18/11/2015

:00:25. > :00:40.Order. Urgent question, Sir Gerald power. -- Howarth. Further to the

:00:41. > :00:43.question asked by my honour`ble friend, may I ask the Secretary of

:00:44. > :00:45.State for Northern Ireland, if she will make a statement about the

:00:46. > :00:55.arrest of a former member of the parachute regiment on duty hn

:00:56. > :00:59.Londonderry in January 1972? Mr Speaker, I thank the honour`ble

:01:00. > :01:03.member for his question. As part of the ongoing investigation bx the

:01:04. > :01:08.PSNI into the events surrounding Bloody Sunday in Londonderrx in

:01:09. > :01:11.1972, a former soldier was `rrested for questioning on the 10th of

:01:12. > :01:20.November. Only he were subsdquently released on bail. Criminal Court

:01:21. > :01:24.investigations are a messagd -- matter for police to act

:01:25. > :01:33.independently of government, so the government cannot comment on an

:01:34. > :01:36.individual case. We remain unstinting in our admiration and

:01:37. > :01:41.support for the men and womdn of the police and armed forces who have

:01:42. > :01:45.sacrificed to ensure that tdrrorism would never succeed in Northern

:01:46. > :01:48.Ireland, and its future would only ever be determined by democracy and

:01:49. > :01:52.consent. Whether the current investigations will lead to criminal

:01:53. > :01:56.prosecutions is a matter for the police and prosecuting authorities

:01:57. > :02:01.in Northern Ireland. As the Prime Minister pointed out during his

:02:02. > :02:04.statement on Lord Savill's report, the 250,000 people serving hn

:02:05. > :02:13.Northern Ireland during the operation, and one in which I was

:02:14. > :02:15.proud to play a part, the overwhelming majority carridd out

:02:16. > :02:23.their duties with courage, professionalism and in integrity.

:02:24. > :02:26.Thank you for allowing me to pose this question and I pay tribute to

:02:27. > :02:33.my honourable friend for his service in Northern Ireland. When in 20 0

:02:34. > :02:36.the Prime Minister made his memorable statement in the House

:02:37. > :02:41.following the publication of the sample report following the events

:02:42. > :02:44.of 1972, known elsewhere as Bloody Sunday, I and others hoped ` line

:02:45. > :02:51.would be drawn under this tragedy. We now find that 43 years after this

:02:52. > :02:57.event and three years after the first investigations, a soldier from

:02:58. > :03:03.the parachute regiment who was in his early 20s and is now in his late

:03:04. > :03:07.60s, is faced with a possible prosecution for murder with the

:03:08. > :03:10.possibility of further arrests. There are two reasons this hs wrong.

:03:11. > :03:19.What national interest is sdrved I bring in these cases to court? The

:03:20. > :03:24.saddle enquiries about that there was no premeditation of murder. One

:03:25. > :03:27.witness said that Martin McGuinness was on the other side of thd body

:03:28. > :03:32.armed with a machine gun. These soldiers were not hired killers

:03:33. > :03:36.they were seeking to do thehr duty to their country in a filthx Civil

:03:37. > :03:47.War where the enemy was dressed in civilian clothes in distingtishing

:03:48. > :03:50.from the local population. @s the Secretary State said last ydar, the

:03:51. > :03:55.royal prerogative of Mercy was granted in Northern Ireland 365

:03:56. > :04:01.times between 1979 and 2002. The sample report cost ?195 million and

:04:02. > :04:06.took 12 years to compile but our service men based in Aldershot, and

:04:07. > :04:13.some of them remain my constituents, had to make that decision is of the

:04:14. > :04:17.-- snap decisions, the consdquences of which have hung over thel their

:04:18. > :04:21.entire lives. What happened that day was a tragedy, particularly those

:04:22. > :04:27.who lost their lives. But they are not the only victims, what `bout the

:04:28. > :04:30.families of the 1441 soldiers who died in Northern Ireland in service

:04:31. > :04:38.of their country? There was no enquiry into their deaths, no saddle

:04:39. > :04:44.enquiries into the murder of -- no enquiry into the murder of `ny

:04:45. > :04:48.civilians. I submit that it is immoral for the state to sedk nearly

:04:49. > :04:52.half a century after the evdnt, that these men on trial, what ard those

:04:53. > :04:56.who deployed there are bombs and bullets in the shadows are now in

:04:57. > :05:01.government or received Royal pardons, an act of government, not

:05:02. > :05:04.friend to exercise the royal friend to exercise the royal

:05:05. > :05:12.prerogative of Mercy with ilmediate effect. Thank you, Mr Speakdr. I

:05:13. > :05:17.hear what the honourable melber says, he has been a doughty and

:05:18. > :05:22.outspoken champion of not only the Parachute Regiment and his

:05:23. > :05:26.constituents but also of Brhtain's Armed Forces. This is not e`sy for

:05:27. > :05:30.me either, I know what it is like to make those decisions under pressure.

:05:31. > :05:35.We should not forget that the British Army is not above the law

:05:36. > :05:39.and nor should it be. It is the difference between us and the

:05:40. > :05:44.terrorist. And it is what m`kes us a professional army around thd world,

:05:45. > :05:47.from some of those more tinpot armed from some of those more tinpot armed

:05:48. > :05:53.forces elsewhere in the world. The House will have heard what he said

:05:54. > :05:58.about the use of the royal probative of Mercy. What I would say to that

:05:59. > :06:01.is, I cannot comment on these individual cases, these are a matter

:06:02. > :06:09.for ongoing police enquiry. It is a long way from following a lhne of

:06:10. > :06:11.enquiry to conviction, charging and caught. I am sure the House will

:06:12. > :06:18.reflect on the Right Honour`ble member's call but I am definite that

:06:19. > :06:23.we cannot comment on this c`se and the police must be allowed to do

:06:24. > :06:26.their job and uphold the rule of law, the rule of law that I went as

:06:27. > :06:31.a soldier to uphold in my thme in Northern Ireland. I think it is only

:06:32. > :06:36.right and proper at this tile to pay tribute to our Armed Forces who are

:06:37. > :06:39.at this very moment engaged in defending our freedoms or in harms

:06:40. > :06:43.way. They operate to a high standard and should always remember the

:06:44. > :06:47.difficult circumstances in which they serve. Does the Ministdr agree

:06:48. > :06:53.with me that it is always dhfficult to criticise our Armed Forcds if

:06:54. > :06:56.they fall below these high standards but we cannot and must not fail to

:06:57. > :07:02.do so is evidence of wrongdoing exist? I quote the prime minister,

:07:03. > :07:05.there is no doubt there is nothing equivocal, there are no ambhguity.

:07:06. > :07:08.What happened on Bloody Sunday was What happened on Bloody Sunday was

:07:09. > :07:11.both unjustified and unjusthfiable and it was wrong. And he apologised

:07:12. > :07:15.on behalf of the British government. The whole report made

:07:16. > :07:18.very uncomfortable reading for all of us. We must never forget the

:07:19. > :07:22.victims and families for those who were killed both on Bloody Sunday

:07:23. > :07:27.and throughout Northern Ireland and on so many other occasions. Can the

:07:28. > :07:30.Minister confirm, so we are all clear, that the evidence given at

:07:31. > :07:38.the saddle enquiry was precluded from being used in any court

:07:39. > :07:43.proceedings in any individu`l? Can he confirmed the arrest was based on

:07:44. > :07:47.evidence gathered since Jantary 2014, by the PSNI, when thex

:07:48. > :07:53.announced the investigation? The PSNI has said there will be no

:07:54. > :07:57.further arrests until the rdsult of a judicial review brought bx other

:07:58. > :08:04.soldiers is concluded. Can he tell us when that will be concluded, and

:08:05. > :08:10.what work they have undertaken to do under that review? There was an

:08:11. > :08:18.input and announcement yestdrday about Stormont which came after many

:08:19. > :08:25.weeks of negotiation, but they were not able to agree on legacy steps.

:08:26. > :08:30.Will he outlined what steps he continues to take to pursue such

:08:31. > :08:33.agreement? Does the case th`t we are discussing today, once again

:08:34. > :08:37.emphasised the need for a comprehensive process to de`l with

:08:38. > :08:41.these issues, and outstanding cases, however difficult? The whole

:08:42. > :08:45.house will agree that the independence of the police `nd the

:08:46. > :08:49.independence of the judiciary is central to any democracy. Btt a

:08:50. > :08:53.process has to be sought and agreed, however difficult. Northern

:08:54. > :08:57.Ireland is coming out of conflict. Huge progress has been made. The

:08:58. > :09:01.Northern Ireland today is htgely different from that of yestdrday.

:09:02. > :09:04.All of us who have visited on a regular basis has seen that for

:09:05. > :09:08.ourselves. We have seen a ddsire to build for the future and thd hope

:09:09. > :09:14.that everyone has for the ndw generation. So when the minhsters

:09:15. > :09:19.answer these questions, will they also agree that the continuhng and

:09:20. > :09:24.emerging issues from the past has to be dealt with as they cannot be

:09:25. > :09:28.denied? Let us also not forget how far we have come. All partids, all

:09:29. > :09:29.communities, the people of Northern Ireland, deserve huge credit for

:09:30. > :09:41.that. Thank you, Mr Speaker. 1st of all,

:09:42. > :09:45.on the issue of testimony, `n important point that we recognise

:09:46. > :09:49.that during the enquiry it was established that anyone givhng

:09:50. > :09:54.evidence to that enquiry, their testimony could not be used as a

:09:55. > :09:57.basis for conviction or indded to incriminate themselves. It was done

:09:58. > :10:01.in a way so that we could fhnd out as much as possible by what happened

:10:02. > :10:06.on that fateful day and therefore that is the principle that still

:10:07. > :10:13.stands and the protection of their evidence as such is still an issue.

:10:14. > :10:17.It does not exclude other evidence that is gathered later. I c`nnot

:10:18. > :10:19.comment on the police investigation. It would be wrong for me to

:10:20. > :10:26.interfere or indeed enquire too deeply into it as they must be left

:10:27. > :10:34.to follow whatever course their investigation takes 2. On the issue

:10:35. > :10:37.legacy, might admiration for my honourable friend the Secretary of

:10:38. > :10:43.State for the Northern Irel`nd parties and the Irish Government who

:10:44. > :10:50.had over 150 meetings over 35 roundtable meetings in the last 9

:10:51. > :10:53.1/2 weeks, they resolved thd current impasse in Northern Ireland. They

:10:54. > :10:58.have decided the best futurd is to move forward and not backwards. It

:10:59. > :11:04.is regretful that legacy has been left out of the final agreelent in

:11:05. > :11:09.so legislation however the `greement I signed yesterday does continue to

:11:10. > :11:12.-- the agreement signed yesterday continues to commit the party to

:11:13. > :11:15.dealing with the legacy. Thd victims of the Northern Ireland trotbles

:11:16. > :11:21.will demand that. We have committed to still provide the funding for

:11:22. > :11:27.that legacy enquiry to take place and I hope sooner rather th`n later

:11:28. > :11:31.we get to a point where the policy we are examining can be enacted so

:11:32. > :11:35.that we, in the end, can achieve justice for victims but also closure

:11:36. > :11:43.from the troubles. Laurence Robertson. Thank you. The Mhnister

:11:44. > :11:48.and the Prime Minister were right to draw the house's attention to the

:11:49. > :11:50.separation powers which exist, but in order for people in Northern

:11:51. > :11:55.Ireland and indeed throughott the United Kingdom to keep their faith

:11:56. > :12:01.in the peace process, isn't it important that whoever is stspected

:12:02. > :12:05.of committing any crimes ard fully investigated regardless of what

:12:06. > :12:12.rules they may be playing in Government now? I totally agree with

:12:13. > :12:16.my honourable friend. It is why not so long ago at this dispatch box

:12:17. > :12:21.when a prominent member of Sinn Fein was arrested and indeed members of

:12:22. > :12:27.the provisional IRA were arrested, I said quite clearly that we support

:12:28. > :12:29.the PSNI in pursuing the evhdence that is presented to them to bring

:12:30. > :12:34.them to justice whether thex are senior members of a politic`l party

:12:35. > :12:38.or indeed members of a terrorist organisation, but that is not to do

:12:39. > :12:42.the same thing as to equate individuals who work for thd British

:12:43. > :12:46.Armed Forces doing their job to affect people who could not -- to

:12:47. > :12:54.defend people who could not defend themselves. We endorse what the

:12:55. > :12:56.Right Honourable member for Aldershot has said. Is it not the

:12:57. > :13:00.case that we still have people in Northern are prepared to go out and

:13:01. > :13:03.murder former members of thd security forces, and is it really

:13:04. > :13:08.appropriate when a man offers to go into a police station for interview

:13:09. > :13:14.that 3 police cars arrived `t his home to arrest him in full public

:13:15. > :13:17.view, given his background? Surely, if we're going to do this, there

:13:18. > :13:21.needs to be a more sensitivd way of doing it. We should not be placing

:13:22. > :13:27.former and women who serve this country well and their families at

:13:28. > :13:36.risk simply it would appear to appease some other party. The

:13:37. > :13:41.gentleman is right to express concern. The manner in which anyone

:13:42. > :13:45.is arrested and I can't comlent on this individual case, and if he has

:13:46. > :13:48.issues with how and what manner that person was arrested, then I suggest

:13:49. > :13:55.you take that up with the Chief Constable. I entirely endorse the

:13:56. > :13:58.comments of the Minister and the shadow secretary. The current

:13:59. > :14:02.circumstances in Northern Ireland could never have come about without

:14:03. > :14:05.the extraordinary bravery and discipline of all those in security

:14:06. > :14:09.forces who have allowed the peace process to take root. Picking up the

:14:10. > :14:13.question from the shadow secretary, the Savile report, the most

:14:14. > :14:19.extraordinary combination of detail, will the Minister confirm that all

:14:20. > :14:24.the evidence given by soldidrs who were questioned is absolutely

:14:25. > :14:31.untouchable and cannot be used on legal grounds to incriminatd them

:14:32. > :14:38.and also that they are non-lilitary -- there are non- amenity is legally

:14:39. > :14:42.protected. It is absolutely the case that the testimony used as given by

:14:43. > :14:48.a former soldier cannot be tsed against that former soldier in any

:14:49. > :14:54.future case. He is protected from incriminating him or herself, who

:14:55. > :15:05.remember him -- who ever give that evidence. Mark Durkan. Thank you, Mr

:15:06. > :15:08.Speaker. As the MP for the constituency in which the events of

:15:09. > :15:12.bloody Sunday took place, I know I have to take care not to go so far

:15:13. > :15:16.in rebutting some of the issues that were raised by the Honourable member

:15:17. > :15:21.as to add to any impression of political pressure or polithcal

:15:22. > :15:25.motive behind the current investigation or indeed any arrest.

:15:26. > :15:27.Will the Minister confirm that of the things that all the parties have

:15:28. > :15:32.agreed in all of the discussions is that amnesty is no basis for dealing

:15:33. > :15:35.with the past and therefore the house should avoid getting hnvolved

:15:36. > :15:39.when there are particular investigations or particular arrests

:15:40. > :15:44.and in respect to his last `nswer, will he qualify it by saying that

:15:45. > :15:46.protection does not extend to the question of perjury, that Lord

:15:47. > :15:52.Savile did warn several witnesses and that the occupation authorities

:15:53. > :15:55.had taken a position that s`id they would only pursue the issue of

:15:56. > :15:58.perjury which would be pursted in this jurisdiction because that is

:15:59. > :16:03.where any possible perjury took place after the substantive course

:16:04. > :16:08.in relation to what they call the substantive crime of possible murder

:16:09. > :16:10.was dealt with, so people are looking to say that the

:16:11. > :16:14.investigations in addition to possible murder should somehow be

:16:15. > :16:16.part of the ban, will he be consulting with colleagues to see

:16:17. > :16:25.whether or not the issues around perjury should be reconsidered by

:16:26. > :16:28.the prosecuting authorities? The Honourable member is right that the

:16:29. > :16:34.protection does not extend to the area of perjury, of witnessds

:16:35. > :16:38.obviously giving testimony `t a public enquiry, and that wotld be

:16:39. > :16:42.the same for any witness on that date in. On the area of amndsty I

:16:43. > :16:48.can confirm doing that to rdad the whole legs lead -- legacy

:16:49. > :16:54.discussions, amnesty was never part of that process, and that w`s not

:16:55. > :17:01.something that either Government or parties wanted to commit to. Can I

:17:02. > :17:05.pay tribute to George Hamilton and the PSNI. They are bound to follow

:17:06. > :17:09.the evidence and we should support them in so doing, but would my

:17:10. > :17:14.honourable friend accept th`t in following the evidence they are

:17:15. > :17:23.likely to follow the actions of members of the Armed Forces 1st and

:17:24. > :17:27.foremost, since PYRA were not in the habit of laying down Britain

:17:28. > :17:37.evidence, so the branch is bound to give the impression that thhs serves

:17:38. > :17:42.the historical revisionist `genda of Sinn Fein and comment on whdther

:17:43. > :17:51.that is likely to be helpful or unhelpful to the peace procdss. My

:17:52. > :17:55.honourable friend knows all too well, having been stood herd

:17:56. > :17:59.previously doing this job, that what serves the peace process is the

:18:00. > :18:07.reckoning of the past, the closure for victims, but also justice for

:18:08. > :18:11.victims and the pursuit of former terrorists, if they have not been

:18:12. > :18:15.convicted, or the pursuit of anyone else, that is what serves pdace and

:18:16. > :18:19.recognising the huge sacrifhces made by members of the security forces

:18:20. > :18:23.and the civilian population of Northern Ireland is what actually

:18:24. > :18:27.brought us to the negotiating table. It is what actually defeated the

:18:28. > :18:30.terrorists, and that is why we need to make sure that when we move

:18:31. > :18:36.forward, we do so in a spirht that is measured, recognises word justice

:18:37. > :18:40.needs to be done, but also not to indulge people that would lhke to

:18:41. > :18:49.revise the past as if it was some big conspiracy against people. Lady

:18:50. > :18:55.Hermon. Thank you, Mr Speakdr. We hear from the Prime Minister often

:18:56. > :18:59.about the importance of havhng enshrined military covenant in law

:19:00. > :19:01.in this country, and he is puite right to boast of that becatse it is

:19:02. > :19:05.a wonderful thing to have done, but in that context, with the Mhnister

:19:06. > :19:11.guarantee that the Ministry of Defence will pay for all legal

:19:12. > :19:16.costs, that is the legal advice and the legal representation, top legal

:19:17. > :19:19.representation, of any formdr soldiers who served in Northern

:19:20. > :19:25.Ireland and who are charged in connection with any enquiry or

:19:26. > :19:32.inquest such as those announced for Bally Murphy. I thank the honourable

:19:33. > :19:35.lady for that question. The MoD recognises that we have a dtty of

:19:36. > :19:39.care to all current and forler members of the Armed Forces. As an

:19:40. > :19:42.essential part of that, we will pay for independent legal advicd so that

:19:43. > :19:46.they are able to defend thelselves when they face legal proceedings or

:19:47. > :19:54.matters related to the formdr service. Doctor Liam Fox. I agree

:19:55. > :19:59.with what my honourable fridnd says about the need to uphold thd law. I

:20:00. > :20:03.understand why any decisions about the prosecution must be inddpendent

:20:04. > :20:06.and why he cannot comment on this particular case, but without

:20:07. > :20:09.prejudging in any way any p`rticular case, does he understand th`t we

:20:10. > :20:15.also have the need to uphold justice and that it will be defending a

:20:16. > :20:18.natural sense of justice of many people in this country that the

:20:19. > :20:23.behaviour of how the army bdhaved on a certain date 40 years ago is being

:20:24. > :20:29.reopened when so many on thd IRA side were killed and have bden

:20:30. > :20:32.granted amnesty? Does he agree with me that if we are to draw a line

:20:33. > :20:37.under past events for the s`ke of peace, it should be drawn on both

:20:38. > :20:42.sides? My honourable friend makes an important point. I would like to

:20:43. > :20:45.correct him that paramilitaries and terrorists who have not been

:20:46. > :20:49.convicted and were not part of the Good Friday agreement have not been

:20:50. > :20:54.granted any amnesty. They are still subject to the full force of the

:20:55. > :20:59.law. There are individuals no doubt who are still being looked for and

:21:00. > :21:03.cases being prepared, so in that case I am afraid there is no blanket

:21:04. > :21:07.amnesty, but he is right th`t what we should not do is let indhvidual

:21:08. > :21:13.cases colour the very strong and successful work that are Arled

:21:14. > :21:16.Forces did. We went to Northern Ireland, Mr Speaker, to protect

:21:17. > :21:19.those people who could not defend themselves. That is a record that we

:21:20. > :21:23.should be proud of, but that record can be besmirched, and it is the

:21:24. > :21:26.same and always has been since the war or any other time that lembers

:21:27. > :21:33.of the Armed Forces can think they are above the law and it is what

:21:34. > :21:40.makes the difference -- makds us different from the terrorists. Isn't

:21:41. > :21:44.it the case that former terrorists have been granted immunity from

:21:45. > :21:48.prosecution and doesn't the Minister agree that no fair-minded pdrson

:21:49. > :21:55.will understand why that sale right is not extended to British soldiers?

:21:56. > :21:58.I think I have to correct the Honourable member. It is not my

:21:59. > :22:03.understanding that anyone h`s been granted amnesty from prosecttion. I

:22:04. > :22:10.think we shouldn't confuse some of the recent events with that meaning

:22:11. > :22:13.of blanket amnesty, so no 1 is available to call on amnestx to

:22:14. > :22:19.protect them from facing up to what they did, but he is right. H faced

:22:20. > :22:22.nearly every week people who killed my soldiers sitting oppositd me but

:22:23. > :22:25.I can do that because I think it is about the future and it is `bout

:22:26. > :22:34.making peace to move forward for Northern Ireland. Cheryl Gillan My

:22:35. > :22:36.constituency -- my constitudnt has written to me expressing dismay

:22:37. > :22:42.about the arrest of the 66 ,year-old ex- soldier in my area. He writes,

:22:43. > :22:44.you should be aware that thdre is a large and rapidly growing

:22:45. > :22:47.undercurrent of anger and rdsentment of these actions within the current

:22:48. > :22:52.military and more importantly amongst those many tens of thousands

:22:53. > :22:55.of veterans who, like me, spent long months and years being stondd,

:22:56. > :23:01.bonds, fired upon, enter, intimidated and vilified. I

:23:02. > :23:04.understand the parameters whthin which the Minister is operating but

:23:05. > :23:09.could you ensure that an explanation is brought forward rapidly `nd

:23:10. > :23:15.matters are brought to a swhft conclusion to allay the angdr that

:23:16. > :23:19.is reflected in this correspondence? I am tempted to say to my honourable

:23:20. > :23:22.friend that I might have dr`fted part of that letter. I was told

:23:23. > :23:30.vilified and abused for manx, many years on those tours. The anger is

:23:31. > :23:33.real. I feel the anger of m`ny of my former colleagues of her

:23:34. > :23:38.constituents about making stre that this is not used in some political

:23:39. > :23:42.campaign and we are determined in the Government to make sure that it

:23:43. > :23:45.is about the rule of law and the police have together the evhdence if

:23:46. > :23:49.there is any evidence and it has to follow its course. It is a long way

:23:50. > :23:52.from that. We are in a position where I cannot comment on the

:23:53. > :23:56.current case, but we are currently topping that people being

:23:57. > :24:00.questioned, under caution, `nd obviously arrested, but there is a

:24:01. > :24:03.long way to go to make that jump to this is some form of campaign

:24:04. > :24:09.against the British Army, btt I will say that we listen to what xou say,

:24:10. > :24:12.the Government knows it is `bout moving forward and thereford we

:24:13. > :24:18.shall do everything in our power to make sure we recognise and support

:24:19. > :24:20.what the MoD are doing currdntly with our soldiers to face

:24:21. > :24:27.prosecution or investigation to make sure they're giving the presentation

:24:28. > :24:30.that they deserve. I am verx grateful for the urgent question

:24:31. > :24:33.today and of course we recognise and support the rule of law and the

:24:34. > :24:39.independence of the judiciary, but that is a real anger -- there is a

:24:40. > :24:42.real anger amongst veterans and will the Minister take steps to dnsure

:24:43. > :24:45.that the current inequality that allows for those in the armdd

:24:46. > :24:51.services to be pursued with greater vigour, effort, than the terrorist

:24:52. > :24:53.themselves, ends and will bd moved toward some level playing fheld in

:24:54. > :25:01.future? I do not agree that there is an

:25:02. > :25:04.inequality in the process. H do not believe that the police and the

:25:05. > :25:09.Chief Constable are pursuing people with more birth than another group

:25:10. > :25:13.of people. I think they will go where the evidence takes thdm and

:25:14. > :25:16.they will follow them. The honourable members might like to

:25:17. > :25:21.think, this is a process th`t will hopefully help many soldiers and

:25:22. > :25:26.former RUC members clear thdir name. To have a process to clear xour name

:25:27. > :25:33.is as important as not having a process which could lead people to

:25:34. > :25:40.make full against them. --. Allegations against them. C`n I pick

:25:41. > :25:44.up on his point that no one is above the law? I would entirely concur on

:25:45. > :25:47.that. The perception is in this chamber amongst many members and

:25:48. > :25:56.people in the country that our British soldiers are hunted, while

:25:57. > :26:00.those who murder and kill and become politicians and still are, `nd I

:26:01. > :26:04.personally faced them, are `llowed to work free. Can I also get him to

:26:05. > :26:10.confirm that the identity of a soldier, and anyone else, bdcause I

:26:11. > :26:18.believe it is before 1973, their identities will be kept secret? We

:26:19. > :26:24.must all challenge the percdption that they are hounded. As I said

:26:25. > :26:31.earlier, there were 250,000 people that served in those 25 years. No

:26:32. > :26:35.one is hounding them. Peopld are following a course, the polhce must

:26:36. > :26:39.be allowed to follow a course of enquiry. In order to help ehther

:26:40. > :26:45.clear names or achieve justhce where there has been a breach in the law.

:26:46. > :26:48.I think that is very import`nt. We have to make the difference, that we

:26:49. > :26:54.are the people that follow the rule of law. It is the terrorist to does

:26:55. > :26:58.not. In answer to his second question, as I said to his right

:26:59. > :27:05.honourable friend, I shall write to him about that detail in thd future.

:27:06. > :27:10.Five years ago at the dispatch box, the Prime Minister took to his feet

:27:11. > :27:18.to try and bring closure to the ?200 million report across the House and

:27:19. > :27:21.in many sections of society people expressed the view that that was the

:27:22. > :27:25.matter at an end. I made at addiction from this base at that

:27:26. > :27:31.time that that would not be the end of the matter. -- I made a

:27:32. > :27:34.prediction from this place. Will he accept that he needs to meet with

:27:35. > :27:38.the Chief Constable of the police in Northern Ireland to ensure that

:27:39. > :27:44.irrespective of whether people were in uniform or out of uniforl, if

:27:45. > :27:49.they had machine guns or probably had submachine machine guns like

:27:50. > :27:52.Martin McGuinness, they shotld be subject to the law, and questioned

:27:53. > :27:58.equally, in order to be brotght before the court? The chief

:27:59. > :28:02.constable is adamant that in all criminal enquiries he will treat

:28:03. > :28:06.people the same. He will investigate and he will follow the course of

:28:07. > :28:10.action. It is not that long ago that we were hearing cries about Sinn

:28:11. > :28:17.Fein politicians being arrested and taken into questioning. I h`ve

:28:18. > :28:22.confidence that the chief constable who is a respected individu`ls from

:28:23. > :28:27.all sides of the House will follow his professional training and treat

:28:28. > :28:31.everyone fairly in that process I cannot get involved in

:28:32. > :28:35.investigation, I cannot see the chief constable to interferd,

:28:36. > :28:39.because if I was and the result was saying that there was no evhdence in

:28:40. > :28:43.a particular case, I would never get away with it, people would `ccuse me

:28:44. > :28:49.of interfering and someone would be prevented from clearing thehr name.

:28:50. > :28:53.I took out a patrol in the street of Belfast a few moments after we

:28:54. > :28:57.discovered that our Battalion band had been blown up in Regents Park,

:28:58. > :29:03.entertaining Londoners. And I will never forget the restraint showed by

:29:04. > :29:08.Rifleman and other ranks under my command facing the taunts of IRA and

:29:09. > :29:14.then their supporters on th`t occasion. That was just one example

:29:15. > :29:17.of thousands of similar occ`sions where the Armed Forces showdd

:29:18. > :29:22.unbelievable restraint in the face of a unbelievable provocation. I

:29:23. > :29:32.think what my colleagues at that time and many veterans might feel is

:29:33. > :29:36.that they want to say, what about Regents Park, Warren Park, Londay,

:29:37. > :29:41.Tuesday, Wednesday, when thdse were happening? The Minister is right,

:29:42. > :29:47.this has to be dealt with properly. But society wants a line dr`wn under

:29:48. > :29:51.this now. I hear my honourable friend and what he says and I do not

:29:52. > :29:56.disagree. Like him, I have had personal express of that restraint.

:29:57. > :30:00.We should not forget the trdmendous pressure soldiers and policd were

:30:01. > :30:04.put under every day, the provocation. I remember soldiers

:30:05. > :30:07.being attacked and people p`rking their cars in front of ambulances so

:30:08. > :30:15.they could not come to the rescue of our shoulders. -- soldiers. Inhumane

:30:16. > :30:19.treatment, murder and the mhgration by part of a society that wd were

:30:20. > :30:23.there to try and protect. Lhke him, I have real passion for what our

:30:24. > :30:27.soldiers achieved, and the TK Government recognises that `nd

:30:28. > :30:31.support that. But also like him he will recognise that those soldiers

:30:32. > :30:36.that showed restraint are the ones that make us the best army hn the

:30:37. > :30:40.world. It is their professionalism, it is the fact that they managed to

:30:41. > :30:43.carry on and try and achievd a better result for the peopld of

:30:44. > :30:46.Northern Ireland and the people they were there to protect. It is that

:30:47. > :30:49.restraint that means that those people who have a chance to clear

:30:50. > :30:53.their name should be allowed to clear their name, and it is those

:30:54. > :30:57.soldiers who followed the rtle of law who are only ever let down by

:30:58. > :31:05.those very few soldiers who break the law. Can I also concur with the

:31:06. > :31:12.comments made by the Right Honourable member for Aldershot I

:31:13. > :31:15.agree with him wholeheartedly. The diligence and zeal shown by the

:31:16. > :31:21.authorities to question the detained Regiment soldier is causing us

:31:22. > :31:28.concerned when that is comp`red to the people who have committdd

:31:29. > :31:35.horrible crimes and are fred today, and in some places, in high

:31:36. > :31:44.positions in the Parliament. Does the Minister feel this is a double

:31:45. > :31:50.standard? . I was on the backbenches during the whole on the run process.

:31:51. > :31:57.I cannot comment much furthdr other to say that it is my understanding

:31:58. > :32:03.that the underruns are not subject to any amnesty, they are not free

:32:04. > :32:05.from prosecution, and I hopd the prosecuting authorities herd what we

:32:06. > :32:08.say today and will make surd that they continue where they can

:32:09. > :32:11.prosecutions of any of thosd individuals that have committed

:32:12. > :32:18.crimes against our Armed Forces and the people of Northern Irel`nd.

:32:19. > :32:23.Further to his point and like my honourable friend, I have bden

:32:24. > :32:26.contacted by constituents bx deep concerns for the appearance of

:32:27. > :32:32.double standards with amnesty for terrorists. We heard from the chief

:32:33. > :32:36.constable of the PSNI that his officers are still going about their

:32:37. > :32:40.business with dissident reptblicans are still aiming to kill thdm or

:32:41. > :32:44.they work to protect the colmunique, can he assure us that there is no

:32:45. > :32:48.question of any amnesty for those who attack and maim our Armdd

:32:49. > :32:54.Forces? I can assure him thdre is no amnesty. In the latest agredment in

:32:55. > :33:02.Northern Ireland yesterday, there is ?150 million more money to fund our

:33:03. > :33:05.police forces and security services in Northern Ireland to purste people

:33:06. > :33:10.who commit crimes either currently or in the past against the hnnocent

:33:11. > :33:20.people of Northern Ireland. Not only that, there was an agreement made

:33:21. > :33:25.yesterday including measures to monitor paramilitary activity, so we

:33:26. > :33:29.are determined not only to do with the past but to invest and give our

:33:30. > :33:32.police the support to make sure we bring to justice those terrorists

:33:33. > :33:36.who have either been on the run those who have not been brotght to

:33:37. > :33:40.justice and also to get those dissident republicans who are out

:33:41. > :33:42.there right now targeting us, my colleagues, police officers going

:33:43. > :33:51.about their business in Northern Ireland every day. The Minister did

:33:52. > :33:56.indicate that he did not fedl there was an inequality. How does he

:33:57. > :34:00.explain that there are over 20 least service of Northern Ireland Office

:34:01. > :34:05.is investigating those soldhers of Bloody Sunday, and not one police

:34:06. > :34:14.officer investigating the 10 murders on remembrance service Sund`y in

:34:15. > :34:18.1987 in Enniskillen? I do not know the inner workings of how the chief

:34:19. > :34:21.constable and his senior officers decide to investigate each

:34:22. > :34:27.individual case and nor shotld I. Suffice to say, the chief constable

:34:28. > :34:34.is determined in my underst`nding to bring to justice any individual who

:34:35. > :34:38.has broken the law in the p`st, and there are plenty of former terrorist

:34:39. > :34:43.or current terrorists who nded to be brought to justice and most of the

:34:44. > :34:46.time that I see in front of me, PSNI officers are everyday out there

:34:47. > :34:56.trying to catch the terrorists and it is not in my view all focused on

:34:57. > :35:04.former soldiers. We have always been opposed to terrorism and two on the

:35:05. > :35:07.runs, and it was my honourable colleagues the member for Foyle who

:35:08. > :35:15.steadfastly opposed that in this very house semi go. We also believed

:35:16. > :35:18.in accountability and sensitivity for all victims, irrespective of

:35:19. > :35:27.where they came from. But could I ask the Minister to ensure `nd to

:35:28. > :35:31.redouble efforts that the whole issue to do with the legacy of the

:35:32. > :35:39.past is fully pursued and that we obtain a final resolution that takes

:35:40. > :35:46.on-board national security considerations, so that the truth is

:35:47. > :35:51.made available for all? The honourable member is right, and the

:35:52. > :35:58.SDLP has a fine and long tr`ck record of pursuing not only justice

:35:59. > :36:00.but also democratic methods to pursue their political agendas. And

:36:01. > :36:06.I think we should not forget that through the troubles that in the

:36:07. > :36:15.heart of it the SDLP took qtite a lot of intimidation throughout the

:36:16. > :36:17.process. I regret that the legacy did not make it through the

:36:18. > :36:21.agreement. I am determined to make sure that we deal with thosd issues

:36:22. > :36:25.in the past, that is why thdre is still funding available to deal with

:36:26. > :36:29.it, and I will be pressing next week, the Northern Ireland parties,

:36:30. > :36:33.to see what we are going to do to move on from agreement and lake sure

:36:34. > :36:37.we move forward on the legacy issue to make sure that not only families

:36:38. > :36:44.get more information and closure, but justice is also served. Can I

:36:45. > :36:52.congratulate the Minister for his professional response? It mtst be

:36:53. > :36:56.very hard with him in his background. I think it's response is

:36:57. > :36:59.exactly what we expect from our service people and we do expect more

:37:00. > :37:05.from them. That is why it is right and proper that if the rules are

:37:06. > :37:09.being followed, that the people concerned get the chance to clear

:37:10. > :37:14.their name if possible. At the end of the day, there were 13 pdople on

:37:15. > :37:20.the streets of Derry who were dead 43 years ago. If people did not act

:37:21. > :37:25.properly, it is right and proper that they are taught to book. I

:37:26. > :37:30.would reiterate that it is what sets us apart, the rule of law, soldiers

:37:31. > :37:32.that show restraint and professionalism, it is how the

:37:33. > :37:38.public and the community support you. And if you are trying to deal

:37:39. > :37:41.with a terrorist threat and counterterrorism, you need the

:37:42. > :37:46.population on your side. I know more than anyone that when popul`tions

:37:47. > :37:50.felt that you were above thd law or did not treat them as if thdy were

:37:51. > :37:57.part of society, then actually it made the soldier's job more harder

:37:58. > :38:03.and more dangerous because no one helped us all gay misinform`tion and

:38:04. > :38:12.our lives were put at risk. -- no one helped us or gave us

:38:13. > :38:21.misinformation. Was the honourable gentleman here at the start? How

:38:22. > :38:26.could I doubt it for one molent Like other honourable members in

:38:27. > :38:30.this place, I, too, led soldiers and platoons in those troubled times in

:38:31. > :38:38.the 1980s. And I would like to pay tribute to the very vast majority of

:38:39. > :38:43.soldiers who have showed troupe of rationalism in often very hostile

:38:44. > :38:46.environments. I also agree with the -- showed true professionalhsm. I

:38:47. > :38:50.also agree that there should also be no one above the rule of law. But

:38:51. > :38:56.can he use his offices to do what he can to Expedia to this mattdr as

:38:57. > :39:01.quickly as possible? Becausd what we all want in this place on all sides

:39:02. > :39:07.is to draw a line under the troubled times so that we can move forward,

:39:08. > :39:11.and that gives best chance together with good officers on all shdes to

:39:12. > :39:17.give peace a chance and the peace process is a chance of succdeding

:39:18. > :39:23.for the longer term. I'm delighted you to called my

:39:24. > :39:28.honourable friend. He is right, we need to put all of this behhnd us.

:39:29. > :39:31.On a police investigation, H cannot interfere, I cannot interfere with

:39:32. > :39:37.any of the processes becausd to do so would be to jeopardise the course

:39:38. > :39:38.of justice and maybe, jeopardise someone's ability to clear their

:39:39. > :39:51.name. Mr Sammy Wilson. Thank you, Mr

:39:52. > :39:57.Speaker. The Minister says that the army are not above the rule of law

:39:58. > :40:02.and there is no blanket amndsty for those who they were seeking to stop

:40:03. > :40:08.killing the people of Northdrn Ireland, but the perception of the

:40:09. > :40:11.casual observer is that's bdcause of legal position or because of

:40:12. > :40:18.scandalous certificates handed out by the last Government or bx an act

:40:19. > :40:24.of the PSNI there are a grotp of killers in Northern Ireland who are

:40:25. > :40:27.immune from prosecution and that disturbs people and stirs up

:40:28. > :40:33.animosity. Could I also say to the Minister that it puts policd

:40:34. > :40:36.officers in fear that while they are dealing with the current bunch of

:40:37. > :40:41.republican terrorists that sometime in the future of their families will

:40:42. > :40:44.also whinge for enquiries and those same police officers will h`ve to

:40:45. > :40:51.stand in the dock. Can he not see that some mechanism must be used to

:40:52. > :40:59.ensure that Army personnel `re not pursued in this way? Do this last

:41:00. > :41:03.point, I can see it, but I `m not going to equate IRA killers with

:41:04. > :41:07.British forces. They are not the same and I will not encourage an

:41:08. > :41:10.alternative mechanism that somehow equates them. My view and the view

:41:11. > :41:14.of the Government is that the police must follow the rule of law, our

:41:15. > :41:20.forces must follow the rule of law and if the member is worried about

:41:21. > :41:23.perception, then we must all do more to correct that perception. I shall

:41:24. > :41:28.do more to correct that perception and next week when I meet the police

:41:29. > :41:31.and the security services, H shall certainly press on them agahn to

:41:32. > :41:36.make sure they pursued thosd people still at large and those crhmes of

:41:37. > :41:44.terrorists who have not been brought to justice. Mr Ian Paisley. Thank

:41:45. > :41:50.you, Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, the double standards in this affair are

:41:51. > :41:57.palpable for all to see. We have hundreds of on the run lettdr is

:41:58. > :42:02.signed off clearing people of mass murder, some of several mass

:42:03. > :42:07.murderers. A dozen of them signed off by the Minister's own colleague

:42:08. > :42:12.on that bench. Is it not a disgrace that we also have people like Rita

:42:13. > :42:18.or hair freely available to meet the high ministers and presidents and

:42:19. > :42:23.yet the Minister tells us that there is no double standard here. There is

:42:24. > :42:34.a double standard and it has got to be addressed. -- Rita O'Hard. The

:42:35. > :42:38.honourable member reiterates the points that there is an unf`ir

:42:39. > :42:41.playing fields, that there hs a double standard. I do not bdlieve

:42:42. > :42:46.there is a double standard. I do believe that the police and the PSNI

:42:47. > :42:50.in their professional manner of pursuing the evidence that hs

:42:51. > :42:53.presented to them, the line of conviction is a long way from

:42:54. > :42:57.conviction and from court c`ses and who knows where it will takd is but

:42:58. > :42:59.if politicians interfere with that course of justice then we whll not

:43:00. > :43:04.solve the problems of Northdrn Ireland. We will just extend those

:43:05. > :43:09.problems and people will continue to refer back by saying that all along

:43:10. > :43:14.this was a big fix and it w`sn't really about making sure th`t

:43:15. > :43:17.justice was done. Everyone hn Northern Ireland deserves jtstice.

:43:18. > :43:20.Everyone who served in Northern Ireland deserves justice. I want to

:43:21. > :43:23.know who killed my soldiers and I will continue to ask those

:43:24. > :43:28.questions, but I will not fhnd out who killed my soldiers if wd don't

:43:29. > :43:34.move Northern Ireland forward and we don't pursue -- allow the police to

:43:35. > :43:39.do their job to pursue people to make sure that convictions `re

:43:40. > :43:49.achieved where they are desdrved. Mr Gavin Robinson. Thank you, Lr

:43:50. > :43:54.Speaker. I am alarmed that the pursuit of prosecutions is ` good

:43:55. > :43:59.opportunity for ex- service men to clear their name. Surely, as a

:44:00. > :44:02.former serviceman yourself, you can understand the anguish, the pain,

:44:03. > :44:05.and the stress of people who stood by me, my family and my colleagues

:44:06. > :44:10.and my countrymen through all of those hard days and that re`lly you

:44:11. > :44:14.should reflect as to whether the pursuit of prosecution is a worthy

:44:15. > :44:22.or noble thing for people to clear their name. I didn't actually say

:44:23. > :44:26.the pursuit of prosecutions. I said pursuing a line of enquiry hs

:44:27. > :44:30.important to allow people to clear their name. It is also important so

:44:31. > :44:35.that when the PSNI or if thd PSNI say on a number of occasions there

:44:36. > :44:41.is no evidence to answer, the public has full confidence that thd police

:44:42. > :44:43.have done all they could to establish whether that is the case.

:44:44. > :44:52.If the police and anyone else in future or the PPP rolls out charging

:44:53. > :44:56.someone, the public have to believe that is because there is no

:44:57. > :44:58.evidence. -- DPP. They cannot do it on the basis that a politichan or a

:44:59. > :45:02.minister or anyone else intdrfered with that process which would be a

:45:03. > :45:12.subjective matter and would undermine justice, not strengthen

:45:13. > :45:19.it. Order. Point of order Mr Clive Betts. On the 14th of March of this

:45:20. > :45:25.year, a Select Committee report was Buddhist on litter and fly-tipping.

:45:26. > :45:27.The convention is that Government departments will respond within 8

:45:28. > :45:36.weeks. Sometimes there is a reason for delay but it has now bedn 8

:45:37. > :45:41.months since the report was produced and we are still no nearer to

:45:42. > :45:46.getting a response. I think this is a disrespect to the house as a whole

:45:47. > :45:49.and I wonder whether you, Mr Speaker, could use your offhce to

:45:50. > :45:54.get the support now responddd to in a proper manner? I thank thd

:45:55. > :46:00.honourable member for his courtesy in giving me notice of this point of

:46:01. > :46:03.order. Clearly, it is important to the effectiveness of select

:46:04. > :46:09.committees that Government departments respond promptlx to

:46:10. > :46:12.their reports. The Government's own guidance makes clear that

:46:13. > :46:18.departments should aim to rdspond to committee reports within 2 lonths

:46:19. > :46:22.and only in exceptional circumstances should the response be

:46:23. > :46:29.deferred for more than 6 months after the report has been ptblished.

:46:30. > :46:32.I trust that the concerns expressed by the honourable gentleman, who is

:46:33. > :46:39.after all a cheer of communhties and local government, has been noted on

:46:40. > :46:43.the Treasury bench and that the Government's response will shortly

:46:44. > :46:50.follow. For the avoidance of doubt, and saw that this is well rdcalled

:46:51. > :46:55.both in the house and beyond, I reiterate what the honourable

:46:56. > :46:59.gentleman said. This import`nt report was entitled litter `nd

:47:00. > :47:06.fly-tipping in England. It was published on the 14th of March

:47:07. > :47:10.2015. It is hard to see why the Government has not been abld to get

:47:11. > :47:19.round to determining and publishing a response. It should now do so If

:47:20. > :47:25.there are no further points of order and before we come to the 10 minute

:47:26. > :47:30.rule motion, I had to notifx the house in accordance with thd Royal

:47:31. > :47:35.assent act 1977 that Her Majesty has signified her Royal assent to the

:47:36. > :47:46.following act. Finance numbdr 2 act, 2015. Order. 10 minute rule

:47:47. > :47:53.motion. Mr Scott manner. -- Mr Scott manner. I beg to move the b`by given

:47:54. > :47:58.to me to amend the bill to part 6 of the Road traffic regulations act

:47:59. > :48:06.1984 and the local authoritx's traffic orders regulations 0996 to

:48:07. > :48:10.make provision about the powers and duties of town and parish councils

:48:11. > :48:13.in relation to applying the speed limit orders and to provide for the

:48:14. > :48:17.conduct of the local referendum to determine whether such an

:48:18. > :48:23.application should be made `nd for the connected purposes. This is

:48:24. > :48:28.bigger, this bill accomplishes main objectives. Firstly, this bill

:48:29. > :48:32.encourages safer environments for motorists and pedestrians. Secondly,

:48:33. > :48:34.this bill empowers local communities. This bill will give

:48:35. > :48:39.town and parish councils thd ability to hold a referendum to change their

:48:40. > :48:44.speed limits. Mr Speaker, this really gives power to local people.

:48:45. > :48:48.Local people know best about the limits on their votes, whether they

:48:49. > :48:53.are too fast or too slow. They know better than an officer of the

:48:54. > :48:55.council might reside some mhles away from the place. They live there

:48:56. > :49:00.They know the environment of the rules and they know the motorists

:49:01. > :49:03.and the pedestrians that usd those roads. Mr Speaker, I have only been

:49:04. > :49:07.an honourable member of this house for 6 months, and yet in th`t time,

:49:08. > :49:13.I have had a coherent message communicated to me by consthtuents,

:49:14. > :49:16.parish councils, and schools, and the roads in their communitx are

:49:17. > :49:23.becoming dangerous and I sh`ll name some examples. In a small political

:49:24. > :49:27.stratagem, we have a primarx school situated on a very nasty junction

:49:28. > :49:31.which sees very large lorrids and cars speeding past. When I visited

:49:32. > :49:36.the site, I met with parents and children who showed me how they

:49:37. > :49:39.cross a road with a tiny little traffic island. Because of this

:49:40. > :49:43.both sides of the world are busy and the traffic has to pass within

:49:44. > :49:46.inches of the pavement. It hs clearly evident that this road is

:49:47. > :49:50.too dangerous for children to get to school and people have resorted to

:49:51. > :49:54.driving as an option that is clearly not sustainable in the long term.

:49:55. > :49:58.Not far from this road is a small village called Werrington. We saw

:49:59. > :50:02.recently a car crash into the local school boundary wall becausd of

:50:03. > :50:08.excessive speed. Locals and schools have campaigned for a 20 mph speed

:50:09. > :50:12.limit to ensure safety of children, pedestrians and fellow motorists. I

:50:13. > :50:16.received several handwritten letters from the children at Werrington

:50:17. > :50:21.school asking for something to be done and for the vote to be made

:50:22. > :50:26.safer. In another village in my constituency, we have seen speeding

:50:27. > :50:31.cars passing schools and holes near very narrow pavements were people

:50:32. > :50:34.walk. These can't be widened and it would cost far too much for the Road

:50:35. > :50:42.to be redesigned, but a lowdr speed limit could help. Nearby, mdmbers of

:50:43. > :50:48.a parish council met with md to talk about speeding cars on the @39 where

:50:49. > :50:52.they reach excessive speeds of over 60 mph. This is far too fast for

:50:53. > :50:57.some local people. These ard just for some local people. Thesd are

:50:58. > :51:01.dysphoric samples specific hssues and I'm sure honourable and Right

:51:02. > :51:04.Honourable members will havd very similar issues in their are`s. This

:51:05. > :51:10.bill gives them the power to do something about it. Mr Speaker, I

:51:11. > :51:16.have looked at some statisthcs on this and it is truly amazing.

:51:17. > :51:21.According to the data published in the 2012 House of Commons lhbrary,

:51:22. > :51:27.there were nearly 196,000 rdported casualties on roads in Great Britain

:51:28. > :51:35.including 1754 fatalities and 2 ,000 serious casualties. On 30 mph roads,

:51:36. > :51:41.there were 582 fatal accidents. On 20 mph, there were 9. 2/3 of

:51:42. > :51:48.accidents happen in a 30 mph limit, whereas only 1.5% were on 20 mph

:51:49. > :51:51.votes. This is simply quite staggering and illustrates why

:51:52. > :51:57.people in some areas want to campaign for a lower speed limit.

:51:58. > :52:00.The implementation of a 20 lph limit is particularly vital outside

:52:01. > :52:06.schools, which often face htrdles when asked for speed or traffic

:52:07. > :52:10.calming measures. For me, I don t see as many school patrol crossings

:52:11. > :52:14.as they used to, there are undoubtedly in decline. I h`d

:52:15. > :52:19.parents and my constituency who rely on a mere island to aid thehr

:52:20. > :52:22.passage to school. I went to a premise: My constituency to meet

:52:23. > :52:25.with concerned parents who faced the challenge on a daily basis of

:52:26. > :52:30.getting their children to school safely and, Mr Speaker, if parents

:52:31. > :52:33.and my constituency want thd road outside their school lowered because

:52:34. > :52:36.they fear for their children's safety, their voices must bd heard.

:52:37. > :52:41.Now, of course, referendums are not cheap and they do need planning full

:52:42. > :52:43.stop therefore, I am not proposing that a referendum be held

:52:44. > :52:47.spontaneously at any time. Hf there is a will of the people for the

:52:48. > :52:51.speed limit to be lowered from 0 mph to 20 mph then there is a will

:52:52. > :52:58.of the people for the speed limit to be lowered from 30 mph to 20 mph

:52:59. > :53:03.then their voice referendums should be held in line with other local

:53:04. > :53:06.elections, national elections, by-elections and town and p`rish

:53:07. > :53:11.elections. This will save considerable costs to the t`xpayer.

:53:12. > :53:15.The desire for a referendum will also need to be present. Town and

:53:16. > :53:18.parish councils should be able to judge whether they feel a rod or an

:53:19. > :53:22.issue in the road needs addressing. It must also be pointed out that

:53:23. > :53:26.this bill is to alter speed limits, not just to lower them. Every town

:53:27. > :53:29.or village wanted to raise ` speed limit, then they would have the

:53:30. > :53:33.option to do that as well, hf local people wanted to vote for that. If

:53:34. > :53:37.representation is strong from the community and there is no strategy

:53:38. > :53:41.being put forward by the local authority to address it, thdn the

:53:42. > :53:44.vote should be put to the pdople. If committees vote yes, then the local

:53:45. > :53:49.authority must begin work to implement that speed limit. To make

:53:50. > :53:51.sure that councils do not persistently decide to hold

:53:52. > :53:56.referendums on 1 board after another broad, then they could list a number

:53:57. > :54:00.of road in the area at the same time they could put forward a proposal

:54:01. > :54:04.for a whole area such as a town centre. This would create a blanket

:54:05. > :54:09.change rather than some roads changing and some not. Mr Speaker, I

:54:10. > :54:12.truly believe that in these times of increasing car journeys, it is vital

:54:13. > :54:16.we keep people safe. There hs also the case that we are seeing huge

:54:17. > :54:20.housing growth in some areas and as these houses are built, mord parents

:54:21. > :54:27.and children are walking to school, more public transport is behng

:54:28. > :54:29.moved, more heavy vehicles `re being transported. This committee is

:54:30. > :54:33.passionate about giving powdr to the people. We have seen the devolution

:54:34. > :54:38.packages that have been delhvered such far, such as the Department of

:54:39. > :54:43.business rates, the recent historic Cornish devolution deal, and giving

:54:44. > :54:48.power to the people to reject town planning applications.

:54:49. > :54:54.I believe this will indirectly get people more interested in politics

:54:55. > :54:57.and create more understanding in the political process. If there is a

:54:58. > :55:02.majority that won the changd, but their name to the bill, and they can

:55:03. > :55:10.they say they can change thdir local community. I believe this bhll will

:55:11. > :55:16.empower people and directly impact their behaviour on the

:55:17. > :55:21.the question is that the honourable member have lead to bring in the

:55:22. > :55:25.Bill. As many as are of the opinion, say "aye". To the contrary, "no ..

:55:26. > :55:32.Who will prepare and bring hn the Bill? Derek Thomas, Alex Ch`lk,

:55:33. > :56:01.Maggie Thorpe and myself. Perfect! No errors! Very good! Speed

:56:02. > :56:10.limits on roads, devolved powers bill. Second reading what they?

:56:11. > :56:23.Friday 5th of February 2016. Order. We come now to the main bushness,

:56:24. > :56:28.opposition day, ten a day. @nd - the 10th allotted day. The first of

:56:29. > :56:31.our scheduled debates. This is on a motion in the name of the Ldader of

:56:32. > :56:39.the Opposition on the government's record on the economy. The `mendment

:56:40. > :56:45.has not been selected. To move the motion, I called the Shadow

:56:46. > :56:50.Chancellor, Mr John McDonnell. Thank you, Mr Speaker. We have chosen to

:56:51. > :56:54.devote a section of today's opposition day to set the scene for

:56:55. > :56:57.next week's Autumn Statement and comprehensive spending revidw. This

:56:58. > :57:01.will be the last chance manx MPs from across the House will have two

:57:02. > :57:06.put their case to the Chancdllor before he comes to his final

:57:07. > :57:09.conclusions on his spending plans and economic strategy for the coming

:57:10. > :57:18.period. The Chancellor is not here today, we will -- were naturally

:57:19. > :57:22.disappointed but I spoke to him before the debate and he is working

:57:23. > :57:26.hard on the spending review and we will forget him if he gets his sums

:57:27. > :57:29.right. The Chancellor's poshtion next week will have serious

:57:30. > :57:31.consequences for every constituency in the country. What we all need

:57:32. > :57:37.from the Chancellor is wise judgment from the Chancellor is wise judgment

:57:38. > :57:40.and fairness. Our country f`ces serious challenges and risks ahead

:57:41. > :57:47.and we should not underestilate them. Let me first deal with one

:57:48. > :57:51.issue that overrides all others It has been heartbreaking to w`tch the

:57:52. > :57:54.tragic events in Paris at the weekend unfold, into the suffering

:57:55. > :58:00.of families, coming to the realisation of their loss. H sent a

:58:01. > :58:04.message of condolence and solidarity to our counterparts, the Frdnch

:58:05. > :58:10.finance minister, at the wedkend. The first duty of this statd is to

:58:11. > :58:14.protect its citizens so can I assure the Chancellor that he and the

:58:15. > :58:19.timing minister had our full support for the stance -- and the Prime

:58:20. > :58:22.Minister have our full support for the enhanced spending on defence

:58:23. > :58:25.they have announced this wedk. We share the view of the Metropolitan

:58:26. > :58:30.police Commissioner and othdr police chiefs that are often the fhrst line

:58:31. > :58:36.of intelligence on potential hazards and threats to our safety, `nd

:58:37. > :58:40.responding to them if the police officer in the community on on the

:58:41. > :58:47.street. There has been a grdat deal of speculation on the scale on the

:58:48. > :58:51.cuts to the police service, hunting severe warnings of a cross-party

:58:52. > :58:55.basis about the consequences for the public if the scale of cuts goes

:58:56. > :58:59.ahead. Can I also reassure the Chancellor that we would also

:59:00. > :59:04.support an urgent review of the policing budget proposals to avert

:59:05. > :59:08.this risk to the service, and we would support any enhanced

:59:09. > :59:11.expenditure plans being placed outside the parameters of the fiscal

:59:12. > :59:20.constraints of the Charter for budget responsibility. Would my

:59:21. > :59:24.honourable friend agree that the tragic atrocities in Paris, as they

:59:25. > :59:28.were focused on young peopld in the social environment, suggests that

:59:29. > :59:33.such attacks could occur anxwhere in Britain at any time?

:59:34. > :59:37.I think we are all fearful of the risk that there is, but also we

:59:38. > :59:42.place confidence in our intdlligence and policing services. To bd frank,

:59:43. > :59:48.now is not the time to be dogmatic when our community is under such

:59:49. > :59:50.heightened physical threat. When it comes to national security `nd

:59:51. > :59:55.keeping the public safe, I say to the Chancellor and the government,

:59:56. > :59:59.they will always have the stpport of the Labour Party. Let me now turn to

:00:00. > :00:03.an issue of fairness which H am hoping the ministers could reassure

:00:04. > :00:08.us today that the Chancellor has now sorted out once and for. Thhs is the

:00:09. > :00:14.issue of tax credits. I dig it came to a shocked to members on `ll sides

:00:15. > :00:19.of the House -- think it cale as a shock, when the Chancellor brought

:00:20. > :00:23.forward proposals to cut tax credits without fully, bending the

:00:24. > :00:29.consequences of his actions, he was an error of judgment. I would like

:00:30. > :00:32.to thank members in all parties and our colleagues in the other place

:00:33. > :00:36.who found they could not support the Chancellor's proposal and forced him

:00:37. > :00:41.to think again. I think what convinced many people is ex`ctly

:00:42. > :00:46.what Gordon Brown our former prime ministers some up so eloquently last

:00:47. > :00:50.week. This was an attack on children. The prospect of 200,0 0

:00:51. > :00:54.more children being pushed hnto poverty I think pushed many MPs and

:00:55. > :00:58.members of the other place over the edge to oppose these propos`ls.

:00:59. > :01:00.There has been a lot of spec elation in the press about how the

:01:01. > :01:12.Chancellor has been trying to resolve the tax credits I string,

:01:13. > :01:15.much talk of cuts to universal credit and threats of quitthng, I am

:01:16. > :01:21.pleased the quiet man has h`d to raise his voice and has won the day.

:01:22. > :01:25.But it has now gone on to housing support. I do not expect ministers

:01:26. > :01:31.to resolve this today, but the million people who face a ctt of

:01:32. > :01:38.?3000 per year, can ministers at least assure us and those f`milies

:01:39. > :01:42.that they will be withdrawing tax credit cuts in full and thehr

:01:43. > :01:47.existing or new claimant wotld lose out? Can I give him another reason

:01:48. > :01:53.for tackling this issue head on In North Wales, ?58 million will be

:01:54. > :01:57.taken out of the local economy in the ten constituencies across North

:01:58. > :02:01.Wales next year if the proposal goes ahead. That is money that whll be

:02:02. > :02:06.spent in local shops, local businesses, local communitids. And

:02:07. > :02:13.if that is taken out not only will families and children suffer, but

:02:14. > :02:18.local with this. As well. -, will suffer as well. At a time when we

:02:19. > :02:26.are trying to grow the economy, it seems bizarre way to bring `bout a

:02:27. > :02:30.local recession. Would he not accept that having not just acceptdd a

:02:31. > :02:34.friend for his honourable friend, the same argument could be deployed

:02:35. > :02:41.in never ever cutting the ddficit ever? The whole point of thd debate

:02:42. > :02:46.is about political choices. And to be frank, I think on a cross-party

:02:47. > :02:50.basis, we said to the Chancdllor in debate to debate, this was the wrong

:02:51. > :02:54.political choice and therefore he should look elsewhere. All H urge

:02:55. > :02:58.today is not the detail on how he is resolving this, we will wait for

:02:59. > :03:01.that, but the assurance that no one will lose out. I think families out

:03:02. > :03:09.there want that assurance now because of the security thex face.

:03:10. > :03:16.I'm extremely grateful. With a constituency like mine of Sdlly Oak

:03:17. > :03:23.now in the top 13% in the country for unemployment, with more than 20%

:03:24. > :03:29.of those in work not earning a living wage and over 60% dependent

:03:30. > :03:32.on tax credits, isn't it cldar that five years of the long-term economic

:03:33. > :03:36.plan has not worked for Selly Oak? What we need next week is not a

:03:37. > :03:41.rethink but a step change in the approach to working families. I am

:03:42. > :03:44.hoping that that is what thd Chancellor is working on at the

:03:45. > :03:52.moment and that is why he c`nnot be with us. The honourable member has

:03:53. > :03:55.mentioned children twice so far The Greek government overspend, leading

:03:56. > :03:58.this September ten of thous`nds of children on school increase. Does

:03:59. > :04:03.the honourable member not accept that a country does not look after

:04:04. > :04:11.its finances does not look `fter its children? Of course that is true,

:04:12. > :04:14.there are four economies. On a cross-party -- full economids. On a

:04:15. > :04:16.cross-party basis we came to the conclusion that cutting tax credits

:04:17. > :04:30.is a 4th -- a fourth economx. -- it is not a good true economy. I

:04:31. > :04:36.know that large numbers of people want to speak in this debatd. I

:04:37. > :04:41.would say it would be helpftl to have the insurance today th`t no one

:04:42. > :04:46.would lose out. I have repe`tedly said that if the Chancellor

:04:47. > :04:51.withdraws the tax credit cuts in full, and fairly, he will h`ve our

:04:52. > :04:55.support. In fairness, can mhnisters also assure us that if the

:04:56. > :04:59.Chancellor does scrap his t`x credit cuts, this will not be paid for by

:05:00. > :05:04.cutting the benefits and support to families elsewhere? I seek that

:05:05. > :05:07.assurance because unfortunately the Chancellor does have a bit of a

:05:08. > :05:13.reputation for giving with one hand and taking with another. I

:05:14. > :05:20.acknowledge and appreciate his wish to do cross-party support in

:05:21. > :05:24.reducing the deficit and I take it from his stance that his party

:05:25. > :05:30.opposite do want to take control of the deficit. So where did hd suggest

:05:31. > :05:34.those cuts are made? The he`lth service, schools, local govdrnment

:05:35. > :05:40.budgets? Is a defence? Would he give some suggestions on how he would

:05:41. > :05:43.reduce the deficit? We have raised this time and time again. I think

:05:44. > :05:49.what was in Congress when wd debated this previously, at the samd time

:05:50. > :05:53.when the Chancellor was seeking to cut working tax credits, he was

:05:54. > :06:01.reducing inheritance tax for the wealthiest families in our country.

:06:02. > :06:05.I think in many ways people saw that as basically unfair. There hs much

:06:06. > :06:09.that we are hoping for in the Chancellor's address in next week's

:06:10. > :06:14.statement. We know we must continue to bear down on the deficit and debt

:06:15. > :06:18.but this also has to be dond with realistic good judgment and

:06:19. > :06:23.fairness. I say realistically because it undermines confidence in

:06:24. > :06:28.Dublin overall if we go through another CSR is a good five xears ago

:06:29. > :06:34.when the Chancellor announcdd in 20 ten that he would eliminate the

:06:35. > :06:39.deficit in five years and wd have only got half way. In the l`st

:06:40. > :06:43.financial year, the budget deficit stood at 44 billion. I remelber as

:06:44. > :06:48.well in 2010 that the Chancdllor said he would reduce the debt will

:06:49. > :06:58.stop to 69%, it now stands `t more than 80%. The mistakes of the last

:06:59. > :07:06.CSR should not be repeated hn this. Our fiscal rules should be

:07:07. > :07:11.realistic, achievable and f`ir. I have heard him and his colldagues

:07:12. > :07:14.criticise the government on many occasions for cutting too f`st. Is

:07:15. > :07:18.he now suggesting that we should have actually cut faster? If so I

:07:19. > :07:24.am sure we would be more th`n happy to cooperate. I am happy for that

:07:25. > :07:29.cooperation at any stage. The issue that we said to the Chancellor five

:07:30. > :07:31.years ago was, actually he was going too fast and he should have been

:07:32. > :07:36.investing in growth and that would have enabled us to reduce the

:07:37. > :07:39.deficit. In reality he promhsed to reduce the deficit in five xears,

:07:40. > :07:49.now he is going to do it in pen a doubling of the target. -- hn ten.

:07:50. > :07:56.Can he reminded the House at what rate of debt the Chancellor has

:07:57. > :08:03.managed to accrue, is it a `bout the same amount of debt that 13 years of

:08:04. > :08:08.Labour government accrued, the Chancellor has accrued in fhve

:08:09. > :08:15.years? The figures are 55% hn five years. I think that is helpful. Let

:08:16. > :08:19.me press on. I think we need to be realistic as well that our dconomy

:08:20. > :08:23.also faces severe challenges. I warned in September that many of the

:08:24. > :08:27.factors that contributed to the last economic crisis are emerging again.

:08:28. > :08:32.This is the slowest recoverx in living memory. It is based on rising

:08:33. > :08:40.house prices and unsecured consumer lending, rising at record r`tes The

:08:41. > :08:46.governments own forecasts expect household debt to surpass the levels

:08:47. > :08:49.reached before the crash. Wd have an increasingly unbalanced economy

:08:50. > :08:56.based on more than ever on hnsecure jobs in the service sector `nd an

:08:57. > :09:03.overreliance on the finance sector. If I can press on, I will come back

:09:04. > :09:08.to him. Regrettably all of the predictions are that manufacturing

:09:09. > :09:13.is likely to go into recesshon next month. The UK's current campus it,

:09:14. > :09:20.the balance of payments, was at an all-time high last year. -- current

:09:21. > :09:24.account deficit. This was a slump in British investors owning abroad

:09:25. > :09:27.while those in the rest of the world continue to profit from the assets

:09:28. > :09:31.we sell and the loans we take out. The warning signs in the rest of the

:09:32. > :09:36.world are there but the Chancellor is bequeathing us an economx even

:09:37. > :09:42.more poorly repaired than it was in 2008. Back then we had room for

:09:43. > :09:46.manoeuvre, the Bank of Engl`nd could cut interest rates to rock bottom,

:09:47. > :09:51.sustaining the economy as the global recession hit. It hit hardest

:09:52. > :09:57.because our financial systel was over exposed to risk, it did not and

:09:58. > :10:02.would not understand. But at least the government could take action. It

:10:03. > :10:05.introduced quantitative eashng. Seven years on, the Bank of England

:10:06. > :10:09.base rate remains jammed at the lowest level in history, thd room

:10:10. > :10:16.for manoeuvre unconventional monetary policy is essentially zero.

:10:17. > :10:22.In terms of the economy, dods he welcomed the figures in my

:10:23. > :10:25.constituency which show that those claiming jobseeker's allowance are

:10:26. > :10:30.down by 30% and shows that those people on this side of the house are

:10:31. > :10:36.on the side of working people. Of course we welcome any incre`se in

:10:37. > :10:40.employment and reductions in unemployment. The problem is that

:10:41. > :10:44.the economy is unsustainabld at the moment and my fear is that those

:10:45. > :10:48.jobs gained in the last year may be lost in the forthcoming crisis if we

:10:49. > :10:53.don't take avoidance action. I quote Andrew Haldane, the chief economist

:10:54. > :10:59.at the Bank of England, who has warned that the 3rd wave of the

:11:00. > :11:03.financial crisis is now bre`king and, centred on China, could have an

:11:04. > :11:07.impact on Britain. Britain hs the country with the largest single

:11:08. > :11:11.exposure to Chinese debt at $500,000,000,000. Any upset in the

:11:12. > :11:15.rest of the world will, thanks to our extraordinary large fan`ticism,

:11:16. > :11:22.rapidly make its way here. That s exactly how the last crisis

:11:23. > :11:26.happened. -- large financial system. That is when the failure in the

:11:27. > :11:29.American Society turns to f`ilure in this society. We cannot know what

:11:30. > :11:33.will happen over the next fdw years. I will give way in a minute. The

:11:34. > :11:37.Chancellor has warned repeatedly of trouble ahead, but surely these

:11:38. > :11:40.challenges are better faced if we have a more balanced and more

:11:41. > :11:45.resilient economy that can provide real security for all of us.

:11:46. > :11:52.Instead, we have a single-mhnded fixation on a single target, the

:11:53. > :11:57.2020 surplus that no credible economist now supports. By clinging

:11:58. > :12:00.on so tenaciously it appears that the Chancellor is putting the needs

:12:01. > :12:10.of his own political career ahead of the country. He refers in hhs

:12:11. > :12:14.remarks to our balanced trade. Part of the impact of that is our country

:12:15. > :12:17.has been growing. Dividends are up and those who are investing in the

:12:18. > :12:22.UK are taking more money because we are growing. We could be investing

:12:23. > :12:27.in China because it is growhng. Would he ban investment in China?

:12:28. > :12:31.The problem is that growth has not been growing enough. In addhtion to

:12:32. > :12:36.that, the situation is that we have sold off so many of her assdts now,

:12:37. > :12:40.the money is pumping out of this country rather than being invested

:12:41. > :12:43.in it and actually because we are not investing in home-grown

:12:44. > :12:48.investments, in our own economy it is flowing abroad. That is causing

:12:49. > :12:51.imbalances. In addition to that unfortunately our trade and

:12:52. > :12:55.particularly manufacturing has not picked up on the scale it should

:12:56. > :13:00.have done. Let me press on. We know now from the drip feed of

:13:01. > :13:02.announcements that the Chancellor intends to make potentially

:13:03. > :13:07.devastating cuts to Governmdnt departments and welfare spending.

:13:08. > :13:10.Let me make it clear. Austerity is a political choice. It is not an

:13:11. > :13:15.economic necessity. The record of this Government shows that the

:13:16. > :13:20.political choice the Chancellor is making are having a devastating

:13:21. > :13:23.impact on people across the UK. In many cases, these cuts are following

:13:24. > :13:31.on the heads of people least able to afford them. Let's take loc`l

:13:32. > :13:36.Government, shall we? Since 201 , there has been a 40% real tdrms cut

:13:37. > :13:41.in the transfer councils. In adult social care, for the reducthons have

:13:42. > :13:45.meant dealing with a ?5,000,000 funding gap and where are these cuts

:13:46. > :13:52.following? According to the eye F S, the 10 most deprived local `uthority

:13:53. > :13:57.areas have lost ?782 per hotsehold while the 10 wealthiest are`s lost

:13:58. > :14:02.just ?48 per household. The consequences on people's incomes, on

:14:03. > :14:06.their lives, and on the services they rely on. The consequences of

:14:07. > :14:11.this Chancellor's choices are that ordinary people across this country

:14:12. > :14:15.have been left worse off. The Chancellor has made choices and

:14:16. > :14:21.still failed to meet his self-imposed fiscal targets, so I

:14:22. > :14:25.pose the question, are the choices being made right, are they loral, or

:14:26. > :14:28.are they fair? If the answer to any of these questions is no colmittee

:14:29. > :14:36.needs to rethink and he needs to rethink fast. Does he seriotsly

:14:37. > :14:39.preach about making the right choices when his party was

:14:40. > :14:45.responsible for the highest level of public sector borrowing. Is that the

:14:46. > :14:49.joys that he is recommending here? More borrowing, more burden on

:14:50. > :14:57.British men and women, just to feed the coffers of Government? We have

:14:58. > :15:03.to explain again. The deficht did not cause the crisis. The crisis

:15:04. > :15:07.caused the deficit and when Gordon Brown was Chancellor of geeks and

:15:08. > :15:10.intervened with regard to quantitative easing and with regard

:15:11. > :15:15.to reducing interest rates, he was supported across the house because

:15:16. > :15:19.that was the way of actuallx saving what was left of our financhal

:15:20. > :15:25.system in this country as a result. If I can press on. Let me s`y less.

:15:26. > :15:29.There is an alternative to the cuts. The Chancellor could, within

:15:30. > :15:33.the 5-year time frame of thd spending review, seek to lax out

:15:34. > :15:36.what was required, a long-tdrm vision of the economy and how a

:15:37. > :15:44.Government can help deliver it. He says he wants high wage, low tax,

:15:45. > :15:48.and Loewen welfare -- low wdlfare, but we all want people in work

:15:49. > :15:52.because that is the surest way to bring down the deficit. That is what

:15:53. > :15:56.we have been arguing. The Chancellor has no proposal as to where these

:15:57. > :16:00.jobs are to come from. All he had to offer was the national living wage,

:16:01. > :16:04.which is set below the official living wage, so it is a nathonal

:16:05. > :16:08.living wage you can't live on and it is nowhere near enough to compensate

:16:09. > :16:11.for the proposed cuts to tax credits. The Chancellor cannot

:16:12. > :16:16.deliver high wages unless hd is delivering investment. Investment is

:16:17. > :16:21.the fuel that provides future growth. Spending on new content and

:16:22. > :16:24.technology and infrastructure is what will deliver well-paid, secure

:16:25. > :16:32.jobs in the future. But invdstment in the UK is still below its

:16:33. > :16:37.pre-crash level share of GDP and that level of investment is itself

:16:38. > :16:44.far below what we see in Fr`nce Germany, or the US. Failure to

:16:45. > :16:49.invest has a dramatic impact. Every hour worked in Germany is on average

:16:50. > :16:54.a 3rd more productive than dvery hour worked here. Productivhty has

:16:55. > :16:58.flat lined in this country. Our flexible Labour market has lade it

:16:59. > :17:04.too easy for employers to rdly on low pay. The Chancellor's rdsponse

:17:05. > :17:09.has been woeful. I thank thd honourable gentleman giving way If

:17:10. > :17:11.he is so set against any form of welfare reform, why didn't he and

:17:12. > :17:16.his party vote against the 2nd his party vote against the 2nd

:17:17. > :17:23.reading of the Welfare Reform Bill? Why had he come to the road to

:17:24. > :17:30.Damascus now? Well, I did. Shall I say to the honourable lady, in that

:17:31. > :17:33.debate there was a way in which we could reform welfare and at the same

:17:34. > :17:37.time make sure people were not losing out and 1 of the argtments

:17:38. > :17:40.that we put forward as a party, we put forward the argument with

:17:41. > :17:43.regards to housing benefit `nd the way we reduce housing benefht and

:17:44. > :17:46.build the homes that people need to make sure people have a roof over

:17:47. > :17:54.their heads and in that way we reduce rent levels as well. Can I

:17:55. > :17:57.say, instead of investing in the future using the Government's own

:17:58. > :18:01.powers to carefully borrow `nd invest wisely, the Chancellor has

:18:02. > :18:07.allowed Government spending on our vital infrastructure to fall from

:18:08. > :18:13.3.2% of GDP in the last year to just 1.6 percent today. -- in thd last

:18:14. > :18:21.year of the Labour Government. That is less than half the level but

:18:22. > :18:24.should be necessary to sust`in a decent standard of living. @ lack of

:18:25. > :18:28.investment is why the National Grid is warning of electricity shortages

:18:29. > :18:32.this winter. It is white to many businesses suffer from poor

:18:33. > :18:36.broadband connections and transport delays. The Chancellor's response to

:18:37. > :18:39.growing calls from business has been to run to the Chinese Government and

:18:40. > :18:44.hope they will get out of this mess. We're been presented with the

:18:45. > :18:47.extraordinary sight of a Brhtish Chancellor of the Exchequer refusing

:18:48. > :18:50.to use his own Government's powers of investment but more than happy to

:18:51. > :18:54.exploit those of the Chinesd and whilst every other major developed

:18:55. > :18:57.country is pushing up their research and development spending,

:18:58. > :19:00.recognising the future valud of science and technology, our

:19:01. > :19:06.Government has cut spending by ?1,000,000,000 in real terms. The

:19:07. > :19:14.Coalition Government impact gave a fund of ?160,000,000 to agrhcultural

:19:15. > :19:16.technology investment which is continued through the Government

:19:17. > :19:28.through the regional growth funds which is really keeping the East --

:19:29. > :19:31.helping the East. So far, the investment has been at such a low

:19:32. > :19:39.level I don't think it is h`ving the impact it should have. Have we come

:19:40. > :19:46.to training and investment hn training, research from the House of

:19:47. > :19:49.Commons library has shown that investment in colleges could fall by

:19:50. > :19:55.1 point explain pounds under the Government's current plans. Local

:19:56. > :19:58.councils, often the engines for investment led growth, are having

:19:59. > :20:01.their budgets cut to ribbons and even statutory services are now at

:20:02. > :20:06.risk. All of this confirms that actually there is no long-tdrm

:20:07. > :20:09.economic plan. It is a short-term quick fix from a Chancellor that

:20:10. > :20:19.can't think past the Conservative leadership election. It is the st

:20:20. > :20:22.occasion I need to disagree with my honourable friend. I think there is

:20:23. > :20:27.a long-term economic plan and that is to drive down the amount of money

:20:28. > :20:32.spent by Government within GDP to 1920s levels. Isn't that re`lly the

:20:33. > :20:38.agenda and a not very hidden agenda at that? I think there is an agenda

:20:39. > :20:42.from the Chancellor to shrink the state and to privatise most of what

:20:43. > :20:48.is left. Can I press on and I will fairly quickly? Labour instdad would

:20:49. > :20:51.seek to use Government powers to invest to deliver a world-class

:20:52. > :20:54.infrastructure across the whole country. The northern powerhouse

:20:55. > :20:59.will only become a reality when it is much by real spending colmitments

:21:00. > :21:01.and we build on our country's history of science, technology and

:21:02. > :21:06.innovation to deliver real hncreases in funding for research and develop

:21:07. > :21:10.it, seeking to match the colmitments made by our neighbours, and we will

:21:11. > :21:15.work alongside the private sector to ensure that our businesses, rather

:21:16. > :21:18.than hoarding cash to the ttne of at least ?400,000,000,000, would be

:21:19. > :21:23.seeking out opportunities to invest in the future. That is the role of a

:21:24. > :21:27.strategic stake. The green investment bank has been a real

:21:28. > :21:31.success, generating investmdnt in renewable energy projects. Hn just 3

:21:32. > :21:34.years, it has invested in 58 projects, committing ?2.3 bhllion of

:21:35. > :21:41.its own money and leveraging over ?10,000,000,000 -- ?10,000,000 in

:21:42. > :21:45.private capital. Good my honourable friend tell me his thoughts on the

:21:46. > :21:49.Government's plan to privathse the green investment bank? Just at a

:21:50. > :21:53.stage where we were about to kick off with regard to renewablds, the

:21:54. > :21:58.Government is now undermining the future. She, like me, will have

:21:59. > :22:02.spoken to some of the companies Some have gone to the wall `nd some

:22:03. > :22:09.are struggling. I think it hs a short and devastating blow. If I can

:22:10. > :22:14.press on, I will conclude. We will work alongside private sector

:22:15. > :22:23.companies to reduce those resources. Let me say that next week

:22:24. > :22:27.what many in our economy want to hear from our Chancellor. Fhrstly,

:22:28. > :22:32.he must reverse in full and fairly his cuts on tax credits. Thhs should

:22:33. > :22:36.be his absolute priority. Sdcondly, there should be fun brought forward

:22:37. > :22:42.which will support investment to well beyond the minimum 2.5$ of GDP

:22:43. > :22:45.both in terms of investment in infrastructure and training.

:22:46. > :22:49.Thirdly, we need a plan to `ddress the balance of payments crisis that

:22:50. > :22:54.we are now facing so that wd can pay our way in the world once more. The

:22:55. > :22:58.focus on 1 deficit and allowing another deficit possibly more

:22:59. > :23:02.serious to be ignored. Yes, we want a realistic plan to tackle the

:23:03. > :23:07.deficit based upon sustainable economic growth and fair and wise

:23:08. > :23:14.judgments and finally, an end to the self-defeating cuts to HM asked the

:23:15. > :23:19.and a serious programme to `ddress tax evasion and avoidance and the

:23:20. > :23:23.overall efficacy of our tax system. If the Chancellor fails to take the

:23:24. > :23:29.steps, he places in jeopardx the long-term health of our economy The

:23:30. > :23:33.choice next week is for him to make. Order. The question is on the order

:23:34. > :23:40.paper. I call the economic secretary. Thank you, Mr Spdaker.

:23:41. > :23:44.Can I start by associating lyself with the honourable gentlem`n 's

:23:45. > :23:50.Mike sentiments on the French atrocities and on the importance of

:23:51. > :23:53.our security forces and I and other Treasury ministers yesterdax were

:23:54. > :24:01.able to sign the book of condolence at the French Embassy. But, Mr

:24:02. > :24:04.Speaker, the fact is that Hdr Majesty's opposition is now

:24:05. > :24:10.represented on economic polhcy by a man who wants to overthrow

:24:11. > :24:15.capitalism, by a man who wants to nationalise businesses without

:24:16. > :24:22.compensation and a man who `nswers to Len McCluskey, a man who thinks

:24:23. > :24:26.that printing money, triggering the inflation that hurts the poor and

:24:27. > :24:34.the elderly the most, is a good thing. And he thinks, Mr Spdaker,

:24:35. > :24:44.that a budget surplus, and H quote, is barmy. He think we can b`lance

:24:45. > :24:50.the books by avoiding any ctts whatsoever. He is a height tax, high

:24:51. > :24:56.inflation, high unemployment socialist, who draws his economic

:24:57. > :25:03.inspiration from the Venezudlan economy and from Syriza in Greece.

:25:04. > :25:07.So today, we will not take `ny economic lectures from him hn terms

:25:08. > :25:11.of running our policies, and we on this side of the house will do

:25:12. > :25:20.everything in our power to keep him in opposition. Would she relind us

:25:21. > :25:25.just how many pound notes the Bank of England has printed in

:25:26. > :25:31.quantitative easing? The monetary policy has been run by

:25:32. > :25:35.the Bank of England independently, and I am sure that the SNP will want

:25:36. > :25:40.to continue to support the independence of the Bank of England

:25:41. > :25:46.against the inflationary tendencies of the honourable gentleman. Mr

:25:47. > :25:50.Speaker, I am pleased to be given the opportunity to once agahn remind

:25:51. > :25:53.the house how this government's long-term economic planners

:25:54. > :25:58.delivering for the working people of the United Kingdom. -- plan is

:25:59. > :26:04.delivering. I am grateful to the Ministdr. Can I

:26:05. > :26:07.bring her back to reality? Reality for my constituents of the ?130

:26:08. > :26:12.working families tax credit cut If that goes ahead next April, it will

:26:13. > :26:15.mean ?58 million taken out of our local economy, for the poordst

:26:16. > :26:20.people in my constituency, three quarters of whom are actually at

:26:21. > :26:22.work. The shooting that is right? Will she commit to reviewing that

:26:23. > :26:27.today? He will have to waits on my right

:26:28. > :26:31.honourable friend the Chancdllor announces his statement next week.

:26:32. > :26:37.But it is precisely because of the difficult decisions we have been

:26:38. > :26:39.prepared to take since 2010 at the country's Connery for his

:26:40. > :26:43.constituents in North Wales is going from strength to strength, `nd the

:26:44. > :26:46.overall UK economy is now 12% larger than it was when we took ovdr from

:26:47. > :26:55.when his party was in government. It is worrying to see that as we reach

:26:56. > :27:00.these, economic waters, somd seem to have forgotten the lessons that the

:27:01. > :27:03.crash of 2008 taught us. Recently, we have seen a resurgence of some

:27:04. > :27:07.familiar but dangerous ideas. First of all, and we headed here today,

:27:08. > :27:12.that the deficit does not rdally matter. That it should not be a

:27:13. > :27:18.priority to rein in unsustahnable public spending. That it is fine to

:27:19. > :27:21.kick difficult decisions down the line. Well, these are the vhews

:27:22. > :27:25.which were put to the British electorate in May, and the

:27:26. > :27:29.electorate rejected them overwhelmingly. They looked at the

:27:30. > :27:34.1000 jobs that the UK econoly had created every day since 2010, they

:27:35. > :27:39.looked at the highest growth figure in the G7 for the last two xears in

:27:40. > :27:44.a row, they looked at rising wages and rising living standards and

:27:45. > :27:47.falling inequality, and thex said, your long-term economic plan is

:27:48. > :27:54.working, so we want you to continue the job. Since the election, we have

:27:55. > :27:59.seen the national debt forecast to fall this year as a share of GDP for

:28:00. > :28:04.the first time in over a decade I give way.

:28:05. > :28:09.Is the minister pleased with the appalling level of productivity in

:28:10. > :28:13.this country under her government? The honourable gentleman knows that

:28:14. > :28:16.productivity has been a long-term issue in the British economx, and I

:28:17. > :28:22.shall talk a little more in detail about our productivity plans in a

:28:23. > :28:27.moment. I give way. Does my honourable friend h`ve

:28:28. > :28:29.anything to associate with the costa renationalisation of the party

:28:30. > :28:32.opposite seems to want to elbark upon? That is the sort of fhgure I

:28:33. > :28:36.have heard recently. Exactly. My honourable friend is

:28:37. > :28:39.exactly right that the bottomless pit of money on the magic money tree

:28:40. > :28:48.has been brought into service quite a lot over recent days, and she is

:28:49. > :28:52.right to say that we should focus instead on the good news in terms of

:28:53. > :28:59.the UK economy, that the employment rate has now reached a record high.

:29:00. > :29:03.Is he going to welcome the fact that the employment rate has reached a

:29:04. > :29:10.record high? I don't think he is. We have seen wages rise by over 3% this

:29:11. > :29:16.year. Is he going to welcomd that? Indeed, for people in continuous and

:29:17. > :29:23.Lyman, wages are over 4%. Order Order. Order. Order. Border. --

:29:24. > :29:33.border. We cannot have honourable mdmbers

:29:34. > :29:37.freelancing, or at least not any more than they already accustomed to

:29:38. > :29:41.doing so. So the honourable gentleman can seek to intervene but

:29:42. > :29:44.it is for the Minister to ddcide whether to respond. If the

:29:45. > :29:49.honourable gentleman claims to have a point of order, and keen to

:29:50. > :29:56.discover as to whether it is a point of order or point of frustr`tion.

:29:57. > :30:03.With the Minister exhibit stch massive ambiguity to say, yds, yes,

:30:04. > :30:05.and then getting up and down, does that not cause great confushon

:30:06. > :30:11.amongst the greater public, would he like to make a ruling on th`t?

:30:12. > :30:13.My ruling on that, for the benefit of the honourable gentleman on the

:30:14. > :30:20.house, is that any member who has the floor should indicate clearly

:30:21. > :30:26.whether he or she is giving way and if so, to whom. Any gesticulation

:30:27. > :30:32.which skewers rather than clarifies, while not disorderly, is unhelpful.

:30:33. > :30:34.-- which obscure is rather than clarifies.

:30:35. > :30:38.I will give way when he starts to welcome some of these posithve

:30:39. > :30:41.economic facts. I have a hunch that, if he does not know whether he

:30:42. > :30:46.is coming and going coming `nd going, he is on the right p`rty

:30:47. > :30:49.So, we absolutely reject thd opposition's accusation that we are

:30:50. > :30:53.failing to deliver for workhng people. Not only have we brought

:30:54. > :31:00.greater economic security, but we have also delivered more and higher

:31:01. > :31:03.wages. That is what people working across this country asked us to

:31:04. > :31:08.deliver, that is what we're doing. I give way.

:31:09. > :31:12.Thank you. They echo and salute the track record results she is talking

:31:13. > :31:16.about. A former Prime Minister credited with reviving a fahling

:31:17. > :31:22.economy once said that the problem with socialism is that eventually,

:31:23. > :31:26.you run out of other people's money. Will my honourable friend agree that

:31:27. > :31:29.what we're hearing from the benches opposite is a reheating a sxmbol

:31:30. > :31:35.1980s socialism, where the results only failure?

:31:36. > :31:39.My honourable friend is absolutely right reminders of two important

:31:40. > :31:44.facts, which are, first of `ll, no Labour government has ever left

:31:45. > :31:47.office leaving a public fin`nce -- the public finances in a better

:31:48. > :31:50.state than when they came into power, nor has any Labour government

:31:51. > :32:01.ever left office without le`ving more people unemployed than they

:32:02. > :32:05.inherited. So, do we agree with the other points the party opposite make

:32:06. > :32:08.in their motion? I'm not giving way at this point. I will make some

:32:09. > :32:13.progress, because I want to take each of the points in the motion in

:32:14. > :32:17.turn will stop first of all, I am delighted to see the party opposite

:32:18. > :32:20.has remembered to mention the deficit in the motion today,

:32:21. > :32:24.although it is not the budgdt deficit, it is the current `ccount

:32:25. > :32:28.deficit they have mentioned. Let me remind the house about the progress

:32:29. > :32:34.of the budget deficit as a share of the economy. It has fallen by more

:32:35. > :32:39.than half from its peak in 2009 10 to 4.9% at the end of last xear We

:32:40. > :32:42.forecast that we will be in surplus by the end of this Parliament. That

:32:43. > :32:47.is what the British people `sk for, and that is what we're doing. Is he

:32:48. > :32:57.going to welcome the progress on the deficit and suggests progress?

:32:58. > :33:01.Can I just ask, a serious point in all of this silliness, sincd the end

:33:02. > :33:05.of World War II, this country has only been in surplus for 12

:33:06. > :33:08.financial years. Of those 12, ten have had Labour governments.

:33:09. > :33:12.Conservative governments have hardly ever run surpluses. Is she really

:33:13. > :33:17.telling us the governments of Thatcher, McMillan, Anthony Eden,

:33:18. > :33:19.Churchill, were all spent at governments, or will soon bd a

:33:20. > :33:22.little more serious when addressing these issues?

:33:23. > :33:26.He's right this is a serious issue. I hope he is one of the mord

:33:27. > :33:29.moderate and sense of members of his party and will be able to convince

:33:30. > :33:36.his front bench that this is an important issue for them to tackle.

:33:37. > :33:44.The opposition also mention tax credits. I give way.

:33:45. > :33:48.You touched on unemployment, but is it not a paradox that we ard looking

:33:49. > :33:53.at closing HMRC offices and reducing the number of people working for

:33:54. > :33:57.HMIC? At their official figtres show a 34 billion and France. So if they

:33:58. > :34:01.elected that money, it would go a long way to eating the deficit.

:34:02. > :34:08.Scrap Trident, scrap the other place, and we are nearly thdre. We

:34:09. > :34:11.don't need to make cuts. Well, I would listen more to the

:34:12. > :34:15.advice of the Scottish National Party on the economy if thex had not

:34:16. > :34:19.projected that the oil pricd would remain over $100 forever, and that

:34:20. > :34:26.was the basis on which they fought last year's referendum. Varhous

:34:27. > :34:30.honourable members have mention tax credits. I will make some progress

:34:31. > :34:35.on tax credits, which a lot of people have mentioned. The British

:34:36. > :34:39.people want to see a lower welfare, lower tax, high wage economx. That

:34:40. > :34:42.is what they voted for in M`y. In the summer budget, we set ott a

:34:43. > :34:47.package of reforms for workhng people, which included the reform of

:34:48. > :34:51.the new national living wagd, continued increases in the personal

:34:52. > :34:57.allowance, and the doubling of free childcare with up to ?5,000 per year

:34:58. > :35:00.for working parents. Of course, we will listen to the concerns raised

:35:01. > :35:03.about the transition period, and my right honourable friend the

:35:04. > :35:09.Chancellor will set out our response to these concerns next week. Make no

:35:10. > :35:13.mistake, creating a lower wdlfare, low tax, high wage economy hs one of

:35:14. > :35:18.the most progressive goals ` government can achieve, and one that

:35:19. > :35:23.we will continue working towards. I give way. I am very grateful.

:35:24. > :35:26.As she analyses the opposithon to decide whether she wants to support

:35:27. > :35:31.it or not, I think it is fahrly clear on that one. Isn't shd

:35:32. > :35:35.surprised, as I am, that it does not mention the new national living

:35:36. > :35:39.wage? This is probably the lost significant change in our economy

:35:40. > :35:43.over the next five years. There are issues about tax credits, btt the

:35:44. > :35:48.fundamental point about this is that we are going to ask companids to pay

:35:49. > :35:52.out poorest paid workers wh`t is effectively a 38% increase hn their

:35:53. > :35:56.3% of their pensions. Do yot not 3% of their pensions. Do yot not

:35:57. > :36:00.feel that needs more attenthon from both sides of the house?

:36:01. > :36:06.He is absolutely right to hhghlight that very progressive move, and it

:36:07. > :36:09.gives me a chance to emphashse the fact that yesterday's data on

:36:10. > :36:14.earnings showed that the lowest earning 10% in our society saw a

:36:15. > :36:18.wage increase of over 3%, 3.4% over the last 12 months, and that is

:36:19. > :36:21.before this change has even taken place. The opposition motion also

:36:22. > :36:29.mentioned child poverty, Mr Speaker, and the best route out of child

:36:30. > :36:33.poverty is for a parent or parents to work. On our watch, the number of

:36:34. > :36:38.children growing up in workless families is a record low, down

:36:39. > :36:42.almost half a million from 06.2 of all children to 11.8% of all

:36:43. > :36:46.children. The honourable lady has been trying for a while.

:36:47. > :36:51.I thank her for giving way. Is she aware that since 2010, 5000 Jordan

:36:52. > :36:55.have gone below the poverty line -- 500,000 children, and what do she

:36:56. > :37:02.intend to do about that? She is wrong on that. Since 201 , in

:37:03. > :37:06.terms of relative poverty, there are actually 300,000 fewer children

:37:07. > :37:12.living in poverty, and the government losing control of public

:37:13. > :37:16.finances and there are -- them not being able to do anything about it

:37:17. > :37:19.would be the worst thing th`t could possibly happen to the opportunities

:37:20. > :37:23.of those children, because the people who suffer when the country

:37:24. > :37:26.loses control of its public finances are indeed the low paid and the

:37:27. > :37:31.people who get turned out of work other ones who suffer the most.

:37:32. > :37:36.May I just say to the house that it is reasonable for the Minister to be

:37:37. > :37:41.given the opportunity to respond to one intervention before immddiately

:37:42. > :37:47.being pressed to axe at another -- to accept another, so some

:37:48. > :37:54.orderliness and the conduct of this debate needs now to be restored with

:37:55. > :37:58.the agreement of all parties. In that spirit, I will try and make

:37:59. > :38:00.some progress in terms of mx comments on this motion.

:38:01. > :38:04.They are really to say that the richest in this country are not the

:38:05. > :38:06.ones who sever most when thd economy suffers the most.

:38:07. > :38:11.It is not the trade union b`rons who lose their jobs that happens, it is

:38:12. > :38:16.the poorest in this country, and we are making sure that never happens

:38:17. > :38:21.again. The motion on the paper today also mentions the impact of our

:38:22. > :38:25.policies on women. Let me ghve a few facts and that as well. There are

:38:26. > :38:28.now more women in this country working than ever before, and the

:38:29. > :38:36.gender pay gap is at its lowest level since records began. The 6%

:38:37. > :38:40.of people taken out of incole tax altogether are winning, by raising

:38:41. > :38:50.the personal allowance, -- `re winning. 58% of the people now

:38:51. > :38:57.receiving a much stronger triple lock state pension are w. Almost two

:38:58. > :39:02.thirds of the people benefiting from the introduction of the nathonal

:39:03. > :39:05.living wage are women. In f`ct, since 2010, women in the UK have

:39:06. > :39:12.moved into jobs faster than in any other G7 country. Women's elployment

:39:13. > :39:15.rate has increased more since 2 10 than in the three previous

:39:16. > :39:20.parliaments combined, and wd live in hope, and I imagine the honourable

:39:21. > :39:23.lady might be about to commdnt on this, but Whelan and Herbert The

:39:24. > :39:26.Right Honourable member for Camberwell and Peckham's wished that

:39:27. > :39:29.the senior jobs in her own party will go to women will be gr`nted

:39:30. > :39:34.soon. Does she want to welcome some of this?

:39:35. > :39:39.I think if the giving way. Will she share with me the real concdrn that

:39:40. > :39:44.women in fact, 29% of women earn less than the living wage, `nd this

:39:45. > :39:48.is not a success story full women, far from it? And that is ex`ctly my

:39:49. > :39:50.point. They will be disproportionately

:39:51. > :39:57.helped by the fact that we `re increasing the minimum wage with the

:39:58. > :40:01.national living wage from ndxt year. The motion today mentions

:40:02. > :40:04.productivity, and it was rahsed earlier by the honourable gdntleman

:40:05. > :40:09.who is no longer in his place. This has in fact been a long-standing

:40:10. > :40:13.issue since well before 2010, and we accept that, but rather than just

:40:14. > :40:13.grandstanding, we have actu`lly set out a wide-ranging productivity

:40:14. > :40:26.plan. We have setup the National

:40:27. > :40:33.Infrastructure Commission to take a long term depoliticised approach to

:40:34. > :40:33.long-term projects. We have seen a strengthening in productivity

:40:34. > :40:39.growth. Output in the last puarter growth. Output in the last puarter

:40:40. > :40:42.rose by 0.9% and the Office for Budget Responsibility are

:40:43. > :40:48.forecasting that productivity will pick up next year by 2.4% in the

:40:49. > :40:53.year after. . The opposition also year after. . The opposition also

:40:54. > :41:00.questions our long-term comlitment to science, technology and green

:41:01. > :41:06.growth. Would she accept th`t the freezing in cash terms of money

:41:07. > :41:12.spent on science and research and development actually has had an

:41:13. > :41:16.impact on productivity growth and the potential for increasing

:41:17. > :41:21.productivity in the UK economy? We do agree that maintaining the

:41:22. > :41:26.science budget is incrediblx important. As part of the ?000

:41:27. > :41:30.billion of infrastructure investment, ?6.9 billion of that

:41:31. > :41:40.will go towards research infrastructure. If the minister

:41:41. > :41:45.believes what she has just said about maintaining the science

:41:46. > :41:50.budget, why over the last fhve years was she and her colleagues part of a

:41:51. > :41:55.government that cut in real terms by 10% and have made no commitlent that

:41:56. > :42:01.far to increase the science budget, to such an extent that the TK is

:42:02. > :42:06.bottom of the G8 in investmdnt in science? He will know and hd has

:42:07. > :42:11.just reiterated that we havd maintained the science budgdt. It

:42:12. > :42:19.has been one of the choices we have made in terms of that budget. In

:42:20. > :42:23.terms of green projects, we have secured ?7 billion of investment per

:42:24. > :42:31.year for UK based renewable projects, we are investing hn major

:42:32. > :42:36.research facilities such as the new touring Institute, and our science

:42:37. > :42:42.and innovation strategy sets out our long-term vision for the

:42:43. > :42:47.contribution to national prosperity. With the honourable member welcome

:42:48. > :42:51.the comments of the President of the Royal Society who said recently that

:42:52. > :42:56.the UK is excellent on the world stage. In terms of effectivd

:42:57. > :43:01.research, we are probably top around the world. Most people rank is

:43:02. > :43:08.second to the United States, where we lose out on size. She is right to

:43:09. > :43:14.highlight the effectiveness of our science spending. I mentiondd the

:43:15. > :43:19.Institute. In my constituency, we have fantastic skills in terms of

:43:20. > :43:30.cyber security. These are all very important. Doesn't she accept the

:43:31. > :43:40.problem is the contradiction nature of government policy?

:43:41. > :43:45.Simultaneously, they are strangling the digital industries by their

:43:46. > :43:52.immigration policy which denies Tia two skilled workers and

:43:53. > :43:56.entrepreneurial visas. I welcome the opportunity to clarify therd is no

:43:57. > :44:02.cap in terms of intercompanx transfers or people who will earn a

:44:03. > :44:09.substantial amount of money. I am aware that Texas city keep close

:44:10. > :44:16.tabs on this and then me about the importance of this and he whll

:44:17. > :44:22.welcome their continued success in attracting investment from `ll

:44:23. > :44:24.around the world. The motion also mentions the Business, Innovation

:44:25. > :44:29.and Skills budget and I can't pre-empt what the Chancellor will

:44:30. > :44:34.say next week but every single decision on spending has bedn based

:44:35. > :44:39.on our productivity plan to focus on world beating productivity, to drive

:44:40. > :44:42.the next phase of our growth and to raise living standards. Nevdr under

:44:43. > :44:45.estimate this government's commitment to help British

:44:46. > :44:50.businesses and workers succded in the global economy. We know

:44:51. > :44:55.businesses drive growth and create jobs and we work with them so they

:44:56. > :45:00.continue to do that. In marked contrast, last week, the Labour

:45:01. > :45:06.Party could not get a singld business to even host an evdnt with

:45:07. > :45:12.their leader! If the economx perfect? No economy is ever perfect.

:45:13. > :45:16.We need to export more, work more productively and eliminate the

:45:17. > :45:20.gender pay gap altogether. Ht takes time for a country to recovdr from a

:45:21. > :45:25.significant economic crash such as that inflicted on us by the last

:45:26. > :45:30.Labour government. But thanks to the hard work of the British people the

:45:31. > :45:40.economy has recovered. We h`ve more growth, jobs, higher wages, there is

:45:41. > :45:43.more to do but there is no dconomic security, there is no national

:45:44. > :45:47.security and no opportunity when you lose control of your public

:45:48. > :45:52.finances. I urge honourable members to reject the economic views of the

:45:53. > :45:55.party opposite, reject the `dvice of the Shadow Chancellor and rdject the

:45:56. > :46:10.motion on the order paper bdfore us today. Can I start by agreehng with

:46:11. > :46:15.these Shadow Chancellor? He said cost should be no obstacle hn

:46:16. > :46:18.providing the necessary sectrity and intelligence to protect people from

:46:19. > :46:26.the threats which we are now seeing in which we saw in Paris. If the

:46:27. > :46:31.government wished to increase spending in these areas, thdre will

:46:32. > :46:37.be no resistance from the SNP. However, I also agreed with her when

:46:38. > :46:41.she said we need to cut out unnecessary and wasteful spdnding.

:46:42. > :46:46.That is absolutely right. No one would say we need to spend loney on

:46:47. > :46:53.things we don't need. So we will offer up a starter for ten, which is

:46:54. > :46:59.?167 billion on Trident and its replacement. In terms of thhs

:47:00. > :47:04.resolution... This motion today and we will back it, there is no doubt

:47:05. > :47:07.that this Tory government and its coalition predecessor have failed

:47:08. > :47:13.and we have seen the evidence of that which I will come to. We have

:47:14. > :47:16.an austerity programme from an austerity government which has

:47:17. > :47:20.failed to deliver the growth, economy, needs and is inste`d

:47:21. > :47:31.committed to making precisely the same mistakes all over again. We

:47:32. > :47:35.should remember that what the Chancellor promised when he became

:47:36. > :47:42.Chancellor in 2010. He said that would fall as they share of GDP by

:47:43. > :47:51.1415, the current accounts would be in balance, public sector ndt

:47:52. > :47:56.borrowing would be ?20 billhon. We know now that debt would not and did

:47:57. > :48:01.not fall, the current account will still not be back in the bl`ck until

:48:02. > :48:10.1718 at the earliest and public sector net borrowing is bardly the

:48:11. > :48:14.?20 billion promised. The kdy point is that the Chancellor faildd to

:48:15. > :48:30.meet every single one of thd targets he set for himself. That is a

:48:31. > :48:33.failure. The man, woman and a spoken on this book five months ago. They

:48:34. > :48:38.want to have mocked the samd, they want the deficit to brought down, we

:48:39. > :48:41.have halved the deficit dond so while maintaining one of thd best

:48:42. > :48:50.levels of growth in any country the G-7. Growth was strangled throughout

:48:51. > :48:58.the early part of the recovdry in the last Parliament. If it has

:48:59. > :49:06.picked up since, it says more about the weakness of our inheritors. The

:49:07. > :49:14.Tory plan has actually faildd. I talk about strangling recovdry. This

:49:15. > :49:19.is an austerity programme which saw rises and cuts, in the last

:49:20. > :49:26.Parliament, which precisely strangled the recovery and with an

:49:27. > :49:34.extra ?37 billion to come, we are now on track for a full dec`de of

:49:35. > :49:39.austerity. But it's worse than that. With the government changing the

:49:40. > :49:44.ratio of tax rises to carts, we have the clearest indication not simply a

:49:45. > :49:50.failure but a failure delivdred by trying to balance the books in a way

:49:51. > :49:55.which was never going to succeed. That is a situation which whll only

:49:56. > :50:01.get worse as the motion looks to the changes to tax credits. Does he not

:50:02. > :50:08.think the creation of 2 million jobs is a success? I think the creation

:50:09. > :50:13.of every job is welcome for the person who gets it. The cre`tion of

:50:14. > :50:18.well-paid permanent secure jobs as fantastic as they provide not only

:50:19. > :50:23.the income families need but the security that build strong `nd

:50:24. > :50:27.stable communities for the future. So of course I welcome jobs as they

:50:28. > :50:34.are created but we need to look every single part of the economy,

:50:35. > :50:40.simply single metrics, whether they are good or bad. The governlent s

:50:41. > :50:46.record is lamentable. I talked about the plan to cut tax credits. While

:50:47. > :50:51.there may be changes announced next week, few believe the stubborn

:50:52. > :50:57.Chancellor and his government will actually strayed too far from the

:50:58. > :51:01.plans he originally announcdd. Those plans have a horrendous imp`ct on

:51:02. > :51:08.households in Scotland and the UK. For many real people, real families

:51:09. > :51:13.in real communities, the erosion of household income is extraordinary.

:51:14. > :51:18.The average figure of ?1200 a year, ?100 a month, is routinely tsed

:51:19. > :51:24.That is accurate but for sole households, the annual loss is

:51:25. > :51:32.?4000. The Tories may find this funny but that would imply `

:51:33. > :51:37.marginal tax rate of 90% on some of the poorest working households in

:51:38. > :51:41.the country. If that was wh`t they were proposing, the backbenches

:51:42. > :51:45.would be up in arms but bec`use this is taking what they see to be

:51:46. > :51:52.benefits from poor people, ht is suddenly OK because that is the way

:51:53. > :51:59.the smirking Tories always think. Would he agree with me that part of

:52:00. > :52:03.the problem with the credit cuts is that they are concentrated hn

:52:04. > :52:10.certain areas? You have the double effect on the local economy and you

:52:11. > :52:20.are multiplying the effect of poverty. I think the scenarho where

:52:21. > :52:22.pockets of poverty and commtnities have been more reliant on t`x

:52:23. > :52:26.credits or other benefits as well-known and of course thdy will

:52:27. > :52:34.suffer disproportionately when this sort of cut is made. Absolutely

:52:35. > :52:38.right. It's an argument for not simply an economic policy btt some

:52:39. > :52:43.form of regional industrial strategy which delivers not just any old job

:52:44. > :52:49.but good jobs to every part of the country. It is the real failure of

:52:50. > :52:56.this government's so-called long-term economic plan an `bsence

:52:57. > :53:08.of any real strategy to delhver inclusive growth which concdrns me.

:53:09. > :53:13.Inclusive growth which to the SNP is essential to deliver the ovdrall

:53:14. > :53:19.economic growth we need. Thd UK lost 9% of GDP growth between 1980 and

:53:20. > :53:25.2010 due to rising inequality so for us to see the same mistake lade all

:53:26. > :53:35.over again is unforgivable. But let's look at the big picture. In

:53:36. > :53:42.the Chancellor's own words, we don't export, save, manufacture or save

:53:43. > :53:46.enough. Far too much of our economic activity is concentrated in the

:53:47. > :53:50.centre of London. He also wdnt on to say at the Mansion house spdech that

:53:51. > :53:55.we will tackle each and every one of these weaknesses with the s`me

:53:56. > :54:01.determination to tackle the deficit. I will draw the whole government

:54:02. > :54:08.effort together in a single plan for productivity. The problem is, an

:54:09. > :54:17.essential prerequisite for productivity, very little h`s been

:54:18. > :54:25.done. Even on a GDP per worker basis, it's still not competitive

:54:26. > :54:31.and the position in Scotland is similar. We should both be doing so

:54:32. > :54:37.much better than that. So the focus should be on productivity,

:54:38. > :54:41.innovation, internationalis`tion, investment, infrastructure `nd

:54:42. > :54:45.skills and inclusive growth and the minister did talk about invdstment

:54:46. > :54:50.infrastructure but I will come back to that because I am not sure if her

:54:51. > :54:59.version of the world matches up to reality or indeed what was `nnounced

:55:00. > :55:05.in the summer budget. On innovation, the 2014 budget increase thd amount

:55:06. > :55:09.available for tax credits btt the UK Government simultaneously rdduced

:55:10. > :55:16.the qualifying expenditure. When we get to exports, and I am gl`d that

:55:17. > :55:25.is back on the agenda, the deficit for 2014 for trading goods was 124

:55:26. > :55:31.billion. The deficit on the current account was ?93 billion, up from ?77

:55:32. > :55:37.billion the year before. Thdse numbers are all going in thd wrong

:55:38. > :55:42.direction. The contribution to GDP is negative for the entire forecast

:55:43. > :55:48.period in the last Redbook. The entire period of this Parli`ment's

:55:49. > :55:53.contribution to GDP is negative for net trade in every single ydar so

:55:54. > :55:58.where is the plan to actually encourage innovation, support more

:55:59. > :56:03.companies to export and acttally drive up productivity?

:56:04. > :56:09.we know productivity requirds investment, and we needed a

:56:10. > :56:15.particularly in infrastructtre, vital for the future, and the

:56:16. > :56:18.secretary is right. The Chancellor and government have announcdd yet

:56:19. > :56:24.another review, but in terms of cold, hard cash, capital expenditure

:56:25. > :56:31.forecasts were down for every single year in this Parliament between the

:56:32. > :56:36.spring budget and the summer budget. That is not the way, if one

:56:37. > :56:39.is serious, if any government is serious, about infrastructure for

:56:40. > :56:43.the future. It is also vital when talk about investment to grow the

:56:44. > :56:46.economy that we include invdstments in education, and that will be the

:56:47. > :56:52.subject of the second debatd today. But can I put on record, because it

:56:53. > :56:55.is important in this regard, in our view, the approach to education by

:56:56. > :57:01.the Tories in England runs contrary to the investment approach needed.

:57:02. > :57:04.May I also put on record in context my pride at what the Scottish

:57:05. > :57:11.Government have done, which is better school results, a record 119

:57:12. > :57:15.full-time college places, a record 33,000 young Scots going to

:57:16. > :57:19.university, a move towards 30,0 0 apprenticeships every year, and more

:57:20. > :57:27.children than ever from poorer backgrounds going on to further and

:57:28. > :57:29.higher education. This is the investment in education which will

:57:30. > :57:32.deliver the economic growth of the deliver the economic growth of the

:57:33. > :57:36.future, and if the minister wants to chapter, I will happily takd an

:57:37. > :57:44.intervention. If he wants to defend his government in England. Not

:57:45. > :57:49.listening. Is motion also talks about green

:57:50. > :57:53.jobs, and there is much to commend the approach of support to the green

:57:54. > :58:00.economy and investment in it, because of the export potential

:58:01. > :58:04.which goes with those jobs. But like so much else, the Tory failure

:58:05. > :58:07.on the economy has been replicated in its approach to the green

:58:08. > :58:13.economy. We saw that with ddcisions on onshore wind farms, with the

:58:14. > :58:19.calculation of renewable strike price, with the shorter contract

:58:20. > :58:22.length, all of which polled and sucked investment from that

:58:23. > :58:25.important industry. When we have seen it from the failure of

:58:26. > :58:30.successive UK governments to address the inequity of connectivitx charges

:58:31. > :58:37.to the grade over many years. Any real economic plan should correct

:58:38. > :58:44.the imbalance of ?25 kilowatt charge to connect to the grade in the North

:58:45. > :58:50.of Scotland against a ?5 20 subsidy in London, to allow the invdstment

:58:51. > :58:55.where maximum opportunity actually exists. -- connect to the grid.

:58:56. > :58:58.Indeed, the International Energy Agency has suggested that the

:58:59. > :59:03.stop-go political support rdnewables is detrimental to establishhng a

:59:04. > :59:10.more secure energy system, `nd that governments must remove the question

:59:11. > :59:13.marks over that. The UN chidf environmental scientist highlighted

:59:14. > :59:22.the damage the UK Government's reckless regressive and irr`tional

:59:23. > :59:27.cuts are doing to the renew`ble sector. I will give way. Dods he

:59:28. > :59:32.agree with the CBI, which agreed that in a recent all-party leeting

:59:33. > :59:36.the government 's policy on the solar industry has severely affected

:59:37. > :59:39.investor confidence? I thought it was quite tellhng that

:59:40. > :59:44.when the announcement was m`de in this place on the change to the

:59:45. > :59:48.onshore wind farms, to remove any support for those which had not

:59:49. > :59:53.passed every single hurdle hn the place, the Tory backbenchers were on

:59:54. > :59:56.their feet by the end of th`t statement, already making the first

:59:57. > :00:04.attack of the soul are sackdd as well. So yes, I agree with her. --

:00:05. > :00:06.the solar sector. Does he not see some contradiction between some of

:00:07. > :00:12.the comments made by his own party colleagues last week, when we were

:00:13. > :00:15.discussing the decline in the steel industry and high energy prhces and

:00:16. > :00:20.his support for renewables? And does he not accept that in

:00:21. > :00:25.Spain, for every one job crdated in the renewables industry, 2.2 jobs

:00:26. > :00:28.are lost in traditional indtstries? I have heard that argument before. I

:00:29. > :00:34.am not sure of its efficacy, and I will not comment on it, but the

:00:35. > :00:36.substantive point is, there is no contradiction at all between a

:00:37. > :00:44.general attempt to decarbonhse, which is the right thing to do, and

:00:45. > :00:47.a clear recognition of the costs of high energy using industries which

:00:48. > :00:51.are of strategic importance. There is no contradiction there

:00:52. > :00:54.whatsoever. There is, howevdr, one final point on the failure of the UK

:00:55. > :01:02.Government is management of the economy. That was last week's HMRC

:01:03. > :01:06.closures announcement. If the UK Government is serious about clamping

:01:07. > :01:14.down on avoidance, evasion, fraud and even error, if they are serious

:01:15. > :01:21.about reducing the 16.5 billion tax gap from AME is, if they ard

:01:22. > :01:24.registered in reducing the gap from income and capital gains tax, if

:01:25. > :01:30.they are serious about maxilising tax yield for investment, closing

:01:31. > :01:32.137 HMRC officers, including almost everyone in Scotland, is a

:01:33. > :01:37.catastrophic mistake. I will give way. I will draw his attenthon to

:01:38. > :01:43.the Public Accounts Committde report which said that HMRC are answering

:01:44. > :01:46.less than 15% of the call bttton to them. He will know that the biggest

:01:47. > :01:51.frustration for businesses hs that they can get on the phone to HMRC.

:01:52. > :01:54.This is a real problem for small, medium and large sized businesses.

:01:55. > :01:58.Will he get those cuts as wdll as I do?

:01:59. > :02:02.Absolutely. That point is extremely well made. Most individuals and

:02:03. > :02:05.businesses want to be honest. They want to pay their tax. They want to

:02:06. > :02:10.go into a counter, face-to-face make sure everything is absolutely

:02:11. > :02:13.as it should be, pay the bill will stop if less than half the calls are

:02:14. > :02:16.being answered now, it will get worse. When given in Scotland, there

:02:17. > :02:23.will be no face-to-face point of contact north of Edinburgh, Dundee,

:02:24. > :02:28.Aberdeen, Inverness, the whole of the Highlands, south of Edinburgh

:02:29. > :02:31.and Glasgow, the whole of the borders, this is an idiotic and

:02:32. > :02:40.counter-productive thing to do. So what are these plans all about? It

:02:41. > :02:43.is ideological to insist th`t the Chancellor -- as the Chancellor has

:02:44. > :02:48.done that the economy does not break even, but runs a surplus bike

:02:49. > :02:55.2019-20, and it is economic we foolish. To do that by delivering

:02:56. > :02:58.additional welfare cuts tot`lling 33 billion in this Parliament `longside

:02:59. > :03:06.5 billion of cuts to essenthal capital investment, announcdd in the

:03:07. > :03:10.summer budget, is frankly vindictive, nasty and

:03:11. > :03:16.counter-productive. In short, to cut 40 billion more than is necdssary to

:03:17. > :03:19.run a balanced current budgdt, almost all of it paid for bx

:03:20. > :03:24.punishing the poorest of stripping the capital budget of ?5 billion, is

:03:25. > :03:27.a policy we reject, and it hs one scene already fail, and it hs most

:03:28. > :03:33.certainly not one that the people in Scotland voted for.

:03:34. > :03:37.Before I call the honourabld member to speak, I will impose a

:03:38. > :03:40.five-minute limit on speechds to start with. That may have to come

:03:41. > :03:43.down if there are too many interventions, but in order to get

:03:44. > :03:49.all honourable members in, ht will be five minutes from now.

:03:50. > :03:54.Thank you. The core message in this notion that the government hs

:03:55. > :03:59.somehow fail to stand up for working people -- has somehow failed.

:04:00. > :04:03.Respectively, that is misconceived. It is misconceived because, if we

:04:04. > :04:08.look at the context, the position in 2010 as we recall it is that this

:04:09. > :04:13.country was staring into thd abyss. Make no mistake about it. Borrowing

:04:14. > :04:17.was over ?150 billion a year. What does that mean in concrete terms? We

:04:18. > :04:23.were bringing in something like 600 million, yet spending 750 bhllion.

:04:24. > :04:27.It is perfectly true to say that the crisis came, and therefore the

:04:28. > :04:35.deficit got larger, but don't forget this - on the eve of the crhsis the

:04:36. > :04:37.IFS indicated, we as a country had one of the largest structur`l

:04:38. > :04:42.deficits anywhere in the developed world, which made us vulner`ble and

:04:43. > :04:46.meant that when the crisis hit, the cupboard was bare. A point that has

:04:47. > :04:50.been made but there's reanalysis is that there is no economic sdcurity,

:04:51. > :04:53.there is no national security, and there is no opportunity, whdn you

:04:54. > :04:57.lose control of your public finances. This country, by the

:04:58. > :05:02.deputy speaker, did that spectacularly in 2010. But dven if

:05:03. > :05:09.the honourable gentleman is not interested in those figures, the

:05:10. > :05:13.truth is that unemployment was up. Unemployment, which impacts on

:05:14. > :05:17.working people's lives, unelployment was up, and youth unemploymdnt was

:05:18. > :05:20.up. So what has happened since then, in the period which the

:05:21. > :05:26.honourable gentleman would have us believe that this economy h`s gone

:05:27. > :05:30.to hell in a handcart? Well, last year, more jobs created in Xorkshire

:05:31. > :05:33.alone than in the whole of France. More jobs created for young people

:05:34. > :05:40.in this country than in the rest of the European Union but together --

:05:41. > :05:46.put together. More women to jobs than ever before. So since 2010

:05:47. > :05:50.2000 jobs per day, and that matters, Madame deputy speaker, becatse jobs

:05:51. > :05:55.bring dignity, they bring sdlf worth, they bring fulfilment. But if

:05:56. > :06:04.he is not adjusted even in jobs what about living standards? Well,

:06:05. > :06:08.living standards are up ?900 per household better off than w`s the

:06:09. > :06:14.position in 2010. And yet, there is also a suggestion that somehow, our

:06:15. > :06:19.growth is anaemic compared to other countries. How can that possibly be

:06:20. > :06:23.the case? It is recognised that our country was the joint fastest

:06:24. > :06:27.growing country of any major developed economy, together with the

:06:28. > :06:32.United States. This is an achievement which we hope across the

:06:33. > :06:37.house can be very proud, and we can be proud because, it is by getting

:06:38. > :06:44.their stability, that growth, that prosperity, that we in fact assist

:06:45. > :06:47.the most vulnerable in our safety. But we recognise, of course, that

:06:48. > :06:52.there is more to do, and whdn the gentleman makes the point, `s he is

:06:53. > :06:55.perfectly entitled, that thd deficit is not closed, the answer to that

:06:56. > :07:00.should not be, let's widen ht and make it bigger. The answer should

:07:01. > :07:03.be, what can we do in a constructive, sensible and dare I

:07:04. > :07:11.say it, P to quake, to close that deficit, to secure our resilience.

:07:12. > :07:15.-- patriotic way. Because if we don't have money aside for ` rainy

:07:16. > :07:18.day, we will not be any good position to weather the storm when

:07:19. > :07:26.it hits, as it will. There will be a time in the when there will be a

:07:27. > :07:29.global downturn, because th`t is the nature of events. But we must be

:07:30. > :07:35.prepared to weather it. And then sorry to say, if there are `ny

:07:36. > :07:39.policies of the honourable gentleman, they seem to takd is

:07:40. > :07:42.nowhere towards achieving that resilience. So the position is today

:07:43. > :07:47.that we have a deficit of something in the order of 70 billion. That is

:07:48. > :07:54.around about double the defdnce budget. But I hear from the

:07:55. > :07:57.opposition benches, on the one hand, that the deficit is too large, and

:07:58. > :08:05.at the other hand, they say, well, let's make it largest deal. I will

:08:06. > :08:10.give way. -- larger still. H thank him for giving way, and I echo the

:08:11. > :08:13.sentiment that he is making. The only way we can get to grips with

:08:14. > :08:16.debt is to tackle the deficht, as he is setting out. The text of the

:08:17. > :08:20.difficult decisions of this government, we have already cut that

:08:21. > :08:24.by more than half. Does my honourable friend agree with me that

:08:25. > :08:28.there is still more to do, but that is why we have to carry on with the

:08:29. > :08:31.plan and finish the job? I absolutely agree with what is

:08:32. > :08:36.being said. We have to carrx on in a way which is proportionate, of

:08:37. > :08:41.course, fair, of course, but ultimately, focuses on that prize,

:08:42. > :08:45.which is living within our leans. I'm sorry to say, the party opposite

:08:46. > :08:51.don't seem to be ready to approach it in those terms. Not least because

:08:52. > :08:55.the Labour Party oppose the cap on welfare. The honourable gentleman

:08:56. > :08:59.sat in an article in the New Statesman in March that he would

:09:00. > :09:05.avoid any cuts whatsoever, `nd as we have a ready hair today, vidwed the

:09:06. > :09:09.surplus is being Barbie. My view is that this is not just an issue for

:09:10. > :09:12.our times. It is an issue for future times, an issue of generational

:09:13. > :09:17.justice. We collect to the next generation to bequeath to them and

:09:18. > :09:21.economy that can pay its wax, because make no mistake, thdre is

:09:22. > :09:26.someone born this week who hn 3 years, say a young lady, will turn

:09:27. > :09:30.to the state, having been ttrfed out to her home by an abusive htsband,

:09:31. > :09:33.she will knock on the Dora the state and ask for help, and it is down to

:09:34. > :09:38.this generation to insure that we have not left the cupboard bare

:09:39. > :09:42.because what is she to say to us in 30 years? Why didn't you de`l with

:09:43. > :09:47.the problem then? If we had to say, it is all too difficult, th`t is no

:09:48. > :09:55.answer at all. So, the position is that this prospective motion is

:09:56. > :09:58.misconceived, lacks credibility we have a duty to our country `nd the

:09:59. > :10:04.future to have a stable economy and this motion should be rejected.

:10:05. > :10:16.I will start by responding to the comments about the deficit. Let s

:10:17. > :10:22.judge them by their own record. In 2010, the Chancellor said hd would

:10:23. > :10:27.get rid of the deficit in one term. That rapidly disappeared as they

:10:28. > :10:35.target. He said he would halve it in one term and that was clearly shown

:10:36. > :10:39.to have failed. Then he movdd the target to 2019 and then 2020. When

:10:40. > :10:45.it suits him, the Chancellor changes his mind as much as he can on the

:10:46. > :10:53.deficit. It is not as important as members opposite claim. Surdly he

:10:54. > :10:57.welcomes the flexibility of the Chancellor who is asking to show

:10:58. > :11:05.flexibility? He makes certahnly stays on course. Halving thd deficit

:11:06. > :11:09.dosser and a measured an wax. Of course we need to get rid of the

:11:10. > :11:16.deficit so we can bring down debt but you have to do it in a way that

:11:17. > :11:21.is sustainable and that can only happen by growing the econoly. The

:11:22. > :11:27.government has presided over the slowest recovery on record. Tax

:11:28. > :11:30.receipts are an indicator of the health and productivity... There is

:11:31. > :11:33.a conversation going on across the two frontbenchers while there is a

:11:34. > :11:39.member speaking. Let's listdn to him. The government has presided

:11:40. > :11:44.over the slowest recovery on record. Tax receipts are an indicator of the

:11:45. > :11:49.health and productivity of the economy. Those fell as a result of

:11:50. > :11:56.the financial crisis. The United States, Germany, France and Canada,

:11:57. > :12:03.those receipts are covered by 2 13 to precrisis levels while in the UK

:12:04. > :12:07.tax receipts remained a 15% below the precrisis level. Meanwhhle, the

:12:08. > :12:14.Tories claimed the financial crisis was a result of public spending

:12:15. > :12:19.recruiting nurses and doctors when in fact spending here was bdlow

:12:20. > :12:23.average for similar economids. It was a financial crisis is not

:12:24. > :12:27.government spending that catsed the crisis and the fact the current

:12:28. > :12:30.Chancellor supported Labour's spending plans says what is needed

:12:31. > :12:37.to be said about the claims made ever since. They knew on thd benches

:12:38. > :12:40.on the government's side th`t the crisis was financial and not a

:12:41. > :12:43.government one and Conservative MPs also note that the member for Tatton

:12:44. > :12:48.was calling for less regulation of the banks not more in the rtn-up to

:12:49. > :12:53.that same crisis. The fact of the matter is that in 2010, we had

:12:54. > :13:00.halved the levels of unemployment, half the level of home repossessions

:13:01. > :13:04.and half the level of bigness bankruptcy. -- business. Prdcisely

:13:05. > :13:09.because the Labour government did intervene to support and protect

:13:10. > :13:14.people and businesses and to protect jobs. The economy was recovdring

:13:15. > :13:19.strongly in 2010. That was `s a result of the stimulus put hn by the

:13:20. > :13:25.government and it came to a court with the emergency budget of 20 0

:13:26. > :13:30.when investment. Two. In 2000, other countries continued their stimulus

:13:31. > :13:35.package and business, jobs `nd the wider economies of those cotntries

:13:36. > :13:41.saw the benefits. So what should happen now? Let's look at what

:13:42. > :13:45.business say. They want to see investment in infrastructurd,

:13:46. > :13:50.energy, transport, broadband and especially in skills. They say they

:13:51. > :13:55.need the skills available so businesses can grow and pay good

:13:56. > :14:00.wages. This is what the CBI says, it is what the EDF says and wh`t the

:14:01. > :14:05.Federation of Small Businesses say. When businesses want to grow, they

:14:06. > :14:10.understand the need to invest in new equipment, property and skills. They

:14:11. > :14:15.develop a business plan and invest in capital. Households do something

:14:16. > :14:22.similar, whether through sttdent loans or borrowing money. They

:14:23. > :14:26.invest for the future. We t`ke up a mortgage over 25 years typically the

:14:27. > :14:31.bank or building society works out whether we can afford the interest

:14:32. > :14:34.payments over the term of the mortgage. The government should

:14:35. > :14:40.invest in the future just as business and home homeowners do The

:14:41. > :14:44.lack of an industrial stratdgy is clear in the way the steel hndustry

:14:45. > :14:47.has been abandoned and the government does not seem to believe

:14:48. > :14:52.in having a business plan for the economy at all. They do not believe

:14:53. > :14:58.in investing for the long tdrm or following good business practice in

:14:59. > :15:01.the form of growth and incrdased tax receipts to higher living standards

:15:02. > :15:05.and deficit reduction. The government says it will not borrow

:15:06. > :15:10.money at will and once a vote in this House to confirm its vhew. The

:15:11. > :15:15.government used to say that fiscal responsibility charters werd a mark

:15:16. > :15:23.of a lack of confidence in the government's on policy but not any

:15:24. > :15:27.more. The fiscal irresponsibility Charter is the equivalent of the

:15:28. > :15:31.government saying, if it was a householder, it would not t`ke out a

:15:32. > :15:36.mortgage to buy a home, it would have to buy a house out of hts

:15:37. > :15:42.annual salary. If this government run a business, it would not take

:15:43. > :15:47.out a loan to buy a new van piece of machinery. The government h`s signed

:15:48. > :15:50.deals with the Chinese government. It is quite happy for foreign

:15:51. > :15:55.governments to invest in thhs country but not our own. Thhs seems

:15:56. > :15:59.a strange way to do business. In the end, the sums of money will have to

:16:00. > :16:03.be repaid and it seems that will happen through much higher dnergy

:16:04. > :16:15.prices paid by those very s`me people who would worry. A Chinese

:16:16. > :16:19.form... Let's have a debate about borrowing and the best valud for

:16:20. > :16:36.money and the best way of investing in the future of this country and

:16:37. > :16:41.let's not rely... I would lhke to start by congratulating the

:16:42. > :16:47.opposition on the brave dechsion to choose this subject, given their

:16:48. > :16:58.party's abysmal record withhn this area. It is perhaps verging on hurts

:16:59. > :17:02.buyer. In May, voters in a lajority of constituencies around thd country

:17:03. > :17:08.endorsed the difficult decisions taken by the previous Coalition

:17:09. > :17:14.Government to get the econoly back contract and place their fahth in

:17:15. > :17:21.Conservative Party to securd that economy, to take the further

:17:22. > :17:31.difficult decisions in a fahrway to secure that economy... Recovery And

:17:32. > :17:37.it's disappointing that the motion brought by the opposition this

:17:38. > :17:46.afternoon actually Mrs the real progress that has been made over the

:17:47. > :17:50.past five years in improving people's opportunities are now for

:17:51. > :17:54.working people in Britain. That is why we have 2 million more people

:17:55. > :18:01.now in work. That is many more families with the security of a job

:18:02. > :18:08.and knowing that they have got a steady income. We have got 3 million

:18:09. > :18:13.more apprenticeships since 2010 .. Sorry, 2 million more since 201 and

:18:14. > :18:19.3 million meaning more and lore young people have the skills needed

:18:20. > :18:26.for future work. And the government is doubling free childcare to 3

:18:27. > :18:34.hours per week. It is introducing the national living wage. It was

:18:35. > :18:40.interesting to know early on in the debate where the honourable member

:18:41. > :18:44.was quick to say that the n`tional living wage was an adequate but did

:18:45. > :18:52.not point out that in the L`bour manifesto their target was only ?8.

:18:53. > :18:57.Does he find outrageous? I didn t find its pricing, certainly. As we

:18:58. > :19:05.knew at the time during the election, the ?8 that the opposition

:19:06. > :19:12.were proposing was probably lower than the minimum wage was scheduled

:19:13. > :19:16.to have been by 2020 anyway. So this additional national living wage will

:19:17. > :19:22.mean a real increase in the income is the lowest paid families in

:19:23. > :19:29.Britain. I am sure many of ts remember the times when the

:19:30. > :19:34.opposition frontbenchers were making funny and gestures to indic`te that

:19:35. > :19:41.the economy was flat-lining. They are not doing that so much `ny

:19:42. > :19:53.more. The only thing that is now flat is inflation. With

:19:54. > :19:58.inflation... There are a nulber of speakers wishing to come in. With

:19:59. > :20:04.inflation close or even unddr zero, household budgets for familhes in my

:20:05. > :20:10.constituencies and elsewherd, their budgets are going further, leaning

:20:11. > :20:16.further security. This benefits the whole country including my

:20:17. > :20:22.constituents in Dudley South. As a member representing an West Midlands

:20:23. > :20:28.constituency, I hear many pdople within Dudley South say that in the

:20:29. > :20:33.past, it has seemed that thd Midlands was ignored and it

:20:34. > :20:39.certainly felt like it was the case under the last Labour government.

:20:40. > :20:42.After every ten private-sector jobs created in London and the South

:20:43. > :20:48.only one was created in the Midlands and the North. There was no hope for

:20:49. > :20:56.millions left languishing on benefits. In fact, for many people

:20:57. > :20:59.on certain benefits, they wdre more likely to stop claiming those

:21:00. > :21:04.benefits because you died then you were to find a job. That was

:21:05. > :21:11.unacceptable and it is the `ction taken by this government th`t has

:21:12. > :21:18.meant that has been turned `round, so people can have more hopd at

:21:19. > :21:24.better opportunities. But the economic Secretary rightly referred

:21:25. > :21:28.to the issue of low producthvity is being an issue that the country has

:21:29. > :21:33.faced for many years. I would hope that we would agree that thd key to

:21:34. > :21:39.tackling the productivity g`p is rebalancing the economy so ht is not

:21:40. > :21:44.overreliant on any one region and this is why I think the

:21:45. > :21:51.government's devolution of city 's agenda is so absolutely essdntial to

:21:52. > :21:57.unlocking the full potential of the whole country and turning around

:21:58. > :22:00.that productivity issue. I was delighted that only yesterd`y the

:22:01. > :22:08.Chancellor and Business Secretary when the West Midlands, announcing a

:22:09. > :22:13.new ?1 billion devolution ddal, a devolution revolution that will mean

:22:14. > :22:17.the West Midlands has the btdgets and powers to make a real dhfference

:22:18. > :22:24.for people in the West Midl`nds count the, to turn around the

:22:25. > :22:31.productivity challenge and skills gap that has held the West Lidlands

:22:32. > :22:43.back for many decades, and that is to be congratulated rather than be

:22:44. > :22:47.condemned. It is not just about creating jobs. It's about hope and

:22:48. > :22:54.opportunity and that is why I will post this motion this afternoon The

:22:55. > :22:59.Chancellor is known for being a very political operator. Economic

:23:00. > :23:07.historians will pay tribute to the man in which he framed the dconomic

:23:08. > :23:14.debate. This enabled them to challenge the economic compdtence of

:23:15. > :23:19.their predecessors. The Chancellor has endeavoured to portray the

:23:20. > :23:24.economic recovery. This ignores the fact that the last recession was the

:23:25. > :23:27.longest in economic history and was exacerbated by the deep contraction

:23:28. > :23:36.in public spending at the bdginning of the last Parliament. It was also

:23:37. > :23:40.ignored in debates. As I've said in the past, the UK economy continues

:23:41. > :23:50.to be on the life support of monetary policy. The economx has

:23:51. > :23:54.been kept afloat by ?75 billion worth of quantitative easing. One of

:23:55. > :24:01.the perverse side effects of this has been to increase wealth

:24:02. > :24:05.inequality. Monetary policy by the Central bank filled the void left by

:24:06. > :24:17.the fiscal cuts of the Treasury However, it has led to greater in

:24:18. > :24:21.balancing of the economy. Household consumption now accounts for over

:24:22. > :24:27.60% of the UK economy. Therd should be an urgent Treasury priorhty to

:24:28. > :24:33.boost business investments `nd exports.

:24:34. > :24:38.of ultra-loose monetary polhcies of ultra-loose monetary polhcies

:24:39. > :24:42.that the Western economies become pegged on low interest rates, and

:24:43. > :24:48.that any normalisation will lead to significant economic Headwax

:24:49. > :24:52.headwinds. In other words, ht becomes the new norm. The obvious

:24:53. > :24:54.questions which arises is, hf there is no normalisation of monetary

:24:55. > :25:00.policy, the central bank wotld become embittered when the next

:25:01. > :25:06.downturn comes. And that's rumba, since the Second World War, the

:25:07. > :25:11.average downturn normally l`sts between six and seven years, which

:25:12. > :25:16.may mean we do another one `ny time soon. A study by credits Widse

:25:17. > :25:19.shows... I'm not sure what the honourable

:25:20. > :25:27.judgment is actually asking for Is he suggesting we should be hiking

:25:28. > :25:37.interest rates now? No one once the effects of an such monetary. I'm

:25:38. > :25:40.glad he made the point, bec`use I'm going to say that we need to be

:25:41. > :25:45.difficult with our fiscal policy. -- we need to be careful. The study

:25:46. > :25:54.shows that the UK is alone hn seeing wealth and economy grow. As even the

:25:55. > :25:57.IMF argue, losing wealth indquality is a key growth strategy.

:25:58. > :26:08.Unfortunately, there is not a budget with credits leading to both groups

:26:09. > :26:13.and welcome inequalities. Wd oppose the intention to end inheritance tax

:26:14. > :26:17.and family homes with a ?2 lillion. Inheritance tax raised over

:26:18. > :26:20.4,000,000,020 15-16, should be an important element of a more balanced

:26:21. > :26:24.approach towards fiscal consolidation, as opposed to the

:26:25. > :26:27.Tory obsession with cuts. The decision to cut maintenance grants

:26:28. > :26:31.for the poorest of the same time as aggressive changes to inherhtance

:26:32. > :26:35.tax won't help the major social mogul to problems faced by the UK.

:26:36. > :26:39.The Chancellor has eased wh`t the Office for Budget Responsibhlity is

:26:40. > :26:43.described as a roller-coastdr fiscal policy for the duration of this

:26:44. > :26:45.Parliament, whereby cuts wotld be front-loaded, with the spending

:26:46. > :26:49.split at the end of the polhtical cycle. However, spending on public

:26:50. > :26:53.services by the end of this Parliament as a percentage of GDP

:26:54. > :26:56.will be as lowest ever sincd 1964-65, according to the OBR. The

:26:57. > :27:02.economy faces several major challenges. Firstly, the grotesque

:27:03. > :27:06.geographical wealth inequalhties that exist within the British

:27:07. > :27:10.state, the overreliance upon London and the south-east of England. This

:27:11. > :27:15.has been a problem built up over successive governments, to the deep

:27:16. > :27:20.degree that the UK is by far the most unequal state in the ET. The

:27:21. > :27:22.communities they represent `re the bottom of the pile. The current UK

:27:23. > :27:30.Government at least acknowlddges that it is an issue. This rdsponse

:27:31. > :27:34.is then to devolve signific`nt tax powers to Scotland and Northern

:27:35. > :27:39.Ireland. Significant powers at all to English city regions. In the case

:27:40. > :27:44.of Wales, however, we get mhnor taxes, and then income tax sharing

:27:45. > :27:48.arrangement pending a referdndum many years down the line. The key

:27:49. > :27:52.question the UK Government hs to answer, therefore, is what dconomic

:27:53. > :27:57.disadvantage deserted village Wales will face as a result of our

:27:58. > :28:03.second-class settlement? Direct economic control from Westmhnster is

:28:04. > :28:08.clearly failing my country, which deserves parity with the rest of the

:28:09. > :28:12.UK, and the same powers being evolved elsewhere. The UK also faces

:28:13. > :28:16.major changes in tears of chronic levels of business investment and

:28:17. > :28:20.productivity, as we already heard. As the Treasury budget briefing

:28:21. > :28:23.notes acknowledge themselves, business investment levels hn the UK

:28:24. > :28:29.are the worst of all major dconomies apart from Italy. To address this,

:28:30. > :28:32.the Treasury needs to return infrastructure investment

:28:33. > :28:37.prerecession levels, as advocated by the IMF. This would essenti`lly

:28:38. > :28:41.create around an extra 1% of GDP, ?19 billion of extra investlent

:28:42. > :28:44.across the UK, with a share for Wales of around ?1 billion. This is

:28:45. > :28:48.what we will be looking forward Chancellor up next week to deliver

:28:49. > :28:56.his copper head of Spending Review in the Autumn Statement. --

:28:57. > :29:01.comprehends Spending Review. Thank you. I am delighted to speak

:29:02. > :29:07.on the record on the side of the house, and our growing economy. I

:29:08. > :29:11.oppose this motion. Over 2.0 million more people are now in work with

:29:12. > :29:16.income tax cut for 27 million people, numbers that fall e`sily

:29:17. > :29:22.from the lips, what are much harder to achieve. With 3.8 million people

:29:23. > :29:26.out of tax altogether, with the state pension increased by ?950

:29:27. > :29:34.since 2010, and over 120,000 families with a home to call their

:29:35. > :29:39.own with our Help to Buy. Indeed, apprenticeships, many mentioned 2.3

:29:40. > :29:43.million since 2010, and this government has a very proud record.

:29:44. > :29:50.It has been a good news story locally for me, and I would like to

:29:51. > :29:52.congratulate our local colldge were delivering these apprenticeships

:29:53. > :29:56.locally, and all those businesses and companies who are part of this

:29:57. > :30:01.apprenticeship revolution. Hn many ways, this economic revival has been

:30:02. > :30:07.very hard-won against the bdst efforts of the opposition to block

:30:08. > :30:12.any progress. We have cut ftel duty and in fact, it will remain frozen

:30:13. > :30:17.by the end of 2016 for five years. This is more money in the

:30:18. > :30:21.motorist's pocket, for the school run, for getting to work, and saving

:30:22. > :30:25.money for our hauliers. It hs keeping people in jobs and our

:30:26. > :30:29.economy growing. The economhc success of this government has been

:30:30. > :30:33.the building blocks, but of course, more needs to be done. We'rd proud

:30:34. > :30:38.of what we have achieved, btt in each constituency, we can all look

:30:39. > :30:43.to extra measures and steps we can take to move forward. Unemployment

:30:44. > :30:49.in Eastleigh is down by 199 people since this time last year, `nd there

:30:50. > :30:55.are 45 Hewitt younger claim`nts -- 45 fewer. The reality is, the

:30:56. > :31:02.regular pay packet, as we hdard earlier, the positivity of stability

:31:03. > :31:06.that working brings, means the move from dependence to independdnce

:31:07. > :31:13.paying people to go away and not helping people to thrive, frankly,

:31:14. > :31:18.is cruel, and I think unaccdptable. The fact that we are proud to be

:31:19. > :31:23.bringing in the national living wage, forecast to be over ?8 by

:31:24. > :31:27.2020, shows that we are the true party of the workers. In Brhtain, I

:31:28. > :31:34.think it is wrong that we spend more on family benefits than Gerlany

:31:35. > :31:37.France and Sweden. We have 7% of the world's welfare spending. It needs

:31:38. > :31:42.controlling. There are blocks of our economy that we need to address and

:31:43. > :31:45.in Eastleigh, our local council is failing to provide a local plan

:31:46. > :31:50.which allowed strategic progression and economic development in the

:31:51. > :31:54.area. Instead of a strong plan delivering houses and helping the

:31:55. > :31:59.local economy, we are left with piecemeal, hostile planning

:32:00. > :32:02.applications, and instead of seizing the opportunity that localism has

:32:03. > :32:07.been bringing to Eastleigh, sadly, these powerful tools are not being

:32:08. > :32:14.used. The Liberal led local council, having lack of a brownfield

:32:15. > :32:18.first focus, alongside a lack of a local town centre focus, me`ns that

:32:19. > :32:22.some businesses have approached me concerned about their futurds. I am

:32:23. > :32:27.looking forward, though, to an important event in the local

:32:28. > :32:30.calendar this weekend, the switching on of the Christmas lights. It is

:32:31. > :32:36.important to promote local shopping and also think local, act local and

:32:37. > :32:40.be an important member of the local economy, and I will be hoping to

:32:41. > :32:45.come back with some full shopping bags. I think we need to continue to

:32:46. > :32:49.push the infrastructure isste that all our constituencies are `ffected

:32:50. > :32:55.by. This will help with our productivity issues. Locallx, I have

:32:56. > :33:02.clogged roads and poor East,West rail links, and a lack of bxpasses

:33:03. > :33:06.intent macro. But I am battling for the enterprise zone, which will

:33:07. > :33:09.support Eastleigh, Southampton Airport, bringing much-needdd

:33:10. > :33:12.infrastructure. We need to `lso focus as a government on a level

:33:13. > :33:15.playing field for carers and parents who are coming back into thd

:33:16. > :33:19.workplace, and I have been encouraged with my meetings with

:33:20. > :33:25.ministers on this. We have heard today that without a strong economy,

:33:26. > :33:32.we cannot deliver the policd, the security services, react to the

:33:33. > :33:36.troubled times we have, both here at home and abroad. So there is a great

:33:37. > :33:41.need to succeed economic wax so that this government can continud to do

:33:42. > :33:45.its job in keeping us safe. I conclude, Madame deputy to kick

:33:46. > :33:50.saying, once again, I opposd this motion.

:33:51. > :33:53.If I can apologise for the house for having to leave the debate halfway

:33:54. > :33:58.through to attend a meeting, I would like to do so now. I also w`nt to

:33:59. > :34:03.comment in relation to this debate in my community. Teesside, Dast

:34:04. > :34:07.Cleveland, have suffered huge economic challenges since

:34:08. > :34:12.mid-September 2015. I have tried to use other tools house to thhs, and

:34:13. > :34:15.of course, given the situathon in Paris at the weekend, it is right

:34:16. > :34:20.and proper that this takes parenting. But the still must beat

:34:21. > :34:26.but on the record. 2200 dirdct jobs have been lost following thd

:34:27. > :34:37.liquidation here. Downstreal, 9 0 jobs. 200 Caparo. 300 of thd Tees

:34:38. > :34:41.tax offices. 300 of the Tees tax offices. 350 at the potash line in

:34:42. > :34:46.my constituency were announced to go last Thursday, with another 350

:34:47. > :34:50.following that, which would be three quarters of the workforce there All

:34:51. > :34:56.minors, or well-paid jobs. By any estimation, these statistics are

:34:57. > :35:00.truly dreadful, and the imp`ct upon local people directly puts them in

:35:01. > :35:08.jeopardy, and their families and friends in such a profound way that

:35:09. > :35:14.it is very hard to properly give representation to every single one

:35:15. > :35:20.of those people, because of the massive effects. I know indhviduals

:35:21. > :35:24.who worked as steelworkers, whose partners or sons also work for the

:35:25. > :35:28.potash mine, who have now sden their ability to earn completely

:35:29. > :35:30.destroyed. These redundancids and potential redundancies are largely

:35:31. > :35:36.and primarily in the privatd sector, and industrial, and I cannot

:35:37. > :35:38.underestimate the feeling of abandonment my community fedls in

:35:39. > :35:47.the face of this onslaught. In relation to the steel industry, for

:35:48. > :35:51.a long period of time, we h`ve made the five industrial askeds, which

:35:52. > :35:57.still remain unanswered. However, I have written to the Chancellor

:35:58. > :36:01.asking for a response is to macro, asking for not only the stedl

:36:02. > :36:04.industry, but all energy intensive industries. We know the govdrnment

:36:05. > :36:07.has reduced the programmes from four down to one. I've also written to

:36:08. > :36:12.the Chancellor on this in rdlation to the Teesside collective, my

:36:13. > :36:15.honourable friend raises after PMQs today, to take this negativd

:36:16. > :36:20.opportunity all this bad publicity around our area in terms of

:36:21. > :36:24.industry, and to seize that, and have up profound impact within the

:36:25. > :36:28.Tees economy, to use it as ht prime site for carbon capture and storage.

:36:29. > :36:33.We know there is a means by which we can provide not only steel-laking,

:36:34. > :36:36.but also give a runner sincd two process industries in the area. -- a

:36:37. > :36:41.renaissance to process industries in the area.

:36:42. > :36:46.It has been four weeks sincd the steel summit, and none of the asks

:36:47. > :36:53.by industry, unions are MPs have been properly responded to. A

:36:54. > :36:58.profound issue is one of those around Chinese dumping. 95% of all

:36:59. > :37:01.Chinese steel which enters the EU, enters the UK. There is somdthing

:37:02. > :37:07.seriously wrong there. We as an individual state and take action,

:37:08. > :37:13.and there are lessons there. We could take action and act together

:37:14. > :37:15.protectively, but also as an individual state. That means a

:37:16. > :37:20.government which is proactive around trade defence, something whhch I

:37:21. > :37:23.cannot go into due to time constraints, but certainly something

:37:24. > :37:29.the government should take far more seriously. However, we Sony cheap

:37:30. > :37:30.furniture. A big issue, and we should be supporting coal

:37:31. > :37:34.gasification. If we look at the Tees gasification. If we look at the Tees

:37:35. > :37:41.area, for example, we are rhderless to a coalfield -- right next to a

:37:42. > :37:44.coalfield with years and ye`rs of coal which could be gas supplied.

:37:45. > :37:50.That is 50% cheaper than conventional gas. Make no mhstakes,

:37:51. > :37:53.the US will turn off the tap of the gas exports to receive at the

:37:54. > :37:57.moment. The only reason we get that gas is because the USA does not have

:37:58. > :38:02.enough container vessels to contain its own shale gas. One does, that

:38:03. > :38:07.that will be turned, having profound effect on our economy and ability to

:38:08. > :38:11.keep the lights on. However, I think we should be using the gas to

:38:12. > :38:16.prioritise for our steel industry and other manufacturers. In terms of

:38:17. > :38:21.China also, we have seen our economy exposed to the Chinese economy by

:38:22. > :38:24.$500 billion. In terms of steel and energy intensive manufacturhng,

:38:25. > :38:28.China cannot under their current subsidised practice can market

:38:29. > :38:30.states from the EU, and that is something that ministers nedd to

:38:31. > :38:36.raise over and over again. Larket status for China will end the

:38:37. > :38:39.conversation about whether we are able to maintain our manufacturing

:38:40. > :38:48.whatsoever. And finally, I come on to defence. Unless we as a country

:38:49. > :39:00.look at potential in renewing the Trident system, there is no valuable

:39:01. > :39:03.way of saving the industry. I'm going to have to drop the

:39:04. > :39:07.comments to four minutes. I would like to associate mxself

:39:08. > :39:11.with the comments of my honourable friend from Eastleigh, about working

:39:12. > :39:14.there were shopping local. H would say that the you're in South

:39:15. > :39:19.Gloucestershire, please comd to two of our most beautiful high streets.

:39:20. > :39:22.I would also like to clarifx a point there has been mentioned earlier,

:39:23. > :39:27.the deficit was cut by just a third before the election, not a half But

:39:28. > :39:34.figures from the ONS releasdd in September this year demonstrate that

:39:35. > :39:40.the public sector net borrowing fell between 2009-10 and 2014-15 from

:39:41. > :39:46.10.2% to 5%, so over half in the last Parliament. Managing the

:39:47. > :39:49.finances of any country, and responsibly managing taxpaydrs'

:39:50. > :39:52.money is one of the most important tasks of any government, and when

:39:53. > :39:58.this government came to powdr in 2010, the country was rolling over

:39:59. > :40:02.?150 billion a year, and unemployment had increased by nearly

:40:03. > :40:07.half a million. We had the second biggest structural deficit of any

:40:08. > :40:10.advanced economy. There havd been huge achievements over the past six

:40:11. > :40:13.years. The deficit is down by more than a half. There are 900,000 more

:40:14. > :40:20.businesses, which have helpdd contribute to create millions more

:40:21. > :40:24.private sector jobs. One clhmate is up by 2.1 lead. There are more women

:40:25. > :40:27.in work than ever before. Unemployment in my constitudncy is

:40:28. > :40:31.down by over 60%, and there are more women working in my constittency

:40:32. > :40:35.than ever before as well. The job is not done. I would like to urge the

:40:36. > :40:40.Minister to remind this house that there is more to do. There `re risks

:40:41. > :40:43.in the global economy. Therd are threats to this country and I also

:40:44. > :40:48.urge the Minister to stick to the plan in principle that got ts this

:40:49. > :40:51.far. I want to see those 2 lillion more jobs delivered, so when

:40:52. > :40:57.implementing my constituencx can continue to fall. I want to see 3

:40:58. > :40:59.million more apprenticeships delivered, so the South

:41:00. > :41:02.Gloucestershire College in ly constituency can continue the

:41:03. > :41:07.excellent work they are doing by trading more apprenticeships. I want

:41:08. > :41:11.to see taxes cut, so when young people start apprenticeships are

:41:12. > :41:15.going to work, they will be keeping more of their own money. I want to

:41:16. > :41:20.see is perform welfare, so we can ensure young people that work the

:41:21. > :41:25.lowest pay. -- reform welfare. I do not want to explain to my children

:41:26. > :41:28.or my grandchildren or great-grandchildren why it hs my

:41:29. > :41:29.generation that has burdened them with more debt than they can lead to

:41:30. > :41:41.replace. Positive economic news has continued

:41:42. > :41:46.to come. We will be the joint fastest growing economy this year,

:41:47. > :41:53.the CBI has forecast the UK economy will grow, construction grew in

:41:54. > :42:00.October, manufacturing growth accelerated in October, a World Bank

:42:01. > :42:09.report has ranked us sick, tp to Mac from last year, and I know there are

:42:10. > :42:13.more difficult decisions to come in the year ahead and this govdrnment

:42:14. > :42:18.will work tirelessly to continue to tackle. But from what we have seen

:42:19. > :42:23.of the past five years, it's clear that markets, manufacturers,

:42:24. > :42:28.businesses have confidence hn this government. So can I conclude I

:42:29. > :42:33.congratulate this government on its fiscal management and policx? Can we

:42:34. > :42:42.plough ahead with our long-term economic plan? It is interesting to

:42:43. > :42:47.his speeches in this House. Ever since I was elected, we hear the

:42:48. > :42:50.same thing from the party opposite. The word conservative means to

:42:51. > :42:57.preserve a way of life. Thex live in the past. The old certaintids have

:42:58. > :43:01.changed. Globalisation is hdre to stay. Whether we like it or not the

:43:02. > :43:09.way people go about their d`ily lives is changed for ever. People

:43:10. > :43:19.will work in the same job and trade on gumtree, eBay, Amazon. It is up

:43:20. > :43:24.to the government to ensure that people can achieve their

:43:25. > :43:29.opportunities and ambitions. For me, the number one problem that anybody

:43:30. > :43:33.has in this country, whether they go to work, whether they are in high

:43:34. > :43:37.intensive industries, is clhmate change. When we look at the motion

:43:38. > :43:42.today, we are talking about green industry. For me, green technology

:43:43. > :43:54.is the last best chance for this country. Sheep labour... We have to

:43:55. > :44:02.invest in green technology. As is often the case, America is providing

:44:03. > :44:05.the most innovative solutions. In 2006, the California global warming

:44:06. > :44:19.solutions act set the most `mbitious carbon reduction targets. It was not

:44:20. > :44:27.just the targets that mattered. They attacked greenhouse gases from every

:44:28. > :44:33.angle. We often talk about how government action can only go so far

:44:34. > :44:38.and this is true but the Californian global warming solutions act did not

:44:39. > :44:44.change the government, it shifted the market. One of the most

:44:45. > :44:52.polluting car crazed culturds in the world, the Toyota prius. Thd

:44:53. > :44:58.Californian example is one the UK must follow. There is a trade-off

:44:59. > :45:10.between tackling climate ch`nge and economic growth. Creating jobs,

:45:11. > :45:15.creating cutting-edge technology, supporting established comp`nies,

:45:16. > :45:21.nearly ten years on since the act was passed, California is the second

:45:22. > :45:27.least carbon intensive economy. They produce less carbon than anx nation

:45:28. > :45:31.except France. It is a living example. We can tackle clim`te

:45:32. > :45:41.change and dramatically boost our economy. In 2011, Google pursued a

:45:42. > :45:47.clean tech approach. Such a shift would grow the economy by ?244

:45:48. > :45:54.billion a year, create 1.9 lillion jobs, save consumers ?1000 ` year.

:45:55. > :46:02.It reduced greenhouse gas elissions by 21%. For me, we have the ultimate

:46:03. > :46:06.opportunity to develop a carbon neutral economy that creates jobs

:46:07. > :46:12.and in the final 30 seconds, I want to focus on graphene, which was

:46:13. > :46:17.developed by British scienthsts but it is the Chinese and Americans who

:46:18. > :46:23.are actually making the way forward with it. 70% of all patents on it

:46:24. > :46:26.come from either China or Alerica and only 1% from Britain. Wd must

:46:27. > :46:32.encourage our firms to ensure that when we make a right this, they have

:46:33. > :46:36.every opportunity to develop those for commercial purposes. Th`t is the

:46:37. > :46:47.point I really want to make to government. In the light of the

:46:48. > :46:49.disgraceful and shocking attacks in Paris, there have been calls for the

:46:50. > :46:56.government to spend more money on policing and security from our

:46:57. > :47:00.constituents and members. I think that these calls are perfectly

:47:01. > :47:04.understandable. As somebody who spent nine years as working as a

:47:05. > :47:12.special constable in the Unhted Kingdom, I have enormous respect for

:47:13. > :47:15.the work the police play in combating terrorism. Nonethdless, I

:47:16. > :47:19.have to say, I am sure the government will recognise their work

:47:20. > :47:24.but it would be a huge mist`ke to think we can in Chris our sdcurity

:47:25. > :47:27.on the back of borrowed mondy. The lessons of history tell us over and

:47:28. > :47:32.over again this would be a listake and if we look back over if you

:47:33. > :47:38.examples of recent history, a nation whose economy is not sound hs not

:47:39. > :47:45.able to project itself militarily or guarantee its own existence and

:47:46. > :47:50.unable to guarantee the sectrity of its borders. We can look at what was

:47:51. > :47:54.the last military defeat for the United Kingdom, which was actually

:47:55. > :48:03.sewers, but it was not a military defeat but an economic one. We were

:48:04. > :48:11.unable to continue there. Bdcause our nation already had debt and was

:48:12. > :48:14.unable to secure further borrowing from the IMF and because thd

:48:15. > :48:20.Americans were threatening to devalue our economy. If we look at

:48:21. > :48:24.the history of East Germany, which is something that has always been of

:48:25. > :48:31.interest to me because my whfe is Eastern European, the writing was on

:48:32. > :48:35.the wall for the communist bloc and east Germany in the early 1880s

:48:36. > :48:39.although nobody saw it coming when the East Germans had to go off and

:48:40. > :48:45.negotiate emergency borrowing from their competitors and enemy in west

:48:46. > :48:51.Germany and anybody could h`ve seen what would eventually happen as a

:48:52. > :48:54.result of that. A few years ago I was a member of the Council of

:48:55. > :49:00.Europe with the honourable lady beside me and I visited Gredce and

:49:01. > :49:04.was shocked first of all of the state of the economy and thd impact

:49:05. > :49:09.that is a tad on the control of their borders. They have lost

:49:10. > :49:13.complete and utter control of their borders because their econoly is in

:49:14. > :49:19.ruins so I am sure I don't need to remind the government of thhs but it

:49:20. > :49:24.is vital that we continue in the direction that we are going to

:49:25. > :49:35.reduce our dependency on borrowed money. It is still too high but it

:49:36. > :49:39.is going in the right direction I very much hope that despite the

:49:40. > :49:45.challenges we face, we will be able to protect police funding. H welcome

:49:46. > :49:50.the government's announcement that there will be thousands of dxtra

:49:51. > :49:52.people recruited into the intelligence agencies. The

:49:53. > :49:55.government understand the pressures the police are under and will be

:49:56. > :50:01.looking at ways in which we can get more police officers on the streets

:50:02. > :50:04.without spending extra monex, the example from cutting bureaucracy. I

:50:05. > :50:10.would be happy to give suggdstions of my own. The long-term economic

:50:11. > :50:15.plan we have is not just about raising living standards for people

:50:16. > :50:18.in this country. It is not just about controlling inflation and

:50:19. > :50:28.increasing growth. It is about underpinning the long-term security

:50:29. > :50:32.of everyone in this nation. It is always a hilarious pleasure to

:50:33. > :50:36.follow the member for Mao Mtth and I am sorry the minister who is so

:50:37. > :50:40.brightly coloured in a Ukip Blazer has gone off after giving hdr

:50:41. > :50:47.black-and-white comedy speech and part of that speech was the

:50:48. > :50:51.suggestion that Labour has caused the problems and misery of the

:50:52. > :50:55.current day. In fact, under the Labour Party, the economy grew by

:50:56. > :51:00.40% and that is why we could double the size of the health servhce and

:51:01. > :51:05.education service and lift lillions of people out of poverty. In 20 8,

:51:06. > :51:12.we saw the financial crisis caused by the bankers and then Labour

:51:13. > :51:16.government, Gordon Brown alongside Barack Obama, did a fiscal stimulus.

:51:17. > :51:22.They got us back to growth by 2 10. The issue is the balance between

:51:23. > :51:28.growth and cuts to get down the deficit. Labour is on the shde of

:51:29. > :51:34.growth and George Osborne ddcided to revert to cuts. He announced half a

:51:35. > :51:40.million job cuts. We have h`d flat-lining growth until relatively

:51:41. > :51:46.recently. What that has meant is that the overall production per job

:51:47. > :51:52.has gone down... I will givd way. I thank the honourable gentlelan for

:51:53. > :51:56.giving way. Does he not recognise that in 2008, the UK was in the

:51:57. > :52:01.deepest recession since the Second World War? We are now the

:52:02. > :52:07.fastest-growing economy in the G7. Will you recognise this fact in the

:52:08. > :52:15.House today? When we left office in 2010, debt as a percentage of GDP

:52:16. > :52:18.was now it is 80%. The Labotr Party borrowed in 13 years less than the

:52:19. > :52:23.Conservatives have in five xears. It has been a complete failure because

:52:24. > :52:27.there has been a failure to invest in strategic growth, productivity

:52:28. > :52:33.and wealth creation. Instead, it has been used as a cover to att`ck the

:52:34. > :52:37.welfare state and public whhch is part of the private and public

:52:38. > :52:45.partnership in which Britain relies. I don't know what planet he's on. I

:52:46. > :52:48.was a mortgage broker, runnhng a business, and I can safely say to

:52:49. > :52:54.him that the Financial Servhces Authority created by Gordon Brown,

:52:55. > :52:59.complete and utter failure to regulate the banks. He can't walk

:53:00. > :53:02.away from responsibility. They have massive culpability for the

:53:03. > :53:09.unsustainable nature of the boom that led up to the crash in 200 . We

:53:10. > :53:15.introduced regulations throtgh the FSA. The Conservatives opposed

:53:16. > :53:19.greater regulation and it is the lack of regulation that has led to

:53:20. > :53:24.the awful situation we are hn now. Coming back to the current

:53:25. > :53:30.ridiculous attempt to reducd the deficit and debt by cutting tax

:53:31. > :53:36.credits, the situation is the poor people spend all their monex in the

:53:37. > :53:42.economy, which people save that money offshore. The impact of

:53:43. > :53:47.getting 3 million people and robbing them of ?1300 to try to bal`nce the

:53:48. > :53:52.books is to undermine massively regional economies which ard already

:53:53. > :53:55.in a situation of imbalance in a regional basis and taking money from

:53:56. > :54:01.people who would spend the loney and giving it to people who won't namely

:54:02. > :54:06.through inheritance tax so ht is economic UUP and it is quitd wrong

:54:07. > :54:10.morally in my view. In contrast to lifting millions of people out of

:54:11. > :54:16.poverty, we are thrusting mhllions into poverty, in particular the

:54:17. > :54:20.extra 400,000 children we whll see being put into poverty. Tax credits

:54:21. > :54:29.themselves is an American instrument to encourage people to work. It is

:54:30. > :54:34.targeted the working familids. If you ran a business and you could

:54:35. > :54:38.only afford to pay ?10,000 to employ someone so that business cotld be

:54:39. > :54:41.viable and that person needdd ?15,000 and the difference was made

:54:42. > :54:47.up by the government, we wotld end up with a job and viable business.

:54:48. > :54:51.If you were to withdraw that tax credit, you destroy small

:54:52. > :54:56.businesses, you destroy incomes you impoverished families and you

:54:57. > :55:01.generate intergenerational poverty. It's disgraceful and wrong. We have

:55:02. > :55:05.got other ridiculous situathons with housing benefit. 70% of housing

:55:06. > :55:08.benefit growth has been paid into private sector rents becausd the

:55:09. > :55:13.government has not built enough social housing and instead of

:55:14. > :55:18.building more, it is basically selling of social housing to give

:55:19. > :55:26.the right to buy an housing associations. In terms of

:55:27. > :55:32.procurement, we have got a chest to. If the British consortitm had

:55:33. > :55:40.that, they would pay corpor`tion tax, income tax, National Insurance,

:55:41. > :55:45.and in terms of steel, we would have steel going in to constructhon

:55:46. > :55:48.rather than Chinese steel. @nd on Chinese steel, why has the

:55:49. > :55:52.government failed to demand carbon tariffs on cheap steel that is

:55:53. > :55:55.coming in from China that is being produced more cheaply because they

:55:56. > :56:05.don't have the environmental controls we demand in Britahn? We

:56:06. > :56:10.need more investment in citx regions and in more deprived areas like

:56:11. > :56:15.Swansea if we are to have a national tax hub, which I am against. Why is

:56:16. > :56:25.it being put in Cardiff? Is should be in the Swansea region.

:56:26. > :56:29.The point here is that the investment, as with the DVL@, if the

:56:30. > :56:32.government can use instruments of economic power, it should do so

:56:33. > :56:35.doubt relatively deprived areas are not just helped London and the

:56:36. > :56:41.south-east. In terms of the trade deficit, which is massive, 4%, we

:56:42. > :56:48.need to do more to actually think about merging massive markets like

:56:49. > :56:52.China and India, whose middle classes are approaching 20%. Why

:56:53. > :56:55.aren't we actively engaging to unite the creative industries and

:56:56. > :57:00.manufacturing industries to provide high-value products that we can sell

:57:01. > :57:04.into those markets, rather than knowing that we can produce spoons

:57:05. > :57:11.any more? Wheel so have an dye towards TTI P. People will third two

:57:12. > :57:17.of the agreement with America, and also CETA with Canada. That is going

:57:18. > :57:20.through the back door while people are barricading the front door of a

:57:21. > :57:24.TTIP. And that will give colpanies the power to fine governments,

:57:25. > :57:30.democratically elected government, for loss of profit if we pass laws

:57:31. > :57:36.here that impact on the futtre profits. We need to sort th`t out,

:57:37. > :57:42.but also ensure that TTIP works sustainably. The issue of global

:57:43. > :57:48.warming was raised. Unless we embrace the issue of human rights,

:57:49. > :57:50.workers rights, sustainable development, we will not have a

:57:51. > :57:55.sustainable world or a sust`inable economy. So we need to think more

:57:56. > :58:00.clearly about growth in a focused way, rather than always going to cut

:58:01. > :58:03.things. If a constituent in Swansea City me, you have got a company that

:58:04. > :58:07.is making a loss. There are two options. You can sack the workers

:58:08. > :58:13.and sell your tools, or invdst in grow comparative and products. That

:58:14. > :58:17.is the of the Labour Party. -- that is the focus of the Labour

:58:18. > :58:20.Party. There are three main points I wish

:58:21. > :58:25.to make about the motion today. Firstly, it is frankly absurd, and

:58:26. > :58:33.reflects an opposition partx that is totally out of step with thd vast

:58:34. > :58:37.majority of the British people. And I say that because its principles

:58:38. > :58:39.were robustly tested at the last general election in May, and

:58:40. > :58:47.unequivocally rejected eithdr British people. The party opposite

:58:48. > :58:54.lack bill at E.ON managing the economy, and their proposals in May

:58:55. > :58:59.failed to persuade the country otherwise. -- the party opposite

:59:00. > :59:03.lack all credibility. Today, we see a defiant continuation of those

:59:04. > :59:06.principles and that attitudd. Nothing has changed. They don't seem

:59:07. > :59:12.to have learnt anything frol the result in me, and instead, have

:59:13. > :59:19.become increasingly intranshgence in their approach. Secondly, that lack

:59:20. > :59:22.of confidence placed in thel by the British people reflect the dconomic

:59:23. > :59:31.situation with which they ldft the country in 2010. A record btdget

:59:32. > :59:36.deficit, at 10.2% of GDP, ptblic sector net borrowing was at its

:59:37. > :59:43.highest since records began, ?1 in every four spent by governmdnt was

:59:44. > :59:46.borrowed. On welfare, they left us with a benefits system which was so

:59:47. > :59:51.complicated that some peopld, there was point in working more, because

:59:52. > :59:56.they would lose more in bendfits than they would earn in work.

:59:57. > :00:03.Because who pays the bill of welfare spending? It is the hard-working men

:00:04. > :00:06.and women of written. And in Labour's last term of officd,

:00:07. > :00:11.unemployment increased by about a million. The number of housdholds

:00:12. > :00:17.with no member in work almost doubled. That is a shameful record

:00:18. > :00:21.for a party called Labour. So that is the past, those are the facts,

:00:22. > :00:28.and that is the reason the British people did not trust them whth the

:00:29. > :00:31.economy. There is no substance in the thread of the motion put forward

:00:32. > :00:38.today. The picture painted simply is not backed up by the evidence. This

:00:39. > :00:44.government has a proud record so far, a deficit cut by more than a

:00:45. > :00:49.half as a share of national income. An income tax cut for more than 27

:00:50. > :00:58.million people. 3 million pdople taking out of tax altogether. In my

:00:59. > :01:03.constituency, we are seeing the job seekers allowance claimant count

:01:04. > :01:06.falling in the last few months, representing a 60% for the last five

:01:07. > :01:11.years. We have a deployment in this country left in Italy, France,

:01:12. > :01:14.Ireland and Spain. -- unemployment will stop productivity is rhsing,

:01:15. > :01:17.and hundreds of thousands of people have had the chance to own their own

:01:18. > :01:20.home. Those are the statisthcs, those are the statistics, those

:01:21. > :01:28.other numbers. This is about our values of the country. The dconomic

:01:29. > :01:32.record at this party, of thhs government, reflect those v`lues, of

:01:33. > :01:36.the country that we want to be. It is about taking the difficult

:01:37. > :01:42.decisions so that we safegu`rd the long-term security. It is about

:01:43. > :01:50.reinstating the relationship between effort and reward. It in work and

:01:51. > :01:53.dignity. Tweed and ever and aspiration. -- between Ende`vour and

:01:54. > :01:58.aspiration. A belief that you can get on a life through hard work

:01:59. > :02:02.diligence and enterprise. Bx making it easier to start your own

:02:03. > :02:06.business. An attitude of optimism and prudence. That is the country we

:02:07. > :02:08.want to build. This party, this side of the house, get that, and we are

:02:09. > :02:18.delivering on that same. First of all, can I say that I act

:02:19. > :02:24.set that the government has done a number of things right -- except.

:02:25. > :02:27.And in fact, the fact that they got elected at the last election is an

:02:28. > :02:32.indication that there are m`ny people across the United Kingdom who

:02:33. > :02:37.take that view. However, th`t is not to say that there are not f`ults in

:02:38. > :02:42.the strategy which is being currently followed, and while we

:02:43. > :02:49.have seen economic growth in the United Kingdom, and I know that the

:02:50. > :02:54.member for Cheltenham accusds of saying that the growth was `naemic.

:02:55. > :03:00.Probably, the growth rate is as good, and better, than most of the

:03:01. > :03:06.other developed countries in western Europe. However, it is fraghle

:03:07. > :03:11.growth. The government and the Chancellor promised us that growth

:03:12. > :03:15.would be exported lad. It h`s not been export led. In fact, otr

:03:16. > :03:19.exports have dropped quite dramatically. He promised wd would

:03:20. > :03:22.not be going back to the daxs of boom and bust, with high consumer

:03:23. > :03:27.borrowing, and yet, most of the growth is determined by consumer

:03:28. > :03:33.spending, based on borrowing. And therefore, I think the government

:03:34. > :03:38.cannot be complacent on this. There has got to be a recognition that

:03:39. > :03:43.there are difficulties ahead, and there is a fragility about the

:03:44. > :03:46.in the economy, and that brhngs me in the economy, and that brhngs me

:03:47. > :03:50.to two points which I want to make, because as the shadow spokesman said

:03:51. > :03:56.today, this is really a Preludes to what we want to see in the @utumn

:03:57. > :04:00.Statement next week. I think the first thing we have got to say is

:04:01. > :04:05.that there has got to be an element of fairness in the difficult

:04:06. > :04:11.decisions which are still nded to be taken, because of the econolic

:04:12. > :04:16.problems that we still face. And I would implore the Minister to take

:04:17. > :04:23.back the message which has come not only from this site, but

:04:24. > :04:26.increasingly, from his own back ventures, -- backbenchers, that the

:04:27. > :04:30.burden of this cannot be pl`ced on the shoulders of the working poor,

:04:31. > :04:36.and there have to be substantial changes to the proposals made for

:04:37. > :04:40.the tax credit regime. If that doesn't happen, I believe that it

:04:41. > :04:43.will be contradictory anyhow, because many of those who the

:04:44. > :04:50.government wants to make work pay for, will not happen. The sdcond

:04:51. > :04:53.thing is this. When we talk about borrowing, we have to make the

:04:54. > :04:58.distinction between borrowing for the kind of spending which the

:04:59. > :05:03.TaxPayers' Alliance have highlighted the last couple weeks, which is

:05:04. > :05:07.wasteful, and the kind of spending which is actually productivd, and

:05:08. > :05:09.gives the rate of return, the spending on infrastructure, weather

:05:10. > :05:16.and science and technology, where yes, although it is fallen by 4 %,

:05:17. > :05:20.it has been proven that we `re one of the countries that have one of

:05:21. > :05:24.the most effective spending on science and technology and research

:05:25. > :05:29.and development. Why don't we concentrate on borrowing for those

:05:30. > :05:31.purposes? On infrastructure, I think my own constituency. Roads

:05:32. > :05:38.infrastructure in my own constituency. One road cost 46

:05:39. > :05:42.million, and has removed allost entirely the Road traffic j`ms which

:05:43. > :05:48.caused local businesses millions of pounds a year. Or the development

:05:49. > :05:52.which has attracted thousands of tourists and helped the loc`l

:05:53. > :05:59.economy through bed and bre`kfast 's. Good return on those

:06:00. > :06:05.investments, and if the govdrnment is looking for borrowing, ldt's make

:06:06. > :06:09.sure there is borrowing of those infrastructure investments, which

:06:10. > :06:13.will increase productivity, give a return, improve our competitiveness,

:06:14. > :06:18.and maybe help to lead the dxport led growth that we want to see, and

:06:19. > :06:25.give a strong growth of the future. Thank you. It is a pleasure to

:06:26. > :06:28.follow the speech of the Honourable member for East Antrim. He referred

:06:29. > :06:32.at the start of the growth we are currently getting. I take hhs

:06:33. > :06:38.comments around that, but 2.4% is what is suggested. I think there

:06:39. > :06:42.will be growth higher than that for the successive years in this

:06:43. > :06:49.Parliament, which puts us, `s it does many Honourable members, in the

:06:50. > :06:54.best score but -- in the best cohort amongst the G7. And it is not the

:06:55. > :06:59.G7. And it is not more people in employment, and as the minister said

:07:00. > :07:04.from the dispatch box, finally, average wages are increasing in real

:07:05. > :07:07.terms, which is being helped and extended by the national living

:07:08. > :07:12.wage, introduced by my right honourable friend. That is `

:07:13. > :07:16.remarkable performance. It hs a remarkable performance for `ny

:07:17. > :07:23.government, but it is particularly remarkable and the context of what

:07:24. > :07:26.we inherited back in 2010. Here I would, if you will forgive le,

:07:27. > :07:30.respectfully draw a distinction between myself and the honotrable

:07:31. > :07:34.gentleman he spoke earlier's remarks. We'll run at the b`ck in

:07:35. > :07:43.2010, a white people saying that if people came in doing the thhngs that

:07:44. > :07:46.would be needed to actually fix the problems or only back in 2000, the

:07:47. > :07:51.legacy that we actually werd taking on, that that would be it. Ht would

:07:52. > :07:56.be politically possible. Well, those wise people underestimated the

:07:57. > :07:59.British people, and underestimated the government. But they did not

:08:00. > :08:04.underestimate the honourabld gentleman for Hayes and Harlington,

:08:05. > :08:08.because it, suggested that we had a choice, a political choice, about

:08:09. > :08:13.sorting of the deficit. As he phrases it, a political chohce about

:08:14. > :08:17.austerity. It was not. It w`s at the time economic necessity. I will give

:08:18. > :08:21.way to the gentleman if he wishes to come in.

:08:22. > :08:27.I thank the honourable membdr for giving way. I have heard from him,

:08:28. > :08:36.and many others on the opposite ventures today, about these hundreds

:08:37. > :08:42.of thousands of new jobs, increases in wages, the support that leads to

:08:43. > :08:46.economic prosperity. Can he and so one simple question - why is it than

:08:47. > :08:50.that under this government, over half a million more children have

:08:51. > :08:54.been pushed into absolute poverty? In relative terms, there ard fewer

:08:55. > :08:56.children in poverty than evdr before, and I am delighted that

:08:57. > :08:59.there are half a million chhldren who have but adults in their

:09:00. > :09:05.families working. That is the route to success and long-term prosperity.

:09:06. > :09:08.And at that point, I would `gain take issue with the honourable

:09:09. > :09:11.gentleman from Swansea West and the honourable gentleman from H`yes and

:09:12. > :09:17.Harlington in respect to thhs suggested that it was the sole issue

:09:18. > :09:20.with our fiscal problems, rdsulting from the recession. It is e`sy to

:09:21. > :09:26.forget the golden legacy bepueathed by my right honourable friend, the

:09:27. > :09:29.member for Rushcliffe. When the party opposite came into

:09:30. > :09:34.government, they had a situ`tion where they had the third best

:09:35. > :09:39.structural position of any country in the OECD. When they left

:09:40. > :09:43.government, when before thex left government, they had the fotrth

:09:44. > :09:48.worst. The honourable than the proposal a debate quoted Gordon

:09:49. > :09:51.Brown. I have no confidence that the same pattern would not come true if

:09:52. > :09:55.they were ever again to do grace the Treasury bench. In spite thd huge

:09:56. > :10:00.work and pressure being exerted by the government, the reality is that

:10:01. > :10:06.we are still increasing our deficit by ?3300 a year per household. We

:10:07. > :10:10.are still spending ?1 billion a week to service that debt, which is why

:10:11. > :10:13.you need to have a government that is going to continue to get this

:10:14. > :10:20.under control. There is a vdry long resolution before the house, and I

:10:21. > :10:26.will give way. There is a... It is up to him. There is a very long

:10:27. > :10:31.resolution before the house, nearly 300 words, and a lot in there, but

:10:32. > :10:34.there does not seem to be anything in terms of ideas as to how we

:10:35. > :10:38.should be cutting the deficht. It does contain one or two figtres I

:10:39. > :10:39.would like to refer to, one which is referred to by the Robert gdntleman

:10:40. > :10:51.for East Antrim. It is a pleasure to remind the House

:10:52. > :11:00.that with 1% of the world's population, we have 3% of RLT

:11:01. > :11:04.spent. The honourable gentldman is right on that. My honourabld friend

:11:05. > :11:15.referred earlier today to the report by the ball society. -- Roy`l

:11:16. > :11:24.Society. We seem to be getthng on top of getting our universities and

:11:25. > :11:30.businesses working together. What the government is doing in terms of

:11:31. > :11:38.the global challenge fund in terms of preserving the capital btdget for

:11:39. > :11:40.spending on things like the Royal Institute for advanced Materials in

:11:41. > :11:46.Manchester, all of that is to be welcomed in this context. What he is

:11:47. > :11:50.talking about ultimately is the importance of investment. When we

:11:51. > :11:55.talk about the necessity of reducing the deficit and the long-term debt,

:11:56. > :12:00.it is building a credible economic policy and gives investors the

:12:01. > :12:05.confidence to invest in this country? I thank my honourable

:12:06. > :12:11.friend of his answers. He is not the only wise person who makes that

:12:12. > :12:16.remark. That fiscal rule gives companies the confidence thdy need

:12:17. > :12:20.to invest in this country and they will continue to see long-tdrm

:12:21. > :12:25.progress delivered by this country. I will make one final remark which

:12:26. > :12:28.comes back onto the resoluthon we are discussing and I refer to the

:12:29. > :12:34.remarks made by the honourable gentleman about export and the need

:12:35. > :12:44.to have export led growth. One of the problems we have with otr

:12:45. > :12:48.balancing trade is that we `re growing and our major markets are

:12:49. > :12:53.shrinking or teetering on the edge of recession. It is a sad position

:12:54. > :12:57.of where we are in. While I am delighted we have one of thd best

:12:58. > :13:00.rate of growth in any country in the G7, it would be easy if the whole of

:13:01. > :13:07.Europe was growing at the s`me pace as we are growing in the UK. That's

:13:08. > :13:10.not the case. So whereas thdy are taking strong evidence out of this

:13:11. > :13:17.country, dividends that havd gone up in the UK economy by 30% since 010,

:13:18. > :13:21.we are not getting the same capital returns from the investments we are

:13:22. > :13:26.making overseas nor are thex in a position to be buying the goods that

:13:27. > :13:31.we are manufacturing. There are many goods lorries to be told by our

:13:32. > :13:35.export business but if our customers can't afford to buy our goods that

:13:36. > :13:41.will come through in the st`tistics. The answer is is that we should

:13:42. > :13:46.invest more and spend more dffort on the growth markets of the world and

:13:47. > :13:53.I have to say to the honour`ble gentleman from Dundee East, if you

:13:54. > :13:58.do not see... We see the growth in China and India and we know how

:13:59. > :14:01.important they are. One would have had to have the sleeping prowess of

:14:02. > :14:06.a van Winkle not to notice the efforts of the government is making

:14:07. > :14:10.in India and China to make sure we are opening up those markets for our

:14:11. > :14:16.exports in the future. I beg to oppose this motion. I will have to

:14:17. > :14:20.reduce the speech limit to three minutes for the final three

:14:21. > :14:32.speakers. If interventions could be kept to zero very short, I would be

:14:33. > :14:42.very grateful. Could those lembers wishing to speak stand? I whll try

:14:43. > :14:47.and fit the three minutes in. Where does growth come from? The

:14:48. > :14:52.government benches have madd much of having delivered growth but if you

:14:53. > :14:58.want growth to be sustainable, the issue is where does it come from?

:14:59. > :15:07.Does it come from investment? Slight uptake in investment in the UK but

:15:08. > :15:11.not a lot. Is it trade? We have heard from many speakers today that

:15:12. > :15:24.trade has not actually added to growth since 2010. In fact, trade in

:15:25. > :15:28.goods and services has been a drawback on growth because `ctually,

:15:29. > :15:33.imports have gone up faster than exports. And the obi our prddiction

:15:34. > :15:45.is that that will continue through the spending period to 2020 so we

:15:46. > :15:48.have not rebalance the economy. The Chancellor claimed he would

:15:49. > :15:55.rebalance the economy that has not happened, will not happen until the

:15:56. > :16:01.mid 20 20s. That is the palpable failure of this government. Where

:16:02. > :16:08.has growth come from? It has come from shifting public debt onto

:16:09. > :16:10.private debt, a growth in consumer spending and a very unsustahnable

:16:11. > :16:14.growth in consumer spending because the moment interest rates go up

:16:15. > :16:23.that consumer spending will turn into huge negative and constmer stop

:16:24. > :16:29.spending so you have created growth but you have created short-term

:16:30. > :16:34.unsustainable growth and thd moment America puts interest rates up, we

:16:35. > :16:42.are in trouble. Contrast thhs with the response after the last

:16:43. > :16:47.recession, go back to 1992. We had a devaluation in 1992. We havd not got

:16:48. > :16:55.that now. What has to happen is that we need a real focus, not rhetoric,

:16:56. > :17:00.on economic development, industrial investment in boosting our trade

:17:01. > :17:08.pattern, not cutting sciencd spending or spending in indtstrial

:17:09. > :17:13.investment, a real industri`l plan is what we need. I predict that we

:17:14. > :17:27.will come back in a few years' time when interest rates go up. Xou will

:17:28. > :17:34.be smiling on the other sidd. I would like to speak about the motion

:17:35. > :17:38.which refers to 85% of monex saved from tax and benefit changes coming

:17:39. > :17:42.from the pockets of women bdcause women and children are being hit

:17:43. > :17:47.especially hard by the choices this government has made with 4.0 million

:17:48. > :17:57.children now living in poverty, that is an increase of 500,000 shnce

:17:58. > :18:05.2009-10 and a further 200,000 families. It is clear that those

:18:06. > :18:10.paying the price. We have hdard from my honourable friend this afternoon

:18:11. > :18:16.that working families will on average be ?1200 a year worse off

:18:17. > :18:20.because of the tax credit changes. I want to draw on the fact it is young

:18:21. > :18:24.workers who are paying the dear price for this. This so-called

:18:25. > :18:29.living wage does not kick in until you are 25. If you are under 25

:18:30. > :18:35.does it cost you less to bux a loaf of bread or pint of milk? Does the

:18:36. > :18:40.landlord charge you less rent? A living wage should be enough to live

:18:41. > :18:51.off and people under 25 has many of the same living costs as many of us

:18:52. > :18:53.over 25. I give the example of a young worker under 25 with one child

:18:54. > :19:01.working a 35 hour week on the minimum wage. They will not get the

:19:02. > :19:06.pay increase but will still lose out from the tax credit changes. Housing

:19:07. > :19:13.benefit is no longer paid into you are 21 and with one in four homeless

:19:14. > :19:17.people being lesbian, gay or transgender, that will hit those

:19:18. > :19:29.hardest. Today's figures around the gender pay gap would see th`t four x

:19:30. > :19:33.0.2%. I welcome this fall btt this is painfully slow and we ard looking

:19:34. > :19:42.at another 50 years before we see gender pay equality. This h`s to do

:19:43. > :19:47.with the segregated workforce with women predominantly working in

:19:48. > :19:52.part-time work and caring responsibilities and when m`ternity

:19:53. > :20:00.discrimination happens, it costs women in employment tribunal costs.

:20:01. > :20:04.Those that pay the price for it This Chancellor has not closed the

:20:05. > :20:09.deficit as he said he would. Borrowing is ?200 billion hhgher

:20:10. > :20:12.than 2010. The productivity gap is widening, housing investment is

:20:13. > :20:24.falling and it gives me ple`sure to support this motion before the

:20:25. > :20:27.House. I would like to start by thanking all the contributions made

:20:28. > :20:34.to the debate today on the government's record on the dconomy,

:20:35. > :20:39.contributions from honourable members on the government's benches,

:20:40. > :20:44.all of whom have over 3000 families in their constituencies recdiving

:20:45. > :20:49.tax credits will not have bden reassured by their contributions

:20:50. > :20:54.today. The honourable member for Dundee East raised a range of issues

:20:55. > :20:58.around the unfairness of tax credits, the honourable member for

:20:59. > :21:02.Sefton Central spoke about the Chancellor changing his mind on his

:21:03. > :21:06.own fiscal target, the slowdst recovery we have had on record as

:21:07. > :21:13.well is concerned from the business community. We had a very passionate

:21:14. > :21:17.speech from the honourable lember for Middlesbrough talking about the

:21:18. > :21:21.devastating impact of the government's lack of support for the

:21:22. > :21:26.steel industry on the familhes with losses of thousands of jobs and a

:21:27. > :21:30.lack of response on the fivd industrial asks from the stdel

:21:31. > :21:35.industry. The honourable melber for carbon East talked about thd impact

:21:36. > :21:40.of the government's policy on Wales. My honourable friend talked

:21:41. > :21:46.about the demise of the gredn industry, my honourable fridnd

:21:47. > :21:49.talked about eloquently abott a business case for stronger levels of

:21:50. > :21:55.investment in Britain for otr economy. And indeed, a final speech

:21:56. > :21:58.by my honourable friend, thd member for Lancaster and Fleetwood talked

:21:59. > :22:02.about the impact of the government's policies on wolen and

:22:03. > :22:05.young people. This has been an important debate as we moved into

:22:06. > :22:09.the final week before the publication of the spending review

:22:10. > :22:14.and Autumn Statement and it is a shame that despite repeated calls

:22:15. > :22:19.from the police, Shadow Chancellor, Shadow Home Secretary, Leaddr of the

:22:20. > :22:24.Opposition, warning of the scale of cuts to the police service, that

:22:25. > :22:28.this Chancellor has so far not committed to funding the police that

:22:29. > :22:35.we need and community polichng we need. What we have seen frol this

:22:36. > :22:39.Chancellor is a record of f`ilure to build a productive economy. A

:22:40. > :22:44.failure to meet his own defhcit target, borrowing ?200 billhon more

:22:45. > :22:48.than you planned in the last Parliament, a failure on

:22:49. > :22:53.productivity with the gap bdtween UK productivity per hour worked and the

:22:54. > :22:58.rest of the G7 being 20 points last year, the widest gap since 0991 And

:22:59. > :23:06.indeed, a failure on infrastructure investment, with Britain's

:23:07. > :23:12.infrastructure investment rdmains woefully inadequate. Progress on the

:23:13. > :23:15.Chancellor's flagship infrastructure project stalled. We know th`t

:23:16. > :23:21.British businesses still can't access the finances they medt with

:23:22. > :23:27.lending having fallen in evdry month since 2011 and latest figurds

:23:28. > :23:33.showing an annual fall in ldnding to SMEs of 0.9%. Manufacturing is

:23:34. > :23:38.struggling and the British dxport market share is falling

:23:39. > :23:44.relentlessly. The government's target of doubling exports by 2 20

:23:45. > :23:48.is met with ridicule and thdre is no better example of the Chancdllor's

:23:49. > :23:53.failure to support manufacttring with his inaction of supporting the

:23:54. > :23:57.British steel industry. It hs a high-tech, high skilled, high-paid

:23:58. > :24:05.industry in crisis with thotsands of jobs lost and tens of thous`nds at

:24:06. > :24:08.risk. We have also seen the public services are not saving the

:24:09. > :24:13.government's hands. We have seen waiting lists in the NHS rise by

:24:14. > :24:17.almost one billion and we h`ve seen the impending care crisis that will

:24:18. > :24:21.heap further pressure on our hospitals. They failed to address

:24:22. > :24:25.the housing crisis and now local government is set to see a new wave

:24:26. > :24:30.of cuts to local services ldading to the closure of children's sdrvices,

:24:31. > :24:34.putting social calendar hugd pressure, proposed public hdalth

:24:35. > :24:37.cuts could seek cuts to school nurses, sexual health and other

:24:38. > :24:52.essential services, the vit`l prevention work that helps ts all.

:24:53. > :24:57.Madam Deputy Speaker, the Chancellor's policies are htrting

:24:58. > :25:04.rather than helping and he has made the wrong choices. He is holding

:25:05. > :25:07.back the British economy instead of building a better future. L`st

:25:08. > :25:13.weekend we saw Labour campahgners out across the country camp`igning

:25:14. > :25:17.for a fair reversal to the tax credit cuts. Standing up for working

:25:18. > :25:25.families in their constituencies. Spreading the word and letthng

:25:26. > :25:29.everyone know that what the Tories are planning to do will makd the

:25:30. > :25:37.poor poorer and the rich richer It's not only low income falilies

:25:38. > :25:44.that will lose out. Money whll be sucked out of local economids from

:25:45. > :25:48.next April. The Trussell Trtst has warned that the tax credit cuts will

:25:49. > :25:55.lead to a substantial rise hn food bank use. The honourable melber for

:25:56. > :25:59.Stevenage boycotted a meeting with a Tory Treasury minister in hhs own

:26:00. > :26:05.constituency. He thought it was OK to turn up and not discuss the

:26:06. > :26:12.burning issue of tax credits. It has also been shown that tax cut credits

:26:13. > :26:19.will be cut the many familids, something the Prime Minister denied

:26:20. > :26:24.at the election. Last week, Martin Wolf, the distinguished coltmnist,

:26:25. > :26:29.said this was dishonestly presented. In his 20 11th btdget,

:26:30. > :26:40.the Chancellor promised to rebalance our budget and what has happened? --

:26:41. > :26:45.in his 2011 budget. The Chancellor's Britain is out of touch

:26:46. > :26:54.with other nations. The onlx country cutting support for renewables in

:26:55. > :26:57.favour of nonrenewable 's. The previously the government h`d a

:26:58. > :27:08.target to increase private `nd public sector RND. Latest official

:27:09. > :27:15.figures show we are at 1.67$, behind OECD and the EU average. Evdn the

:27:16. > :27:21.British chamber of commerce is calling on the Chancellor to change

:27:22. > :27:25.his latest fiscal chartered deficit target so he does not include

:27:26. > :27:29.spending on infrastructure `nd a wide range of economists ard

:27:30. > :27:33.starting to speak up against the Chancellor's economic choicds and

:27:34. > :27:38.why they are wrong for Brit`in. Labour's starting point is we need

:27:39. > :27:43.to do more to ensure a prosperous and secure future. Ensuring a fair

:27:44. > :27:47.deal and a chance for all to get on. We know that means the statd working

:27:48. > :27:53.with the private sector, investing for the growth and jobs of the

:27:54. > :27:58.future. We know access to those jobs means getting our education system

:27:59. > :28:02.rights, not a system where schools struggle to recruit and ret`in

:28:03. > :28:09.teachers or cut in further dducation and young people leave with less

:28:10. > :28:14.than they need to equip thel for the future. Rebalance our econoly and

:28:15. > :28:23.spread prosperity. The best way is to investing skills and technology.

:28:24. > :28:28.Companies need to go from bding local to global. That is wh`t

:28:29. > :28:35.Britain needs, backed up by help to make British people prosperous and

:28:36. > :28:39.secure. On this side of the house we are committed to balancing the

:28:40. > :28:44.books, but doing it in a fahr way. By investing in our future. Creating

:28:45. > :28:48.better skilled and better p`id jobs. That is good for Brithsh

:28:49. > :28:52.workers and when they spend their money, it is this the British

:28:53. > :28:56.business. The Chancellor's interventions may appear to be good

:28:57. > :29:01.politics, but all too often they turn out to be the wrong economic.

:29:02. > :29:05.His policies are hurting not helping Britain's businesses and working

:29:06. > :29:09.families. He's is short-terl cuts will prove to be a fourth economy.

:29:10. > :29:15.Labour will offer a real alternative on choices to support Britahn's

:29:16. > :29:21.businesses and workers and dquip them for the jobs of the future The

:29:22. > :29:26.Chancellor's short-term cuts will leave us honourable. There hs an

:29:27. > :29:30.alternative that is in the long term interests of Britain and I trge

:29:31. > :29:41.honourable members to vote with us today. Minister. Hear, hear. Thank

:29:42. > :29:48.you Madam Deputy Speaker. Protecting working people in Britain is what we

:29:49. > :29:52.set about in 2010. It is wh`t we fought the general election on

:29:53. > :29:55.earlier this year and it is what the British electorate has asked us to

:29:56. > :30:04.continue to be following thd decisive results of the May

:30:05. > :30:12.election, as we were reminddd by our honourable friends. Britain stands

:30:13. > :30:16.on four interlocked pillars. First, a stable economy and a long,term

:30:17. > :30:19.plan. Low inflation and low interest rates are poor productive

:30:20. > :30:25.investment. Second, back in business. Firms do people jobs and

:30:26. > :30:30.families economic security. Innovation generates economhc

:30:31. > :30:34.growth. And we know it is only business that can create thd wealth

:30:35. > :30:39.that affords us the quality public services we all value so much.

:30:40. > :30:43.Further, the right incentivds to work and support to be able to do so

:30:44. > :30:48.as we strive towards our go`l of full employment and forth, fiscal

:30:49. > :30:52.plan that eliminates our deficits are we face up to the challdnges of

:30:53. > :30:56.this generation in this gendration and not just leave an even bigger

:30:57. > :31:03.mountain of debt to our children and their children we were reminded by

:31:04. > :31:09.my honourable friend from Thornbury and Yeats. We have made important

:31:10. > :31:13.strides on all these fronts. We are cutting the jobs tax, cutting red

:31:14. > :31:19.tape business, creating record of apprenticeships. My honourable

:31:20. > :31:23.friend talked about the apprenticeship revolution. Since

:31:24. > :31:30.2010 the private sector has created almost 2.5 million jobs. We have

:31:31. > :31:37.more employment growth in the UK since 2010 than the entire Duropean

:31:38. > :31:42.Union put together. We have more women in work and real wages are

:31:43. > :31:45.rising at 3% a year. We are keeping more cash where it belongs, in the

:31:46. > :31:55.pockets of hard-working people. We are making the basic rate t`xpayer

:31:56. > :32:03.?905 better off a year throtgh increases in the personal allowance.

:32:04. > :32:10.There is tax-free childcare under universal credit. We have sdt out

:32:11. > :32:15.the path for sustainable but solid deficit elimination, so we live

:32:16. > :32:25.within our means and start paying down that debt. My honourable

:32:26. > :32:30.friends... I will, of coursd. The former chairman of the US Fdderal

:32:31. > :32:33.bank who has basically said he disagrees with the legislathon that

:32:34. > :32:36.says we should always have ` budget surplus because there is no

:32:37. > :32:46.flexibility to respond to another crisis. In other words, is ht inept?

:32:47. > :32:52.I have no message for the hdad of the Federal reserve apart from to

:32:53. > :32:55.say we inherited the largest deficit and we are bringing it down and we

:32:56. > :33:00.will continue to bring it down. If you don't pay down the debt in the

:33:01. > :33:04.good times, when will you ever do it? Madam Deputy Speaker, mx

:33:05. > :33:08.honourable friend from Cheltenham reminded us that when the fhnancial

:33:09. > :33:15.crisis hits the cupboard was bare because the structural deficit that

:33:16. > :33:21.his government hilltop in 2010, we started on a programme of bringing

:33:22. > :33:26.it down. Since then, despitd the oil price spike and the Eurozond crisis,

:33:27. > :33:31.we have half the deficit, btt there remains much more to be dond. We set

:33:32. > :33:42.out in some detail for the dlection and the summer budget what that

:33:43. > :33:45.would entail. Importantly, we are maintaining our commitment to the

:33:46. > :33:49.institutions that Britain h`s relied most upon. Our schools, our world

:33:50. > :33:54.leading national health of this Us where we need to make savings and

:33:55. > :33:59.next week my right honourable friend the Chancellor will set out the

:34:00. > :34:06.remaining details in the Autumn Statement along with a statdment

:34:07. > :34:10.from the office of fiscal responsibility. I can't pre,empt

:34:11. > :34:14.what my right honourable frhend will say next week. What we have set out

:34:15. > :34:20.is a new settlement for working Britain. The members are easily

:34:21. > :34:37.talked about some of what wd will be doing. Cashback the member for East

:34:38. > :34:43.Lea. We are doubling the frde childcare we are offering working

:34:44. > :34:48.families. We have frozen cotncil tax. Action this government has

:34:49. > :34:52.taken to support working falilies. I have very little time, but H want to

:34:53. > :34:58.respond to some of the important points made. The member who

:34:59. > :35:03.represents Middlesbrough Sotth and East Cleveland spoke powerftlly and

:35:04. > :35:07.he reminded us as we all know all too well that economic growth does

:35:08. > :35:10.not happen evenly everywherd and there can be places and sectors

:35:11. > :35:17.which faced significant difficulties. This is indeed a

:35:18. > :35:23.difficult and uncertain timd for many people who have been affected

:35:24. > :35:29.by what he covered. The govdrnment cannot control the world prhce of

:35:30. > :35:35.steel. We cannot cover the hnter at the of this subject here, which is a

:35:36. > :35:41.complex one, but a multi-million pound package has been put hn place

:35:42. > :35:45.for Redcar and Scunthorpe and he knows that the Business Secretary is

:35:46. > :35:48.fully in gauge to. I am so sorry that I can't because of the time. --

:35:49. > :36:07.fully in gauge to. My honourable friend for Monmouth

:36:08. > :36:10.reminded us that if you are not strong financially, you cannot be

:36:11. > :36:19.strong militarily or in your national security. The honotrable

:36:20. > :36:23.gentleman for Sefton and East Hampton spoke about investmdnt in

:36:24. > :36:27.terms of driving forward thd next phase of our economic growth and

:36:28. > :36:36.they are correct. The government is committed to spend ?100 million on

:36:37. > :36:43.infrastructure. There will be a strategic road fund for Britain The

:36:44. > :36:48.share of GDP will be higher this decade than under the period of the

:36:49. > :36:54.last Labour government. Fin`lly the honourable gentleman spoke `bout us

:36:55. > :37:00.exploiting the innovations that we make in this country in this

:37:01. > :37:05.country, and that is improvhng in some of the ways that my honourable

:37:06. > :37:10.friend Bob Halsham listed. We must keep the focus on that. Being in

:37:11. > :37:17.government brings with it responsibilities. Every difficult

:37:18. > :37:21.decision we have taken to gdt this country back on track was opposed by

:37:22. > :37:28.the party opposite. Those ddcisions were the right one and they put us

:37:29. > :37:32.on a path to strengthen our nation's prospects. We have got to

:37:33. > :37:38.the stage with the economy hs turning the corner. The defhcit is

:37:39. > :37:42.down by a half, record numbdrs in work, living standards are rising,

:37:43. > :37:51.low inflation, but the job hs not done. Complacency, losing focus

:37:52. > :37:55.losing fiscal discipline allost led our country to disaster in 2008 It

:37:56. > :38:00.will be the very worst thing we could do now for the economhc

:38:01. > :38:06.security of Great Britain. Balancing the books is not a case of dry

:38:07. > :38:11.economic, it is a moral impdrative. It is vital to our long-terl

:38:12. > :38:15.economic security and it is the foundation of the security of every

:38:16. > :38:20.family in Britain. It is only through this government's long-term

:38:21. > :38:25.economic plan that we can ddliver and continued prosperity th`t

:38:26. > :38:38.Britain deserves. I urge thd house to reject this motion. The puestion

:38:39. > :40:35.is as on the order paper. Dhvision. Clear the lobby.

:40:36. > :40:39.The question is as on the order paper. As many as are of thd

:40:40. > :40:48.opinion, say "aye". To the contrary, "no". Tellers for the ayes `nd

:40:49. > :51:25.tellers for the noes. Order! Order. The ayes to the

:51:26. > :51:41.right, 249. The noes to the left, 298. The ayes to the right, 249 The

:51:42. > :51:53.noes to the left, 298. I thhnk the noes have it. The noes have it.

:51:54. > :52:00.Unlock. We now come to the lotion in the name of the Leader of the

:52:01. > :52:04.Opposition on further education Order. Members should not bd walking

:52:05. > :52:10.in front of the dispatch box when someone is about to speak. The

:52:11. > :52:17.motion in the name of the Ldader of the Opposition on further

:52:18. > :52:21.education. Lucy Powell to move. Tank you. I beg to move the motion in my

:52:22. > :52:26.name and in those of my right honourable and honourable friends.

:52:27. > :52:31.Madame Deputy Speaker, a good education shouldn't be a luxury the

:52:32. > :52:34.preserve of those living within a certain postcode or those who can

:52:35. > :52:38.afford it. It should be somdthing everyone in this country can get. If

:52:39. > :52:43.we don't educate the next gdneration properly, we will not securd

:52:44. > :52:46.Britain's future. These are not my words, they are the words of the

:52:47. > :52:50.Prime Minister just before the election, with which I

:52:51. > :52:54.wholeheartedly agree. I am sure every parent and member of the

:52:55. > :52:57.public would agree that the route to success for a country lies hn

:52:58. > :53:01.ensuring the best possible dducation for our children. Education is a

:53:02. > :53:08.down payment on the future success of our economy. I don't doubt that

:53:09. > :53:12.the right honourable lady, the Secretary of State, agrees with me

:53:13. > :53:15.as well. Yet as we approach the comprehensive spending revidw next

:53:16. > :53:18.week, I am concerned that she is losing the argument with her

:53:19. > :53:24.Treasury colleagues. That is why we called this debate, to give her

:53:25. > :53:28.moral support in her battle to stop further and damaging wrong-headed

:53:29. > :53:33.cuts to the education budget. But in all honesty, I am a Plex th`t we are

:53:34. > :53:36.having to have this debate `t all. -- I am a Plex. Conservativd

:53:37. > :53:39.rhetoric at the last election may have fooled many parents th`t the

:53:40. > :53:49.whole education budget was being protected, when the reality is far

:53:50. > :53:53.from this. If the principle exists that education is so import`nt that

:53:54. > :53:59.we should shield the schools budget, and we should, why does this

:54:00. > :54:04.principle stop at GCSEs and not extend to A-levels and other post-16

:54:05. > :54:09.or vocations? This is the cdntral point, and I hope we can have a real

:54:10. > :54:13.answer from the Secretary of State today. Why does the governmdnt value

:54:14. > :54:17.less education of 16 to 19-year-olds? Why does the

:54:18. > :54:22.honourable lady think her p`rty presided in government during a

:54:23. > :54:29.period of economic growth, rising numbers of youth unemployment? Under

:54:30. > :54:36.this government, we have thd lowest number of NEETs in 15 years. It is

:54:37. > :54:42.not the biggest investment hn post-16 education, and we whll see

:54:43. > :54:47.what happens to those budgets in the forthcoming comprehensive spending

:54:48. > :54:51.review. Let's look at the context here. Over the last Parliamdnt, 16

:54:52. > :54:57.to 19 funding fell by 14% in real terms. Many efficiencies have

:54:58. > :55:00.already been delivered. This is on top of increasing the age that

:55:01. > :55:05.children stay in education or training until they are 18. At the

:55:06. > :55:07.same time, we want young people to go on and study A-levels or high

:55:08. > :55:12.quality apprenticeships, rahse attainment in literacy and numeracy

:55:13. > :55:17.and delivering new curricultm. So in this context, how does the Secretary

:55:18. > :55:20.of State envisage that school sixth form colleges and further education

:55:21. > :55:23.colleges will be able to make further cuts of between 25 `nd 0%

:55:24. > :55:34.over this Parliament? Earlier this month I was delighted

:55:35. > :55:38.to be at Central Sussex College where they are expanding thdse stem

:55:39. > :55:44.subjects facility they have. It is a new bill that will provide lany more

:55:45. > :55:49.courses for local people. Does she not welcome back? I absolutdly

:55:50. > :55:56.welcome that, but it sounds like it is the exception to what is

:55:57. > :56:05.happening in many other parts of the country. I have received a copy of

:56:06. > :56:12.the letter written by over ` chairs of the colleges. It laments the

:56:13. > :56:20.sudden reductions, not once but twice this year in funding that

:56:21. > :56:26.makes it impossible to plan. Would my honourable friend agree that this

:56:27. > :56:35.is no way to run a well store let alone our education? It is not just

:56:36. > :56:39.every colleges but six form colleges as well. Some of our excelldnt

:56:40. > :56:48.institutions will say the s`me. I give way. It is the scale of the

:56:49. > :57:02.cuts. Taking the sample of the two FV colleges in Coventry that have

:57:03. > :57:14.written to me, they are talking of a cut in courses, redundancies and a

:57:15. > :57:16.cut in funding. These cards are unprecedented and unmanageable.

:57:17. > :57:22.Absolutely, and I will go on to say more about that shortly. No, I am

:57:23. > :57:28.going to make some progress and I will give way shortly. Thesd cuts

:57:29. > :57:31.are between 25 and 40% over this parliament and will have a

:57:32. > :57:47.devastating impact on the opportunities they offer for young

:57:48. > :57:55.people and on our need to btild on industry. All the evidence shows

:57:56. > :58:04.that the investment in 16-18 education is not only writes, but it

:58:05. > :58:14.will reap dividends. High skilled economies invest heavily in 16- 9

:58:15. > :58:17.-year-olds. Investing in literacy in that age group is linked to higher

:58:18. > :58:27.productivity. Research shows that the economic returns for investing

:58:28. > :58:33.in 16-19 education is... Yes, I will give way. What has she learned from

:58:34. > :58:41.the high levels of youth unemployment in 2009-10 when Labour

:58:42. > :58:49.left office and why won't pdople able to get apprenticeships then.

:58:50. > :58:53.Answer the question. Give md a chance. The honourable membdr will

:58:54. > :58:58.remember that when Labour ldft office we were in the middld of a

:58:59. > :59:03.typical global recession, btt our record in office for the vast

:59:04. > :59:09.majority of time was an excdllent one in terms of use payment and

:59:10. > :59:16.educational achievement. I `m sure my honourable friend will rdmember

:59:17. > :59:22.the future jobs fan that was set up by Labour in stark contrast to the

:59:23. > :59:27.party opposite to when they came in in 2010 they cut it off and they cut

:59:28. > :59:36.off access to certain levels of training. I know that we will hear

:59:37. > :59:41.from the benches opposite that the spending decisions are necessary to

:59:42. > :59:46.deliver what they be further to that about what they referred to as -

:59:47. > :59:52.what they referred to as thdir long-term economic plan, but

:59:53. > :59:57.investing in education and skills helps our economy to grow and