Engagements — House of Commons, 2015-02-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Questions: Last week at Prime Minister’s questions, I warned the Prime Minister about falling wages. This week, he said that Britain needs a pay rise, so I am glad to see that he is waking up to reality. Does he now agree with me that the people who most need that pay rise are the families who have lost £1,600 a year under this Government, and not those at the top to whom he has given massive tax cuts?; Given the Prime Minister’s new-found concern that employers should give their staff decent pay rises, can he explain why he did not apply that principle to his own Government when they decided not to implement the recommended 1% pay increase for NHS staff?; More than ever before, businesses, students and commuters in Hampshire use the trains to get around, but they are increasingly frustrated that our trains are stuck in the analogue age. Access to the internet can be really difficult and very limited. Will my right hon. Friend consider that important issue and see what the Government can do to help commuters and others get access to wi-fi on our trains; Given the widespread cynicism about politicians’ promises and claims, will my right hon. Friend remind people, however long it takes, that this Government have presided over the creation of more than 2 million additional private sector jobs, which is far, far more than we ever promised? Does not that discredit the claims of the Opposition that our efforts to cut the deficit would destroy jobs?; Local enterprise partnerships covering Harrogate district have awarded 14 grants from the business growth fund totalling over £1.7 million. This has led to the creation of 158 jobs, many in manufacturing—part of the 60% fall in unemployment that we have seen locally. Will the Prime Minister commit to further investment in northern manufacturing, as it is key to rebalancing our economy?; According to a recent survey of 40,000 patients carried out by the Care Quality Commission, the accident and emergency service at our county hospital in Dorchester is the No. 1 in the country. Will my right hon. Friend praise all the staff who work there, and reassure the hospital that as it prepares to integrate its services for south, west and north Dorset, the money will follow that good work?; Jordan Bates is a mother of two from Redditch who works hard to give her children the best start in life. What does my right hon. Friend think she needs: measures to reward those who work hard, get on and do the right thing; or cheap, patronising, pink stunts?; The Prime Minister may have been briefed that the Care Quality Commission yesterday published its report on Hillingdon hospital, my local hospital. It found that we have an extremely dedicated, hard-working and professional team of staff, but patient safety is being put at risk by critical staff shortages and by the fabric of the building, which one of the report’s consultees described as being like something from the third world. Will the Prime Minister meet me and my parliamentary colleagues in Hillingdon to look at how we can secure the funds to make our constituents safe?; There are adverts in Newcastle exhorting my constituents to report benefit fraudsters. May I ask the Prime Minister why he does not feel as strongly about tax avoidance? Will he report whether he had a conversation with Lord Green about tax avoidance?
David William Donald Cameron (Conservative, Centre-right): I do feel strongly about tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. Let me tell you, when it comes to income tax, some of the things people used to get away with. Under Labour, people avoided paying tax by calling their salary from their company a loan: allowed under Labour, banned under the Tories. Businesses could avoid paying tax by paying employees through trusts: allowed by Labour, banned by the Tories. Time and time again, it is this Government who have come along and cracked down on tax evasion.