PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES - United Kingdom Parliament
PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES - United Kingdom Parliament
PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES - United Kingdom Parliament
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667 Debate on the Address<br />
15 MAY 2013<br />
Debate on the Address<br />
668<br />
[Ed Balls]<br />
“a tantric approach to policy-making.”<br />
I have to say that from this side of the House it looks<br />
more like sado-masochism—and we all know that the<br />
Chancellor likes a bit of that. “’If it’s not hurting, it’s<br />
not working” has been his motto for a long time.<br />
Helen Jones (Warrington North) (Lab): Will my right<br />
hon. Friend give way?<br />
Ed Balls: Not now.<br />
I have checked this, and, sadly, it is true. A rather<br />
more serious Conservative commentator, Mr Paul<br />
Goodman of ConservativeHome, confirmed on his blog<br />
back in May of last year that the Chancellor was,<br />
indeed, the brains behind the Prime Minister’s referendum<br />
stunt. That casts further doubt on the judgment of the<br />
Prime Minister. Surely by now he has worked it out.<br />
After all, his Back Benchers and the country have<br />
worked it out. This is the Chancellor who claimed<br />
bringing back Andy Coulson would be a strategic triumph.<br />
He is the one who said taking child benefit away from<br />
middle-income families would be a masterstroke. He is<br />
the one who said that gambling his credibility on our<br />
triple A rating was sound economics, and that cutting<br />
tax credits and labelling as scroungers 3 million working<br />
families—an average of 6,000 in every Tory constituency—<br />
was somehow good politics, and that cutting taxes for<br />
millionaires would wrong-foot Labour. Surely even the<br />
Prime Minister has worked it out by now. This is the<br />
man who last year gave us “Omnishambles 1” and “The<br />
Budget debacle” and who has now given us “Queen’s<br />
Speech 2”, “Omnishambles 2” and the European debacle<br />
as well. The fact is the economic plan has failed, the<br />
deficit plan has failed and the European plan is failing<br />
as well, and when this Government finally collapse in<br />
chaos, it will be this Chancellor who gets the blame.<br />
2.11 pm<br />
The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne):<br />
That was certainly an odd speech from the shadow<br />
Chancellor. He called me a tactical genius, but those on<br />
his side are going around calling him a busted flush,<br />
and after the extraordinary 40 minutes of comments we<br />
have just heard from him, we can see why. The contrast<br />
is with a Government who are building an economy<br />
where those who want to work hard and get on are<br />
rewarded. The contrast is with a tax system that is being<br />
changed to support effort, with the largest ever increase<br />
in the personal allowance. The contrast is with a welfare<br />
system that is being changed so it always pays to work<br />
and benefit bills are being capped so no family gets<br />
more from being on benefits and out of work than the<br />
average family gets from being in work.<br />
In this Queen’s Speech we have measures to help<br />
those who want to set up a small business and employ<br />
people through our employment allowance—which was<br />
not mentioned by the shadow Chancellor, but I assume<br />
the Labour party will not vote against it. We have<br />
measures to help families who dream of home ownership<br />
and to help them with their mortgage costs. We have<br />
measures for savers, with a Pensions Bill that will provide<br />
a generous single-tier pension, and we have measures to<br />
help those who want to stay in their homes and avoid<br />
the lottery of care costs, with our Care Bill. The only<br />
reason we can do all these things is because we are<br />
clearing up the mess and the things that went so badly<br />
wrong in our economy.<br />
Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab): On the issue of fairness,<br />
the 13,000 people who earn more than £1 million a year<br />
share a combined income of £27.4 billion, and they are<br />
going to share in a £1.2 billion payout. How can that be<br />
justified and fair?<br />
Mr Osborne: In every single year under this Government<br />
the rich will pay more in tax than in any single year of<br />
the Labour Government that the hon. Gentleman<br />
consistently supported, and the top rate of tax will be<br />
higher than in any single year of the Labour Government<br />
he supported. We put up capital gains tax so we avoided<br />
the scandal that they presided over—indeed, that the<br />
shadow Chancellor presided over—of cleaners paying<br />
higher rates of tax than the hedge fund managers they<br />
work for. That is what we have done to ensure fairness<br />
in our tax system, and that is what we are going to<br />
continue to do.<br />
Anas Sarwar (Glasgow Central) (Lab): The Chancellor<br />
said those who work hard will be rewarded. Can he<br />
explain why wages are falling, household budgets are<br />
falling and the cost of living is going up? How is that<br />
fair?<br />
Mr Osborne: Let us look at what the Governor of the<br />
Bank of England said in his press conference this<br />
morning:<br />
“there is a welcome change in the economic outlook…But this is<br />
no time to be complacent—we must press on to ensure a recovery”.<br />
Yes, there was also the disappointing news that<br />
unemployment had gone up, but we also saw that the<br />
claimant count and youth unemployment had come<br />
down, and the monthly unemployment data were a lot<br />
more encouraging than the three-month survey. That is<br />
the reality of the current data.<br />
Geraint Davies: Does the Chancellor agree that the<br />
key problem is that the debt:GDP ratio will rise from<br />
55% in 2010 to 85% by 2015? The answer to that<br />
problem is not just to cut the debt, but to increase GDP.<br />
Under Labour, GDP went up by 40% between 1997 and<br />
2008, and the Chancellor inherited a growing economy<br />
which is now flatlining because of his policies.<br />
Mr Osborne: We inherited an 11.5% budget deficit<br />
that was adding to our national debt every year, and<br />
what the hon. Gentleman and the shadow Chancellor<br />
want to do is add further to borrowing. The shadow<br />
Chancellor was asked time and again what the cost of<br />
the proposals in the amendment the Opposition are<br />
asking the House to vote on tonight would be. He<br />
would not give that figure, but I will give it for him: it is<br />
a £28 billion amendment that would add to borrowing.<br />
He comes up with the ludicrous argument that by<br />
borrowing more, we can borrow less. That is why he is<br />
making so little progress with his economic argument.<br />
Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab):Will the Chancellor<br />
at least acknowledge that when he came into office he<br />
inherited a growing economy, and his policies have led<br />
to it flatlining?