argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
The Economy — House of Commons, 2015-11-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Alexander John Gervase Chalk (Conservative, Centre-right): I entirely agree. We must carry on in a way that is proportionate—of course—and fair—of course—but which focuses, ultimately, on the prize that is living within our means. I am sorry to say that Labour Members do not seem to be ready to adopt that approach, not least because they opposed the cap on welfare. In an article published in New Statesman in March, the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington said that he would avoid any cuts whatsoever, and that—as we have heard again today—he thought that running a surplus was "barmy". I believe that there is an issue not just for our times, but for future times. There is an issue of generational justice, because we owe it to the next generation to bequeath to them an economy that can pay its way. Make no mistake: someone born this week—a young lady, say—will knock on the door of the state in 30 years’ time, having been turfed out of her home by an abusive husband, and will ask for help. It is up to this generation to ensure that we have not left the cupboard bare; otherwise, what will that young lady say to us in 30 years’ time? "She will ask, "Why didn’t you deal with the problem then?", and if we answer, "Well, it was all too difficult", that will be no answer at all Let me say again, respectfully, that the motion is misconceived, and lacks credibility. It is our duty to our country and the future to have a stable economy, and the motion should be roundly rejected.
The Economy — House of Commons, 2015-11-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Jeremy Mark Quin (Conservative, Centre-right): Surely the hon. Gentleman welcomes the flexibility shown by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor. After all, Opposition Members are always asking him to show flexibility. He makes certain that he stays on course and we get to the right place. The deficit has been halved to date, and that will continue, but it is happening in a measured and effective way.
The Economy — House of Commons, 2015-11-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Michael Jon Wood (Conservative, Centre-right): As a fan of "Yes, Minister", I shall start by congratulating the Opposition on their brave decision to choose this subject; given the Labour party’s abysmal record in this area, that is perhaps courage verging on chutzpah In May, voters in a majority of constituencies around the country endorsed the difficult decisions taken by the previous coalition Government to get the economy back on track, and placed their faith in the Conservative party to secure the economy and to take the further difficult decisions in a fair way to secure that recovery It is disappointing that the Opposition motion omits the real progress that has been made over the past five years in improving people’s opportunities and giving a brighter outlook for working people in Britain. We have 2 million more people now in work; that is many, many more families with the security of a job and a steady income. We have secured 2 million more apprenticeships since 2010, with 3 million planned for this Parliament, meaning that ever more young people will have the skills that they need for future work. The Government are also doubling free childcare to 30 hours a week and introducing the national living wage.
The Economy — House of Commons, 2015-11-18
Topic: Labor
David Henry Rutley (Conservative, Centre-right): Earlier in the debate, the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) was quick to say that the £9 national living wage was inadequate, but did not point out that the Labour manifesto set a target of only £8. Did my hon. Friend find that outrageous?
The Economy — House of Commons, 2015-11-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Michael Jon Wood (Conservative, Centre-right): I certainly did not find it surprising. As we knew at the time of the election, the £8 that the Opposition were proposing was probably lower than the minimum wage was scheduled to be by 2020 anyway, but the additional national living wage will mean a real increase in the incomes of the lowest paid families in Britain I am sure many of us remember the times when those on the Opposition Front Bench were making funny hand gestures to indicate that somehow the economy was flatlining. They are not doing that so much any longer, because the only thing that is now flat is inflation. With inflation at close—
The Economy — House of Commons, 2015-11-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Michael Jon Wood (Conservative, Centre-right): I had better continue, as a number of Members wish to speak With inflation close to, or even under, 0%, the household budgets of families in my constituency and elsewhere in the country are going further, meaning further security. This benefits the whole country, including my constituents in Dudley South. I represent a west midlands constituency and I have in the past heard many people in Dudley South say that it has seemed that the midlands has been ignored. It certainly felt like that under the last Labour Government. For every 10 private sector jobs created in London and the south, only one was created in the midlands and the north. There was no hope for millions left languishing on benefits; in fact, many people on certain benefits were, sadly, more likely to stop claiming those benefits because they had died than because they had found a job that meant they no longer qualified for them. That was unacceptable, and the action taken by this Government has meant that has been turned around, so people can have more hope and better opportunities The Economic Secretary rightly said that the country has faced low productivity for many years. I hope we would all agree that the key to tackling the productivity gap is rebalancing the economy so that it is not over-reliant on any one region. The Government’s devolution and cities agenda is essential to unlocking the full potential of the whole country and closing that productivity gap I was delighted that only yesterday the Chancellor and the Business Secretary were in the west midlands announcing a new £1 billion devolution deal—a devolution revolution that will mean the west midlands has the budgets and powers to make a real difference for people in the county and can tackle the productivity challenge and the skills gap that has held it back for many decades. That should be commended, rather than prompting the condemnatory motion tabled by the Opposition. This is not just about creating jobs; it is about hopes and opportunity, and that is why I will be opposing this motion.
The Economy — House of Commons, 2015-11-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Jeremy Mark Quin (Conservative, Centre-right): I am not certain what the hon. Gentleman is asking for. Is he suggesting that we should be hiking interest rates now? No one likes the extent of unconventional monetary policy, but hiking interest rates would come as a shock to many.
The Economy — House of Commons, 2015-11-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Kevin Paul Hollinrake (Conservative, Centre-right): Does the hon. Gentleman not recognise that, in 2008, the UK was in the deepest recession that it had been in since the second world war, and that we are now the fastest growing economy in the G7? Will he acknowledge those facts today?
The Economy — House of Commons, 2015-11-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Sue-Ellen Cassiana Braverman (Conservative, Centre-right): There are three main points that I wish to make about the motion. First, it is frankly absurd and reflects an Opposition who are totally out of step with the vast majority of the British people. I say that because its principles were robustly tested at the last general election in May and unequivocally rejected by the British people. The Labour party lacked all credibility on managing the economy and its proposals in May failed to persuade the country otherwise. Today we are simply seeing a defiant continuation of those principles and that attitude. Nothing has changed. Labour Members do not seem to have learned anything from the result in May. Instead, their approach has become increasingly intransigent The British people’s lack of confidence in Labour reflects the economic situation it left the country in 2010, including a record budget deficit. At 10.2% of GDP, public sector borrowing was at its highest since records began—£1 in every £4 spent by Government was borrowed. On welfare, Labour left us with a benefits system that was so complicated that some people saw no point in working, because they would lose more in benefits than they would earn in work. Who pays the bill for welfare spending? It is the hard-working men and women of Britain. In Labour’s last term in office, unemployment increased by about 1 million. The number of households with no one in work almost doubled. That is a shameful record for a party called Labour. That is the past and those are the facts, and that is why the British public did not trust Labour with the economy The motion has no substance. The picture it paints is simply not backed up by the evidence. This Government have a proud record so far. The deficit has been cut by more than a half as a share of national income. Income tax has been cut for more than 27 million people, and 3 million people have been taken out of tax altogether. In my constituency of Fareham, the jobseeker’s allowance claimant count has fallen by about 100 in the past 12 months and by about 60% in the past five years. Unemployment in this country is lower than that in Italy, France, Ireland and Spain. Productivity is rising and hundreds of thousands of people have the chance to own their own home Those are the statistics and numbers, but this is about our values as a country. This Government’s economic record reflects the values of the country that we want to be. It is about taking the difficult decisions so that we can safeguard our long-term security, and reinstating the relationship between effort and reward, work and dignity, and endeavour and aspiration. It is about the belief that people can get on in life through hard work, diligence and enterprise, and about making it easier for them to start their own business. Ours is an attitude of optimism and prudence. That is the country we want to build. The Conservative party gets that and we are delivering on that aim.
The Economy — House of Commons, 2015-11-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Jeremy Mark Quin (Conservative, Centre-right): It is a pleasure to follow the thoughtful speech of the hon. Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson). He referred at the outset to the growth that we are currently achieving and I take his comments about that. The Office for Budget Responsibility suggests that we will have growth higher than 2.4% for each year in this Parliament. As has been said by many hon. Members, that puts us in the best cohort among all those in the G7. It is not a jobless recovery. We have 2 million more people in employment—that is, 1,000 extra per day. As the Minister said from the Dispatch Box, finally average wages are increasing in real terms, a trend that is extended by the national living wage introduced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor That is a remarkable performance for any Government, but it is particularly remarkable in the context of what we inherited back in 2010. Here I respectfully draw a distinction between myself and the remarks of the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell). We can all remember wise people saying back in 2010 that if anybody came in to take the actions required to sort out our economy, they would be out in opposition for a generation; that if people came in to tackle the problems that our country faced back in 2010—the legacy that we were taking on—that would be politically impossible. Those wise people underestimated the British people and the Government. They did not underestimate the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington, whose comments suggested that austerity was a political choice to sort out the deficit. It was not a political choice; at the time it was economic necessity.
The Economy — House of Commons, 2015-11-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Jeremy Mark Quin (Conservative, Centre-right): In relative terms, there are fewer children in poverty than ever before, and I am delighted that half a million children have adults in their families who are working. That is the route to success and long-term prosperity I take issue with the suggestion made by the hon. Members for Swansea West (Geraint Davies) and for Hayes and Harlington that our fiscal problems resulted solely from the recession. It is easy to forget the golden legacy bequeathed by my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke). When the Labour party came into government, it had the third best structural position of any country in the OECD. When it left government—in fact, before that, on the eve of the financial crisis—it had the fourth worst. The hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington cited Gordon Brown. I have no confidence that the same sort of pattern would not emerge if Labour Members were ever again to grace the Treasury Bench. Despite the huge work being done and the pressure that is being exerted by the Government, we are still increasing our deficit by £3,300 a year per household, and still spending £1 billion a week to service that debt. That is why we need a Government who are going to continue to get this under control The motion before the House is very long—I counted nearly 300 words—but it does not seem to contain any ideas as to how we should be cutting the deficit. It does, though, contain a couple of aspects that I would like to mention, one of which was referred to by the hon. Member for East Antrim: spend on research and development. It is a pleasure to be able to remind the House that with 1% of the world’s population, we are responsible for 3% of R and D spend and 16% of the most important research; he was absolutely right about that. My hon. and learned Friend the Member for South East Cambridgeshire (Lucy Frazer) mentioned the report by the Royal Society, and the hon. Member for Islwyn (Chris Evans) raised the old bugbear of the inability to get our universities and our businesses working together. We seem to be getting on top of that. We are supposedly now fourth best in the world at getting that linkage, as well as being the second-best economy in the world in terms of global innovation. I welcome what the Government are doing through the global challenge fund in preserving the capital budget for R and D spending at, for example, the International Centre for Advanced Materials in Manchester.
The Economy — House of Commons, 2015-11-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
James Roger Cartlidge (Conservative, Centre-right): Ultimately, my hon. Friend is talking about the importance of investment. It is necessary to reduce the deficit, and therefore eventually the long-term debt, in order to build an economic policy that is credible to outside investors and gives them the confidence to invest in this country. That is the key reason.
The Economy — House of Commons, 2015-11-18
Topic: Foreign Trade
Jeremy Mark Quin (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend, who is absolutely right. He is not the only wise person to make such remarks; the head of the CBI did so only recently. That fiscal rule gives companies the confidence they need that they can invest in this country and will continue to see long-term progress being delivered by this country The hon. Member for Dundee East (Stewart Hosie) talked about the need to have export-led growth. One of the problems we have with our balance of trade—I mentioned it in an intervention on the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington—is that we are growing while our major markets are shrinking or teetering on the edge of recession. That is the sad aspect of the position we are in. While I am delighted that we have one of the best rates of growth of any country in the G7, it would be a lot easier if the whole of Europe were growing at the same pace. Whereas other countries are taking strong dividends out of this country from the investments they have made—dividends have gone up by 30% in the UK economy since 2010—we are not getting the same capital returns from the investments that we are making overseas. Nor are they in a position to buy the goods that we are manufacturing. There are many good stories to be told about our export business, particularly in the automotive sector, but if our customers cannot afford to buy our goods, that will inevitably come through in the statistics The answer is that we should be investing more and expending more effort on the growth markets of the world. I have to say to the hon. Member for Dundee East, and to other hon. Members, that we see the growth in China and in India, and we know how important they are. One would have needed the sleeping prowess of a Rip Van Winkle not to have noticed the efforts that the Government are making in India and in China to ensure that we are opening up those markets for our exports in future. I oppose the motion.
The Economy — House of Commons, 2015-11-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): Protecting the economic security of working people in Britain is precisely what we set about doing in 2010, it is what we fought the general election on earlier this year, and it is what the British electorate asked us to continue to do following the decisive result at the May election, as we were reminded of by my hon. Friends the Members for Dudley South (Mike Wood) and for Fareham (Suella Fernandes) and, graciously, by the hon. Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson), who speaks for the DUP Our programme for working Britain stands on four interlocked pillars. The first is a stable economy, backed by a credible long-term economic plan. Low inflation and low interest rates support productive investment. The second is to back business. It is firms that give people jobs and families economic security, and it is innovation that generates economic growth. We know that only business can create the wealth that affords us the quality public services we all value so much. The third is the right incentives to work and the support to do so as we strive towards our goal of full employment. The fourth is a fiscal plan to eliminate our deficit and face up to the challenges of this generation, in this generation, instead of leaving an even bigger mountain of debt to our children and their children, as we were reminded by my hon. Friend the Member for Thornbury and Yate (Luke Hall) We have made important strides on all these fronts. We are cutting the jobs tax, cutting red tape for business and creating record numbers of apprenticeships—my hon. Friend the Member for Eastleigh (Mims Davies) talked about the apprenticeship revolution. Since 2010, the private sector has created almost 2.5 million jobs. We have record levels of employment—indeed, more employment growth in the UK since 2010 than in the rest of the EU put together—and more women in work than before. Real wages have risen by almost 3% on the year, and we are leaving more cash where it belongs—in the pockets of hard-working people. Through our increases in the personal allowance, we are making the typical basic rate taxpayer £905 a year better off. We extended childcare support, and are doing so again, with tax-free childcare extensions under universal credit and free entitlement for pre-schoolers worth £5,000 per child per year. We have also set out a path for sustainable but solid deficit elimination so that we can live within our means and start paying down the debt.
The Economy — House of Commons, 2015-11-18
Topic: Macroeconomics
Damian Patrick George Hinds (Conservative, Centre-right): At the present time, I have no particular message for the former head of the Federal Reserve, except to say that we inherited the most enormous deficit. We will continue to bring it down, which the British people gave us a mandate to do, and we will pay down the debt, because if we do not do that in the good times, when will we ever My hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham (Alex Chalk) reminded us that when the financial crisis hit, the cupboard was bare, because of the structural deficit the Labour Government allowed to build up. In 2010, we immediately began the programme to bring that down. Since then, despite the oil price spike and the eurozone crisis, we have made great progress and have halved the deficit, but much more remains to be done. We set out what that would entail before the election and in the summer Budget: a combination of departmental spending reductions, tax measures and reductions to the welfare bill. Importantly, however, we are maintaining our commitment to the institutions on which Britons most rely: our schools and our world-leading national health service. Elsewhere, however, we need to make savings, and next week, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will set out the remaining detail in the autumn statement, alongside an updated fiscal forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility. I know that right hon. and hon. Members will not expect me to pre-empt what my right hon. Friend will say next week We have set out a new settlement for working Britain. My hon. Friend the Member for Eastleigh enumerated some of what we have been doing to help hard-working families, including the increase in the personal allowance. The introduction of the national living wage will directly benefit 2.7 million workers on low wages, and up to 7 million people in total, and it is a measure that will disproportionately benefit women. We are doubling the free childcare offered to working families with three and four-year-olds, we have frozen council tax and fuel duty and we have capped payday loans—all actions that the Government have taken to support working families In the little time available I want to respond to some of the important points that have been raised. The hon. Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Tom Blenkinsop) spoke powerfully—as he always does—on behalf of his constituents. He reminded us, as we know all too well, that economic growth does not take place evenly everywhere, and that some places and sectors face significant difficulties. This is a difficult and uncertain time for many people who have been affected by the issues that he raised. As he knows, the Government cannot control the world price of steel, and we cannot cover that entire complex subject in this debate. It is right, however, that the multi-million pound package has been put in place for Redcar and Scunthorpe, and my right hon. Friend the Business Secretary is fully engaged on that issue.