The Government’s Productivity Plan

I will respond to the right hon. Gentleman in a moment when I talk about the structure of our emp...

In this place, we habitually compare our productivity with that of the G7, but I recall a debate ...

I am going to talk about scale in relation to the size of firms, as opposed to the size of nation...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that in certain sectors of industry, such as tourism, the jobs that...

The right hon. Gentleman makes an important point. I want to see a pound generated being a pound ...

I take the hon. Gentleman’s point about the “stickiness” of that investment, but it is a tribute ...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. In terms of bang for our buck, the amount of great work t...

My hon. Friend is giving a superb speech about the impact of productivity and the role of the Bus...

One of the weaknesses of government—this is based not on the colour of Administrations but on the...

The hon. Gentleman is making a well-informed speech. He says that there is no influence on busine...

The hon. Gentleman is spot on. Constantly changing energy policy can undermine long-term investor...

Before the hon. Gentleman concludes, will he return to the point made by my right hon. Friend the...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for reminding me about that intervention. Employment is crucial and ha...

I think the hon. Gentleman and I agree on this. My point is that it is easier to get to higher pa...

The right hon. Gentleman must accept that although the best position to be in to get a job over t...

I am delighted to follow the hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr Wright). I want to put it on record t...

My hon. Friend mentions Germany and the importance of manufacturing. Does he agree that one lesso...

We are sometimes in danger of thinking that Germany is so far ahead and advanced that we should t...

Does my hon. Friend also agree that quite a bit of the problem resides in the public sector, not ...

I agree with my right hon. Friend about our automotive plants. However, I will not criticise Netw...

My hon. Friend talks about the historical low productivity in the west midlands. Does he agree th...

I most certainly agree with my hon. Friend. We should be looking to the productivity plan and the...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr Wright) and his Committee on their sterling wor...

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. I concur with what he is suggesting about entrepren...

I quite agree with my hon. Friend. Today I asked a question of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, w...

What study have the Scottish Government made of the big impact on Scottish productivity of the pr...

The best thing I can do is leave that to my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeen South (Callum McC...

My hon. Friend would agree that the Scottish National party is doing a lot on this issue. In Aber...

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention.

I wish to move on to another area that has be...

It is a great honour to follow the hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Roger Mullin); I al...

I hope the hon. Lady will forgive me for interrupting her in her stride—she is making an interest...

I will come to that later in my speech. I apologise, but I am having difficulty seeing today, so ...

Today I met Katie Goodwill, who won the gold medal in computer numerical control turning at the 2...

Of course I do, and I congratulate them both on their great success. I was about to mention the a...

It is a pleasure to take part in this debate. I commend the hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr Wright...

Is my hon. Friend aware that Macquarie Bank wants to buy the Green Investment Bank for the brand ...

I am aware of that, and I have had conversations with the Minister, Macquarie and the Green Inves...

Obviously, Scotland’s higher education sector is a huge success story and does fabulous work. The...

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. Part of the problem could be solved by devolving those po...

That is a good idea.

Yes, indeed. It was a sensible aim at the time and it is one that Scotland still supports. I hope...

I call Mr Quin —[Interruption.] Mr Jeremy Quin.

3.8 pm

I am most grateful to you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for calling me. I was thinking long and hard about ...

Take your glasses off.

Indeed.

I hope we can agree that it is due to the successful joint working of the BEIS Committee and the ...

I also heard the figure of £363 million. I, too, hope that it may be a tribute to the work of the...

It is a real pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Jeremy Quin), with whom I ...

My hon. Friend makes a good point about transport connectivity, but does she agree that as well a...

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s intervention, and some Members might hope that I do not start ...

On that point, there is perhaps a third reason why manufacturing areas such as hers find it diffi...

The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point, and it is one that the Select Committee explored i...

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. I congratulate the Chair of the Business, Energy and In...

My hon. Friend makes some good points about productivity challenges and those of stagnating and l...

I apologise if I chose my words poorly, but the point that I was trying to make is that we need t...

I presume that the hon. Gentleman is aware that when Harold Macmillan was Chancellor of the Exche...

The problem with higher levels of debt lies not just in passing it on to future generations, but ...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree with my point that the tier 1 visa regime is counterproductive in t...

I am sympathetic to that argument. There is a lot more we can do, when we create our own immigrat...

It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick). I agreed ...

The hon. Gentleman is making an interesting speech. When he said that his advice to the Minister ...

I would hope that the Minister would use exactly the same assessment for that project as he would...

Let me begin by echoing what was said by the hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr Wright). This estimat...

It is a real pleasure to speak in this debate and to follow so many excellent and well considered...

The hon. Lady has talked a lot about the targets for how much we invest in R and D, but does she ...

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that it is not only about what we invest but about the returns an...

As the hon. Lady has represented a north-east seat for seven years, surely she understands that p...

The hon. Gentleman fails to recognise the work of the regional development agencies, which his Go...

I am a fair-minded and generous person, so I will agree that it was more successful in the north-...

It is interesting that the hon. Gentleman likes to concentrate on the record of the last Labour G...

I thank the hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr Wright) for opening this debate and the hon. Members w...

The Minister is giving a similar answer to the one given by the Secretary of State before Christm...

As I said, the alignment of the two Departments’ work programmes is complex, but the process is w...

Some £7 billion of the £23 billion investment fund has been put back to 2021-22. If that money is...

The plan is ambitious and involves the expenditure of an unprecedented sum of £23 billion between...

I reiterate what I said earlier about welcoming this debate on the Government’s productivity plan...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The Department for Education briefed the media earlier...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for advance notice of his point of order but, as he knows, it really i...