measures that are valuable to the econ...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the track record of delivery and the confidence that giv...

Like my right hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton South East (Mr McFadden), I shall start by...

Would the hon. Gentleman support the Leicester and Leicestershire combined authority’s bid that i...

Of course I would support Leicester and Leicestershire working together. We have a mayor in Leice...

Given that Network Rail’s board minutes from March made reference to

“decisions required jo...

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. She will recall the Chancellor coming to Derby in February ...

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I hope the hon. Lady does not mind, but I am not going to give way. The IFS said that that is ari...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for allowing me the privilege of making my maiden speech today. It ...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Chippenham (Michelle Donelan) on an excellent and engaging mai...

It is a pleasure to speak in a debate in which there have been two excellent maiden speeches by m...

It will be a terrible shame if the UK Government have to mitigate the actions of another Governme...

If the Scottish Government decided to cut APD, that would be tax competition and it would behove ...

The hon. Member for North West Leicestershire (Andrew Bridgen) spoke about productivity, as did a...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for calling me to make my maiden speech. May I first congratulate y...

I congratulate the hon. Members for Southampton, Itchen (Royston Smith), for Chippenham (Michelle...

It is with immense pride that I stand before the House today as the new Conservative Member of Pa...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Erewash (Maggie Throup) on a witty, thoughtful and informed ma...

We have had a veritable constellation of maiden speeches today, but I am bound to observe that th...

It is an honour and a privilege to represent the people of Wirral West and I thank my predecessor...

It is an honour and privilege to speak in this important debate after a number of Members on both...

I, too, will vote for this Budget. Tomorrow’s vote is a binary choice and although I have reserva...

I am particularly gratified to hear the hon. Gentleman espousing the cause of sound finance. I ju...

I will come on to say a little about my views on the unreformed Opposition. In fact, I will make ...

I am very grateful to have the opportunity to speak in today’s Budget debate. This is my first ex...

It truly is an honour and a privilege to make my maiden speech as the new MP for Cumbernauld, Kil...

It is a pleasure to follow an extremely gracious maiden speech by the hon. Member for Cumbernauld...

Does the hon. Gentleman consider it fair that a woman who has been raped will have to declare tha...

The hon. Lady repeats a point that one of her colleagues made in an earlier day of the debates on...

The hon. Gentleman is making a thoughtful, although wrong, speech.

If a constituent of mine...

It is not the role of an MP to advise an individual constituent on their life choices. That is th...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bedford (Richard Fuller). Although I do not agree ...

I welcome the Budget. Much of the thinking behind it recognises that worklessness is a root cause...

It gives me great pleasure to deliver my maiden speech to the House today as the first SNP Member...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire North (Gavin Newlands) on his maiden ...

I read the statistics the hon. Lady has just trotted out in The Sunday Times. She draws an equiva...

The hon. Lady makes an interesting point, but my statistics still stand. Even when we make these ...

The hon. Lady mentions exports. The OBR report, published alongside the Budget last week, shows t...

I gave an example of exactly the opposite of that. Exports, all the way from Taunton, are increas...

I am very pleased to be speaking in the Budget debate. The Chancellor’s announcement on the incre...

The hon. Lady has listed a number of steps that would lead to an increase in expenditure to cover...

Let me deal with aspects of the question of expenditure in turn. First, the employment training l...

Order. The hon. Lady must speak through the Chair, so she should be referring to the hon. Gentlem...

How did I forget that? Through you, Madam Deputy Speaker, I am saying that the Government have pl...

May I say what a pleasure it is to speak in this debate on one of the most reforming Budgets we h...

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Order. I shall change the time limit on speeches to seven minutes—Members have kept their speeche...

That is good news, Madam Deputy Speaker, for someone who is always in a rush.

This is an il...

It is interesting to note that we hardly ever hear the word “business” mentioned by Opposition Me...

If the hon. Lady had listened to my earlier remarks, she would have heard me talk about small bus...

We are the fastest-growing economy in Europe. We are securing more jobs, we have higher employmen...

I dealt with that earlier in my speech.

In my constituency, more than 20,000 working famili...

It is a great pleasure to speak in the debate, and to follow the hon. Member for Oldham East and ...

I rise to intervene on the hon. Gentleman, as I do on all Conservative Members, in the forlorn ho...

I am sure the hon. Gentleman is aware of the principle of reshoring, which is taking place in our...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way again?

No, as I want to talk about rebalancing our economy and ensuring that we get effective growth in ...

My hon. Friend will no doubt be aware of the recent World Economic Forum report on global competi...

Absolutely, and I am pleased that the urban conurbations are coming together in combined authorit...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the decision in the last Parliament to create single pots for infr...

Absolutely. The shift of power from the centre out to the regions is massively important and I wi...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will carry on, if I may, as other Members wish to speak and I only have a little time left.

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Order. Before I call the next speaker, may I say that since I raised the limit everybody has take...

I am delighted to speak in today’s debate, during which we have heard many excellent maiden speec...

I am listening carefully to the hon. Lady, and I agree with much of what she is saying. Does she ...

I could not agree more.

The Government are interfering in how people live their lives and i...

Will the hon. Lady let me intervene?

No, I wish to finish my point. I was talking about vulnerable people. I know that the proposals s...

Before I start my comments, may I respond to the points made by the hon. Member for Workington (S...

I thank my hon. Friend for referring to the speech of the hon. Member for Workington (Sue Hayman)...

My hon. Friend makes an important point. In my constituency I can see the reduction in the number...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I am running short of time so I will not, if the hon. Gentleman does not mind.

The way that...

Does my hon. Friend agree that when a local authority has been incredibly slow to bring forward a...

I entirely agree, and I am glad to see the Government being much more proactive in that regard. E...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will, but for a 10-second intervention.

We are trying to encourage small companies, in particular, to create more apprenticeships and job...

The hon. Gentleman makes a valid point, but I have only 48 seconds left and so will race through ...

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Order. I apologise to those Members who are still to speak, but we have had the maximum number of...

When I think of this Budget, I think of my constituents who will be hard hit by the measures it s...

Order. I say this in the spirit of helpfulness. We do not name Members by their names but by thei...

The Chancellor’s so-called living wage is a con. He claims to be giving Britain a pay rise but hi...

It is a great pleasure to follow the speeches by my hon. Friends the Member for Rugby (Mark Pawse...

Will the hon. Gentleman explain why, if we are exporting, the OBR has downgraded its forecast for...

I shall come to that point later in my speech.

This Budget builds the opportunity society, ...

I rise to make the same point again. Does the hon. Gentleman think that legislation will stop the...

The hon. Gentleman will know that the Government are taking decisive action to ensure that small ...

It is a pleasure to speak in the debate and to follow so many hon. Members who made excellent mai...

I thank the hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting) for his passionate speech; I do not agre...

The hon. Lady mentions the aerospace industry. Can she name one airliner that this country still ...

I am very proud of the local aviation and aerospace industries. My constituency has Eaton Aerospa...

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Order. I am sorry to say that I must drop the time limit on speeches to five minutes to get all t...

I am pleased to be able to contribute to the debate. We have heard the Tories’ repeated claim to ...

The Budget statement, although difficult to hear at the time, was a hocus pocus concoction with b...

Last week the Chancellor tried to paint himself as a champion of working people. In reality, we g...

Listening to the Budget was like falling down Alice’s rabbit hole. It claimed the most extraordin...

Before I begin, I would like to say to the hon. Members for Paisley and Renfrewshire North (Gavin...

In every part of our country this Budget is helping working people meet their aspirations. It wil...

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. At business questions on Thursday, the Leader of the House promi...

Yes, I think that the amendments to which the hon. Gentleman refers have not yet been laid before...