Browse content similar to Live Treasury Questions. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
of Parliament at 11pm. First, questions to the Chancellor Philip | :00:00. | :00:09. | |
Hammond and his team of ministers. Mr Speaker, in 2010 we inherited the | :00:10. | :00:14. | |
UK's largest deficit since the Second World War at 9.9% of GDP. We | :00:15. | :00:21. | |
set out a clear fiscal framework to restore confidence in the economy | :00:22. | :00:25. | |
and reduce the deficit, which has subsequently fallen by over two | :00:26. | :00:30. | |
thirds. We've delivered the lowest corporation tax rate in the T20 and | :00:31. | :00:34. | |
cut employment costs through the employment allowance. Our | :00:35. | :00:38. | |
unemployment rate is its lowest level in over 40 years. Since 2010 | :00:39. | :00:45. | |
we seem to 3 million more people find work. With the economy | :00:46. | :00:51. | |
operating at near record high employment, our focus now must be to | :00:52. | :00:54. | |
increase productivity and does real wage growth. Despite all the fear | :00:55. | :01:01. | |
mongering from many including across the other side of this House, since | :01:02. | :01:06. | |
the Brexit referendum, can my right honourable friend confirm we have | :01:07. | :01:10. | |
the best growth rates in the whole of Europe, the best inward | :01:11. | :01:12. | |
investment rates and the lowest unemployment rates for four decades? | :01:13. | :01:18. | |
Is this not a ringing endorsement of this government's policies? My | :01:19. | :01:22. | |
honourable friend is absolutely right that we have the lowest | :01:23. | :01:27. | |
unemployment rate for four decades, that is a remarkable achievement. | :01:28. | :01:32. | |
The British economy has performed with remarkable resilience since | :01:33. | :01:37. | |
June 2016. Last year we had the second highest growth rate in the G7 | :01:38. | :01:42. | |
countries. The British economy is fundamentally strong and resilient. | :01:43. | :01:48. | |
Yes we face some short-term uncertainty but underneath that | :01:49. | :01:51. | |
uncertainty is a strong and resilient economy ready to go | :01:52. | :01:55. | |
forward and reap the benefits available in the future. The | :01:56. | :02:01. | |
Chancellor was talking about the fiscal consequences, the | :02:02. | :02:05. | |
unemployment consequences, if a transition the long Brexit isn't | :02:06. | :02:08. | |
achieved by the first quarter of next year. He was right a fortnight | :02:09. | :02:15. | |
ago. What is the Chancellor doing to help secure a specific transition | :02:16. | :02:20. | |
agreement in the first quarter of the next year? While we are | :02:21. | :02:24. | |
preparing for all outcomes in our negotiations, the government | :02:25. | :02:27. | |
objective is to reach a deal. As the Prime Minister made clear in her | :02:28. | :02:31. | |
Florence speech, as part of that deal we want to agree an | :02:32. | :02:35. | |
implementation period during which businesses and governments can | :02:36. | :02:38. | |
prepare for the new relationship. We want to agree the principles as soon | :02:39. | :02:43. | |
as possible. Last week at the European Council, the 27 agreed to | :02:44. | :02:49. | |
start internal preparatory discussions on guidelines in | :02:50. | :02:51. | |
relation to an implementation period. Together with the broad | :02:52. | :02:55. | |
support in Parliament, this should give British businesses confidence | :02:56. | :02:58. | |
we are going to provide them with the certainty they require. With the | :02:59. | :03:02. | |
Chancellor welcome the fact there are more women in work than ever | :03:03. | :03:07. | |
before, and set out what steps we can take to ensure this is one of | :03:08. | :03:10. | |
the best countries in the world for women to setup and run their own | :03:11. | :03:15. | |
businesses? That is one of the remarkable achievements of the last | :03:16. | :03:19. | |
seven years. The increase in participation in the workforce and | :03:20. | :03:23. | |
particularly the increase in the number of women participating in the | :03:24. | :03:27. | |
workforce. That is in large part due to family friendly policies this | :03:28. | :03:32. | |
government has pursued, with huge increases in the availability of | :03:33. | :03:38. | |
child care, free childcare. Huge increases in the tax deductibility | :03:39. | :03:43. | |
of childcare. We will continue to drive a set of policies which | :03:44. | :03:47. | |
encourage women into the workforce, both because it's economically | :03:48. | :03:51. | |
sensible and because it's socially inclusive. One of the biggest fiscal | :03:52. | :03:57. | |
steps that can be taken to reduce unemployment is public sector | :03:58. | :04:00. | |
investment in housing. Can I therefore welcome the Communities | :04:01. | :04:05. | |
Secretary's statement yesterday that the Treasury has agreed to increase | :04:06. | :04:09. | |
net borrowing by 50 billion in order to enable this to happen, will he | :04:10. | :04:14. | |
confirm this is government policy? LAUGHTER Know, and that was not what | :04:15. | :04:20. | |
my right honourable friend said. As the right honourable gentleman | :04:21. | :04:25. | |
knows. I would agree with him that increasing activity in the | :04:26. | :04:28. | |
construction sector is a very good way of creating jobs, but he will | :04:29. | :04:34. | |
know that at 4.3% our economy is approaching full employment. The | :04:35. | :04:41. | |
optic gap is extremely small. -- output gap. Given there are more | :04:42. | :04:47. | |
people in employment there is more opportunity for people to take | :04:48. | :04:52. | |
advantage of employee sharing saving schemes. The maximum amount of time | :04:53. | :04:55. | |
you can pause one of those schemes is six months which mean many women | :04:56. | :05:00. | |
on maternity leave house to cash in their schemes and can't take | :05:01. | :05:03. | |
advantage of them to maximum effect. I'm sure this is an up-to-date | :05:04. | :05:07. | |
anomaly. We'll be Chancellor extend the period of time that an employee | :05:08. | :05:13. | |
savings scheme can be paused with 12 months, so women maternity leave can | :05:14. | :05:17. | |
enjoy the same benefits as everyone else? The word employment and | :05:18. | :05:25. | |
employee, it just about got in order. I'm sure he did, Mr Speaker. | :05:26. | :05:30. | |
My honourable friend raises a technical point which has been | :05:31. | :05:35. | |
raised with me by others. I will take what he said today and look at | :05:36. | :05:48. | |
it carefully. Getting couples into work is one of the best ways of | :05:49. | :05:54. | |
reducing family poverty and protecting women economically for | :05:55. | :05:57. | |
the future. Rather than putting money into continuing to increase | :05:58. | :06:01. | |
the tax threshold which rarely benefits low-income families, will | :06:02. | :06:07. | |
the chance to look budget again which is a real deterrent? The | :06:08. | :06:13. | |
government has made commitments around the personal allowance and | :06:14. | :06:18. | |
high rate threshold in its election manifesto. We've reiterated them in | :06:19. | :06:25. | |
the 2017 manifesto and remain committed to those policies. Of | :06:26. | :06:29. | |
course I will take into account all representations received from | :06:30. | :06:32. | |
honourable and Right honourable members of this House and take her | :06:33. | :06:36. | |
comments on the workarounds as such a representative. I'd like to thank | :06:37. | :06:42. | |
my right honourable friend for his work on the London Finance | :06:43. | :06:45. | |
commission which recommended giving London a wide range of additional | :06:46. | :06:49. | |
powers. The government has committed to continue to work with the GLA and | :06:50. | :06:55. | |
London councils to eschew a London maintains its status as a world | :06:56. | :06:58. | |
leading city -- in London maintains its status. Would right honourable | :06:59. | :07:04. | |
friend particularly consider the means whereby an element of fiscal | :07:05. | :07:09. | |
devolution, for example by tourist levy, might be part of a robust | :07:10. | :07:13. | |
funding package for Crossrail to which is a critical part of National | :07:14. | :07:22. | |
infrastructure? As my honourable friend is aware, the Department for | :07:23. | :07:26. | |
Transport is scrutinising the business case for Crossrail and | :07:27. | :07:31. | |
discussing that with TfL. It is right that the London region doesn't | :07:32. | :07:35. | |
retain disproportionate amounts of revenue and some of the | :07:36. | :07:37. | |
recommendations are broad ranging in the report. If the ministerial team | :07:38. | :07:44. | |
are to deliver anything for the London Finance commission, will he | :07:45. | :07:49. | |
talk to them about their difficulty now, with Brexit coming, of | :07:50. | :07:52. | |
recruiting anyone to come and work and live in London? The search for | :07:53. | :07:57. | |
talent is very, very difficult indeed. No one wants to come and | :07:58. | :08:01. | |
work in this capital because Brexit, what's he going to do about it? The | :08:02. | :08:06. | |
honourable gentleman needs to question whether members on his own | :08:07. | :08:11. | |
side who fully signed up to the recommendations of the London | :08:12. | :08:14. | |
planning commission, for example retaining almost half of all stamp | :08:15. | :08:18. | |
duty across England, may be an issue many of his colleagues don't | :08:19. | :08:27. | |
support. Mr Speaker, the UK internal market benefits all the nations and | :08:28. | :08:31. | |
regions of the United Kingdom and it is essential that no new barriers to | :08:32. | :08:37. | |
living and doing business within the UK are created. Exports to the rest | :08:38. | :08:42. | |
of the UK are vital to the success of Scotland's economy, generating | :08:43. | :08:47. | |
?50 billion in 2015. This compares to ?12 billion of exports to the EU | :08:48. | :08:52. | |
and 16 billion to the rest of the world and accounts for 63% of | :08:53. | :08:59. | |
Scotland's total exports. I'm delighted that the number of | :09:00. | :09:05. | |
registered enterprises has gone up by 18% in East Renfrewshire since | :09:06. | :09:09. | |
2010. As these businesses look to expand from local to national | :09:10. | :09:13. | |
players, maintaining the integrity of the UK internal market is vital | :09:14. | :09:17. | |
and any moves to fragment it would damage the Scottish economy, place | :09:18. | :09:21. | |
huge barriers to trade and that that vital contribution in jeopardy. I | :09:22. | :09:25. | |
would strongly agree with my honourable friend that fragmentation | :09:26. | :09:29. | |
of the UK internal market would be damaging for the Scottish economy | :09:30. | :09:32. | |
and her small businesses in particular. This isn't just an issue | :09:33. | :09:38. | |
for Scotland. We all agree that protecting the UK internal market is | :09:39. | :09:41. | |
in our shared interests and the government will work to make sure | :09:42. | :09:44. | |
there are no new barriers to doing business across the UK. Mr Speaker, | :09:45. | :09:52. | |
staying in the internal market while the UK crashes out of the EU is set | :09:53. | :10:00. | |
to cost Scotland ?30 billion over five years according to London | :10:01. | :10:04. | |
School of economics research published today. Aberdeen is set to | :10:05. | :10:08. | |
lose the most at 7% of GDA. Well the chance to be clear that on behalf of | :10:09. | :10:12. | |
his government, that no deal is not an option? As I've already said | :10:13. | :10:18. | |
earlier, the government is preparing for all possible outcomes of the | :10:19. | :10:23. | |
negotiations with the European Union, as any prudent government | :10:24. | :10:26. | |
would. The Prime Minister has made it very clear that our strong | :10:27. | :10:30. | |
preference is to achieve a deal that is good for Britain, which protects | :10:31. | :10:35. | |
British jobs, businesses and prosperity. The prosperity, jobs and | :10:36. | :10:42. | |
businesses of all of the UK. On that note, 56% of EU nationals in fits | :10:43. | :10:47. | |
the 250 companies are highly likely or quite likely to leave the UK | :10:48. | :10:50. | |
before the conclusion of the Brexit negotiations. What is his assessment | :10:51. | :10:57. | |
of the impact on the Scottish economy of all of this talent | :10:58. | :11:02. | |
leaving the UK? I'm very confident that whatever the outcome, all of | :11:03. | :11:07. | |
this talent will not leave. The Prime Minister made very clear | :11:08. | :11:11. | |
yesterday that her top priority remains giving students to EU | :11:12. | :11:15. | |
citizens living in the UK, and that is why she is working hard on the | :11:16. | :11:23. | |
deal for our citizens. It is the area in which our discussions are | :11:24. | :11:26. | |
most advanced and the honourable lady has the Prime Minister's | :11:27. | :11:29. | |
personal commitment of the importance she attaches to that | :11:30. | :11:30. | |
area. With financial and accounting | :11:31. | :11:40. | |
services amounting to the most valuable export service, with ?7.6 | :11:41. | :11:47. | |
billion, or 86% going to the rest of the UK, does my right honourable | :11:48. | :11:52. | |
friend agree that the internal market is vital in preserving this | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
important sector of the economy. My honourable friend is right to draw | :11:57. | :12:01. | |
attention to the important role of financial services and insurance in | :12:02. | :12:05. | |
the Scottish economy. As a subset of the broader point that the internal | :12:06. | :12:10. | |
market works extremely well for Scotland is very important to | :12:11. | :12:15. | |
Scotland's exports. It would clearly be catastrophic for the financial | :12:16. | :12:19. | |
insurance sector if businesses based in Scotland were no longer able to | :12:20. | :12:23. | |
operate across the border into England. If I understand correctly, | :12:24. | :12:29. | |
you have SNP members who understand the benefits of the European single | :12:30. | :12:34. | |
market but not the UK single market? We have fanatics in the Conservative | :12:35. | :12:39. | |
Party who would happily drive the coach and horses through the | :12:40. | :12:43. | |
European single market. Perhaps in characteristic fashion, the | :12:44. | :12:49. | |
Chancellor can set out a growing opposition and show what is in the | :12:50. | :12:52. | |
interest of the government's economy. It's clear, the benefits of | :12:53. | :12:57. | |
the UK internal market are absolutely clear to all of us and we | :12:58. | :13:01. | |
will not allow the UK internal market to be compromised. In our | :13:02. | :13:06. | |
negotiations with the EU, we hope and expect to agree a deal which | :13:07. | :13:09. | |
would allow British businesses to continue to enjoy the benefits of | :13:10. | :13:14. | |
access to the European marketplace and European companies to continue | :13:15. | :13:17. | |
to enjoy the benefits of access to the UK market. Thank you, Mr | :13:18. | :13:27. | |
Speaker. The government is investing over ?1 billion to stimulate the | :13:28. | :13:30. | |
market to build the next generation of digital infrastructure the UK | :13:31. | :13:34. | |
needs for the future. This includes the ?400 million infrastructure fund | :13:35. | :13:44. | |
and ?740 million for broadband and 5G programme, it is an extension to | :13:45. | :13:51. | |
the programme to cover 95% of UK premises at the end of the year. My | :13:52. | :13:56. | |
constituency now enjoy superfast broadband but still a small number | :13:57. | :13:59. | |
in rural areas struggle with access to broadband and also to good for G | :14:00. | :14:10. | |
or 3G coverage, what can they do to ensure that we are getting all of | :14:11. | :14:18. | |
the coverage that we pay for? The government is working to continue | :14:19. | :14:21. | |
progress on the superfast broadband roll-out. We expect to reach 95% by | :14:22. | :14:26. | |
the end of the year. We have seen some changes from the internal | :14:27. | :14:30. | |
reorganisation with the British Telecom setting out open Reach, that | :14:31. | :14:33. | |
progress will be maintained through government expenditure in that | :14:34. | :14:37. | |
programme and in the digital investment fund. The APR have just | :14:38. | :14:43. | |
reported on the poor productivity record in this country, investment | :14:44. | :14:49. | |
in broadband is crucial to improving this. So, when is the minister going | :14:50. | :14:54. | |
to respond to the letter I wrote to him on the 1st of September about | :14:55. | :15:03. | |
broadband in Teesdale? I absolutely agree that broadband and digital | :15:04. | :15:07. | |
progress is critical to the productivity of the economy. I'm | :15:08. | :15:11. | |
unaware of the letter, I will look into it with immediate effect and | :15:12. | :15:19. | |
apologise for the delay. As the fourth industrial resolution | :15:20. | :15:20. | |
accelerates, superfast broadband will be key to the productivity of | :15:21. | :15:25. | |
technology business -- revolution. Will the Minister continue to work | :15:26. | :15:30. | |
with businesses to ensure they get the broadband they need? I certainly | :15:31. | :15:34. | |
will continue to work with Agricola. Durable gentleman has spoken for | :15:35. | :15:39. | |
enterprise and businesses consistently since he came to the | :15:40. | :15:44. | |
house, the intention to pursue broadband investment, whether | :15:45. | :15:47. | |
superfast awful fibre, is at the heart of efforts to improve | :15:48. | :15:56. | |
productivity. -- whether superfast or fibre. There are still parts of | :15:57. | :16:02. | |
my constituency both rural and urban, such as the town of | :16:03. | :16:06. | |
Carrickfergus, where broadband coverage is still very poor. BT | :16:07. | :16:14. | |
refuse to look at innovative ways of spreading the network. Is it time | :16:15. | :16:17. | |
for the government to look for other bits of money where it is investing | :16:18. | :16:24. | |
in broadband to ensure there is better coverage? The honourable | :16:25. | :16:28. | |
gentleman makes an important point, that all of our constituencies have | :16:29. | :16:31. | |
some areas that are not fully able to access the important benefits | :16:32. | :16:37. | |
that come from broadband. I will take his point and discuss them with | :16:38. | :16:40. | |
my colleagues and report back to him. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I'm | :16:41. | :16:46. | |
pleased the Communities Secretary has been inspired by Labour's | :16:47. | :16:53. | |
credibility rule in relation to infrastructure including digital and | :16:54. | :17:00. | |
in the form of house building. It begs crucial questions. Does the | :17:01. | :17:03. | |
Minister support his colleagues bid to borrow more to invest, to use the | :17:04. | :17:09. | |
quote, or is it a bid to steal the Chancellor's job? The government's | :17:10. | :17:19. | |
progress on broadband, as I outlined, was a speculative comment | :17:20. | :17:26. | |
regarding the forthcoming budget. The right honourable gentleman can | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
answer that question. That response about plans in relation to digital | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
infrastructure are quite wholly inadequate, as indicated by my | :17:36. | :17:40. | |
honourable friend, is the minister aware that productivity figures are | :17:41. | :17:45. | |
at precrisis levels? Is he aware that regional industries are up to | :17:46. | :17:48. | |
seven times more productive than others? What is the digital | :17:49. | :17:52. | |
investment strategy doing to close that shocking gap? The honourable | :17:53. | :17:58. | |
gentleman seems to have forgotten we have the announcement of the red | :17:59. | :18:03. | |
tipped investment fund, a ?23 billion pot of money going into | :18:04. | :18:07. | |
investments, and digital infrastructure up and down the | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
country. We mention the ?400 million investment fund and the ?740 million | :18:13. | :18:20. | |
on full broadband and 5G. We are approaching 95% of UK premises | :18:21. | :18:23. | |
having access to superfast broadband by the end of the year. It puts us | :18:24. | :18:27. | |
in a very strong place for the future. Mr Speaker, the government | :18:28. | :18:35. | |
is committed to reducing the administrative burdens for small and | :18:36. | :18:40. | |
medium-sized enterprises, including in the East Midlands. That's why we | :18:41. | :18:46. | |
have delivered ?272 million in net reductions between 2011 and 2015 | :18:47. | :18:50. | |
which is why we continue to reduce unnecessary interaction with the | :18:51. | :18:58. | |
taxpayer. We have one of the longest tax codes in the world, the Treasury | :18:59. | :19:03. | |
are under extra pressure to bung money to certain interest groups but | :19:04. | :19:06. | |
may I suggest that he sticks to the Treasury bench and argues the case | :19:07. | :19:12. | |
for less taxation, simpler taxation and less debt. That's the best | :19:13. | :19:15. | |
service we can give to the young and our businesses. My right honourable | :19:16. | :19:21. | |
friend raises an important point about complexity which is why we | :19:22. | :19:26. | |
continue to work with the office for tax simplification to ensure our tax | :19:27. | :19:29. | |
code is as simple as it can be but there is no doubt, Mr Speaker, that | :19:30. | :19:36. | |
in terms of holding our exemplary record on evasion and noncompliance, | :19:37. | :19:42. | |
?160 billion of revenue since 2010-2015, we make no apologies for | :19:43. | :19:46. | |
having a tax code that works to support our public services. There | :19:47. | :19:53. | |
are currently 130,000 small and medium-sized exporting businesses | :19:54. | :19:57. | |
that export to Europe that currently have to deal with no bureaucracy at | :19:58. | :20:01. | |
our border to export that could do so, if his colleagues have their | :20:02. | :20:05. | |
way. Does he think such bureaucracy will be good for British business, | :20:06. | :20:12. | |
or less good for British business? As the honourable lady will know, we | :20:13. | :20:15. | |
are in the middle of negotiations with our European partners. I'm | :20:16. | :20:20. | |
confident, as the Prime Minister expressed at every turn, that we | :20:21. | :20:22. | |
will secure a good deal for this country and in the context about or | :20:23. | :20:27. | |
borders it means that it will be as frictionless as possible, which will | :20:28. | :20:30. | |
be good for trade, our country and the economy. Thank you, Mr Speaker. | :20:31. | :20:36. | |
Does the Minister agree that the party opposite's plans to raise | :20:37. | :20:40. | |
corporation tax will harm small and medium-sized businesses ... Just for | :20:41. | :20:50. | |
the benefit of the honourable gentleman, the government's was -- | :20:51. | :20:57. | |
the party's plans are not the responsibility of the government. We | :20:58. | :21:02. | |
have learned that today. Across the United Kingdom, small and medium | :21:03. | :21:07. | |
businesses have created thousands of jobs. Small and medium businesses | :21:08. | :21:11. | |
tell me that they are overregulated and they have bureaucracy which | :21:12. | :21:15. | |
restricts ability to employ more people. May I ask what he is doing | :21:16. | :21:22. | |
to address that? The honourable member is absolutely right, and the | :21:23. | :21:26. | |
critical importance of small and medium sized enterprises, we have | :21:27. | :21:30. | |
500 million small businesses in the country, at the heart of generating | :21:31. | :21:34. | |
the wealth and tax which support public services that we all wish to | :21:35. | :21:39. | |
see thriving. We are working closely with the office for tax have | :21:40. | :21:44. | |
occasion ensure wherever possible, the government is out of the way a | :21:45. | :21:48. | |
business rather than standing in the way. Mr Speaker, the gender pay gap | :21:49. | :21:57. | |
in the public sector is 18.3%, which is a record low. This compares to | :21:58. | :22:05. | |
24.5% in the private sector. I'm grateful to my right honourable | :22:06. | :22:09. | |
friend for those comments, would she explain how the new duty, introduced | :22:10. | :22:13. | |
by this government, on public sector bodies publishing the differences | :22:14. | :22:15. | |
between male and female pay would support the trend of an ever | :22:16. | :22:19. | |
reducing gender pay gap which is at a record low? The new duty | :22:20. | :22:26. | |
introduced will be more transparent. We will be able to find out where | :22:27. | :22:30. | |
the particular issues are in the public sector, for example | :22:31. | :22:34. | |
occupations like engineering that are well paid that women are less | :22:35. | :22:38. | |
likely to go into and what we can do to encourage women to apply for | :22:39. | :22:52. | |
those roles. Medium public sector does the Minister agree with me that | :22:53. | :22:56. | |
it's about time that hard-working public sector workers get the pay | :22:57. | :23:03. | |
rise that they deserve? We have already been clear that pay review | :23:04. | :23:08. | |
bodies will have the remit to be able to look at how they retain and | :23:09. | :23:15. | |
recruit high-quality public sector workers across the board, whether | :23:16. | :23:18. | |
that is teachers, nurses or police officers. The chief executive has | :23:19. | :23:28. | |
given evidence to the Treasury Select Committee on the Treasury 's | :23:29. | :23:31. | |
women in Finance Charter, she is the government's women in finance | :23:32. | :23:36. | |
champion. To tackle the gender pay gap we need more women in senior | :23:37. | :23:42. | |
roles. Can I say to the Chief Secretary if she could urge the | :23:43. | :23:45. | |
Chancellor to reply to my letter that I wrote to him last week about | :23:46. | :23:48. | |
apartments that the Bank of England were more senior women are needed | :23:49. | :23:51. | |
because the evidence this morning gives the importance of role models? | :23:52. | :23:57. | |
First, can I congratulate my honourable friend on the work that | :23:58. | :24:00. | |
she did as women's minister in promoting these issues. It would be | :24:01. | :24:07. | |
great to see other professions such as legal services looking at the | :24:08. | :24:10. | |
success of women in finance charter, seeing what they can do as well. I | :24:11. | :24:15. | |
will urge my colleague to reply to your letter ASAP! Hull in addition | :24:16. | :24:24. | |
to the gender pay gap, the disability pay gap remains | :24:25. | :24:28. | |
extraordinarily high. Yet, disabled people are not mentioned in the | :24:29. | :24:31. | |
government's industrial strategy. When will we harness the potential | :24:32. | :24:35. | |
of disabled people in the economy and create policies that effectively | :24:36. | :24:43. | |
show this? The honourable lady is right to highlight the issue of | :24:44. | :24:46. | |
making sure that disabled people have a full opportunity to | :24:47. | :24:52. | |
participate, we are missing out on huge amounts of talent of disabled | :24:53. | :24:56. | |
people, women and older people in the economy which we need to unleash | :24:57. | :25:00. | |
to ensure the country becomes more productive and for the sake of those | :25:01. | :25:05. | |
with so much to contribute. Number seven, Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, last | :25:06. | :25:14. | |
year public spending was 38.9% of GDP, which equates to about ?28,500 | :25:15. | :25:21. | |
per household. This is compatible with leading countries. I thank the | :25:22. | :25:27. | |
Minister for her response and does she agree it is down to this | :25:28. | :25:33. | |
government's response -- management of public finances that we spend | :25:34. | :25:40. | |
more than Germany and Japan? My honourable friend is absolutely | :25:41. | :25:44. | |
right, that we spend more per student on education than Germany | :25:45. | :25:49. | |
does or Japan does. Because of our management of public finances, we've | :25:50. | :25:54. | |
been able to push ?1.3 billion more in education spending to the front | :25:55. | :25:58. | |
line, where it will make the most difference in classrooms. Is the | :25:59. | :26:04. | |
Secretary concerned that the Bank of England will increase interest rates | :26:05. | :26:08. | |
by 2.9% in November which will have an adverse effect on public | :26:09. | :26:14. | |
spending? Of course, that is one of the reasons we need to ensure that | :26:15. | :26:19. | |
we are reducing our debt and reducing our deficit to reduce | :26:20. | :26:23. | |
interest payments as a result of the previous Labour government leaving | :26:24. | :26:25. | |
us with the highest deficit in history. But we do have... We do | :26:26. | :26:34. | |
have an independent Bank of England. It's very important, as government | :26:35. | :26:38. | |
minister, I'm not telling them what to do on interest rates. | :26:39. | :26:45. | |
In 2010, there was a significant gap between wages in the public and | :26:46. | :26:52. | |
private sector, where public sector workers received an average of 5.76% | :26:53. | :26:59. | |
higher pay. Today, wages are comparator all, and when you take | :27:00. | :27:03. | |
into account more generous pension benefits, there's an additional 10% | :27:04. | :27:11. | |
pension premium the public sector. Inflation last week was announced at | :27:12. | :27:15. | |
3%. Public sector pay rises 1%. Could the Chief secretary confirm | :27:16. | :27:20. | |
that that is a pay cut for millions of workers, and will she take from | :27:21. | :27:25. | |
me as a budget representation, scrap the cap? It seems the honourable | :27:26. | :27:31. | |
gentleman can't take yes for an answer. There isn't a public sector | :27:32. | :27:38. | |
pay cap. What we have said is that individual secretaries of State will | :27:39. | :27:45. | |
be responsible for making proposals on their workforce is dependent on | :27:46. | :27:50. | |
specific circumstances. This is very different from the issues we are | :27:51. | :27:53. | |
facing in the NHS or the Armed Forces. What's important is that we | :27:54. | :27:58. | |
look at the evidence, we make sure we can recruit and retain the best | :27:59. | :28:02. | |
possible workers in the public sector. We also need to make sure we | :28:03. | :28:06. | |
don't price out of the market people working in the private sector too. | :28:07. | :28:12. | |
Can the chief secretary urge her Cabinet colleagues when they are | :28:13. | :28:15. | |
making those decisions to bear in mind that public sector pay rises | :28:16. | :28:20. | |
must be both fair to public sector workers but also to the five sixths | :28:21. | :28:25. | |
of workers in the private sector who also face the same pressures and | :28:26. | :28:30. | |
challenges? The fact is we were left a legacy of a previous government | :28:31. | :28:35. | |
that spent money they didn't have. We've had to get the public finances | :28:36. | :28:40. | |
back on track. We do recognise there are areas where we need to make sure | :28:41. | :28:45. | |
we can recruit and retain those high-quality public sector workers. | :28:46. | :28:50. | |
We also need to make sure we've got a thriving private sector economy. | :28:51. | :28:53. | |
That's why we've ended up with the lowest unemployment for 40 years... | :28:54. | :29:00. | |
Thank you Mr Speaker. We know from the Resolution Foundation that this | :29:01. | :29:04. | |
decade is the worst for wage growth in 210 years. When will the Chief | :29:05. | :29:09. | |
Secretary to the Treasury ensure her department are fully funded to scrap | :29:10. | :29:15. | |
the cap? The reason we have not seen the wage growth we want to see is we | :29:16. | :29:19. | |
have an issue with productivity in this country. What we need to make | :29:20. | :29:25. | |
sure in order to raise living standards for everybody regardless | :29:26. | :29:31. | |
of where they work, is to raise that productivity. That's why we are | :29:32. | :29:35. | |
investing in infrastructure, investing in skills, doing all those | :29:36. | :29:38. | |
things the previous government didn't do to make our country more | :29:39. | :29:44. | |
productive. Can my right honourable friend confirm for the avoidance of | :29:45. | :29:49. | |
doubt, is there a pay premium for the public sector over the private | :29:50. | :29:56. | |
sector? There is not a pay premium. Public sector and private sector pay | :29:57. | :30:01. | |
is roughly comparator will, but in the public sector there is an | :30:02. | :30:07. | |
average of 10% additional remuneration in terms of pension | :30:08. | :30:11. | |
contributions. I hope the whole house will join me in congratulating | :30:12. | :30:16. | |
the right honourable lady the member for Tatton on her significant | :30:17. | :30:28. | |
birthday today. Esther McVey. Older, hopefully wiser, and for all the | :30:29. | :30:33. | |
ladies who are at my age, hitting my stride and coming of age. | :30:34. | :30:46. | |
I need to wish my right honourable friend many happy returns and | :30:47. | :30:52. | |
confirm the government is taking big decisions for Britain's future and | :30:53. | :30:56. | |
investing in transport infrastructure across the North. | :30:57. | :31:01. | |
Last week we announced road investment in Cheshire of ?65 | :31:02. | :31:06. | |
million, including ?18 million of funding for five different local | :31:07. | :31:09. | |
road schemes and ?47 million for the middle which bypass. This is on top | :31:10. | :31:14. | |
of the improvements the government is already making. Esther McVey. I | :31:15. | :31:22. | |
want to welcome the Minister's reply. The local Cheshire and | :31:23. | :31:26. | |
Warrington Lepper has bold agenda for the increasing business and the | :31:27. | :31:34. | |
plan has an equally bold agenda for increasing the number of houses, | :31:35. | :31:37. | |
which will bring money to the Exchequer and also houses for the | :31:38. | :31:43. | |
country's needing housing. What we need is the mid Cheshire rail line. | :31:44. | :31:47. | |
Can I ask the team and the Chancellor to look at this for the | :31:48. | :31:53. | |
forthcoming budget? We need to take that as a budget representation. The | :31:54. | :31:58. | |
basic point is we are ambitious to unlock three transport investment | :31:59. | :32:01. | |
both residential and commercial opportunity. It's been one of the | :32:02. | :32:05. | |
features of government policies over the past few years and I'm sure that | :32:06. | :32:11. | |
will continue. In Cheshire and across the whole of the North, the | :32:12. | :32:17. | |
reality is that it is infrastructure investment that will unlock a | :32:18. | :32:22. | |
productive capacity. Can the Minister recognise the | :32:23. | :32:24. | |
disproportionality of investment per head between the south-east and the | :32:25. | :32:28. | |
rest of the country is unacceptable and must change? The honourable | :32:29. | :32:36. | |
gentleman simply mistaken in his assessment of the position. | :32:37. | :32:41. | |
Government investment is broadly equal across the different regions | :32:42. | :32:45. | |
of our country. I would highlight to him that the central government | :32:46. | :32:51. | |
investment going into the North is ?13 billion during this spending | :32:52. | :32:54. | |
period, which is a record in British history. Order. As a very | :32:55. | :33:01. | |
distinguished chartered surveyor which the honourable gentleman is, | :33:02. | :33:05. | |
he will know that the Cotswold is a very significant distance from the | :33:06. | :33:10. | |
North or the North West. But we will look forward with eager anticipation | :33:11. | :33:13. | |
to hearing the honourable gentleman at some later point. The government | :33:14. | :33:22. | |
has reduced the deficit by well over two thirds, from a post-war high of | :33:23. | :33:32. | |
9.9% of GDP in 2009-10 to a low. We haven't done this out of some | :33:33. | :33:37. | |
ideological obsession. We've done it because the key challenge is to get | :33:38. | :33:43. | |
debt falling to increase the resilience of our country. If the | :33:44. | :33:46. | |
need for ever to arise we would have the capacity to support the economy | :33:47. | :33:59. | |
against a future shock. I thank my honourable friend for that answer. | :34:00. | :34:02. | |
Can I make one simple request about the budget which is whatever | :34:03. | :34:06. | |
measures he announces, he resists the temptation to pay for them by | :34:07. | :34:10. | |
billing our grandchildren. Instead, will he continue with the excellent | :34:11. | :34:17. | |
work that has seen us slash the percentage of GDP, the record | :34:18. | :34:21. | |
post-war deficit we inherited from the previous government. It is not | :34:22. | :34:29. | |
responsible to make so-called hard choices by loading the price onto | :34:30. | :34:32. | |
the next generation and generation before that -- after that. We have | :34:33. | :34:39. | |
to make difficult decisions and bear the consequences. At ?65,000 per | :34:40. | :34:45. | |
household, public debt in this country is far too high. We have | :34:46. | :34:55. | |
announced plans to reduce the deficit in a measured and balanced | :34:56. | :34:59. | |
way to ensure debt is falling as a share of GDP. We are still seeing | :35:00. | :35:08. | |
companies like Microsoft and Apple saving hundreds of millions of | :35:09. | :35:14. | |
pounds in corporation tax by booking sales in Ireland. Does my right | :35:15. | :35:16. | |
honourable friend agreed that we need to develop measures to make | :35:17. | :35:32. | |
companies pay tax in the UK. UK corporation tax is levied on profits | :35:33. | :35:36. | |
generated by the activities of countries within the territory. The | :35:37. | :35:43. | |
digital companies present us with a new challenge in attribute on | :35:44. | :35:46. | |
profits effectively to individual jurisdictions. We are continuing to | :35:47. | :35:51. | |
work with the task force on the Digital economy and also looking | :35:52. | :35:55. | |
carefully at ideas emerging within the EU for interim solutions pending | :35:56. | :36:03. | |
a full international solution. Given that the previous Chancellor has now | :36:04. | :36:06. | |
said that in 2008 the Labour government did what was necessary in | :36:07. | :36:09. | |
a difficult situation, will the Chancellor except the reason we have | :36:10. | :36:12. | |
thousands of people going to food banks and desperately underpaid | :36:13. | :36:16. | |
public sector workers is entirely the fault of Tory policy? No, Mr | :36:17. | :36:21. | |
Speaker. Of course the government needs to be able to respond to an | :36:22. | :36:25. | |
external shock. But a prudent government has got the economy in | :36:26. | :36:29. | |
good shape to respond before that shock arises. The problem in 2008-9 | :36:30. | :36:35. | |
was that the then Labour government was borrowing tens of billions of | :36:36. | :36:41. | |
pounds at the top of the economic cycle, grossly responsibly. It was | :36:42. | :36:52. | |
of course the collapse in tax revenue following the global | :36:53. | :36:56. | |
financial crisis in 2008, and yet that is exactly what we will face | :36:57. | :36:59. | |
unless there is a transitional deal with the EU to allow our world | :37:00. | :37:05. | |
leading financial services sector contributing ?66 billion a year in | :37:06. | :37:09. | |
tax revenue to operate in the single market. We've been asking the | :37:10. | :37:12. | |
government will yet to confirm there will be a transitional deal as today | :37:13. | :37:17. | |
is the penultimate treasury questions before the end of the | :37:18. | :37:23. | |
year, and perhaps the Chancellor 's last Treasury questions ever, will | :37:24. | :37:28. | |
the government promised UK-based firms a transitional deal | :37:29. | :37:30. | |
guaranteeing market access before the end of this year? As I've | :37:31. | :37:35. | |
already said, the government has made clear, the Prime Minister set | :37:36. | :37:41. | |
out in the front 's speech that we want to agree an implementation | :37:42. | :37:48. | |
period as part of a deal with the European Union. We are encouraged | :37:49. | :37:52. | |
that the 27 agreed to start internal preparatory discussions on | :37:53. | :37:56. | |
guidelines in relation to an implementation period. We are | :37:57. | :38:00. | |
confident that will give Jewish businesses the confidence we are | :38:01. | :38:04. | |
going to provide them with the certainty they required -- that will | :38:05. | :38:13. | |
give our businesses. Infrastructure is at the heart of the government's | :38:14. | :38:17. | |
economic strategy and our investment will boost productivity and growth. | :38:18. | :38:21. | |
Since 2010 a quarter of a trillion has been spent on public and private | :38:22. | :38:28. | |
sector industry. The biggest investment in transport | :38:29. | :38:29. | |
infrastructure in generations have been made possible by this | :38:30. | :38:35. | |
government, will my honourable friend commit to further investment | :38:36. | :38:39. | |
in our rail network, particularly at local commute to routes through | :38:40. | :38:45. | |
Hazel Grove? This government is committed to the largest rail | :38:46. | :38:49. | |
investment programme since Victorian times. Including investment in HST. | :38:50. | :38:55. | |
You'll be aware of the announcement the Chancellor made in Manchester | :38:56. | :38:59. | |
last month of ?300 million to improve connectivity to HS2 across | :39:00. | :39:07. | |
the northern region. Can my right honourable friend confirm his | :39:08. | :39:14. | |
commitment and will he commit to meeting with me and local leaders to | :39:15. | :39:19. | |
discuss how we can deliver this change for our region? The | :39:20. | :39:24. | |
government remains fully committed to agreeing both city deals and | :39:25. | :39:27. | |
working constructively with the Scottish Government and with local | :39:28. | :39:31. | |
partners. I am very happy to meet with my honourable friend to discuss | :39:32. | :39:39. | |
this further. A decent transport infrastructure is an essential | :39:40. | :39:42. | |
platform in economic rate. The Minister will be aware investment in | :39:43. | :39:46. | |
the north-east is only ?200 per head as opposed to ?2000 per head in | :39:47. | :39:51. | |
London on public transport. Will he now commit to investing in the | :39:52. | :39:55. | |
north-east, in the Tyne and we're metro, public money, not some | :39:56. | :40:03. | |
private Finance initiative? The government is committed to | :40:04. | :40:05. | |
increasing investment across all regions. It is 30% higher than it | :40:06. | :40:09. | |
was under the Labour government. It would be better for the members | :40:10. | :40:14. | |
opposite to recognise the record investment going into infrastructure | :40:15. | :40:17. | |
which is driving productivity and growth. Will the Minister say how | :40:18. | :40:23. | |
much investment is going into the West Midlands, as it's very | :40:24. | :40:27. | |
important to the British economy? The investment that is going into | :40:28. | :40:31. | |
the West Midlands as part of the Midland engine and through the | :40:32. | :40:34. | |
devolution deal is part of the wider investment going in, the 23 billion | :40:35. | :40:39. | |
that has been announced in investment through the National | :40:40. | :40:42. | |
investment productivity plan. You'll be aware of the investment from the | :40:43. | :40:47. | |
Secretary of State of the spending on rail between 2019 and 24. | :40:48. | :41:01. | |
Since 2010, HMRC has secured more than ?53 billion from big business | :41:02. | :41:09. | |
is alone in additional tax revenue from tackling tax evasion, avoidance | :41:10. | :41:13. | |
and noncompliance. We have made it an offence for a corporate failed to | :41:14. | :41:17. | |
prevent the facilitation of tax evasion by their employees. | :41:18. | :41:24. | |
Corporation tax revenues where ?55.3 billion in 2017, the highest on | :41:25. | :41:25. | |
record. Mr Speaker, keeping up pressure on | :41:26. | :41:33. | |
multinationals to pay their fair share in taxes by till, will the tax | :41:34. | :41:43. | |
revenue collected since 2010 by HMRC avoid evasion, making the UK tax cut | :41:44. | :41:47. | |
one of the lowest in the world? My honourable friend is absolutely | :41:48. | :41:52. | |
right, 160 billion since 2010, far more than what was raised in the 13 | :41:53. | :41:58. | |
years by the party opposite. The tax gap figures of 6.5%, better than any | :41:59. | :42:06. | |
year and a Labour, 2005- 06 it was as high as 8.3%. | :42:07. | :42:11. | |
Successive cuts to British corporation tax have manifestly not | :42:12. | :42:17. | |
lead to greater business investment and according to the IFS, they are | :42:18. | :42:23. | |
not due to greater receipt since 2010. Will the Chancellor delay | :42:24. | :42:29. | |
proposed cuts to corporation tax? I'm surprised that the honourable | :42:30. | :42:33. | |
lady should raise the issue of corporation tax, because we have | :42:34. | :42:37. | |
brought corporation tax down from 28% in 2010 to 19%. We have further | :42:38. | :42:42. | |
plans to reduce it further to 17% but the honourable lady's party | :42:43. | :42:48. | |
wishes to inflate those rates of tax up to 26%, which will destroy jobs, | :42:49. | :42:53. | |
destroy wealth, destroy growth, lower the amount of tax that we can | :42:54. | :42:57. | |
collect, support vital public services that we see fine. One-way | :42:58. | :43:05. | |
companies avoid tax is by employing people illegally. We still have too | :43:06. | :43:09. | |
many illegal jobs in the economy in sectors like construction. Will my | :43:10. | :43:14. | |
honourable friend resist calls to play new burdens on legitimate work | :43:15. | :43:22. | |
and readable efforts through HMRC to root out illegal working in our | :43:23. | :43:27. | |
economy? My right honourable friend is absolutely right, I'm always | :43:28. | :43:29. | |
conscious as the minister responsible for strategic oversight | :43:30. | :43:36. | |
through tax to ensure that we put in place measures that are | :43:37. | :43:39. | |
proportionate and do not carry extra buttons for those who carry on their | :43:40. | :43:42. | |
business and companies in exactly the correct fashion. Mr Speaker, | :43:43. | :43:49. | |
intergovernment cooperation is vital, if we are to combat | :43:50. | :43:55. | |
international corporate tax evasion. In February of this year, Treasury | :43:56. | :43:58. | |
ministers withdrew from a meeting with the EU committee set up to | :43:59. | :44:04. | |
investigate issues and prioritise reforms. What sort of message does | :44:05. | :44:10. | |
the Secretary of State think it sends to tax evaders? The issue the | :44:11. | :44:18. | |
honourable member raises about cooperation with other countries is | :44:19. | :44:22. | |
an area where we have an exemplary record. We have cooperated with the | :44:23. | :44:27. | |
OECD on the profit shifting project and many recommendations are going | :44:28. | :44:31. | |
through the house at this precise moment in the latest Finance Bill. | :44:32. | :44:37. | |
Of course, we have common country reporting, where we were in the lead | :44:38. | :44:46. | |
of that particular move in 2012. As a result of increasing the personal | :44:47. | :44:53. | |
tax allowance and high rate threshold, 31 million individuals | :44:54. | :44:56. | |
will see their taxable reduced, 1.3 million individuals will be taken | :44:57. | :45:01. | |
out of income tax altogether, 585,000 individuals will have been | :45:02. | :45:08. | |
taken out of the higher rate of tax in 2017-18. Mr Speaker, in 2017-18 | :45:09. | :45:13. | |
and beyond, basic rate taxpayers would pay ?1000 less per year in tax | :45:14. | :45:19. | |
than they did in 2010. Can my right honourable friend confirm that | :45:20. | :45:23. | |
employees played Michael Gove paying a basic rate in tax would need to | :45:24. | :45:32. | |
earn -- and employee paying the basic rate in tax would need to and | :45:33. | :45:37. | |
thousands more? I can tell my honourable friend the good news that | :45:38. | :45:43. | |
a typical basic rate taxpayer will pay ?1005 less income tax in 2017-18 | :45:44. | :45:53. | |
then in 2010-11. Finally, Mr Nigel Huddlestone? I'm pleased that 3 | :45:54. | :45:59. | |
million of the lowest paid are taken out of | :46:00. | :46:04. | |
and to pay income tax, by this government. Can we find a mechanism | :46:05. | :46:12. | |
for those who want to pay more tax to do so? Mr Speaker, and always | :46:13. | :46:17. | |
very open to receiving from colleagues around the house. | :46:18. | :46:22. | |
Receiving ideas for specifically targeted taxes, and if my honourable | :46:23. | :46:26. | |
friend has such an idea, I would be very pleased to receive it. Topical | :46:27. | :46:34. | |
questions, Sir Desmond Swain. As we look ahead to GDP figures out | :46:35. | :46:39. | |
tomorrow and to the budget in one month's time, my focus is on three | :46:40. | :46:42. | |
key challenges that we need to meet as we seek to build an economy that | :46:43. | :46:48. | |
works for everyone. The first is protecting the economy by managing | :46:49. | :46:52. | |
short-term uncertainty. The second is achieving a good Brexit outcome, | :46:53. | :46:57. | |
and the third is addressing the longer term productivity challenge | :46:58. | :47:01. | |
to ensure that real wages and thus living standards can continue to | :47:02. | :47:06. | |
rise. Everything my department does will be focused towards those three | :47:07. | :47:13. | |
objectives. What revenue has the privatisation programme raised and | :47:14. | :47:16. | |
what would be the cost of nationalising the public utilities? | :47:17. | :47:22. | |
Well, Mr Speaker, I would refer sellable friend to the analysis that | :47:23. | :47:28. | |
the Conservative Party did at the time of the general election with | :47:29. | :47:33. | |
the proposals, if we can call them that, made by the opposition party | :47:34. | :47:38. | |
at the time. The government's policy is to sell assets when there is no | :47:39. | :47:43. | |
longer a policy reason to retain them, and invest the proceeds of | :47:44. | :47:49. | |
such sales in policy priorities. Nationalising assets would increase | :47:50. | :47:54. | |
public sector net debt, increasing the debt interest bill which would | :47:55. | :47:58. | |
divert public spending away from more valuable areas. It would also | :47:59. | :48:04. | |
mean that fewer investment needs of any nationalised industries would | :48:05. | :48:07. | |
have two compete for capital with our public services. I've listened | :48:08. | :48:14. | |
very carefully to the Chancellor's responds to the honourable member | :48:15. | :48:18. | |
for Aberdeen North and my honourable friend for Ilford North. On the | :48:19. | :48:23. | |
issue of no deal. Can I tell him that his response was crushingly | :48:24. | :48:26. | |
disappointing? Expressions of hope of a deal are just not good enough. | :48:27. | :48:33. | |
The Chancellor knows the economic peril our country faces if there is | :48:34. | :48:38. | |
no deal and described it rightfully as a worst-case scenario. Can I urge | :48:39. | :48:42. | |
him, in the interests of our country, to have the courage of his | :48:43. | :48:46. | |
convictions, stand up and face down his opponents in Cabinet and | :48:47. | :48:51. | |
confirmed today that, like us, he will not support or vote for a no | :48:52. | :48:59. | |
deal Brexit? Mr Speaker, as the honourable gentleman very well | :49:00. | :49:04. | |
knows, our clear objective, our priority, is to achieve a deal with | :49:05. | :49:10. | |
the EU. Our preference would be for a deal that gives a comprehensive | :49:11. | :49:14. | |
trade investment and security partnership between the UK and the | :49:15. | :49:20. | |
European Union in the future. As part of such a deal, we will seek an | :49:21. | :49:25. | |
implementation phase that gives British businesses and government | :49:26. | :49:28. | |
agencies proper time to prepare for the new circumstances they will | :49:29. | :49:34. | |
face. If he cannot stand up to his opponents on a no deal Brexit, can | :49:35. | :49:39. | |
he stand up to them on the issue of the transition period? Business | :49:40. | :49:42. | |
leaders yesterday made it clear that they need the certainty now that | :49:43. | :49:46. | |
there will be a sensible transition period that the Prime Minister | :49:47. | :49:51. | |
yesterday showed more confusion in her statement giving the impression | :49:52. | :49:54. | |
that the transition is to be negotiated only after we have | :49:55. | :49:58. | |
settled on what she describes as the future partnership of what Europe | :49:59. | :50:02. | |
will be. Businesses cannot wait. They need to plan now. Jobs are in | :50:03. | :50:07. | |
jeopardy now. If the Prime Minister is not willing to stand up to the | :50:08. | :50:13. | |
wrecks it Brexiteers in her party, will be Chancellor make it clear in | :50:14. | :50:15. | |
the way that the Prime Minister failed to do yesterday and as | :50:16. | :50:20. | |
business leaders have been calling for, we need the principles of any | :50:21. | :50:28. | |
transition confirmed by the end of the year. The honourable gentleman | :50:29. | :50:31. | |
is correct to say that the matter is urgent and pressing and that is why | :50:32. | :50:35. | |
we were so pleased that last week at the European Council B 27 agreed to | :50:36. | :50:41. | |
start internal procurator rue discussions in relation to an | :50:42. | :50:45. | |
implementation period. I'm confident we can give businesses the | :50:46. | :50:47. | |
confidence and certainty that they need. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can my | :50:48. | :50:54. | |
right honourable friend tell us what estimate is made of the effect of | :50:55. | :50:58. | |
the reduction in corporation tax rates on unemployment? I thank | :50:59. | :51:07. | |
durable member for his question. We have been cutting corporation tax | :51:08. | :51:11. | |
dramatically and I can inform him that we have raised, as a | :51:12. | :51:15. | |
consequence, 50% more in corporation tax today than we did in 2010. Thank | :51:16. | :51:24. | |
you, Mr Speaker. The Chancellor will be aware that the Office of National | :51:25. | :51:28. | |
Statistics have revised downwards the UK positive net international | :51:29. | :51:33. | |
investment position of ?470 billion to -?20 billion. What further shocks | :51:34. | :51:40. | |
of this magnitude is he expecting as a result of his government's | :51:41. | :51:47. | |
handling of the EU negotiations? Mr Speaker, if he looks at the | :51:48. | :51:52. | |
revision, he will know the cause of it is lower than anticipated returns | :51:53. | :51:58. | |
on UK investment stocks held overseas, principally returns on | :51:59. | :52:03. | |
mining related and petroleum related activities. Thank you, Mr Speaker. | :52:04. | :52:09. | |
The power station site is a large strategic site in the West Midlands. | :52:10. | :52:13. | |
Will my right honourable friend join me in urging all parties involved in | :52:14. | :52:18. | |
the redevelopment to be ambitious, bold and visionary, and also outline | :52:19. | :52:23. | |
what government assistance is available to attract innovative | :52:24. | :52:29. | |
high-tech businesses? Mr Speaker, I would almost certainly join my | :52:30. | :52:33. | |
honourable friend in celebrating the project and urging everyone working | :52:34. | :52:36. | |
on it to be as ambitious as possible. In terms of support, since | :52:37. | :52:42. | |
2010, her area has benefited from over ?300 million in grants to | :52:43. | :52:47. | |
support cutting-edge innovation and this government welcomes private | :52:48. | :52:51. | |
investment in innovative and high-tech businesses across the | :52:52. | :52:55. | |
economy, which is why at the 2016 Autumn Statement we announced an | :52:56. | :53:00. | |
additional ?4.7 billion for research and abandonment. Thank you Mr | :53:01. | :53:06. | |
Speaker. The Scottish National Party has asked the government to take | :53:07. | :53:11. | |
action to enable VAT to be reclaimed by the police and fire rescue | :53:12. | :53:15. | |
service, in the same way that they have taken action for our national | :53:16. | :53:22. | |
bodies, such as Highways England to be allowed to cover that. If the | :53:23. | :53:27. | |
action is taken for Highways England, why can't it be taken for | :53:28. | :53:31. | |
police Scotland and fire rescue? Will he commit to doing that in the | :53:32. | :53:37. | |
next budget? As the honourable lady will know, when the Scottish | :53:38. | :53:40. | |
Government took the decision to restructure their police and Fire | :53:41. | :53:43. | |
Services, they went into that decision with their eyes wide open. | :53:44. | :53:48. | |
They knew what the VAT consequences of that measure would be. So, it is | :53:49. | :53:53. | |
really down to the SNP to answer these questions of themselves. Mr | :53:54. | :53:59. | |
Speaker, could my right honourable friend say when the Treasury is | :54:00. | :54:03. | |
likely to give you sign off to HS2 phase to be, which of course, Mr | :54:04. | :54:09. | |
Speaker, you will know, runs through Cheshire? I thank the honourable | :54:10. | :54:17. | |
member for the question, I will take the matter up with the member for | :54:18. | :54:23. | |
transport and get back to him. Mr Speaker, inflation stands at a | :54:24. | :54:28. | |
staggering five year high. Businesses in Scotland, Falkirk and | :54:29. | :54:31. | |
across the UK have to face the prospect of increased trade tariffs | :54:32. | :54:36. | |
post Brexit. On the high street, it's becoming that businesses closed | :54:37. | :54:45. | |
down as people buy online, leaving town centre is struggling. As | :54:46. | :54:51. | |
Secretary of State, spoken on the possibility of businesses in town | :54:52. | :54:54. | |
centres, could they cope with online trade and impending extra budgets? | :54:55. | :55:02. | |
We are acutely aware of the fact that inflation has spiked. Most | :55:03. | :55:07. | |
forecasters, the overwhelming majority, expect it to start to fall | :55:08. | :55:13. | |
again in the New Year, the spike of inflation has been driven primarily | :55:14. | :55:17. | |
by a depreciation in the value of sterling last year. But I will take | :55:18. | :55:24. | |
his comments on VAT as a representation for the budget and I | :55:25. | :55:28. | |
will look at them carefully. Mr Speaker, could I urge the Chancellor | :55:29. | :55:33. | |
to project the representation we heard from the Shadow Chancellor? If | :55:34. | :55:38. | |
you cannot agree a price, you cannot do that until you know what you are | :55:39. | :55:41. | |
paying for and only a fool would write a blank cheque of taxpayers | :55:42. | :55:46. | |
money? My honourable friend is absolutely right, we should not be | :55:47. | :55:50. | |
giving away our negotiating positions where we are going into | :55:51. | :55:53. | |
one of the most important negotiations the country has ever | :55:54. | :55:57. | |
been involved in which is why we to ensure that we are prepared for all | :55:58. | :56:01. | |
eventualities. I'm delighted to meet with my honourable friend tomorrow | :56:02. | :56:06. | |
to discuss that in more detail. I'd like to raise the issues that we are | :56:07. | :56:11. | |
having with mobile banking in my constituency. I know when two | :56:12. | :56:16. | |
different banks have arrived with problems of people queueing in rough | :56:17. | :56:19. | |
weather and getting wet, and problems with paper banking. Could | :56:20. | :56:26. | |
members of the front bench bring forward waste to reorganise mobile | :56:27. | :56:29. | |
banking, make it more user-friendly and get banks to cooperate with one | :56:30. | :56:33. | |
another in terms of delivery of the vital service in the Highlands? Bank | :56:34. | :56:41. | |
branches are vital to many communities, and I'm sure they will | :56:42. | :56:45. | |
have heard your concerns but they are commercial decisions and one | :56:46. | :56:48. | |
should recognise that branch visits have fallen by roughly a third since | :56:49. | :56:57. | |
2011, there is one fifth less cash used for payments. These are changes | :56:58. | :57:00. | |
in the market that are reflecting how branches and mobile branches are | :57:01. | :57:08. | |
used. Would my right honourable friend accept that the contribution | :57:09. | :57:13. | |
made by financial services fastly outweighs the contribution to the | :57:14. | :57:17. | |
EU, by getting a sensible deal from day one is not only imperative that | :57:18. | :57:22. | |
much more likely to be achieved by the patient work of my right | :57:23. | :57:25. | |
honourable friend then the anti-business rhetoric of those | :57:26. | :57:26. | |
opposite? My honourable friend is quite right. | :57:27. | :57:35. | |
This is an industry that pays over ?71 billion in tax to the Exchequer, | :57:36. | :57:40. | |
employs over 1 million directly, 2.2 million through the sector as a | :57:41. | :57:46. | |
whole. He will know through his work as the chair of the all-party group | :57:47. | :57:51. | |
of Gibraltar Newport and is not just financial services within the UK but | :57:52. | :57:55. | |
our links with industries, including in territories such as Gibraltar. | :57:56. | :57:59. | |
Teachers have travelled to lobby Parliament because of the severe | :58:00. | :58:03. | |
cuts they've had in their pay in real terms. The Chief secretary has | :58:04. | :58:08. | |
said she's lifted the pay cut due to the pressure Labour has placed on | :58:09. | :58:12. | |
her. Can she confirm her department will fund the recommendations of the | :58:13. | :58:16. | |
pay review body rather than cash strapped local authorities? The | :58:17. | :58:22. | |
facts of the matter are that teaches an average received a 4.6% pay rise | :58:23. | :58:29. | |
last year, including promotions and responsibility allowances. Pay in | :58:30. | :58:38. | |
schools has lots of flexibility and headteachers can how they pay | :58:39. | :58:44. | |
teachers. It was an average of 4.6% last year. It will be done to the | :58:45. | :58:48. | |
Department for Education to look at the specific circumstances. Does the | :58:49. | :59:01. | |
Chancellor share my frustration that since the EE referendum, a number of | :59:02. | :59:05. | |
senior politicians have been talking down the economy, and shouldn't they | :59:06. | :59:11. | |
be talking a couple? We have a great future outside the European Union. | :59:12. | :59:16. | |
Yes, and as I said in my remarks earlier, the UK economy is | :59:17. | :59:21. | |
fundamentally strong. We have the world's 's second-largest services | :59:22. | :59:25. | |
export sector at a time when emerging economies across the globe | :59:26. | :59:29. | |
are sucking in new demand for services. We have a global lead in | :59:30. | :59:33. | |
various areas of emerging technology that will drive the Fourth | :59:34. | :59:37. | |
Industrial Revolution. This country as a bright, long-term future. Of | :59:38. | :59:42. | |
course we have to deal with short-term uncertainty and tackle | :59:43. | :59:45. | |
our productivity challenge. But we fundamentally good shape. Given that | :59:46. | :59:52. | |
support for a single Scottish police force was in the 2011 Scottish Tory | :59:53. | :59:56. | |
manifesto, can we assume that means the government think the fee is a | :59:57. | :00:02. | |
price worth paying? Or will they finally see sense and scrap the fact | :00:03. | :00:12. | |
on Scotland's services? I'll give exactly the same answer which is | :00:13. | :00:16. | |
that at the point the Scottish Parliament and government decided to | :00:17. | :00:19. | |
take that decision, they knew that by structuring the police services | :00:20. | :00:25. | |
and the Fire Services in the way they chose to lead to the outcome | :00:26. | :00:28. | |
that they should have expected all along. What does the Chancellor | :00:29. | :00:37. | |
believes that we need to do to improve productivity, which is | :00:38. | :00:41. | |
rightly one of his three priorities? We need to invest in our | :00:42. | :00:45. | |
infrastructure, we need to invest in the skills of our people, we need to | :00:46. | :00:51. | |
ensure that our high-growth businesses have access to long-term | :00:52. | :00:56. | |
capital, and we need to address the regional disparity in productivity | :00:57. | :01:00. | |
performance. If we can tackle those for things, then we can start to | :01:01. | :01:05. | |
close Britain's productivity gap and see real wages rising sustainably | :01:06. | :01:11. | |
over many years ahead. Speaking to the Treasury Select Committee | :01:12. | :01:13. | |
earlier this month about the transition agreement for exiting the | :01:14. | :01:16. | |
European Union, he said it would still have a high value at Christmas | :01:17. | :01:20. | |
and early in the New Year but as we move through 2018, its value to | :01:21. | :01:25. | |
everybody will diminish significantly. Yesterday the Prime | :01:26. | :01:29. | |
Minister told us we won't get a transition agreement until the | :01:30. | :01:34. | |
earliest October next year. Does the Chancellor stand by the different | :01:35. | :01:39. | |
view he expressed a fortnight ago? As I've said several times today, we | :01:40. | :01:46. | |
are reassured by the fact the European Council 27 agreed to start | :01:47. | :01:50. | |
the internal preparatory discussions on unemployment Haitian period. We | :01:51. | :01:54. | |
are absolutely aware of the needs of business in this area and they have | :01:55. | :01:59. | |
been reinforced this week. We are confident we will be able to deliver | :02:00. | :02:03. | |
reassurance to business in accordance with their needs. Can I | :02:04. | :02:09. | |
urge my right honourable friend when looking at the business case for HS2 | :02:10. | :02:18. | |
phase 2B, to consider the additional cost it will cost the Exchequer to | :02:19. | :02:27. | |
build over the Cheshire salt fields. We discussed this issue when I was a | :02:28. | :02:33. | |
transport Minister, and the implications of the typography will | :02:34. | :02:39. | |
be taken into consideration as part of the business case. When the | :02:40. | :02:44. | |
honourable member was a transport Minister he enjoyed telling us who | :02:45. | :02:48. | |
travel to work by bus. I remember thinking the fellow passengers must | :02:49. | :02:53. | |
have been exhilarated to know they were accompanied by the | :02:54. | :02:55. | |
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for bosses. The Chancellor has | :02:56. | :03:03. | |
acknowledged that the fall in the exchange rate following the Brexit | :03:04. | :03:08. | |
vote has pushed up inflation. What's the Treasury's estimate of the | :03:09. | :03:12. | |
impact of this on people's standard of living? The honourable lady will | :03:13. | :03:19. | |
be aware of the increase in inflation, CPI inflation at 3%. Most | :03:20. | :03:24. | |
forecasts suggest it may go 0.1% higher before falling steadily from | :03:25. | :03:30. | |
late this year. Obviously any increase in inflation will have a | :03:31. | :03:34. | |
negative impact on real wages. We look forward to CPI inflation | :03:35. | :03:41. | |
falling and real wage growth resuming next year. The temptation | :03:42. | :03:46. | |
to hear remaining colleagues is too powerful. And Soubry. Mr Speaker, | :03:47. | :03:52. | |
the Chancellor in his efforts to secure a good Brexit deal and a | :03:53. | :03:57. | |
transition period has the confidence and support not only members on this | :03:58. | :04:01. | |
side of the House but across the whole of British business. Unlike | :04:02. | :04:07. | |
the party opposite which inspires complete fear with their Marxist | :04:08. | :04:16. | |
mayhem. Could my right honourable friend confirmed that it really is | :04:17. | :04:19. | |
in the best interests of British business to secure a transition | :04:20. | :04:24. | |
period as a matter of some urgency, and will he agree to make sure he | :04:25. | :04:27. | |
can do all he can to get that transition period? Yes, British | :04:28. | :04:32. | |
business has made clear it wants the earliest possible certainty about | :04:33. | :04:40. | |
the implementation arrangements, and it's also made very clear that it | :04:41. | :04:46. | |
doesn't want any Marxist mayhem. Can I ask a question consisting of ten | :04:47. | :04:53. | |
words or fewer. Goodbye begged the Chancellor, today I've got a teacher | :04:54. | :05:00. | |
in this House visiting me, coming from a school, they've run out of | :05:01. | :05:02. | |
money for photocopying. They've run out of money for books in the | :05:03. | :05:06. | |
library. If he wants to do something about productivity, invest in | :05:07. | :05:12. | |
schools now. The honourable gentleman seems to have missed the | :05:13. | :05:15. | |
announcement just before the summer that we are putting 1.3 billion more | :05:16. | :05:21. | |
into the front line. Not by taking in more taxes but by using the money | :05:22. | :05:28. | |
we have across government better. The previous Chancellor of the | :05:29. | :05:32. | |
Exchequer implemented second home stamp duty levy which has delivered | :05:33. | :05:37. | |
?5.11 million into the Cornish economy and are set to deliver 1000 | :05:38. | :05:42. | |
homes. Can I seek assurances this money will continue into the future? | :05:43. | :05:48. | |
We consider all areas of taxation in the run-up to all fiscal events but | :05:49. | :05:53. | |
I've certainly heard my honourable friend 's comments and will take | :05:54. | :05:59. | |
them as a representation. Order. Urgent question. John Woodcock. | :06:00. | :06:09. | |
Thank you. To ask the Foreign Secretary if he'll make a statement | :06:10. | :06:12. | |
on the liberation of Raqqa and the future of the campaign. | :06:13. | :06:23. | |
Can I thank the honourable gentleman for his continued engagement on this | :06:24. | :06:29. | |
important issue. Raqqa was officially liberated on the 20th of | :06:30. | :06:33. | |
October. The Assyrian Democratic forces supported by the global | :06:34. | :06:39. | |
coalition against Daesh began operations to liberate Raqqa in June | :06:40. | :06:43. | |
20 17. Military operations are ongoing. My right honourable friend | :06:44. | :06:47. | |
the Secretary of State | :06:48. | :06:48. |