Trade, Exports, Innovation and Productivity — House of Commons, 2016-01-13
Topic: Macroeconomics
Jo Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): In winding up this extensive and excellent debate, during which we have explored the vital themes of trade, innovation and productivity, it is worth reminding ourselves of the context of Government actions. When we came to office in 2010, the country was borrowing £150 billion a year. It had the largest deficit of any country in the OECD and unemployment had risen by half a million Since 2010, we have taken steps to secure the economic recovery, ensure that we are better placed to withstand future shocks, and provide security and opportunity to people across the whole of the UK. Our actions have borne fruit, and as a result the UK has been the joint fastest-growing economy in the G7. The deficit is down by more than half, there are 2.7 million more people in private sector jobs and there are 900,000 more businesses trading today than in 2010. It is because we are taking the difficult decisions to fix our public finances that we are now able to prioritise investment, boost productivity and rebalance our economy Today we have heard some of the ways in which our long-term economic plan is doing just that, with excellent contributions from all parts of the House, even if some were much better represented than others—the Labour Benches were particularly sparsely attended throughout this afternoon’s proceedings. I will answer as many points as I can in the limited time I have, but I want to acknowledge, at least in passing, the strong contributions from my hon. and learned Friend the Member for South East Cambridgeshire (Lucy Frazer) and my hon. Friends the Members for Cannock Chase (Amanda Milling), for Bexhill and Battle (Huw Merriman), for The Cotswolds (Geoffrey Clifton-Brown), for Macclesfield (David Rutley), for Horsham (Jeremy Quin), for Gloucester (Richard Graham), for Spelthorne (Kwasi Kwarteng) and, last but not least, for Bedford (Richard Fuller) Let me start with productivity. Yes, of course the UK’s productivity has lagged behind that of other major economies for decades. That is precisely why the Government have set out a clear plan, "Fixing the foundations", with a clear timetable for implementation all the way out to 2025. Recent signs are encouraging. Output per hour grew 0.9% in the second quarter of 2015, and 0.6% in the third quarter. With output per hour continuing to increase, this shows our approach is working. Indeed, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility confirmed that in its 2015 economic and fiscal outlook, which forecasts that productivity will return to trend by mid-2018 Of course, success will not be achieved overnight, and will require a truly national effort from Government, business and working people. Key to that will be working through the plan for productivity we have set out. This means investing in skills by delivering 3 million apprenticeship starts during this Parliament, building on the 2 million of the last Parliament. It means protecting our vital science spending in real terms until the end of the decade and expanding our important network of catapult centres. It means delivering infrastructure projects such as HS2 and Crossrail and the largest investment in our roads since the 1970s. It means rolling out superfast broadband to 95% of premises by 2017. The hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Drew Hendry) will, I hope, welcome the productivity plan’s commitment to extending development rights to taller mobile masts. It also means setting out a plan for future infrastructure challenges, with the creation of our National Infrastructure Commission. The Government have a clear productivity plan; we have a plan for the whole of the United Kingdom. It is a blueprint to fix the foundations of our economy and is a vital step towards securing the prosperity and livelihood of generations to come The rebalancing of the economy is another central theme of this afternoon’s debate. The profound changes we want to see in the structure of our economy will not take place overnight, and there is of course much work to do. Already, however, we can see significant progress in key areas where we want to see rebalancing. Job opportunities are being spread much more evenly than before. Opportunities for people have burgeoned outside our booming capital city and the south of the country, with some of the fastest rates of growth in job creation seen in the north of England. Indeed, since 2010, three out of four jobs have been created outside London Scotland has been a big part of the national story. In Scotland, 178,000 more people are in employment than in 2010, with the private sector up by 150,000.