Live Autumn Statement House of Commons

Government is going to deliver on that. For all their years in

Government, the Labour Party did nothing.

Statement, the first Secretary of State and Chancellor of the X,

Chancellor Philip Hammond. It is a privilege to report today on an

economy which the IMF predicts will be the fastest-growing major

advanced economy in the world this year. An economy with employment at

a record high and unemployment at an 11 year low. An economy which

through the hard work of the British people has bounced back from the

depths of Labour's Chris Ashton and an economy which has confounded

commentators harry and abroad with its strength and resilience since

the British people decided exactly five months ago today to leave the

European Union and chart a new future for our country. That

decision will change the course of Britain's history. It has grown into

sharp relief the fundamental strengths of the British economy

which will ensure our future success. The global reach of our

service industries, the strength of our science and manufacturing base

and the cutting-edge British businesses that are leading the

world in disruptive technologies. But it's a decision which also makes

more urgent than ever the need to tackle our economy's long-term

weaknesses, like the productivity gap, the Housing challenge and the

damaging economic growth and prosperity across our country. Mr

Speaker, we resolved today to confront those challenges head on,

to prepare our country to seize the opportunities ahead and, in doing

so, to build an economy which works for everyone, an economy where every

corner of this United Kingdom is part of our national success. Mr

Speaker, I want to pay tribute to my predecessor, my right honourable

friend the Member for Tatton. My style, Mr Speaker, will of course be

different from his. I suspect that I will prove no more adept at pulling

rabbits from hats that my successor as Foreign Secretary has been at

retrieving balls from the back of scrums, but my focus on building

Britain's long-term future will be the same. He took over an economy on

the brink of collapse with the highest budget deficit in our

post-war history and brought it down by two thirds. That is a record of

which he can be proud. But times have moved on and our task now is to

prepare our economy to be resilient as we exited the EU and match fit

for the transition that will follow. We will maintain our commitment to

fiscal discipline while recognising the need for investment to drive

productivity. We also need fiscal headroom to support the economy

through the transition. Mr Speaker, let me turn out to the forecasts.

Since 2010, the Office for Budget Responsibility has provided an

independent economic and fiscal force -- forecast for which the

Government must respond. Gone are the days when the Chancellor can

mark its own -- his own homework. I thank them for their hard work. His

forecast is for great to be 2.1% in 2016, higher than forecast in March.

The OBE are forecast for 2017 is 1.4%, which they think is driven by

uncertainty and higher inflation debate -- resulting from sterling

depreciation. That is slower, of course, and we would wish, but still

equivalent to the IMF's predictions for Germany and higher than many of

our European neighbours, including France and Italy, a fact that will

no doubt be a source of considerable irritation to some. As the effects

of uncertainty diminished, the OBE are forecasts recovery to 1.7% in

2018, 1.9% in 2020 and two point 0% in 2021. The OBR's current view is

that given the Brexit decision, growth is likely to be 2.4

percentage points lower than would otherwise have been the case. The

OBR acknowledges there is a higher degree of uncertainty around these

figures than usual. Despite slower growth, the UK Labour market is

forecast to remain robust. We have delivered over 2.7 million new jobs

since 2010 and this forecast shows this number is growing in every

year. Another 500,000 jobs created over the OBE are forecast, providing

security for working people across the length and breadth of Britain.

For those who claim that the recovery is just the south-east

phenomenon in, I have some news. Over the past year, employment grew

fastest in the north-east, the claimant count fell fastest in

Northern Ireland, pay grew most strongly in the West Midlands and

every UK nation and region saw a record number of people in work.

That, Mr Speaker, is the Labour market recovery that is working for

everyone. Monetary policy has played an important part but a credible

fiscal policy is essential to insuring we return to long-term

health financially. In the face of slower growth

forecasts, we no longer seek to deliver a surplus in 2019, 2020, but

the Prime Minister and I remain firmly committed to seeing the

public finances returning to balance as soon as practicable while leaving

enough flexibility... While leaving enough flexibility to support the

economy in the near term. Today, I am publishing a new draft charter

for budget responsibility with three fiscal rules. First, the public

finances should be returned to balance as early as possible in the

next Parliament and in the interim, in the interim, Mr Speaker, so

quickly adjusted borrowing should be below 2% by the end of this

Parliament. Second, that public sector net debt

as a percentage of GDP must be falling by the end of this

Parliament and third that welfare spending must be within a cap set by

the government and monitored by the obi are.

In the absence of an effective framework, the welfare bill in our

country spiralled out of control with spending on working age

benefits trebling in real terms between 1980 and 2010. As a result

of the action that we have taken since 2010 that spending has now

stabilised and the car I am announcing today takes into account

the policy changes made since the last budget setting a realistic

baseline reflecting all and end welfare policies and I confirm again

today that the government has no plans to introduce further welfare

savings measures in this Parliament beyond those already announced.

I now turn Mr Speaker to the obi are's the school forecast but first

I will set out the key drivers of change since the budget. The post by

the changes made to welfare and housing policies cost the Exchequer

?8.6 billion over the forecast period.

Expected or N S classification changes have added ?12 billion since

budget. In tax receipts have been lower than expected this year,

causing the obi are to revise down projected revenues in future. Added

to this is a structural effect of rapidly rising incorporation in

self-employment which for erodes revenues. Combining these pressures

with the impact of forecast weaker growth and taking account of the

measures I shall announce today, the OBR now forecasts that in cash terms

doubling is set to be ?16.2 billion this year, falling to ?59 billion

next year, 46.5 billion in 18-19 and ?27 billion, and finally

21,000,000,020 1-22. Overall net borrowing as a percentage of GDP

will fall from 4% last year to 3.5% this year and will continue to fall

over the parliament reaching 0.7% in 2122. This will be the lowest

deficit as a share of GDP in two decades. The OBR expects cyclically

adjusted public sector net borrowing to be 0.8% of GDP in 2020 - 21,

comfortable admitting our target to reduce it to less than 2% and

leaving significant flexibility to respond to any headwinds the economy

may encounter. The OBR's forecasts of higher borrowing and for asset

sales together with the temporary effect of the Bank of England action

to stem the growth translates into an increased forecast for debt in

the near term. The OBR's forecasts say that it will rise to it season

by 3% this year, peaking at 19.2% in 2017-18 at the Bank of England

monetary policy interventions approach the full effect. In 2018-19

debt is projected to fall to 89.7% of national income, the first fall

in the national debt as a share of GDP since 2001-2002 and it is

forecast to continue following the laughter. Members of the house may

be interested that following the stripping out of the Bank of England

interventions, the underlying peaks are 82.4% of GDP and false then

after 277.7% by 2122. Mr Speaker it is customary in the run-up to the

Autumn Statement to hear representations from the Shadow

Chancellor of the day, usually for untenable levels of spending and

borrowing. We used to think on the side of the house that Ed Balls

demands where an extreme example, but I have to say the current Shadow

Chancellor has outperformed him in the fiscal incontinence sweepstakes.

What we don't do of course is whether he can also dance. I have

received... He can? Good. A second career awaits him, Mr Speaker. I

have received, Mr Speaker, some more measured representations from a

range of external bodies, some of them calling for fiscal expansion

while others have suggested that there is no need at all to respond

to a changed economic outlook and that reflects to be fair the

challenge that we face of resolving how best to protect the recovery,

build on the economy is manifest strengths and at the same time

respond appropriately to the warnings of a more difficult period

ahead. Without debt forecast to peak at over 90% next year and the

deficit of 3.5%, I have reached my own judgment. It is a judgment based

on a sober analysis of our fiscal position but also a realistic

appraisal of the weakness of the UK productivity and the urgent need to

address our fiscal challenge from both ends. Continuing to control

public expenditure, but also growing the potential of the economy and

protecting the taxpayers. We choose in this Autumn Statement to

prioritise additional high-value investment, specifically in

infrastructure and innovation that will directly contribute to raising

Britain's productivity. And the key judgment we make today Mr Speaker is

that our hard-won credibility on public spending means that we can

fund this commitment in the short-term from additional borrowing

while funding all other new policies announced in this Autumn Statement

through additional tax and spending measures. That is the responsible

way to secure our economy for the long-term. The productivity gap is

well known to honourable and right Honourable members but shocking

nonetheless. If there's repeating. We like the US and Germany by some

30 percentage points in productivity. But we also like

France by over 20 points, and Italy by eight points. Which means the

real it takes a German worker for days to produce what we make in

five. And that means in town that too many British workers work longer

hours for lower pay than their counterparts and that has to change

if we are to build an economy that works for everyone. Raising

productivity Mr Speaker is essential for the high skill economy that will

deliver higher living standards for working people across this country.

As a result of decisions taken by my predecessor, public investment is

higher over this decade than it was over the whole of the period of the

last Labour government. But today I can go further. I can announce that

we are forming a new national productivity investment fund of ?23

billion to be spent on innovation and infrastructure over the next

five years. Investing today for the economy of the future. Let me set

out Mr Speaker for the house how this money will be used. We do not

invest enough in research, development and innovation. As the

pace of technology advances and competition from the rest of the

world increases we must build on our strengths in science and tech

innovation to ensure that the next generation of discoveries is not

only made here but it is also developed and produced in Britain.

So today I can confirm the additional investment in research

and development rising to the next 2 billion per year by 2021 and now

spun right honourable friend the Prime Minister on Monday. Mr Speaker

economically productive infrastructure directly benefits

businesses but families, too, rely on roads rail telecoms and

especially housing. We have made good process of the number of new

homes being built last year getting an eight-year high but for too many

the goal of homeownership remains out of reach. In October my right

honourable friend the community secretary launched the ?3 billion

home-builders fund to unlock over 200,000 homes and up to 2 billion to

accelerate construction on public sector land. But we must go further

still. The challenge of delivering the housing we so desperately need

in the places where it is currently based affordable is not of course a

new one. But the effect of unaffordable housing on our nation's

productivity makes it an urgent one. My right honourable friend the

community secretary will bring forward a housing white paper in due

course addressing these challenges but in the meantime we can take

further steps. One of the biggest objections to housing development as

honourable and right Honourable members will know from the

constituencies, is often the impact on local infrastructure. We will

focus government infrastructure investments to unlock land for

housing with a new ?2.3 billion housing infrastructure fund to

deliver infrastructure for up to 100,000 new homes in areas of high

demand. And to provide affordable housing that supports a wide range

of needs, we will invest a further 1.4 billion to deliver 40,000

additional affordable homes. And I will also relax restrictions on

government grants to allow providers to deliver a wider range of housing

types. I can also announce a large-scale regional pilot of Right

to buy for housing association tenants and continued support for

home ownership through the Help To Buy scheme equity loan scheme and

the Help To Buy scheme. This package means that over the course of this

Parliament the government expects to more than double in real terms

annual capital spending on housing. Coupled with a resolve to tackle the

long-term challenges of land supply, this commitment to housing delivery

represents a step change in our ambition to increase the supply of

homes for sale and for rent, to deliver a housing market that works

for everyone. Reliable transport networks are essential to growth and

productivity, so this Autumn Statement commits significant

additional funding to help keep Britain moving, now and to invest in

the transport networks and vehicles of the future. I will commit an

additional ?1.1 billion in investment in English local

transport networks were small investments can offer big wins. ?220

million additionally to address traffic pinch points are strategic

roads, 450 million to trial digital signalling on a real ways to achieve

a step change in reliability and to squeeze more capacity out of our

existing rail infrastructure, something I know the Leader of the

Opposition will welcome and finally Mr Speaker ?390 million to build on

our competitive advantage in low emission vehicles and the

development of connected autonomous vehicles. Plus a first-year capital

allowance for the installation of electric vehicle charging

infrastructure. The Department for Transport will work with transport

for north to develop detailed options for the northern Powerhouse

rail and my right honourable friend the Transport Secretary will set out

more details of projects and priorities over the coming weeks.

Our future transport business and lifestyle needs will require

world-class digital infrastructure to underpin them. My ambition, it

says here because I wrote it here, so my .Mac my ambition, Mr Speaker,

is for the UK to be a world leader in five GE. That means a full fibre

network, a step change in speed to security and reliability so we will

invest over ?1 billion in a digital infrastructure to capitalise private

investment in fibre networks and to support five G trials. And from

April we will introduce 100% business rates relief for a

five-year period on new fibre infrastructure, supporting further

roll-out of five to homes and businesses. We have chosen Mr

Speaker to Bordeaux to kick-start a transformation in infrastructure and

innovation. But we must sustain this effort over the long term if we are

to make a lasting difference to the UK's productivity performance so

today I have written to the national infrastructure commission to ask

them to make the recommendations in the future infrastructure needs of

the country using the assumption that the government will invest

between 1% and 1.2% of GDP every year from 2020 in economic

infrastructure covered by the commission. To put that in context,

we will spend around 0.8% of GDP on the same definition this year. I am

also backing the commission's interim recommendations on the

Oxford Cambridge to growth corridor published last week. With ?110

million of funding for east-west rail and the commitment to deliver

the new Oxford to Cambridge Expressway. This project can be more

than just a transport link, it can become a transformational tech

corridor drawing on the world-class research strengths of our two

best-known universities. I welcome the commission's continuing work on

delivery model options and we will carefully consider its final

recommendations in due course. The major increase in infrastructure

spending I've announced today will be a significant increase in funding

through the Barnett formula of over ?250 million to the Northern Ireland

Executive, ?400 million to the worst executive and ?800 million to the

Scottish Government. -- to the Welsh executive. I'm sure he will in a

moment. Mr Speaker, public investment is only part of the

picture. About half of our economic infrastructure is financed by the

privates that -- private sector and we will continue to support that and

I am extending that scheme until 2026. The new capital investment I

have announced will provide the financial backbone for the

Government's financial strategy they Government -- the Prime Minister

spoke about on Monday. Built on a firm foundation, the Business

Secretary will work with industry to build our ambition of an economy

that works for all. I can announce for further messages to back

business. I am doubling the UK export capacity to make it easier

for businesses to export, I'm funding the boosting of management

skills across British businesses and I'm taking the first step to tackle

the long-standing problem of our fastest-growing start-up tech firms

being snapped up by bigger companies rather than growing to scale by

injecting an initial ?400 million into venture capital funds through

the British business bank, unlocking ?1 billion of new finance for

growing firms. I'm also launching today a Treasury led review of the

barriers to accessing patient capital in the UK so that we can

take further action to address them. Mr Speaker, this Government

recognises that for too long, economic growth in our country has

been too concentrated in London and the south-east. That is not just a

social problem, it's an economic problem. London is one of the

highest productivity cities in the world and we should celebrate that

fact. But no other major developed economy has such a gap between the

productivity of its capital city and its second and third cities, so we

must drive up the performance of our regional cities. Today, we publish

our strategy for addressing productivity barriers in the

Northern powerhouse and give the go-ahead to a programme of major

road schemes in the north. Our Midlands engine scheme. -- will

follow shortly but I am today providing funding so that the

evaluation study for the Midlands rail hub can go ahead. In addition,

we are investing in local infrastructure in every region of

England. I can announce the allocation of ?1.8 billion from the

local growth fund to the English regions, by the hundred and ?56

million to local enterprise partnerships in the north of

England, 514 times million pounds to the north of England and ?683

million to let in the south-east, south-west London. We will announce

the breakdown of those shortly. Devolution, Mr Speaker, remained at

the heart of this Government's commitment to supporting local

growth and we be committed a two hour city deals with Swansea,

Edinburgh, North Wales and te cities. I can announce today that we

are beginning discussions on a city deal with Sterling so that every

city in Scotland will be on course to have a city deal. To support new

Mayoral combined authorities in England, I can announce that we will

grant them new borrowing powers to reflect their new responsibilities

and while we continue discussions with London and the West Midlands on

possible devolution further powers, I can announce today that London

will receive ?3.5 billion as its share of national affordable housing

funding to give its share and we are also devolving the adult education

budget and giving London extra control over employment support

services for the hardest to help. I have deliberately avoided making

this statement into a long list of individual projects being supported.

But... But I am going to make one exception. I will add today with

just seven days to spare to save one of the UK's most important historic

houses, Wentworth Woodhouse near Rotherham. It's said to be the

inspiration for Camberley in Jane Austen's pride and prejudice but in

1946, in an extraordinary act of cultural vandalism, the then Labour

Government authorised extensive opencast coal-mining virtually out

to the front door of this precious property. Perhaps that's Labour's

idea of a northern powerhouse. Wentworth Woodhouse is now at a

critical risk of being lost to future... Order. It sounds very

interesting indeed. Wentworth Woodhouse is now at critical risk of

being lost to future generations. A local effort has been hugely

successful in securing millions of pounds in funding from various

foundations and charities, subject to the ballots required to make the

House safe being found by November the 30th. So, we will today provide

a ?7.6 million grant towards urgent repairs to safeguard this key piece

of Northern Heritage, all but destroyed by a Labour Government,

saved by a Conservative one. I can also, Mr Speaker, I can also,

Mr Speaker, confirm distribution of a further ?102 million of libel bank

binds to Armed Forces and emergency services charities, including ?20

million to support the defence and National rehabilitation Centre at

Stanford Hall in Nottinghamshire as well as ?3 million from the tampon

tax fund for comic relief to distribute to a range of women's

charities. Mr Speaker, we choose to invest in our economic

infrastructure because it can transform the growth potential of

our economy as well as improving the quality of people's lives. That

investment is only possible because we on this side of the House are

prepared to take the tough decisions to maintain control of current

spending. Of them opposed by the party opposite. When we take office

in 2010, public spending was 45% of GDP. This year, it is set to be 40%.

In those years, we have seen crime fall by a court, the highest

proportion ever of good or outstanding schools, the number of

doctors has increased by 10,000 in our NHS, pensioner poverty at the

lowest level ever, the lowest ever number of children being raised in

workless households and the highest ever number of children going on to

study full-time in university. We have demonstrated beyond doubt that

controlling public spending is Campath is ill with world-class --

is compatible with world-class services and social improvement. As

the OBR's projections demonstrate, we have more work to do to eliminate

the deficit. Departmental surfing -- spending plans set out last autumn

will remain in place and departmental expenditure in 21, 22

will grow in line with inflation. The ?3.5 billion of savings to be

delivered through the efficiency review announced that the budget and

led by my right honourable friend the Chief secretary must be

delivered in full. I have, however, exceptionally agreed to provide

additional funding to the Ministry of Justice to tackle urgent prison

safety issues, increasing the number of prison officers by 20,000 500. --

by 2500. Having run to large spending departments in my previous

roles, I came in with a clear understanding of the relationship

between spending departments and the Treasury. I want departments to be

as advised to drive spending efficiencies and I want the Treasury

to be an enabler for good, effective spending across Government. To kick

start this new approach, I will allow up to ?1 billion of the

savings found by the efficiency review to be reinvested in 1920 in

priority areas and I have budgeted today accordingly. Mr Speaker, we

manage public spending so that we can invest in the public's

priorities and this Government has underlined these priorities with a

series of commitments and protections for the duration of this

Parliament. I can confirm today that despite the fiscal pressure, we will

meet our commitments to protect the budgets of key public services and

events, we will keep our profit -- promised to the world's poorest

through our overseas aid budget and we will meet our pledge to our

country's pensioners through the triple lock. As we look ahead to the

next Parliament, we will need to ensure that we tackle the challenges

of rising longevity and fiscal stability. The Government will

review public spending priorities and other commitments for the next

Parliament in light of the evolving situation at the next spending

review. I now turn to taxation. Since 2010, this Government has put

a business led recovery at the heart of our plan. We've cut corporation

tax from 28% to 20%, sending the message that Britain is open for

business. The additional investment in productivity and infrastructure

that I have announced today underscores that message and the

raft of investments in the UK announced since the referendum by

Softbank, Glaxo, Apple and Nissan among others confirms it. My

priority as Chancellor is to ensure that Government -- Britain remains

the number one destination for business, creating the investment,

jobs and prosperity to protect our long-term future. I know how much

business value certainty and stability and so I confirmed today

that we will stick to the business tax road map that we set out in

March. Corporation tax will fall to 17%, by far the lowest rate in the

A20. We will deliver the commitments we have made to the oil and gas

sector, and we will implement the business rates reduction package

worth ?6.7 billion. I can also confirmed today that having

consulted further, my right honourable and the Communities

Secretary will lower the transitional relief cap from 45%

next year to 43% and from that to 32% the next year. That's

complicated but it's good news. Just in case anybody wasn't sure, Mr

Speaker. I will also increase the ruble rate relief to 100%, giving

small businesses in rural areas and tax break worth up to ?2900 a year.

In return for these highly competitive tax rates, the tax base

must be sustainable. From April 2017, we will align the employee and

employer national insurance threshold to ?157 per week. There

will be no cost to employees and the maximum cost of business will be an

annual ?7.18 per employee. Insurance premium tax in this country is lower

than in many other European countries and half the rate of VAT.

In order to raise revenue, which is required to fund the spending

commitments I am making today, it will rise from 10% currently to 12%

from next June. At the same time, I can confirm that the Government's

commitment to legislate next year to end the compensation culture

surrounding whiplash claims, a major order -- area of insurance fraud,

saving drivers an average of ?40 on their annual premiums. Technological

progress is changing the way people live and the way they work. The tax

system needs to keep pace. For example, the OBE are -- the OBR has

highlighted today the growing cost of incorporation. The Government

will look at how we can ensure that the different ways of taxation are

fair between different individuals doing the same sort of work,

sustaining the tax base as the economy undergoes rapid change. We

will consult in due course on any proposed changes. In the meantime,

the Government will take action now to reduce the difference between the

treatment of cash earnings and benefits. The majority of employees

pay tax on a cash salary but some are able to sacrifice salary by

agreement with their employer and pay much lower tax on benefits in

kind. This is unfair and so from April 2017, employers and employees

who use these schemes will pay the same taxes as everyone else.

Following consultations with stakeholders, ultra-low emission

cars, pension savings, childcare and the cycle to work scheme will be

excluded from this change. Certain long-term arrangements will be

protected until April 20 21. For pensions that have been drawn down,

I will reduced to ?4000 the money purchase annual allowance to prevent

inappropriate double actually been gained. This government has done

more than any other to tackle tax evasion, avoidance and aggressive

tax evasion and the UK tax gap is now one of the lowest in the world.

But we must constantly be alert to new threats to our tax base and be

willing to move swiftly to counter them. At the budget we committed to

removing the tax benefits of disguise the earnings for employees

and I am now going to do the same for the self-employed and employers

raising a further ?630 million over the forecast period. We will shut

down inappropriate use of the VAT flat rate scheme that was put in

place to help small businesses, we will abolish the tax advantages

links to employee shareholder status in response to growing evidence that

it is being primarily used for tax planning purposes by high earning

individuals and we will introduce a new penalty for those who enable the

use of a tax avoidance scheme that HMRC later challenges and defeats.

These measures and other set out in the Autumn Statement document raise

around ?2 billion over the forecast period. Mr Speaker that is

understandable public concern that the pitch is tilted in favour of

large multinational groups which are able to use cross-border structures

to manage their tax liabilities. Following detailed consultation I

can confirm that we will implement our new restriction on tax relief

for corporate interest expenses and reform the way that relief is

provided for historic losses. These measures scored at budget 2016 will

ensure a large businesses will always pay tax in years where they

make substantial profits. It will also mean that businesses cannot

avoid tax by borrowing excessively in the UK to fund the overseas

activities. They will raise over 5 billion from the businesses in the

UK. I said the tax system should be fair and that means awarding people

who work hard by letting them keep more of what they earn. That is one

tax rate reform that this covenant has pursued since 2010 that has done

more than any other to improve the lot of working people, raising the

tax-free personal allowance. When we entered government in 2010 it was

?6,475, now after six years it is ?11,000 and will rise to ?11,500 in

April. As a result, we have more than half the tax bill of someone

with a salary of ?15,000 to just ?800. That is a massive boost to the

incomes of low and middle earners. Since 2010, we have cut income tax

for 20 million people and taking 4 million people out of income tax

altogether. I can confirm today that despite the challenging fiscal

forecasts we will deliver on our commitment to raising the allowance

to ?12,500 and the higher rate thresholds to ?50,000 by the end of

this Parliament. Once that ?12,500 has been reached Mr Speaker and

personal allowance will rise automatically during the 20 20s in

rise -- in line with inflation rather than the national minimum

wage as currently planned. It will be for the Chancellor to decide from

year to year whether Moore is now available -- affordable. As well as

taking millions of ordinary people out of tax we have the government

introduced the national minimum wage, and give a pay rise Mr Speaker

to over 1 million workers. They don't like it, a Tory government

gave a pay rise to over a million of the lowest paid workers. We are the

government who introduced 15 hours a week of free childcare for all three

and four-year-olds that will double that for working families from

September. The government whose education reforms have raised

standards and expanded opportunities with 1.4 million more children now

in good or outstanding schools, and the new capital funding I have

provided today for grammar schools will help to continue that trend.

And we Mr Speaker other government that pledged to invest in the NHS

and we are delivering on that promise. Lacking the NHS five-year

forward you plan for the future with ?10 billion of additional funding by

the end of 2020 - 2021. We recognise that more needs to be done to help

families make ends meet and to ensure that every household has

opportunities to prosper. So today I can announce that the national

living wage will increase from ?7 20 to ?7 50 in April next year. That is

a pay rise worth over ?500 a year to a full-time worker. Treating dogs

and lowering taxes and raising wages addresses directly the concerns of

ordinary families and the measures I have and is enable me to go further

to help families on low wages. Universal credit is an important

reform to our benefit system Anderson -- designed to ensure that

working always pays. We want to reinforce that position and I have

considered the arguments made by several honourable friends and we'd

then carefully against the fiscal constraints we are facing. I have

concluded that from April we can reduce the universal credit from 75%

to 63%. This is a targeted tax cuts worth ?700 million per year by

21-22. For those in work on low incomes. It will increase the

incentive to work and encourage progression in work and it will help

3 million households across the country. We believe that a market

economy is the best way of delivering sustained prosperity for

the British people. We will always support a market led approach but we

will not be afraid to intervene where there is evidence of market

failure. We will look carefully over the coming months at the functioning

of key markets including the retail energy market, to make sure they are

functioning fairly for all consumers. And in the private rental

market letting agents are currently able to charge unregulated fees to

tenants. We have seen these fees spiral despite attempts to regulate

them, often to hundreds of pounds. This is wrong, landlords about

letting agents and landlords should meet the fees. So I can announce

today that we will ban fees to tenants as soon as possible and also

we will consult on how best to ban pensions cold calling and the wider

range of pension scams. We can also help today and those who rely on

income from modest savings to get by. Low interest rates have helped

the economy recover but they have significantly reduced the interest

people can earn on their cash savings. We will launch a new market

leading savings bond through in SLI. The detail will be an asset the

budget but we expect our new bond will have an interest rate of around

2.2% gross and a terrible three years. Savers can deposit up to

?3000 and we expect them to million people to benefit. The announcement

I have made is today lower taxes on working people, boost wages, back

savings in the bearer on bills. In early 2017 we will begin the

roll-out of tax free childcare across Britain, providing a saving

of up to ?2000 per child. Once it is rolled out we pledge to keep it

under review to ensure that it is indeed still think what they need --

the support they need to working families. This one for the area of

household expenditure where the government can help. The oil price

has risen by over 60% since January. In sterling has declined by 15%

against the dollar. That means of course significant pressure on

prices at the pumps here in Britain. Today we stand on the side of

millions of hard-working people in our country by cancelling the fuel

duty rise for the seventh successive year. In total this saves the

average car driver ?130 a year and the average fan driver ?350 a year.

This is a tax cut worth ?850 million. Next year. I mean the

current fuel duty frees is the longest for 40 years. Mr Speaker I

have one further announcements to make. This is my first Autumn

Statement as Chancellor. After careful consideration, and details

discussion with the Prime Minister, I have decided that it will also be

my last. Mr Speaker, I am abolishing the Autumn Statement. No other major

economy makes hundreds of tax changes twice a year and neither

should we. So the spring budget in a few months will be the final spring

budget. Starting in autumn 2017 Britain will have an autumn budget

announcing tax changes well in advance of the start of the tax

year. From 2018 there will be a spring statement responding to the

forecast... Last low perhaps they should have

read the briefing Mr Speaker. Goal what a great state of the motion,

some people are easily cured. We must hear the Chancellor. Perhaps

they should have read the briefing, because they might remember that

Parliament has mandated the Office for Budget Responsibility to produce

a report to Parliament twice a year and has mandated the government to

reply to it. So from 2018 there will be a spring statement responding to

the forecast for the Adobe are but no major fiscal event. If unexpected

changes in the economy required it then I will of course reserve the

right to announce actions at the spring statement but I will not make

significant changes twice a year just for the sake of it. This change

will allow for greater Parliamentary scrutiny of budget measure ahead of

the application. This is a long overdue reform to our tax policy

making process and brings the UK into line with best practice

recommended by the IMF, the ISS, visited the government and many

others. Mr Speaker of the OBR report today confirms the underlying

strength and resilience of the British economy. This Autumn

Statement response to the challenge of building on that strength while

also heeding the warnings in the ten Mac's figures as we begin writing

this new chapter in our country's yesterday. It restates the

commitment to living within our means and it sets out our choice to

invest in our future. It sends a message to the world that Britain is

open for business and provide help to those who need it now. So Mr

Speaker we have made the choices, we have set her course. We are a great

nation. Bold in our vision and confident in our strengths and

determined in our ambition to build a country that works for everyone. I

commend the statement to the house. John McDonald. This morning Mr

Speaker, this morning we have heard the verdict from the trial following

the tragic murder of Jo Cox. This house was robbed of a fierce

advocate for social justice and a passionate campaigner. Her killing

was an attack on democracy itself. Our thoughts are with her family

this morning. Mr Speaker, today's statement places on record the

abject failure of the last six wasted years and offers no hope for

the future. The figures speak for themselves. Growth down. Wage

growth, down. Business investment, down. And the deficit, and the

deficit... And they owned deficit target field. The debt target

failed. The welfare cap, failed. If members on either side want to

shout out, don't bother to stand, because you will not be called. I

say it to members on both sides, stop it. It is juvenile, low-grade

and hugely deprecated by the public to support we should be looking to

gain, not destroyed. The verdict here could not be clearer. The

so-called long-term economic plan has failed. As the Treasury's own

leaked paper showed, the Government knew it had failed even before via

announced it. We now face Brexit and we face it unprepared and

ill-equipped. The new Chancellor acknowledged the failure himself in

October when he promised a reset of economic policy. So, today, we

expected a change of direction after those six wasted years. Instead,

we've seen further cuts to earnings through cuts to Universal Credit and

a living wage increase which is lower than expected under the

previous Chancellor. This is a new Conservative leader 's job and no

answers to the challenges facing our country following Brexit and no

vision to secure our future prosperity. Turning to Brexit,

Labour respects the decision of the British people to leave the European

Union but the yet chaotic --, chaotic handling of it is very

concerning for this country. The Chancellor and the Treasury know

that full access to the single market will give the best chance of

prosperity here. In the national interest, I urge the Chancellor to

stand up to the Prime Minister and the extreme Brexit fanatics in her

Cabinet. If he stands up for British businesses and jobs in fighting for

single market access, he will have our full support. After six wasted

years, wages are still lower than 2008. Self-employed people, self

employed people are on average paid less than a generation ago. 6

million people are earning less than the living wage. Too many people are

having to worry about buying school uniforms, affording a family holiday

or even just paying the rent or mortgage. We have had a month of

briefing from the party opposite on those people who are called just

about managing, the Jams. To the party opposite, these people are

just an electoral demographics. To us, they are our friends, our

neighbours and the people we represent. Let me tell you what, why

they are just managing. It's the results of Tories imposing austerity

on an economy that couldn't bear the strain. We've seen productivity

stagnate. There's nothing in this Autumn Statement on the scale needed

to overturn those six wasted years. If the Chancellor really wants to

make a fair tax system as well, he can start by bringing back the VDP

rate by the very richest -- for the very richest in this country. It is

familiar hollow rhetoric by the Tories on tax avoidance when they

have cut the resources at HMRC, the very people started to collect the

taxes themselves. The resources available to HMRC today are 40 that

-- 40% less than they were in 2000. The Chancellor has frozen in work

benefits when food prices are rising and we don't expect wages to keep

up. We need an economy that is fundamentally more prosperous and

where that prosperity is, yes, it is shared by all. The increase in the

national living wage today is lower than expected and leaves the poorest

paid workers still earning less than they need to live on. So, I asked

the Chancellor to adopt a real living wage level, as Labour has

pledged to do, and abandon his predecessor's empty rhetoric.

Regrettably, the Chancellor is still going ahead with some of the cuts to

Universal Credit. Thanks to the pressure, and I pay tribute to the

MPs on all sides of the House who have campaigned on this issue,

thanks to that pressure he is offering to soften the blow. We do

not want the blow softened, we wanted lifted altogether. Today's

changes will lead a single parent on average at least ?2300 worse off.

These are the very people working hard to deliver for their families

and the Government is betraying them. As for the people with

disabilities put through the ordeal of the discredited work capability

assessment who are trying to get themselves ready to return to work,

just about managing, they still remain in the Chancellor's firing

line, cutting ?30 a week from the support that these disabled people

received. It is scandalous in our society. Those who are just about

managing also rely upon our public services. They send their children

to public schools, they depend on their local hospital, the council

services like cleaning the streets, tending to be parks and playgrounds

and opening the libraries, but the reality is that after six wasted

years, our public services are not working. Today, the childcare that

people rely upon remains underfunded as the accounts committee has

reported and it will remain underfunded even after the

announcements today. I want to pay tribute as well to the honourable

members for Swansea and tends the for their important work on bringing

the important issue of child burial fees to the public awareness and I

asked the Government to do the right thing and child burial fees and ask

them to make funding available to families in these desperate

circumstances. Councillors from all political parties -- councils from

all political parties are reporting that they are at a tipping point in

the provision of social care. The previous Chancellor cut nearly ?5

billion from social care meaning that over one million people who

need care are not getting it. They are not even just about managing and

they have got little help today. We call for additional support for

social care. But the funding being provided today is only a stopgap

measure. Our social care system will not be secured without long-term

funding. Tonight, many elderly people will remain trapped in their

homes, isolated and lonely, lacking the care they need because of this

continuing cuts to social care. You can't cut social care without also

hitting the NHS. The suppose it 10 billion funding allocated is a

restatement of an earlier commitment. But the Health Select

Committee described this 10 billion pound claim as, and I quote,

misleading and incorrect. The real amount is less than halved that

claimed. The result, we now have 3.9 million people on NHS waiting lists,

more than ever. Many of those 3.9 million people are waiting in pain

and they have got no relief today. No relief today. Across the country,

hospitals are facing losing their accident and emergency units, losing

their maternity units and losing their specialist units. This Tory

Government is failing patients and also failing the dedicated NHS staff

that serve us so well. This is the first time health care spending per

head has declined since the NHS was created. I fear there will be a

crisis in funding and care over this Christmas. The NHS cares for us. We

should care for the NHS. On educating, members of this

Government have also overseen the biggest real term cuts in education

for four decades. ?1 in every ?7 has been cut from college budgets and

Conservative policy has saddled a generation of students with a

lifetime of debt. How can a Government seriously talk about

supporting a 21st-century economy when they are planning to pour tens

of millions into the failed 20th-century policy of grammar

schools? Segregating our children at an early age. On housing, the

Chancellor has announced today that here's scrapping pay to stay

proposals and letting agents fees. This U-turn is a victory for

Labour's campaign against both the tenant tax and letting fees. The

Chancellor has spoken before of the dream of home ownership for the

young. Nothing announced today is of the scale needed to suggest it will

remain anything other than a dream. The hard facts are these. The

Government of which he was a member build fewer homes than at any point

since the 1920s. They are now -- there are now a third of a million

fewer homeowners under 25. The Chancellor today could have

delivered the scale of investment required to build the homes we need

and create a new generation of home ownership. He significantly failed.

I am grateful that as a result of the campaign from the honourable

member for Wentworth and Dean that the Wentwood Woodhouse building will

be saved. The accusation was that a Labour Government opened an open

post mine near it and threatened it. That was the Labour Government I

believe in 1947. I just wish, I just wish some of the policies pursued

from Tory -- by Tory governments since then could be reversed so

easily. The Chancellor has failed to address properly this Government's

most consistent shortcoming. His predecessor cut public investment to

the lowest it has been since the 1990s. Instead of delivering the

ambitious investment this economy needs across the whole country, the

Chancellor failed to recognise the scale of the challenge today. He

also risks repeating the mistakes of last year with the national flood

resilience programme failing to provide the protection our

communities need. Just One in Five of the projects in the investment

pipeline are under construction. One in 20 is still delayed. The

infrastructure gap between London and the rest remains an abridged.

London was scheduled to receive 12 times the public investment per head

of the North of England but the 1.1 billion of investment in transport

is a re-announcement. The Oxford Cambridgeshire rail line is

significantly delayed from the original one of March 20 19. There

are no new ideas here. Just a promise to deliver what they have

previously failed to deliver on. This is press release policy making

and not provision. All we need now is a return of the high viz jacket.

The fourth industrial revolution will not be delivered. The fourth

industrial revolution will not be delivered on delays, on old news and

re-announcements. At last, the Government has realised its mistake

and now talks about an industrial strategy, words that ministers

refused to even referred to in the past. But it isn't enough just to

change the ministerial titles. The Government and the Chancellor need

to deliver but we've yet to see the proposed Green paper on industrial

strategy that was promised over the summer. The same Government that now

talks also about high-tech investment oversaw a ?1 billion cut

in real terms to science funding in the last parliament. The OECD

recommends that developed countries should spend 3% of GDP on science.

What we have heard today is that new spending will lift our expenditure

from 1.7% of GDP to a mere 1.8%. It's the same familiar story for

business. The Chancellor is continuing the race to the bottom

and corporation tax. This is while continuing the cuts to public

services, and cutting taxes to big businesses. We know it's not be

headline tax rates that encourage long-term investment from big

business. Business investment has been revised down every year under

this Government. What encourages business investment is knowing they

have access to skilled workers, world-class infrastructure and two

major markets. The Chancellor admitted over the

summer that it was time for a change of course. He has now had to abandon

his government's fiscal charter with its field hard surplus target. We

were warned that a hard surplus target lacks the flexibility to

adapt to economic circumstances and the capacity to allow investment.

The Chancellor's U-turn today demonstrates just how right we have

been over this last year. In conclusion Mr Speaker only weeks ago

the Prime Minister offered the hope of change. The Chancellor offered to

reset the economic policy. Today we have seen the very people the Prime

Minister promised to champion the trade. The Chancellor has failed to

break with economic strategy of austerity, the country remains

unprepared and ill-equipped to meet the challenges of Brexit and secure

Britain's future as a world leading economy. After all the sacrifices,

after all the sacrifices people have made over the past six years I fear

today's statement as laid the foundations for more wasted years.

Only a Labour government will deliver on the ambition and vision

to rebuild and transform our economy so that no one, so that no one and

no community is left behind. Can I first associate myself with his

remarks about the Jo Cox trial and send my very deepest condolences to

the family and her friends who will be suffering again today. Can I also

congratulate the right Honourable gentleman on his appointment to the

Privy Council. I just wish I could have been there at the investiture.

They give you a little red book. I have listened carefully to his

response today and his central argument appears to be that the

deficit is too high and borrowing is too high. And that is a bit of a

problem because as I've understood it his central proposal for our

economy is to borrow more and spend more. Indeed under his rule he would

always be borrowing in good times as well as bad. His analysis of the

problem of the last big government is not expect too much money but to

little, indeed his rule has remarkable similarities to Gordon

Brown 's golden rule, and we all now where that got us. His big idea is

to spend an extra ?500 billion without any idea of how he would pay

for it. Just to respond to some of his specific comments, he welcomed

the industrial strategy. I am not sure if his welcome is welcome but I

would warn him not to government to quickly because it will not look

anything like an industrial strategy that would come out of his office.

What he has heard today Mr Speaker is a responsible set of decisions,

the decision to borrow ?23 billion of tightly targeted investment while

paying for every single penny of every other commitment that has been

made. He talked about Brexit deadly attacks as over the way we have

handled the Brexit process. I do not he has ever been involved in a

negotiation, I expect not, but I wouldn't buy ten just to look across

the continent for the moment. Look at the Admiral discipline that are

negotiating counterparts are displaying in the messaging.

Revealing nothing as they prepare to go into this negotiation with us.

And I would advise that if we want to get the best possible deal for

Britain then we have to keep our cards appropriately close to our

chests. He may have heard cuts to people's income from my announcement

on universal credit but let me explain how it works to him. When

you cut the tape from 65% to 63% you allow people to keep an extra 2% of

the income that they are earning. I would have thought that he would

have welcomed that. This is all about making tough decisions and I

am very happy to debate with the honourable gentleman, but I wish he

would be honest enough to accept that you cannot shower money

everywhere proposing to spend money on everything without having to

raise that money. Either by taxes on ordinary people or by cutting other

spending elsewhere. It is simply no good to keep pretending you can just

do it by taxing the rich. The top 1% of people in this country already

contribute 27% of income tax paid and unfortunately that is not enough

of them to be able to finance all the right honourable gentleman 's

ambitions. He said that he was disappointed by the announcement of

the national living wage. I don't remember perhaps one of my

honourable friend could remind me what the level of the national

living wage was during the 13 years of Labour's government. And he might

note that the level I have announced today is precisely the level

recommended by the low pay commission, the body set up to

pronounce on these things. I wish he would also be honest when he talks

about the work-related activity group in employment and support

arrangements. Nobody, and this applies to new claims only as he

very well knows, nobody is going to have ?29 a week taken away from

them. However many times he says. This is not a stand-alone measure

but part of a package, the money that will be saved as being

reinvested in a ?330 million package to get these people into work was

targeted support to help them be ready for work. He talks about

house-building starts, house-building starts were 45% down

under the last Labour government. Mr Speaker, he and the Leader of the

Opposition have spreads division and disunity through the Labour Party

and that is exactly what the spreads to the country if they ever got into

government. He says that there are no new ideas. I have to say Mr

Speaker that he needs to check the opinion polling because that is not

quite what public opinion believes. Instead of carping and opposing

every measure that we propose from the side why doesn't he roll up his

sleeves, supporters and the hard work of building an economy that

works for everyone? May I congratulate the Chancellor on

reverting to the extremely sensible practice of only having one budget a

year? Would Gordon Brown abandoned in order to try and buy votes twice

a year with disastrous consequences. May I congratulate him on easing the

taper on the... Tax credit, because it is having distorting effects on

the labour market by discouraging part-time workers from working extra

hours for example in May I thank him for the money he spent on the very

very valuable work for rehabilitating the disabled at

Stafford hole in my own constituency? Can he reassure me

that he will resist political pressures of all kinds of the coming

years to move away from the very sensible fiscal discipline he has

set out? Because the major risk to his feet in office would come and

affect every section of our society including the Jams that the media

have discovered if he is unable to avoid or mitigate the risk that

global recession poses to us in the real world. And witty finally

confirm that whenever he holds his cards that he will continue inside

the government if necessary to spell out economic reality and the

long-term benefits this country if he wants to develop a modern

competitive economy of retaining the access to our most important market

in Europe, by retaining the benefits of the single market and the customs

union and that no amount of short-term political pressure should

allow him to be deflected from that. Mr Speaker I am grateful to my right

honourable and learned friend and I say to him that I lie and delighted

that we have been able to lower the taper rates on universal credit

because of course it is absolutely in line with the principle that we

should be supporting and encouraging people into work, he says that the

taper rates discourages people. It is of course a much lower rate of

stroll that after the old tax credits system that it replaces. And

let me reassure my right honourable friend that I had my right

honourable friend the Prime Minister remain absolutely committed to the

sound Tory principle that a country is to live within its means. Of

course we have to deal with the reality is that the world throws at

us, and that is why today I have adopted as an interim measure for

the remainder of this Parliament a cyclically adjusted target which

will always allow us to respond to any downturn that occurs. I

understand the importance of economic reality and I understand as

does my right honourable friend the extreme desirability of achieving

the very best access to markets in the European for those who produce

goods and services. Chi firstly associate myself with

the words from the Shadow Chancellor and the Chancellor on the late Jo

Cox? And can I also thank the Chancellor on what he said about the

city 's deal? I know that is slightly difficult -- slightly

different to the words and the Redbook. In his attempt to clamp

down on evasion it was disappointing there was no reference made to

Scottish Limited partnerships and intense of fairness overall, one

would have thought there would have been some reference to the Waspy

campaign and the unfairness for those women. However the Chancellor

did give us plenty of information today but with no more than a glib

reference to being match fit at the beginning and a bit of deflection,

very little on the elephant in the room which is Brexit. It is not as

the Treasury don't know the consequences will be, their own

assessments say that tax yields could be down 66 billion a year

after 15 years, GDP down 9.5%, a figure confirmed by the LSC as a

result of reduced trade, reducing productivity. That amounts to some

sex and a per year per household. So where was the plan to ensure there

was no hard Brexit? To maintain access to the single market? Where

was the plan to mitigate the loss in tax yield and GDP? A novel he set a

considerable amount of bad luck and some of it up to a point about

capital investment and research and development, where was the fully

developed plan to actually boost productivity? We do not go into this

next period in a position of strength. The UK GDP is the

Chancellor knows is already approaching being 20% lower than it

would have been if we had achieved even need to percent growth rate

since 2008. Our argument is that the ability of this and the previous

government weakens the recovery. It is an error I fear they are set to

repeat again. Growth barely reaches 2% for the forecast period and

although he sensibly did not put the date on it, the Chancellor is still

targeting a surplus in the economy, perhaps again before recovery has

been secured. May I say a few words about the fiscal charter. I am glad

he's changed it because the previous permit surplus rule of taking 10

billion a year out more than was required to run a balanced economy

and cutting 50 billion a year was required to run a balanced budget

left us with some terrible consequences. Whereas discretionary

consolidation tax rises and cuts to place, the ratio of cuts to tax

rises also increased in place the burden of austerity and in arbitrary

fiscal target on the back of the pure. It has made the lowest 5%

worse off in the richest 10% almost entirely all better off. The

government has clearly worked something out and I do welcome the

move on the taper but let's be clear, 2p in the pound on the

minimum wage it is 14p per hour, it is not a kings ransom and it will

not cure poverty. The squeeze has not been lifted the pure, the screw

of the welfare cap has not been turned off, this is simply where a

brutal regime that like this has simply made a brutal regime slightly

less brittle. I am glad he mentioned the actions of the Bank of England,

our party very much welcome what the governor has done. An increasing

duty, 10 billion available for corporate bond purchases and the

best rate and additional term funding to make more cheaper lending

for the banks. However, there has been an almost complete absence of a

fiscal policy stimulus in order to match the incredible monetary policy

activism of the central bank so the key aspect of today's Autumn

Statement, and I am also pleased that is the last one given this is

now my 25th budget Autumn Statement or prebudget statement, the key part

of today's Autumn Statement was the increase of expenditure.

Over the forecast period, like-for-like, it amounts to 1.5% of

total managed expenditure. It is to be welcomed, it is certainly a break

from the recent past, but it can be in the way described as the sort of

fiscal stimulus required to match the monetary policy with discipline

of the central bank. -- monetary policy discipline. The two aspects

you dogs about was an increase in capital investment, I welcome that,

and an increase in research and development. Given the research and

development description has changed in the green book, as has the

description of the UK TI funding and said there would be a doubling of

some aspects of support, it is hard to tell precisely what the impact of

some of those measures are. I hope that he can tell us, in total, what

is the increase in cash terms and percentage terms of support

absolutely vital, and what is the overall increase in research and

development across the piece and how does he intend to see deployed the

?23 billion he described in terms of capital investment. Chancellor of

the Exchequer. I am not sure, I may have to consult my right honourable

and honourable friends, I'm not sure if that was a thank you not, I think

it might have been... LAUGHTER No, no, it wasn't. Mr Speaker, what

we have announced today is a significant increase in capital

investment and capital investment includes research and development

under the ONS definition. Scotland will get ?800 million of that, RND

is not monetised, it will be spread across the whole of the UK. --

Barnettised. But the other part is Barnettised and Scotland will get

?800 million. The economic performance of Scotland also needs

attention, Scotland's productivity needs addressing and I very much

hope and I am sure that families and businesses across Scotland will very

much hope that he can confirm, one of his colleagues can confirm, that

the Scottish Government will use this additional funding in the

spirit it is being raised for the rest of the United Kingdom to invest

in raising the productivity performance of the Scottish economy,

I would very much welcome that. He asked about the detailed

productivity message. I can assure him that there is no lack of

enthusiasm in this government for tackling the productivity challenge.

My right honourable friend the Business Secretary, for Treasury and

other departments, are involved in a process which will lead to a green

paper, allowing us to consult extensively with business and other

outside bodies before we firm up exactly how to deliver the strategy.

What the house has seen today is ?23 billion of additional investment,

alongside ?150 billion already committed to investment in economic

infrastructure over the period that will form the backbone for that

policy and its delivery. The biggest drag on growth in Scotland, as he

knows but may not want to admit, survey after survey shows that the

biggest drag on business investment is the continuing threat of a second

referendum... SHOUTING Bigger than... He needs to go back

and look at the polling day to, bigger than concerns about possible

future "Brexit" arrangements, the concern about the second Scottish

independence referendum. I just say this to him in response to the

specific points, I will be publishing a distributional

analysis, I believe it is available in the office now, of the measures

that have been announced today, humility of lead of the measures

that have been announced throughout the parliament. It will not show the

outcome that the honourable gentleman suggested, so perhaps we

would like to look at that and then no doubt we can have another

exchange on the Treasury questions. The overall package of measures

today represents a fiscal loosening of around ?23 billion. I acknowledge

that that is a reduction of a plan fiscal tightening, but of course

there has to be a fiscal tightening over time, because we are moving to

living within our means, with a balanced budget in the next

Parliament, and we are not going to be deflected from that intention.

Just to go up the confusion, UK TI, the budget of UK TI is now rolled

into the budget of the Department for International trade. What I

announced in my statement is that the capacity, that is the risk

capacity, of UK Export Finance will be doubled, so that it can provide

finance for exporters from all over the UK, to sell their goods abroad,

on credit. George Osborne. Can I warmly... Can I warmly congratulate

my friend and successor, on a strong statement. And an assured delivery.

I particularly welcome the additional support for the Northern

powerhouse. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility has given

us a very sober assessment of the economic and borrowing challenges

that Britain faces and the Chancellor is right to keep his

powder dry but is also right to adhere to the principles that we

control current spending, that we make sure the that work pays and

make sure Britain is the best place to attract business, and we have the

freest possible trade with key export markets. I support all the

things he is doing to deliver on those principles. Chancellor of the

Exchequer. I'm extremely grateful to my right honourable friend and he is

exactly right, the principles he set out will guide the actions of this

government as they should guide the actions of any sensible government

as we try to future through the economy in a time of extraordinary

change. Not only political change but technological change, we are

facing a period of 20 or 30 years in which the way we work, the way we

live, the way we do business will change fundamentally, and unless we

invest now in infrastructure and science and technology base, in

innovation capability, we risk being left behind.

I want to welcome the fact that the Chancellor the extent has adopted

fiscal rules that his predecessor described as the single biggest risk

to economic recovery, those which we proposed in 2015. I want to ask him

about Brexit, at the Tory party conference he said that the British

people did not vote to become poorer, on page 19, the obi art

tells us that ?58 billion of the worst public announces is due to the

Brexiteers Asian, is this a salutary warning to us, about the decisions

we take in the coming months and years. -- is due to the "Brexit"

decision. We must stick as close as possible to our largest trading

area, the singles market, and inside and not outside the custom union. --

the single market. As I have said many times, I am happy to repeat, no

doubt I shall be repeating many times today: it remains our

objective to try to get the closest possible trading arrangement that we

can with the European Union, the greatest access that we can, for our

goods and services to be sold into European markets, after we leave the

European Union. The effect that, I think we have two desegregate to an

effect, there is going to be a period of uncertainty, as we go

through the process of exiting the European Union. And that houses the

-- and that has had a dampening effect on business investment, as

the obi are has identified. We have also to rise to the challenge of

getting ourselves match fit to seize the opportunities this country will

have after we complete the process. I urge to think about the longer

term challenge as well the short-term. Can I congratulate the

Chancellor on delivering a crucial statement for the country, it was a

budget in all but name, and I strongly support his decision to

make it the first of many autumn budgets. Something that a number of

us on the Treasury committee have been pushing for for a while. The

statement will provide reassurance and certainty for the whole country.

Given that the Education Secretary creates export earnings of ?20

billion, that is about the same as the car manufacturing sector, will

the Chancellor soon be able to provide colleges and universities

with the certainty and reassurance they need that foreign students will

not be caught by the hundred thousand migration target? John

slobbish Tech. First of all, I am grateful to the Treasury Select

Committee member for his remarks. -- Chancellor of the Exchequer. It is

very much appreciated, and I do think it is the right way for us to

go. On the specific question that he has asked, students are included

within the hundred thousand, the tens of thousands target, and I know

that my right honourable friend, the Home Secretary, is looking at how

best to manage student flows in the interest of what is a very important

industry in this country. A few months ago, the Foreign Secretary

promised the general public that by now, we would have annexed a week

for the National Health Service... -- we would have an extra ?300,000 a

week. Growth falling, business investment collection, an extra ?110

billion of borrowing of the forecast period, when compared with March.

Has he received an apology from the Foreign Secretary or any of them?

I'm not responsible for remarks which may or may not have been major

in political campaigns, what I will say to him is that the British

people have made a decision, to leave the European Union. We must

respect that decision, if we are going to make a success of this

process, if we are going to ensure the success of the British economy

in the future, we must move on from keep having this sterile debate over

and over again, we must focus attention on building an economy

that is match fit for the future and will enable us to deliver higher

living standards as we make our way in the world. Someone much more

optimistic about the chances of the British economy in the obi are, and

I welcome the forecast for this year, a faster rate of growth now,

and may I welcome the forecast that there will be no winter recession,

but would he agree that the obi are are probably still quite wrong about

2017, their forecast is too low, borrowing forecast for two high, and

we will get good access to the single market, once we are out of

the year? Well, I very much hope on the last point that my right

honourable friend is right, that will be our objective, and I am

grateful to him for his implicit confidence in my stewardship. I have

two, and I of course, I'm well aware of my right honourable friend's

views, they are as always, long-standing and utterly

consistent, but it is not my job to opine on the report that the OBE are

has made by statute to Parliament. It is my job to respond to it and

that is what I have done today, obviously, economic forecasting is

not a precise science and directed nice, as would the OBE are, that

individual members will have their own views, on the likely future

trajectory of the economy, and that is what it is worth mentioning that

the OBE are specifically says in its report that there is an unusually

high degree of certainty in the forecast it is making because of the

unusual circumstances. -- OBR. In a long statement, no mention of the

National Health Service. In the first six months so far this year,

the deficit is 648 million, four trusts alone, with a deficit of 669

million, given the extraordinarily measures that the Department of

Health had to go to to balance the budget, in the last financial year,

even those projections, what is the Chancellor doing to make sure there

is a sustainable future for the National Health Service? Ice Age the

honourable lady, I might be a novice at Autumn statements but I'm not

such a rookie that I did not mention the NHS, I suggest she checks the

Hansard, I very definitely did. -- I suggest to the honourable lady. She

talks about a suggested trust deficit of 648 million pounds

projected at a point which is four months out from the end of the

fiscal year, this is in the context of a budget of ?110 billion, in an

NHS that holds a contingency reserve at the centre. My right honourable

friend the Health Secretary is well aware of these pressures, they are

not particularly unusual, they are being managed inside the NHS and I

am keeping and will continue to keep a very close eye on them with

Can I congratulate my right honourable friend. Would my right

honourable friend agree that it has never been more important for

British business to be at the very heart of local enterprise

partnerships, great ideas like the Midland Engine and all those

infrastructure plans and it is not to be driven by politicians. These

projects must be driven by British business. I absolutely agree and I

am grateful for her comments. It isn't just that we need business to

be engaged at the heart of this process and I passionately believe

that is the right way to do it and local enterprise partnerships are a

good innovation for delivering that as well as the area specific project

organisations. But this is also part of meeting the challenge of regional

imbalance which, as I said earlier, isn't just a social problem it is an

economic problem. When we looked at our productivity gap with other

advanced economies we should look for the things that are different in

our country to those comparators and the gap between our capital city and

others is one of the defining features of the UK economy. By

working with business across the country and in the UK regions,

particularly by promoting our regional cities, we can start at

last to address this problem. The North of England is crying out for a

plan for investment in rail and people will be left asking today,

where is it? It is also crying out for investment in social care and

quite frankly it is unbelievable that they Chancellor could find no

mention of it today. Six years of cuts to coach -- social care have

left a record number of elderly left in hospital and an NHS on the brink.

With winter facing us, can the Chancellor say more about how he

came to the judgment that new grammar schools is a higher priority

than the funding of the care of older people? I am a little bit

surprised at the right honourable gentleman's, a former chief

Secretary, not being able to distinguish between capital and

resource because the funding we are talking about fourth at grammar

schools is capital spending. I said in the course of my statement that

the Department for Transport will continue discussions on Northern

Powerhouse rail for transport for the North and make announcements in

due course. He asked specifically about social care and members

opposite are fond of talking about cuts to social budgets... Local

authorities had to manage their buzz it's -- budgets as they think best.

They have two manage the envelope of resource they are given. What we

have done is created a better care than that, by the end of this

Parliament, will deliver ?1.5 billion per year into social care,

we have allowed local authorities to raise a social care precept which

will deliver another ?2 billion a year by the end of this Parliament.

Though that is additional funding into the social care system. What I

would say to the honourable gentleman is this, I accept there is

an issue that local authorities are raising, and we have heard what they

say the, about the profiling of how this large amount of money ramps up.

That is an issue might friends are aware of and are discussing. Thank

you. The Care Quality Commission has warned that social care is at a

tipping point and vulnerable people across the country are being left

without the care and support they need and it is adding hugely to

costs for the NHS. I was disappointed to see the Better Care

Fund has been brought forward yet but is under discussion. Could the

chance to confirm, we try and get away from the divisive debate in

this Has about how to fund social care, and that all parties work

together for a sustainable long-term settlement? I am all in favour of

discussing big, strategic questions in a grown-up way and trying to

build consensus across the House but I see little interest from across

the other side in doing that. We have made a commitment of ?10

billion additional funding for the NHS over this Parliament. We have a

senior management team in the NHS that has drawn up a plan that set

the budget and asked for the money and they've been given the money. We

should allow them to show what they can do. The Chancellor's Autumn

Statement suggests more public borrowing with total public debt due

to increased to ?1.6 trillion in the New Year and ?1.9 trillion by 2020,

four times what it was in 2005. Is the accumulation of unsustainable

levels of public debt due to the failure of his predecessor to match

his words and deeds I get a grip on public spending? I appreciate he

won't have had a chance yet to read the report, he will see that the big

drivers of debt are, first, the deteriorating forecast for growth

which has a" : the structural change which appears to be taking place in

the relationship between a given level of GDP and tax receipts which

I mentioned in my statement and which we will have two address, and

the measures the Bank of England took which have a direct impact on

debt but only in the short term because they unwind over the course

of a few years. Can I warmly welcome the Chancellor's significant

commitment to British science today, research and commercialisation, but

as he moves towards the next budget can I add him to look at removing

many of the regulatory barriers and providing greater tax incentives for

individuals to invest insides and technology start-ups so we can build

a truly enterprise culture in which everyone participates? My honourable

friend has been kind enough to come and see me over the past few weeks

to make some suggestions in this area and I announced in my statement

that the Treasury will conduct a review of the available capital in

this country and I include in that genuine individual investment into

start-up businesses and making sure it is incentivised to stay in for

the long haul so I thank him for his input and we will look at it

further. Can I start by associating myself with the comments by the

Chancellor and the Shadow Chancellor about the verdict in the trial of Jo

Cox and I hope the whole of -- life sentence for her murder can give

some comfort to her family at this incredibly difficult time and will

enable us to remember Joe for the way she lived rather than the way

she was murdered. Can I ask the Chancellor about universal credit

and the changes he has made today? The taper rate will be 63p in the

pound. That means for every additional pound earned, the

recipient will lose 63p. That is a marginal tax rate three times higher

than the basic rate marginal tax. Does the Chancellor honestly think

that is sufficiently rewarding work and encouraging people to take on

those extra hours we all want them to do? Again, I associate myself

with the remarks she has just made and I am sure she is right that the

entirely sensible sentence handed down will be a source of some

comfort to the family. Look, she asks if the taper rate a

disincentive an incentive to work? Of course, the lower the taper rate

the greater the incentive to work. I recognise that and I said I would

listen carefully to representations to do something in this area and I

balance those against Mike judgment against our fiscal capacity. I have

funded every single spending commitment made today. If we had

gone further than 63% we would have had to raise more money. At present

that is not the right thing to do. I would gently remind her that 63% or

65% is a lot lower than a marginal withdrawal rate of 90% which is what

many were facing under the tax credit system. May I welcome the

steps the Chancellor has taken to tackle some of the issues for real

rule as Mrs and particularly the extension of rural rate relief and

fibre broadband. I would like to thank the Chancellor for the ?1.4

million which will be going to the older centre to help build a new

building to provide counselling services across the North West two

believed parents and I know the trustees are absolutely delighted --

the older centre. I am delighted we are even in these difficult fiscal

times able to make these investments that can be life changing in local

areas. Can I welcome the fact that the Northern Ireland executive will

have ?250 million worth of additional capital spending and also

the commitment to reduce corporation tax which should lower the bill for

the devolution of corporation tax from Northern Ireland without

damaging our ability to compete with the Republic. The Chancellor has

said growth is still damaging and is imbalanced across the UK. Will he

accept that, should there be sensible proposals from the Northern

Ireland executive for further measures to be addressed that issue,

that he will pay attention and respond to those? Does he accept

that his acceptance of the lower forecast of growth for the UK in the

long term, despite it contradicting the short-term forecasts, can be

self-fulfilling and can damage places like Northern Ireland even

disproportionately with other parts of the UK? I am not sure that

receiving the OBR report constitutes acceptance of anything. It is what

it is Army had to respond. On the question of in balancing growth, of

course it is a problem and increasing economic growth in

Northern Ireland is a high priority. The only way to address that is to

improve quality -- productivity and get more investment into Northern

Ireland so that growth rates are increased. Obviously I will respond

to any proposals that come from the Northern Ireland executive. I can't

promise him how I will respond but I will respond. The extra investment

in building affordable homes and in infrastructure is excellent news.

With the Chancellor agree that cheaper homes are one of the most

important things we can do to raise standards of living for everyone and

to improve economic product -- productivity and will he, therefore,

support moves to increase the supply of urban house-building sites to

allow developers to build up and not out? My honourable friend is right

in that making sure housing is affordable is not only a key social

priority but a key economic priority. It is clear that an

affordability of housing, certainly in many areas of the country, has

become a drag on productivity, economic growth and investment.

Investment in housing not only advantages the economy, but it

directly helps families so I am pleased we have been able to do

something on that front today. The Communities Secretary will bring

forward a housing white paper in due course and he will address the

longer term strategic problems, one of which is the point my honourable

friend has made. Thank you. Further to the questions from my honourable

friend 's and the honourable member for Totnes, there is not one single

mention in the 72 page Autumn Statement document of the words NHS,

social care, mental health and public health. The Chancellor cannot

ignore the fact that our health and social care services are in crisis,

facing massive, massive deficits. Surely the many economists in his

department would have said it's economically illiterate to ignore

the massive decrease and the cuts to public health and mental health

training. Why was the NHS missing from the Autumn Statement today? We

have been around this loop before. We are putting ?10 billion a year

more into the NHS by the end of this Parliament. We are delivering what

the senior management of the National Health Service asked for

and we will work with them to make sure it is ineffective because it

has to be spent effectively and be delivered effectively. I keep in

very close contact with my right honourable friend the Secretary of

State for Health and he is working closely with NHS management. It is

tempting for honourable members opposite to paint everything as a

crisis or a looming chaos but it is not the case. We have a programme

for investment in the NHS. It is being delivered and we will keep a

close eye on the way it is being delivered.

I welcome the announcement and the statement and I am particularly

pleased to welcome the extra 2 billion promised to research and

development. Does my right honourable friend agree that this

will help underpin develop and in life sciences, which is key to the

Northern powerhouse. Just to be clear, it is by the end of the

parliament, 2 billion a year additional that is going into

research and development. My honourable friend is right, life

sciences, synthetic biology, they are one of the areas where the UK

has gained a really significant lead. On a disruptive area of

technology that is going to shape the future of our economy and the

economy of the world, several, three or four such areas where are we

really have two invest now, to make sure that we get the critical

footprint that will allow us to be the leaders in this fourth

Industrial Revolution, just as we lead the first Industrial

Revolution. Can I open the elements of the statement which are positive

-- welcome. The spending on infrastructure, broadband and Mobil

phone... The reduction on fuel duty, and the other changes which are

steps in the right direction, we wanted to see the extra cash given

to the NHS and social care that is needed as winter comes on, it risks

becoming acute, but I understand the difficulties that face the chance to

be, knee has ?122 billion black hole as a result of Brexit, and so as the

honourable lady from Tottenham has said, instead of using the NHS as a

political football, will he work with people across the party and of

no party to identify where that money can be got, because frankly,

it is too important to be treated like this? First of all, I would

urge the honourable gentleman to look at the figures in a little more

detail, the ?122 billion that he quotes runs over a fifth year, it

includes the ?23 billion of discretionary additional commitments

that I have made today, and includes over ?20 billion of baseline

adjustments due to previous policy changes around welfare benefits and

classification changes made by the ONS. He needs to look at the

figures. On the NHS, as I have said already, there are trust deficits

building up across the country, at the moment they are manageable

within the context of the NHS's own internal cash management system, but

of course we will keep a close eye on it. We take the view that the NHS

has asked for financing of a specific and defined plan, we have

provided that financing, we now need to challenge the NHS managers who

asked for that money to deliver the outcome is that they promised. We

will watch very closely and stick very close by as they do. Can I

congratulate my right honourable friend on his first and last Autumn

Statement, and in particular, warmly welcome the support for

infrastructure. Can I urge him to think about in regards to the

140,000 new houses and investment put into that that he considers the

suggestion from National Housing Federation that these affordable

houses be built tenure free, so that they may be delivered more quickly.

He may have missed it but in the statement I did say that we will

relax restrictions on ten year that normally are attached to a

affordable housing grant funding, so that affordable housing providers

can build with a mix of ten years that is right for this particular

market, where they are operating, which will allow houses to be built

more quickly and housing needs to be met more quickly. The Prime Minister