Labour Together and APCO Worldwide: Cabinet Office Review23 Feb 2026
DJ
Darren Jones
Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of our democracy, and the Government are committed to upholding and protecting that freedom. Journalists must be able to do their job without fear or favour, including holding politicians of all political parties to account on behalf of the public that we all serve. In the past week,… there have been a number of media reports about the actions of the think-tank Labour Together in 2023 and 2024. Some of those media reports have included allegations about the conduct of the joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, my hon. Friend the Member for Makerfield (Josh Simons) , who was previously the director of Labour Together. As the Prime Minister confirmed last week, he asked civil servants in the Cabinet Office propriety and ethics team to establish the facts. As Members across the House will know, all civil servants are bound by the civil service code, which dictates that they act with integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. The exercise to establish the facts around the allegations was bound by those principles. That work has now concluded and the facts have been reported to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has been advised that the matter should now be referred to the independent adviser on ministerial standards, and the Prime Minister has done so today. This is not a new process, but a continuation of the process that the Prime Minister has started. The Prime Minister will make a judgment when he has received the advice from the independent adviser. That will happen very soon, and the independent adviser’s advice to the Prime Minister will be made public in the normal way. The independent adviser is appointed to provide impartial, independent advice to the Prime Minister, in line with his published terms of reference. The current independent adviser was appointed under the last Administration by the Prime Minister’s predecessor an
Hansard · 23 Feb 2026 · parliament.uk
AB
Alex Burghart
(Urgent Question): To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the Cabinet Office review into Labour Together and APCO Worldwide.
AB
Alex Burghart
Thank you for granting this urgent question, Mr Speaker. The details of this story are quite extraordinary, even by the standards of this Government. While he was the director of the think-tank Labour Together, the now Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, the hon. Member for Makerfield (Josh Simons) , paid a PR age…
JT
Jon Trickett
May I put it to the Minister that a significant number of Ministers in this Government, including him, received large sums of money from Labour Together? I think he received almost £60,000.
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Jon Trickett
The Minister is shaking his head. If what I have said is untrue, I withdraw it, but a number of Ministers did receive money. Did it not leave a bad taste in many people’s minds—if you can have a bad taste in your mind—that so many Ministers were standing in judgment on another Minister who had been the director of Labo…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
DJ
Darren Jones
I will take those questions in reverse order. The shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster accused me of taking money from Labour Together. That is not true. I had a number of staff seconded to my office when I was a member of the shadow Cabinet. As I am sure Opposition Members know, that is an important contributio…
DJ
Darren Jones
To repeat myself, just for the record, I did not receive a pound from Labour Together. I would appreciate it if Members did not keep repeating that falsehood. The answer to my hon. Friend’s question about the independent adviser is in the title: the independent adviser is independent of Government and is looking at thi…
DJ
Darren Jones
The best route for independent investigations of these types is the independent ethics adviser. As I have informed the House, he can only investigate sitting Ministers. The process is important, and although it is not for me to make the case one way or the other for the Minister in question, he refutes the allegations …
DJ
Darren Jones
As the House will know, the independent adviser on ethics has the remit to investigate Ministers on behalf of the Prime Minister in relation to concerns on which the Government have standing to ask such questions. Any questions about what happened or did not happen within Labour Together as a private organisation are a…
DJ
Darren Jones
As I have said repeatedly, the process is now for the independent adviser to follow, for advice to be presented to the Prime Minister, and at that point the Prime Minister will make a decision.
DJ
Darren Jones
As my hon. Friend knows, any donations that individuals receive—from Labour Together or from a trade union, Momentum or any other organisation—are for them to declare in line with the rules, and I do not think there has been any accusation that Members have been in breach of those rules.
DJ
Darren Jones
I know my voice is going, but maybe the right hon. Lady did not hear my response to the urgent question. The process is being led by the independent adviser for ethics, which is not the Cabinet Office. As I have said, the independent adviser will report to the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister will then make a dec…
DJ
Darren Jones
As I have said, the independent adviser will be looking at the testimony and evidence in relation to the Minister in question and advising the Prime Minister in relation to actions where the Government have standing. Questions for other agencies and organisations are either subjects for their relevant trade bodies or d…
DJ
Darren Jones
As I have said, in relation to anything that the Government are responsible for, we of course uphold the principles that the hon. Member speaks passionately about, and which we in the Government agree with wholeheartedly. If there are changes that need to be made in Government, we stand ready to do so. As I say, the Go…
DJ
Darren Jones
As my hon. Friend knows, Labour Together is a private organisation. It is a question for its board what it does in relation to its conduct. As I have said already to the House, any donations that have been received by individual Members, whether from Labour Together or other organisations, have, as far as I am aware, a…
DJ
Darren Jones
I was not privy to those appointments, so I cannot confirm the exact details that the right hon. Member asks of me. What I can say is that the senior civil servant who is currently acting as the director of propriety and ethics is a temporary appointment subject to a full recruitment in due course, which is in line wit…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend’s question on transparency is answered by the fact that the independent adviser’s conclusions and advice to the Prime Minister will be published in the normal way, and they will be available for the public and this House to see. On whether the Prime Minister is the appropriate person to decide, as he is …
DJ
Darren Jones
As I have said to the House, individual donations will be declared in line with the rules in the normal way. It is for those individuals to decide what they do with those donations.
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for his question. The independent adviser on ethics will be looking at the ministerial code and its application to the Parliamentary Secretary in relation to the statements that have been made and the facts that have been made available through the propriety and ethics team’s fact-finding process…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his concern for our wellbeing. As I have said, the independent ethics adviser will conduct his investigation and report to the Prime Minister in the normal way, at which point the Prime Minister will make a decision. It is not for me at the Dispatch Box to make the case one way or t…
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Darren Jones
The terms of reference for the independent ethics adviser are already published, as is the ministerial code; as I have been able to confirm today, the advice that the adviser provides to the Prime Minister will also be published. All those documents will therefore be available to the House. As my hon. Friend knows, the…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Prime Minister made the ethics adviser independent on coming into government because of the misuse of that process by former Prime Ministers who were trying to cover up for their friends. The independent ethics adviser has not only illustrated his independence but proven that the independent process works, because …
DJ
Darren Jones
The independent ethics adviser is able to conduct inquiries in the time that he considers necessary in relation to the facts, the number of documents and the conversations that need to be had, but I agree that the advice ought to be made available to the Prime Minister as quickly as possible. I would certainly hope for…
DJ
Darren Jones
I think that the right hon. Member talks down the country. The UK is rightly proud of the freedom of the press and its role in our democracy, and I know that both his party and mine support those principles. He has referred to allegations being made, and that is why an independent process is looking at the veracity of …
DJ
Darren Jones
The investigation that the Government are conducting in relation to the Minister is independent. The ethics adviser is independent, as I have alluded to a number of times. The independent ethics adviser is able to look at the ministerial code as well as the circumstances in relation to the questions put to him, and his…
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Darren Jones
I am afraid that I do not know the veracity of the right hon. Lady’s allegations, but I share her concern. If that were to be true, it would clearly be unwelcome in the United Kingdom. If laws and regulations need to be updated to prevent that from happening, then of course this House should consider them.
DJ
Darren Jones
The independent adviser will write a letter to the Prime Minister following his investigation, which will detail the facts as he understands them and the case that has been made by the parties in question. He will then draw some form of conclusion, on which the Prime Minister will need to decide how to act. As I have s…
DJ
Darren Jones
I think the hon. Lady might be slightly confused.
DJ
Darren Jones
I will happily mansplain it to the hon. Gentleman, if I may say so! The independent adviser is independent, and the proper process will be followed. I remind the House that the reason that the process exists and that the ethics adviser is independent is that the previous Administration repeatedly failed to deal with et…
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Darren Jones
I think the question has been withdrawn, Mr Speaker.
DJ
Darren Jones
The Electoral Commission has looked at some of these issues and fined Labour Together for previous errors, but other than that investigation, I am not aware of any accusations of illegal or improper donations to Labour Together or other organisations. As I said, it is important that the Government investigate matters t…
DJ
Darren Jones
I can only speak on behalf of the Government; as far as I am aware, it is not providing any services.
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Darren Jones
Labour Together is a separate organisation to the Labour party. It is not for the Labour party or the Government to investigate third-party organisations. It would be like asking the Government to investigate Tesco—that is not something the Government can do unless there is a legal basis on which to do so. On the hon. …
DJ
Darren Jones
Investigations by Select Committees of this House are a matter for those Select Committees. The Government will always comply with requests from Committees.
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Darren Jones
When coming into office, the Prime Minister was committed to improving the systems that we inherited. That was established with the ethics adviser being made independent—being able to conduct his investigations independently and to advise the Prime Minister, irrespective of whether the Prime Minister asks him to do so.…
DJ
Darren Jones
It is important to clarify that the allegations are not against the Labour party or the Government, but against the think-tank Labour Together. There is no suggestion that the Government are conducting business in the way the hon. Gentleman suggests. He and I—and the House, I am sure—will agree that freedom of the pres…
DJ
Darren Jones
Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I am happy to answer that point. As the hon. Member for Normanton and Hemsworth (Jon Trickett) pointed out, I have not received one pound in cash from Labour Together, which was the suggestion from some Members in the House. Instead, I received while in opposition some hours …
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Darren Jones
Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I understand that the Chief Whip spoke to the Minister in question this morning to inform him that the Prime Minister had decided to refer the matter to the independent adviser, but I can confirm that the propriety and ethics team will not have made a judgment one way or anot…
Lord Mandelson: Government Response to Humble Address23 Feb 2026
DJ
Darren Jones
With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement regarding the Government’s response to the Humble Address laid before the House on 4 February . I committed to keeping the House updated. This is now my third statement on this issue, and I will continue to update the House throughout the process. I… will first update the House on the work already being undertaken by the Government. I can confirm that work is ongoing across Departments to search for and identify the material relevant to the Humble Address, and Departments have been instructed to retain material that may be relevant to the motion. Given the breadth of the motion, this process will clearly take some time. However, I want to reassure colleagues that officials have been working throughout the recess, and expect to compile information relating to the House’s request very shortly. As the motion envisages, we are carefully assessing the material for whether any of it may be prejudicial to national security or international relations. The House will appreciate that this remains a sensitive matter, and the Government are committed to referring this material to the Intelligence and Security Committee. The Cabinet Office is leading this work, in close co-operation with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, in a process agreed by the permanent secretary to the Cabinet Office. This was delegated by the new Cabinet Secretary, following her appointment by the Prime Minister last Thursday. The Government intend to publish documents in tranches, instead of having one publication date at the end of the process, given that we are unable to confirm how long the process will take. The Government expect to be able to publish the first tranche of documents very shortly, in early March. I should, however, inform the House that it remains the case that a subset of this first tranche of documents is subject to an ongoing Metropolitan police investigation. That includes correspondence between No. 10 and
Hansard · 23 Feb 2026 · parliament.uk
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Lindsay Hoyle
Before we come to the statement updating the House on the Government’s response to the Humble Address motion, I would like to remind the House that Lord Peter Mandelson is the subject of an ongoing live police investigation. I understand that there is interest from the public on this matter and that there has been much…
MW
Mike Wood
I thank the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister for the statement, which we received at 3.38 pm. I gently suggest to him that the 45 minutes referred to in the ministerial code is a minimum, rather than a target. On 4 February , this House voted, cross party, for a Humble Address to be presented. That is not a polite…
AM
Andy McDonald
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for his statement. I agree that the Prime Minister was quite right to put the “Lord of the files” outside the tent; we got there eventually. However, can my right hon. Friend assure me that the answer to the $64,000 question—what was known at the time when Peter Mandelson was appoi…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
TM
Tom Morrison
The victims of Jeffrey Epstein have always been, and must remain, at the forefront of our minds. The decades of abuse and suffering that they endured can never be undone. Although nothing can erase that pain, we believe that recent decisions taken by the police and the Government represent a step in the right direction…
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Darren Jones
The shadow Minister asked a number of questions, which I will take in turn. He asked if the appointment of the new Cabinet Secretary had resulted in any delay or change to the process. The answer is no; the process is being led by the permanent secretary in the Cabinet Office. It was delegated to her by the former and …
DJ
Darren Jones
I can confirm that those documents will be made available, subject, I am afraid, to the exclusion of one particular item, in which No. 10 asked Peter Mandelson a number of questions. The Met police have asked that to be held back, subject to their investigations, as I have said. That item will therefore have to be publ…
DJ
Darren Jones
In relation to investigations and inquiries, the House will know that the criminal investigation being led by the Metropolitan police takes primacy. Neither the House nor the Government would want to interfere inadvertently with that process. The Government agree with the hon. Member that it is important that people ar…
DJ
Darren Jones
I can confirm that the Government are complying, and will continue to comply, fully with the requests from the Metropolitan police, as well as from Parliament in relation to the Humble Address. My hon. Friend is right to say that it is important that we do so to bring transparency and accountability to these most egreg…
DJ
Darren Jones
My experience of the civil servants in the propriety and ethics team is unquestionably that they work extremely hard, comply with the civil service code and seek to ensure that the Government uphold all the ethics and integrity rules that we are subject to. I have not seen one instance or any suggestion of poor perform…
DJ
Darren Jones
Documents that are published as part of the Humble Address will of course comply with the terms of the Humble Address. As I have said to hon. Members before, if there are particular suggestions or concerns about specific Palantir contracts, those representations—with our assistance, if helpful—should be made to the Dep…
DJ
Darren Jones
I think the right hon. Member is referring to 2023, which is of course before this Government were in office. I confirm that we are in the middle of negotiations with the committee on a number of issues, partly in relation to its headcount. We have increased the budget available to the committee for staffing. We are co…
DJ
Darren Jones
We are working with relevant advisers and Departments to scope the Bill, and the measures that need to be brought forward for that to be effective. The legislation raises a number of constitutional questions, which have taken some time for the Government to consider. The last time peerages were removed, I think, was in…
DJ
Darren Jones
I have already committed on behalf of the Government that we will review the current regime and rules in relation to transparency on lobbying, and changes have been made recently in relation to the register and people’s declared interests. My sense is that we could go further, and as I said in my statement, I will come…
DJ
Darren Jones
I agree with my hon. Friend. In relation to the criminal investigation being conducted by the Metropolitan police, the Government of course want to support the Metropolitan police and to collaborate with them to ensure that where justice can be found, it must be found. In respect of the Intelligence and Security Commit…
DJ
Darren Jones
I can confirm that the first tranche of documents that will be released are the documents that the Government currently hold, subject to the exclusion of one document at the request of the Metropolitan police, where subsequent questions were asked by No. 10 of Peter Mandelson—that can be released only when the Metropol…
DJ
Darren Jones
The appointment of the new Cabinet Secretary has no bearing whatsoever on this process or on the Government’s compliance with the Humble Address. As the hon. Member would expect, the Government will comply with the terms of the Humble Address.
DJ
Darren Jones
I am not sure which documents specifically the hon. Gentleman refers to. I note that the documents that were released by the US Department of Justice, and previously via Bloomberg in September 2025, were documents that the Prime Minister and the Government were not privy to until those disclosures had taken place.
DJ
Darren Jones
I hear the strong interest of Liberal Democrat Members in the office for the whistleblower proposal. As I said to the hon. Member for Cheadle (Mr Morrison) , I am happy to look at those details when her colleagues write to me with them. The Government have committed to bring the duty of candour Bill back to the House a…
DJ
Darren Jones
I believe the documents will show that the Prime Minister was lied to by Peter Mandelson.
DJ
Darren Jones
The commission for information from Departments that is taking place has not yet resulted in those documents being shared with the Cabinet Office. If issues need to be pursued further once the documents are shared, we reserve the right to do so.
DJ
Darren Jones
It is interesting to hear from a Member on the Reform Benches that they do not agree with process or vetting. The Government are committed to both those things, because that is the way in which Government should conduct itself. As the Prime Minister has said at the Dispatch Box, had he had the information that we all h…
DJ
Darren Jones
We do not disclose any documents that the Met police tells the Government are related to its criminal investigations until it tells us that they are available to be disclosed. That will be on the basis that they are not relevant to the prosecution or because the prosecution is being taken forward or otherwise. The last…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Member is right. The Government should publish these documents as quickly as possible, not just to comply with the Humble Address from this House, but to ensure that they are made transparent. Given that I am unable to confirm to the House today how much information we will receive from Government Departments …
Standards in Public Life9 Feb 2026
DJ
Darren Jones
Last week, I came to the House in the wake of information released by the United States Department of Justice about the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. I outlined the immediate steps that this Government took, including an initial review of material, which ultimately led to a referral to the… Metropolitan police, and steps taken to modernise the disciplinary procedures to allow for the removal of peers who have brought the House of Lords into disrepute. I am here today to update the House on further action that the Government will take to rebuild trust in public life in the wake of the damaging revelations since my statement last week. [Interruption.] I will finish my statement first, if I may. I am sure that the House will agree that issues of standards, while important in and of themselves, do not meet the scale of disgust that we all have when we see powerful, rich men misuse their positions to abuse women and girls. The procedural rules, and the rules that I will talk to the House about today, are important given what has been able to happen in the past, but we should start by recognising that our collective response requires wider changes in the culture and use of power, wherever it rests. This goes to the heart of who my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is. It is why he became a human rights lawyer in the first place, why he became Director of Public Prosecutions, why he changed the Crown Prosecution Service to be more victims-oriented, and why he became Prime Minister. As I set out last week, Jeffrey Epstein was a despicable criminal who committed disgusting crimes. The Epstein scandal is another awful example of a culture that did not value the lives, let alone the voices, of women and girls. The series and sequencing of events across the last week has made it clear to us all, rightly, that for too long, and too often, influential people in positions of power—overwhelmingly men—have been able to avoid proper and ju
Hansard · 9 Feb 2026 · parliament.uk
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Emily Thornberry
On a point of order, Mr Speaker.
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
We cannot have points of order; we are just beginning the statement. [Interruption.] Those are the rules of the House. I am not going change them especially for you. I call the shadow Minister.
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Neil O'Brien
I thank the Chief Secretary for advance sight of his statement. The Prime Minister’s authority is gone and his Government are starting to collapse. The Prime Minister’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson raises massive questions about standards in public life—questions that the Chief Secretary’s statement today just d…
ET
Emily Thornberry
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for his statement and for telling us that relevant direct ministerial appointments, including politically appointed diplomatic roles where the appointee will have access to highly classified material, will have to pass the requisite national security vetting process before such app…
JC
Judith Cummins
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
DJ
Darren Jones
I remind the hon. Gentleman that the public had their say at the last general election, and they elected a landslide Labour majority, with the Conservatives suffering an historic defeat. In my view, one of the reasons the public booted that lot out of office was their repeated failings in standards and ethics, from the…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee for her question. She raises important points about the process for appointing ambassadors and the delay between announcement, appointment and the host country accepting their appointment to the role. That is why we have made it clear today that the security vetting pr…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Lady for her remarks. I think we can all agree that we need not just effective rules but effective enforcement for people who break those rules. These issues have highlighted the fact that there is more work to do, and I look forward, as do the Government, to working on a cross-party basis to make sure…
DJ
Darren Jones
On the first part of my hon. Friend’s question, I can assure her that all procurement rules have been followed, but if there is any suggestion of wrongdoing, we have powers under the Procurement Act 2023 to take action if required. On the second part, I agree that the public were calling for change at the last election…
DJ
Darren Jones
On the first question from the Chair of the Select Committee, I do not for one second question the supremacy of Parliament or the basis of parliamentary privilege; all I meant to say was that the Government are in discussions with the Met police, who have launched a criminal investigation, and that it is important that…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Ethics and Integrity Commission was set up only very recently by this Government to play an important role in relation to standards in public life. We want to work with the commission to ensure that we set it up for success in delivering on the issues and reforms that I have outlined to the House today. That is the…
DJ
Darren Jones
On the first question, I agree that we need to ensure that we have a standards system, both in this place and the other place, that meets the challenges we are talking about. That is not a party political issue. I merely referred to the performance of the last Government given the chuntering from those on the Oppositio…
DJ
Darren Jones
I would be very happy to meet my hon. Friend and colleagues and to do anything I can in pursuit of that outcome.
DJ
Darren Jones
I agree with the hon. Member that we need to ensure that those processes are available in all circumstances. My understanding is that the legislation was updated in recent years, but I am happy to consider any inputs from him and other Members if they wish to send them to me.
DJ
Darren Jones
I can confirm for my hon. Friend that the rules have been updated to ensure that national security vetting must receive full clearance before any direct ministerial appointments are confirmed publicly, or then confirmed for appointments at later stages. As I recently said to the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, …
DJ
Darren Jones
The right hon. Gentleman will know that the Prime Minister apologised last Thursday for having appointed Peter Mandelson to the post. As he said repeatedly, had he seen the information that we are now able to see from the release of documents from the US Department of Justice—which showed not only the level of corrupti…
DJ
Darren Jones
As I said in my statement, the vast majority of Members of this House, and also civil servants and other political appointments in the other place, come into politics to serve the public, not to serve themselves, but the Peter Mandelson issue has shown that, for all the rules we have in place that work for the majority…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Member will know that the Government are committed to working with peers in the other place to modernise the House of Lords and that we agree that that needs to happen. That is why we are in the process of removing hereditary peers and are working with the authorities in the other place to ensure that we deal …
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is right to bring us back to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and to all women and girls who have been subjected to these atrocious crimes across the country, because evidently their voices continue to not be heard and these crimes continue to perpetuate. That is why the Government are committed to halving…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Foreign Office is currently reviewing the terms of the contract that led to the suggestion of severance payments when Peter Mandelson was sacked, and it is due to update the House in due course.
DJ
Darren Jones
As my hon. Friend will have heard in my statement, the Government are pursuing a number of avenues, including the potential for more routine annual disclosure of financial and commercial interests, which we hope will shed more light on some of these issues where individuals are getting away with breaking the rules.
DJ
Darren Jones
The right hon. Member is right that the public do not expect party political bickering on these issues; they expect problems to be solved and justice to be sought for those who deserve it. On the question of the advice that the Prime Minister received, as I have said a number of times, Peter Mandelson lied to the Prime…
DJ
Darren Jones
I agree with my hon. Friend. As I said, the Foreign Office will come forward with more information in due course.
DJ
Darren Jones
I can confirm that the Government will be working with the Intelligence and Security Committee; meetings are happening today and tomorrow morning about that. The Government are liaising with the Metropolitan police on the criminal investigation. Once that matter has been clarified, we will be able to move forward with …
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend will know that it was a clear manifesto commitment of our party to ban second jobs for Members of Parliament, except in limited circumstances such as those involving the maintenance of professional qualifications for doctors and lawyers. The Committee is considering those issues, on which it has been wor…
DJ
Darren Jones
The right hon. Gentleman will, in due course, see papers disclosed, in compliance with the Humble Address, that will be very clear in showing the questions that the Prime Minister asked of Peter Mandelson, and the lies that Peter Mandelson responded with.
DJ
Darren Jones
As I have repeated to the House, there must be rules that apply in all circumstances, to all people, in respect of the House of Lords and the House of Commons, and to appointments to such roles, as well as clear consequences for people who lie or breach those rules. Those are the reforms that the Government are bringin…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Member will know that it would not be appropriate for me to speak from the Dispatch Box on behalf of civil servants and special advisers. The statements released by Morgan McSweeney and Keir Starmer yesterday answer his questions about Morgan McSweeney’s decision to resign from his post.
DJ
Darren Jones
As I said in my statement, on a number of those measures, we are looking at current procedures, and at whether they can be updated to provide more transparency. The hon. Member is right to say that although individual rules can be improved, that alone will not be sufficient to tackle the cultural issues that lead to so…
DJ
Darren Jones
On the first part of the right hon. Gentleman’s question, I would just remind him that the reforms that this Government have made in the past 18 months, and those we are talking about today, will be the most wide-ranging reforms to standards in public life that we have seen for a very long time. I would not call that s…
DJ
Darren Jones
I point the hon. Lady to the duty of candour provisions that we are bringing forward in the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, which will include criminal sanctions for those who breach the rules. As I said to her hon. Friends on the Liberal Democrat Benches, I am happy to consider the wider recommendations for whist…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Prime Minister apologised last Thursday for having appointed Peter Mandelson. Had information that is now available been available at the time of his appointment, he would not have appointed him in the first place.
DJ
Darren Jones
As the hon. Lady will have heard, if the Prime Minister had had access to the information that he now has about the depth and extent of the relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and Peter Mandelson, Peter Mandelson would not have been appointed in the first place.
DJ
Darren Jones
As I have said to the hon. Lady’s Liberal Democrat colleagues, I am happy to receive further representations on reform of the law relating to whistleblowers. If we need to go further, we will be happy to consider doing that.
DJ
Darren Jones
The right hon. Gentleman knows that there are different processes for the different types of role that we have in government, from due diligence through to developed national security vetting, which he mentions. The important thing is that the right process is applied to the right person at the right time, and that is …
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Gentleman seems to be wishing for more chaos in our country. The public voted to end that at the last general election, and that is why this Government are getting on with delivering change for people across this country.
DJ
Darren Jones
I refer the right hon. Lady to my previous answer.
DJ
Darren Jones
It is important that we take good practice wherever it exists and learn the lessons where reforms have not worked, whether it is in our Parliament or in devolved Governments across the United Kingdom. I encourage the right hon. Gentleman to write to me with his examples in more detail to ensure that we avoid that in th…
DJ
Darren Jones
As the Prime Minister has made clear, he apologised for appointing Peter Mandelson to the position of ambassador. Had the information that is now available been available at the point of his appointment, the Prime Minister would never have appointed Peter Mandelson in the first place.
DJ
Darren Jones
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the detail of my statement.
DJ
Darren Jones
Where the Government have jurisdiction over documents and in compliance with the Humble Address, we will publish them, as I said to the House earlier today.
DJ
Darren Jones
Those processes are administered by the propriety and ethics team in the Cabinet Office, by the Foreign Office and by all the normal, appropriate authorities.
DJ
Darren Jones
I agree with the hon. Gentleman; a number of changes evidently need to be brought forward. As he suggests in his question, that should be done on a cross-party basis in the interests of how we serve the public.
DJ
Darren Jones
The Prime Minister engages with a whole host of businesses, whether in the United Kingdom or abroad. The hon. Gentleman’s question suggested particular wrongdoing; as I said earlier to my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum) , we have powers under the Procurement Act to act on these issues if …
DJ
Darren Jones
As I have said, the Foreign Office will update the House in due course.
DJ
Darren Jones
The Prime Minister, as he said today, is getting on with the job of delivering the change for this country that the electorate voted for 18 months ago, rewarding my party with a huge majority in this House. These issues are important and we will fix them, not least keeping the victims of sexual abuse and abuse of power…
US Department of Justice Release of Files2 Feb 2026
DJ
Darren Jones
As I know right hon. and hon. Members across the House will agree, Jeffrey Epstein was a despicable criminal who committed disgusting crimes and destroyed the lives of countless women and girls. What he did is unforgivable. His victims must be our first priority. As the Prime Minister has said, anybody with relevant information must… come forward and co-operate with investigations, so that Jeffrey Epstein’s victims can get the justice that they have been denied for too long. On Friday, the Department of Justice in the United States released around 3 million pages from the case files relating to Jeffrey Epstein. It is increasingly clear that his awful crimes involved many—often powerful—people, who facilitated them by actively participating in those crimes, by failing to hear the victims’ voices, by equating wealth with integrity, and by not using their privileged position to speak out, even against a friend. It is incumbent on those of us who hold ministerial office to behave in a way that builds trust in politics and upholds the standards that voters rightly expect from us. Contained within the release by the US Department of Justice are documents that highlight the close nature of the relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and Peter Mandelson, including alleged financial transactions when Peter Mandelson was a Labour Member of Parliament and later a Minister. For the avoidance of doubt, this information was not known by the Government until the release of documents by the Department of Justice on Friday. The nature of the documents has also raised serious concerns about Peter Mandelson’s behaviour while a Minister. Peter Mandelson must account for his actions and conduct. It is an understatement to say that his decision to continue a close relationship with a convicted paedophile, including discussing private Government business, falls far below the standards expected of any Minister. His behaviour was unequivocally wrong and an insult to the women and girls who suff
Hansard · 2 Feb 2026 · parliament.uk
JC
Judith Cummins
I call the shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
AB
Alex Burghart
I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement. The crimes of Jeffrey Epstein were truly terrible—paedophilia, sex trafficking, child prostitution. It was an awful abuse of power, and it is of course a great embarrassment to our country that its most senior ambassador should have been caught up with a man like…
ET
Emily Thornberry
The files seem to show that Peter Mandelson was given £50,000 by a notorious paedophile and that a few years later he sent on market-sensitive information to Epstein, who worked for JP Morgan, about market bail-outs. He told him about the Prime Minister’s resignation, said that they should “mildly threaten” the Chancel…
JC
Judith Cummins
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
MW
Max Wilkinson
The Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister and the shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster are right: we must start by remembering the many women and young girls who experienced unimaginable horrors at the hands of Epstein and his network. We must also ask what it was that first attracted the politician Peter Mandel…
DJ
Darren Jones
The person who has to take responsibility for their failings is Peter Mandelson. The shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster knows that the process for political appointments, whether to ambassadorships or otherwise, was one set up under the previous Conservative Government. It was a process that we inherited and h…
DJ
Darren Jones
My right hon. Friend is right that each individual issue is wholly unacceptable, and cumulatively they are also unacceptable. The undeclared exchange of funds and the passing on of Government information, let alone the fact that those exchanges were to a convicted paedophile, are wholly unconscionable. The House will k…
DJ
Darren Jones
I welcome the hon. Gentleman to his post on the Liberal Democrat Front Bench. He is right that it is time for the procedures in Parliament to be updated. While this House has taken steps in recent years to do so, the other place has not; as I said in my statement, the Government are today making an offer to the other p…
DJ
Darren Jones
The process for political appointments has since been strengthened by this Government to include additional interviews and processes for declarations of interest. The key thing, though, is that when someone lies in their declaration of interest, there must be a consequence, and that consequence for Members of the other…
DJ
Darren Jones
For the sake of clarity, can I just make it clear that neither I nor the Government are here to defend Peter Mandelson? We are here to defend the integrity of this House and the other place and to ensure that where processes need updating, they are updated. On the question of legislation regarding individual Members of…
DJ
Darren Jones
I am sure that there is not one Member of this House who does not agree with my hon. Friend about the level of disgust we feel in seeing the disclosures from the Epstein files. The House knows that the Government are taking forward radical proposals for tackling violence against women and girls. In respect of Jeffrey E…
DJ
Darren Jones
It would not be appropriate for me to entertain that hypothetical question at the Dispatch Box. We obviously hope that that is not the case, but, as I say, I am not here to speak for Peter Mandelson.
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is right to raise those concerns. As I confirmed to the shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Cabinet Secretary did respond to Gordon Brown’s request to search for documents in the Government archive in relation to the sale of RBS assets to JP Morgan at the time. The review concluded that thos…
DJ
Darren Jones
As I have said, the Cabinet Secretary is currently looking at the Government archives to see what documents are available and will advise the Prime Minister accordingly. If the Government can be of assistance to any investigations in due course, they of course will be.
DJ
Darren Jones
The information that became available over the preceding few days from the US Department of Justice is new information to the Government.
DJ
Darren Jones
I agree wholeheartedly with the hon. Lady, and the Government have called for anybody with information to do just that.
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is exactly right, and that is why the Government have written to the appropriate authorities in the other place today to request that that work is now started.
DJ
Darren Jones
Neither the Labour party nor the Government, or indeed this House or the right hon. Member, knew about the information that was made available by the US Department of Justice only a matter of days ago. As soon as that information became available, the Government have acted accordingly. In respect of the previous decisi…
DJ
Darren Jones
All due process was followed. As the Prime Minister made clear, it was clear that additional measures for political appointments needed to be put into place, which have now been put into place. I remind my hon. Friend and the House that the information that became available, both at the time the Prime Minister sacked t…
DJ
Darren Jones
I say to the right hon. Gentleman and the House that, whether it is Peter Mandelson, Michelle Mone or other peers who have brought the other place into disrepute, there needs to be a process for removing peerages. The Government are making it very clear today that this should be conducted on a cross-party basis to ensu…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Government stand ready to work with the appropriate authorities in the House of Lords to update its procedures, and as I informed this House, we have written to them today to start that process. We hope to move as quickly as possible.
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Lady is right that the victims of Jeffrey Epstein need to be at the centre of all our attention. The Government will, of course, co-operate with any investigations that take place. As we have said repeatedly, anybody with any information should make themselves available to investigators, whether here or overse…
DJ
Darren Jones
I share my hon. Friend’s disgust at what has taken place. As I have said, the House of Lords must update its procedures to ensure that there are consequences for the behaviour of Members who bring their House into disrepute. The House of Commons has been able to do that in recent years, and there is no reason why the o…
DJ
Darren Jones
As I have said repeatedly, the Government will, of course, co-operate with any investigation and encourage everybody to do so. We stand ready to introduce legislation at pace, if required, and to work with the House of Lords to update its procedures. We agree that that needs to happen, and that it needs to happen quick…
DJ
Darren Jones
I agree wholeheartedly with my hon. Friend. The Cabinet Secretary is today reviewing the Government archives to see what information is available for that time, not just in relation to the sale of RBS assets to JP Morgan, as requested by the former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, but, more broadly, during the time that P…
DJ
Darren Jones
As I have repeatedly said, neither the Labour party nor this Government seek to defend Peter Mandelson, as the right hon. Lady implies. The Leader of the Opposition has herself called for Michelle Mone’s peerage to be removed. The point I make is that that cannot happen either, because the processes are not up to date …
DJ
Darren Jones
I agree with my hon. Friend and again reiterate that if any Minister were found to be forwarding Government information in that way, they would be quickly removed from post under the rules that we have today and could be made subject to a recall petition in their constituencies by the House authorities. In respect of t…
DJ
Darren Jones
I think the Register of Members’ Financial Interests is a matter for the House, not the Government, but I am sure that the House authorities will have heard the hon. Gentleman’s question. He asked a question about an investigation, and the answer is yes. Everybody—whether it is the Government, individuals involved or t…
DJ
Darren Jones
I congratulate my hon. Friend on all his tireless campaigning on the Hillsborough law, and I reaffirm the Government’s commitment to bringing that legislation back to the House as soon as possible. In respect of Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the United States, and the Prime Minister’s decision to sack …
DJ
Darren Jones
The Cabinet Secretary, as we speak, is reviewing the Government archives to see what documents we have available on the time when Peter Mandelson served as a Labour Minister. As I have informed the House, the documents released by the US Department of Justice in the preceding few days contained information new to the G…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is right that the public expect that if we break the law or the rules, there should be consequences. In this House, that is the case, but in the House of Lords, it is not. That is why the Government are encouraging the appropriate authorities in the House of Lords to come forward with proposals to change…
DJ
Darren Jones
I have to refute in the strongest possible terms any accusation that the Government would seek to interfere in, or block, any investigation in relation to Jeffrey Epstein. It is absolutely wrong to suggest that documents would be made unavailable or deleted. The Cabinet Secretary is today reviewing the Government archi…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right that releasing Government information in and of itself, let alone for personal or commercial gain, is wrong and a breach of rules that we all must comply with. If that is what happened, there should be appropriate investigations and consequences for that behaviour.
DJ
Darren Jones
On the first part of the hon. Lady’s question, as the Prime Minister made very clear, when the extent and depth of the relationship between Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein post his conviction became clear, the Prime Minister moved very quickly indeed to sack Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States. The P…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend knows that the Government have committed to reducing violence against women and girls, and have recently brought forward a strategy, setting out how we will work across Government to do just that in the years ahead. Specifically on the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, we will continue to do all we can to supp…
DJ
Darren Jones
I am not sure that I agree with the hon. Lady that there has been any undue delay in investigation. At the time of his appointment, Peter Mandelson gave the Prime Minister a commitment about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, but it became evident when documents were released that the reality was different. Within …
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Government, and specifically the Prime Minister, have already strengthened the ministerial code that we are all subject to in this House, and have made the ethics adviser independent. That gives the ethics adviser the authority to investigate Ministers freely, without requiring p…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Prime Minister has acted at every stage with integrity. It is Peter Mandelson who has to be accountable for the actions of Peter Mandelson. To suggest that the Prime Minister should be responsible for the actions of Peter Mandelson is obviously wrong-headed. As I said in my statement, Peter Mandelson, who is no lon…
DJ
Darren Jones
As the hon. Lady knows from the discussion in the House today, it is not that we do not wish to take action in respect of Peter Mandelson; it is that we expect action to be taken that affects all Members of the House of Lords, including other peers who need to be removed from the Lords as a consequence of their behavio…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Member knows that the Government have stated and believe that Peter Mandelson should not be a Member of the House of Lords and should not use his title, but he is right that the rules need to be updated to allow that action to be taken by the House of Lords. We have written to the House of Lords authorities to…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Prime Minister’s judgment was made clear when, as soon as information that he had been misled by Peter Mandelson became available, he sacked him.
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Lady knows that it is not the Government who instigate criminal investigations. It is for the Crown Prosecution Service and the police to take those decisions independently of Ministers. Whether in respect of UK investigations or investigations in the United States, the Government have made it very clear that …
DJ
Darren Jones
To be clear, the documents produced by the United States Department of Justice were not available to the Government until they were released a number of days ago. As soon as they have become available, we have instigated processes in our own authorities to make sure that we have a clear view of what information was ava…
DJ
Darren Jones
As far as I am aware, no Member of this House had access to the information recently published by the United States Department for Justice, or to the documents that were released at the time the Prime Minister sacked the ambassador to the United States. The Prime Minister has previously been very clear to the House tha…
DJ
Darren Jones
The information that became available in September that led to the sacking of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States made it clear for the first time, to all of us and to the Prime Minister, that Peter Mandelson not only remained a friend of Jeffrey Epstein following his conviction but had actively mentored…
DJ
Darren Jones
As I have informed the House today, the Cabinet Secretary is reviewing all documentation relating to Peter Mandelson’s time as a Minister in the last Labour Government to see what information is available today, and we will comply with any investigations that take place as a consequence. The hon. Member is right that a…
DJ
Darren Jones
I was not aware of that issue, so I thank the hon. Gentleman for bringing it to my attention. If there are any British victims affected by the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein, whether in relation to the latest publication of documents or otherwise, Government services stand ready to be of support to those victims and to ensu…
Government Use of Technology22 Jan 2026
DJ
Darren Jones
Thank you, Mr Speaker; I am here to earn my salary. I thank my hon. Friend for her question. The Government will be taking a “digital first” approach to modernising public services. On Tuesday, I highlighted that we are expanding the No. 10 innovation fellowship programme to bring more specialist digital skills into Government. On… everything from justice to health, people with those skills will be working on building in-house digital solutions to create more efficient, value-for-money public services.
Hansard · 22 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
FE
Florence Eshalomi
What recent progress he has made with Cabinet colleagues on improving the use of technology to implement Government priorities.
FE
Florence Eshalomi
I thank my right hon. Friend for making sure that he is earning his keep. I welcome the written statement from the Minister for Digital Government and Data on the plan to use artificial intelligence to boost productivity in public services. It is right that we look at all avenues, but I am concerned about the gender an…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that important question. These AI solutions are only as good as their ability to serve the public fairly; equality should be built in at the start. The AI Safety Institute and officials at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology work across Government to ensure that thos…
Topical Questions22 Jan 2026
DJ
Darren Jones
This week, I gave a speech recognising the public’s frustration with our public services. I rejected the Conservative party’s offer of continued cuts and decline, and I rejected the offer of the populist parties, which just want to tear everything down and leave people on their own. Labour will build public services anew, so that… accessing services in the future will feel more like online banking or online shopping, and so that public services are there when people need them most. I have tabled a written ministerial statement about other changes in how we perform our duties in government. There will be new taskforces; the expansion of the innovation fellowship scheme; the new national school of government and public services; and reforms to the recruitment criteria, bonuses and performance management of the senior civil service. All of those are spelled out in the written ministerial statement, and I am happy to answer any further questions today.
Hansard · 22 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
SO
Sarah Olney
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
SO
Sarah Olney
In his speech this week, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster set out his plan for the future of the civil service, in which he envisioned further sackings in a digital transformation. Last week, we saw the untested and potentially dangerous nature of artificial intelligence when the chief constable of West Midland…
AH
Alison Hume
In Scarborough, British electric bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis employs more than 700 people and is vital to our local economy. Tax-funded bus procurement should support UK industry, rather than fund international competitors. However, with the social value requirement in public procurement set at only 10% and price…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. That is a very important question, and I fully support it, but we have to shorten the questions to get others in. The Minister will give a good example in his reply.
CW
Chris Ward
My hon. Friend raises a really important issue that affects her constituency. As I said earlier, we need to do more to support great British businesses like Alexander Dennis. In the consultation, we are looking at reforming social value. I think it needs to go further; there should be meaningful social value that reall…
DJ
Darren Jones
In the first instance, I am trying to put in place computers that work. Before we even get to artificial intelligence, we need to build some pretty basic services—services like those that the public are used to using in the private sector, but that are not used for public services because of 14 years of austerity from …
DJ
Darren Jones
I do, and I am happy to take a look at that.
DJ
Darren Jones
Mr Speaker, you will know that I take accountability to Parliament very seriously, as do the whole Government. As I said in my first answer, I am happy to take a look at that.
DJ
Darren Jones
I could not agree more, and I thank my hon. Friend for making such an important case for his constituency, as he did yesterday at Prime Minister’s questions. Whether on defence, nuclear energy, or fixing public services, the SNP have failed Scotland for far too long, and only with Anas Sarwar as leader of the Scottish …
DJ
Darren Jones
I could not agree more. Perhaps with those what3words, more Tory MPs can find their way to the Benches next time.
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for the great work that she does in Parliament and within the Labour party as a leading voice for rural communities across our country. On Government action, I point her to the rural taskforce, a cross-departmental group looking at how policies taken across Government can have a positive impact i…
DJ
Darren Jones
My assessment is that government conflates policy and delivery. That is why we will be promoting people from the frontline into the more senior levels of the senior civil service, to make sure that we understand the customer experience and how citizens expect their services to work more than has been the case in the pa…
DJ
Darren Jones
There has been no U-turn—[Interruption.] The hon. Member has asked the same question twice and has had the same answer. If he would like, I will write to him in plain English and he can read it a third time.
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for the brilliant work that she is doing in her constituency with this historic money from Pride in Place, whereby local people get to decide how to spend money on their own communities. As she has alluded to, the Office for the Impact Economy will work with social investors, philanthropists and …
DJ
Darren Jones
As part of the Growth and Living Standards Cabinet Committee, the Cabinet Office co-ordinates Ministers across Government to ensure that we are working as hard as possible to get inflation and costs down and make a real difference to the living standards of the public across the country.
DJ
Darren Jones
That is a very good idea—I have had similar issues in my own constituency. I will make sure that that idea is passed on to the Home Secretary. Police reforms will be coming to the House shortly.
Devolved Administrations4 Dec 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
After the damage wrought by successive Conservative Governments, we have successfully reset relations with the devolved Governments. Thanks to the hard work of Eluned Morgan, Anas Sarwar and our brilliant Welsh and Scottish Labour MPs, we have provided the largest uplifts to their budgets since devolution began.
Hansard · 4 Dec 2025 · parliament.uk
GJ
Gerald Jones
What recent progress he has made on improving the relationship between the Government and the devolved Administrations.
KM
Katrina Murray
What recent progress he has made on improving the relationship between the Government and the devolved Administrations.
IC
Irene Campbell
What recent progress he has made on improving the relationship between the Government and the devolved Administrations.
GJ
Gerald Jones
I very much welcome the additional £505 million of investment that the Chancellor announced in last week’s Budget through the Barnett formula, building on the biggest settlement since devolution. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this is another example of two Labour Governments working together for the benefit of t…
KM
Katrina Murray
Does the Minister agree that in my constituency, where people are struggling to access healthcare, it is vital that the SNP Government make effective use of the recent funding uplift to finally deliver the long-promised elective treatment and diagnostic centre in Cumbernauld, so that we can cut waiting lists and get my…
DJ
Darren Jones
I agree that this is but one fantastic example of two Labour Governments working together to deliver for the people of Wales, in stark contrast with 14 years of Conservative Governments ignoring Welsh leaders in the Senedd. Just the other week, we announced two AI growth zones and the UK’s first small modular reactor i…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend will know that it was Nicola Sturgeon, campaigning less than a month before the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, who promised a new elective treatment and diagnostic centre for the people of Cumbernauld. Four and a half years later, my hon. Friend’s constituents are still waiting, and the SNP Governmen…
DJ
Darren Jones
In England and Wales, Labour Governments are investing billions of pounds to deliver a new generation of clean, safe nuclear power. Hunterston, in my hon. Friend’s constituency, is just one of the communities in Scotland that could benefit from this investment, if it was not for the SNP Government’s outdated and ideolo…
DJ
Darren Jones
I can confirm that Ministers across Government, including myself, the Prime Minister and others in relevant Departments, engage with our counterparts in the Scottish Government frequently, and we wish to unblock problems to improve delivery for the people of Scotland. If the hon. Lady writes to me on the particular iss…
DJ
Darren Jones
I think it comes from mutual respect and dialogue, which this Government have exhibited since we have come into office. That is in stark contrast to the relationship over the previous 14 years. The Northern Ireland Secretary and I, alongside the Prime Minister, engage with the Deputy First Minister and the First Minist…
EU Relations4 Dec 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
Since coming to office, the Government have secured a new strategic partnership with the EU to deliver on jobs, bills and borders. We are repairing the damage inflicted by the Conservatives’ botched Brexit deal, which left food businesses paying £200 on paperwork for every single consignment shipped in from the EU. We have made significant… progress since our historic May summit, including negotiations on a food and drink deal, which will slash red tape for businesses and bring down prices for consumers.
Hansard · 4 Dec 2025 · parliament.uk
AB
Alex Brewer
What steps he is taking to improve relations with the EU.
AC
Andrew Cooper
What steps he is taking to improve relations with the EU.
AP
Al Pinkerton
What progress his Department has made on implementing the agreement made with the EU in May 2025.
AB
Alex Brewer
Given that Brexit has left a £90 billion hole in the UK’s tax revenues and that small business owners in my constituency of North East Hampshire are telling me that the last two Budgets have been “catastrophic” for them, why are the Government not pursuing a bespoke UK-EU customs union to cut red tape, boost economic g…
AC
Andrew Cooper
Recent efforts to secure UK participation in the EU’s Security Action for Europe initiative, which aims to strengthen defence capacity across the continent in response to escalating Russian threats, appear to have come to an end without agreement. While it is right that the UK only enters agreements that clearly suppor…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Prime Minister was very clear in the House yesterday that we will be honouring our manifesto commitments on a single market and a customs union—we will not be rejoining those institutions. However, there is a great deal of work that can be done between the botched deal we inherited from the Conservatives—from their…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for his important question. The United Kingdom remains committed to our role in European security in the face of rising threats. As the House will know, the Prime Minister has led the coalition of the willing to combat Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine and has worked tirelessly to strengthen…
DJ
Darren Jones
I have to confess that I have not listened to “The News Agents” podcast that the hon. Member refers to, but I know you will be pleased to hear, Mr Speaker, that what is self-evident is what is said in this House, not on podcasts. The Prime Minister was very clear yesterday on the position the Government hold in relatio…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for his question. As he will understand, my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office is in discussions with counterparts in the European Union about the changing global landscape for steel. This Government are very clear that we should protect British steel and our capabilities to pr…
DJ
Darren Jones
First, regardless of the negotiation on SAFE, our collaboration with European partners is stronger than ever on defence and defence procurement. In relation to SAFE in particular, about which the hon. Member asked, this was always going to be a negotiation between the EU and the UK, and the UK Government rightly have t…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Member will know that the agreement with the European Union was not just on one particular issue; it was a package of improvements in the relationship between the UK and the EU. He might want to welcome the agreement on food and drink regulation reforms, so we can get prices down on the shelves in British supe…
DJ
Darren Jones
The agreement reached on pharmaceuticals is a win for the United Kingdom. We have an enormously important sector for pharmaceutical research and development and production in the United Kingdom, which exports many of its products to the American market, so to have agreed the tariff arrangements with the United States i…
DJ
Darren Jones
Mr Speaker, there is obviously a great deal of interest on the Liberal Democrat Benches in their ten-minute rule Bill, which I look forward to reading in due course.
Topical Questions4 Dec 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
Since I last addressed the House, the Prime Minister announced the new Office for the Impact Economy, based in the Cabinet Office. From building affordable homes to giving children up and down the country the best start in life, social enterprises and community foundations are fundamental to delivering the change that this Government were elected… to deliver. Changing lives for the better happens from the ground up, as well as from the top down. The Office for the Impact Economy will allow those organisations to engage with Government directly to get the support they need, and it will help public funding work harder by bringing philanthropists and other social investors together with communities that need investment. I look forward to updating the House further on this issue in due course.
Hansard · 4 Dec 2025 · parliament.uk
KS
Kenneth Stevenson
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
KS
Kenneth Stevenson
While passengers are experiencing short-term pain of long waits as the EU entry-exit system becomes fully operational, can the Minister confirm his Department is working to ensure that the agreement obtained by this Labour Government to allow British access to e-gates will, in the long term, cut queues and improve the …
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
AB
Alex Burghart
A few weeks ago I wrote to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster about Chinese ownership of critical national infrastructure, including the possible acquisition of Thames Water. I have not had a reply, but since then The Telegraph has been briefed by the Government that the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster would…
AB
Alex Burghart
Well, someone was briefing in the right hon. Gentleman’s name. I thank him for his answer, but on the same theme, the electricity distribution network for London and much of the south-east, as well as the gas distribution network for about 5 million people in our country and the water supply for about another 3 million…
DJ
Darren Jones
British passport holders will be able to use e-gates across Europe, allowing for more time to be spent on holiday and less time spent held up in queues. This is a positive step forward in expanding our access across the EU. The Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office is working with individual member stat…
DJ
Darren Jones
The House will know that because of the quasi-judicial powers I have under the National Security and Investment Act 2021, I cannot comment on individual transactions. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we are always willing to use those powers to protect the national interests and national security of this country. I…
DJ
Darren Jones
I can reassure the hon. Member and the House that we constantly keep critical national infrastructure risks under review and will take interventions as required to protect the national interest and national security of the United Kingdom.
DJ
Darren Jones
We will always negotiate in Britain’s interest and ensure value for money for the taxpayer and benefit for the UK economy. I can confirm that not only has the Paymaster General agreed to meet with the Chair of the EFRA Committee, but the relevant Minister from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will…
DJ
Darren Jones
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing so much investment in his constituency. The Office for the Impact Economy will be working with philanthropists and social investors, as well as corporate givers and others, to support programmes led by the Government, such as Pride in Place and other public investments, to deli…
DJ
Darren Jones
I will ensure that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice receives the hon. Gentleman’s question, which he can maybe raise again in Justice questions when they come round.
DJ
Darren Jones
I welcome the introduction of the plan for change to the debate today, and the hon. Gentleman will be as excited as I am about the promise of change being delivered: five interest rate cuts; mortgage rates coming down; wages growing faster than the cost of living; NHS waiting lists down not by 2 million, 3 million or 4…
DJ
Darren Jones
I know that through the finance interministerial and the interministerial standing committee, leaders and relevant Ministers discuss a whole range of issues relevant to Northern Ireland, including this, with colleagues from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and others. I am always happy to have tho…
Public Sector Reform23 Oct 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
The Prime Minister has asked me to help drive the Government’s delivery of the public’s priorities: boosting living standards, fixing our NHS and securing our borders. I and the team are focused on changing how Government works, to build the foundations of a modern British state that delivers for the British people, using modern technology… with more accountability and by breaking down silos and outdated hierarchy.
Hansard · 23 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
LA
Lewis Atkinson
What steps he is taking to develop the Government’s approach to public sector reform.
EB
Elsie Blundell
What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to reform public services.
LA
Lewis Atkinson
Could my right hon. Friend outline what role he thinks digital ID could play in supporting public sector reform?
EB
Elsie Blundell
The last Government left the public services on which our constituents rely on their knees, with many just about keeping their head above water, and the Probation Service is no different. Since being elected, I have come to understand the dire ramifications of what can go wrong when local probation services are not per…
RS
Rishi Sunak
In my constituency, organisations such as Just the Job, Yatton House, Northdale and Chopsticks provide valuable services for adults with complex disabilities and learning difficulties, so will the Minister join me in commending them? May I urge him to continue the work that I know his Department is doing on exploring w…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology for her dedicated work on the Prime Minister’s recent announcement on digital identity. As of today, the Cabinet Office has responsibility for the policy, legislation and strategic oversight of the digital ID programme, with the …
DJ
Darren Jones
I know that my hon. Friend has been a vocal campaigner for her constituents in relation to the injustice experienced through the Probation Service in and around her constituency. Public protection is, of course, a key priority for this Government, and serious further offences, although rare, are devastating for victims…
DJ
Darren Jones
May I join the right hon. Member in celebrating the success of the organisations in his constituency? He and the House will know that when the Government talk about delivery, we are really talking about those organisations that deliver real change for people’s lives, not about processes in Whitehall. It is organisation…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Member will no doubt have heard from the Health Secretary in Health questions and subsequent statements about the NHS 10-year plan, which is moving the delivery of services from hospitals into the community. We know that too many patients end up in A&E, for example, making hospital delivery very difficult, bec…
Delivery of Government Priorities23 Oct 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
The Prime Minister has asked me to help to drive forward delivery of the public’s priorities. In Scotland, we have delivered more money for public services than at any point since devolution began—an extra £9.1 billion over the next three years. I know that my hon. Friend and his constituents in Airdrie and Shotts will… expect to see that money invested in Scotland’s NHS, schools and frontline policing, instead of being frittered away by the SNP.
Hansard · 23 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
KS
Kenneth Stevenson
What steps he is taking to improve the delivery of Government priorities.
KS
Kenneth Stevenson
In less than 18 months, this Government have delivered defence contracts that will support Scottish jobs for years to come; invested in the pride of place scheme, which will see Scottish town centres rejuvenated, including those in North Lanarkshire; and committed record funding to the Scottish Parliament to invest in …
JB
Josh Babarinde
The Cabinet Office co-chairs the flood resilience taskforce in order to deliver on its priority to bolster flood defences, but residents in Eastbourne at this very point in time on Wartling Road, Seaside and Whitley Road—and, earlier this week, on Macmillan Drive—have to wade through canals created by flooding brought …
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
LS
Lisa Smart
I think the Government are right to identify economic growth as a key priority. I also agree with the Chancellor, who this week identified Brexit as one of the reasons that they are finding growth tough to find. Brexit red tape is a millstone around the neck of our economy; it has added 2 billion pieces of extra busine…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend rightly recognises the defence dividend that Labour has delivered for Scotland, including the recent £10 billion frigate deal with Norway. As my hon. Friend’s constituents will know only too well, more people have waited over two years for NHS treatment in Lanarkshire alone compared with the whole of Eng…
DJ
Darren Jones
I am sorry to hear about the situation in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency. He knows that the Government take flood risk very seriously, and it is a key risk in our national risk register. That is why the Government have increased spending on flood defences significantly in the recent Budget and spending review, but I…
DJ
Darren Jones
May I welcome the hon. Lady to her new spokesperson role? We recognise the impact that Brexit has had on the UK economy, which is why we have entered into a new trade deal in our first year in government with the European Union. A very key part of that is the sanitary and phytosanitary agreement for food and drink trad…
Strengthening National Security23 Oct 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
Keeping our country and our citizens safe is the first duty of this Government, and the Cabinet Office plays a central role in that endeavour. My right hon. Friend the Security Minister and I regularly bring Ministers together from across Government to take decisions that strengthen our country’s national security. Recently, my Department published the… resilience action plan, and we are now implementing the national security strategy, which sharpens our efforts to improve national security.
Hansard · 23 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
JT
Jessica Toale
What recent progress his Department has made on strengthening national security.
JT
Jessica Toale
Later today, my hon. Friend the Member for South Dorset (Lloyd Hatton) and I will meet small and medium-sized enterprises in the defence sector and skills training providers to discuss how we in Dorset can benefit from the Government’s defence industrial strategy. Can the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster tell me ho…
NT
Nick Timothy
There are reports that Jonathan Powell wrote a box note to the Prime Minister on the China spy trial. When No. 10 was asked about this, the official spokesman said that it was for the Cabinet Office to answer, and as Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the right hon. Gentlema…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for her question, and welcome the companies from her and her colleague’s constituencies to Parliament today. As she knows, this Labour Government are committed to the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the cold war. Our strategic defence review and defence industrial …
Civil Service Jobs: Scotland23 Oct 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
In May, we committed to strengthening our presence in Scotland and across the UK, ensuring that talent from across the country can have a full career in the civil service without having to move to London. My first visit as Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister and Minister for intergovernmental relations was to Scotland, and… I was delighted to visit the Cabinet Office’s second headquarters —based in my hon. Friend’s constituency of Glasgow North—which will continue to offer more careers and opportunities in the civil service.
Hansard · 23 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
MR
Martin Rhodes
What progress his Department has made on the relocation of civil service jobs to Scotland.
MR
Martin Rhodes
Does the Minister agree that having different roles and different levels of positions within the civil service in Glasgow and in Scotland is important so that people can progress their careers while remaining in Glasgow or in Scotland?
DJ
Darren Jones
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. We want senior roles in locations across the country and not just in London. That is why we have committed to ensuring that 50% of UK-based senior civil service jobs are located outside London by 2030. I should add that on my visit to the Cabinet Office headquarters in my hon. Fr…
Topical Questions23 Oct 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
This is my first appearance at the Dispatch Box as Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister. In this role, I have been tasked with modernising the state to build a system that will better deliver the public’s priorities and better communicate the changes we are making across the country. Sadly, too many political parties today… wish to tear down our institutions and the public services we all rely on as the solution to the public’s frustration with a legacy system that struggles to deliver change, but there is an alternative. This Government are committed to renewal and delivering on the promise of change. We will build a modern state and better public services that are there when people need them. We will lead the way to a Britain renewed. With your permission, Mr Speaker, I will just answer the question from the official Opposition that I could not answer in substantive questions about when I was informed of the Crown Prosecution Service decision to not proceed with the case. I was informed of this decision after the Prime Minister. I should also inform the House that I look forward to answering more questions before the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy on Wednesday next week.
Hansard · 23 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
SD
Shaun Davies
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
SD
Shaun Davies
Transforming Britain’s public services will be a mammoth task, but while the white heat of artificial intelligence and digital technology offer a revolutionary opportunity to improve performance and value for money in healthcare, tax services and everything in between, will the Government seize this opportunity to mode…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
AB
Alex Burghart
I thank the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster for giving us a degree more clarity. Perhaps he will give us a degree more clarity again. Was he told that the alleged case of spying against Members of Parliament was due to collapse before the information became public and, if so, who told him?
AB
Alex Burghart
I believe the right hon. Gentleman, but I find that answer extraordinary, and I think he should find it extraordinary, too. As we have already said, the right hon. Gentleman chairs the National Security Council. He oversees the Cabinet Office’s national security secretariat. The Prime Minister knew, the Home Secretary …
DJ
Darren Jones
The answer is absolutely yes. All our constituents know from their experiences at home, whether they are trying to do their banking, do their shopping or book a holiday, that they have the power to do it, when they want to do it, how they want to do it, on their phone, with services delivered in the way they want. That…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Member seems to be confused by his list of institutions. The only relevant institution in this case is the Crown Prosecution Service. It is the CPS that independently decides whether to bring forward these cases, and it was the independent decision of the Crown Prosecution Service not to proceed. Might I just …
DJ
Darren Jones
The Government take seriously the risk of climate change and the risk it poses to national security. That is why we are taking action to mitigate that risk and to reduce our carbon emissions. As the hon. Lady will know, we publish the outcomes of routine assessments done by the Government in relation to the national ri…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Government agree with the principle of the hon. Member’s question. As I said to the House earlier, we want to reduce the layers of bureaucracy and to be able to deliver more action and fewer words. That is why we are taking action to close arm’s length bodies and other institutions. Most significantly, we have anno…
DJ
Darren Jones
If the hon. Member writes to me with his constituency case, I will make sure that the Duchy of Cornwall looks at it in due course.
DJ
Darren Jones
I recognise the problem. The decision was to use the budget available to protect people’s homes and that has left other buildings at comparable risk. The relevant DEFRA Minister is working with DCMS on this issue. I will ensure that a conversation can take place.
DJ
Darren Jones
I am very happy to take ownership of the fact that we are in government, and very happy to confirm that the Conservatives are in opposition.
Taxes15 Jul 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
I congratulate the shadow Chancellor on another theatrical performance—one that I know we all enjoyed across the House. I remember fondly his previous attempts to weave the story of “Alice in Wonderland” into his contributions. The only conclusion I can draw today is that he has not found his way out of the rabbit hole… just yet. The shadow Chancellor made a number of points where he seemed to rewrite history. It was all the fault of Russia invading Ukraine, with not one mention of Liz Truss—“Who’s that? We’ve never heard of her.” When asked why, if everything was so hunky-dory under the Conservatives, they suffered such an historic loss, the answer was, “Oh, I don’t know.” There was no answer to the question. We had hope when he said, “I will tell the House what I would do differently.” I sat and listened carefully, and the grand reveal: “I would focus on productivity.” Well, I think the Conservatives said that before, and how did that go? Not one policy, suggestion or apology for their record—not one thing. In contrast, this Government were elected with an historic landslide and on a mandate of change. [Interruption.] Conservative Members question our historic landslide, but they should look at the number of seats we have on our side of the House, and how many they have on theirs. I encourage them to remember that the aim of the game is to get Members in this House. It was an historic landslide for the Labour party at the last election, elected on the promise of change—to put pounds in the pockets of working people and to deliver for the renewal of Britain. At the Budget last year we fixed the foundations, stabilising the public finances and putting Britain back on the road to growth, after 14 years of Conservative waste and decline. [Interruption.] I know that the Conservatives do not want to hear it, but every time one of them gets up to speak—we have heard it already—it is as if they have forgotten about the £22 billion black hole they left in the public finance
Hansard · 15 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
CN
Caroline Nokes
I must inform the House that Mr Speaker has not selected any amendment. I call the shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.
MS
Mel Stride
I beg to move, That this House notes that the Government was elected on the basis of a manifesto commitment not to increase taxes on working people and not to increase National Insurance or the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT; accordingly regrets the decision to raise employers’ National Insura…
LE
Luke Evans
I am grateful to the shadow Chancellor for making that point. Does he believe that a humble toolmaker who happens to own a small business is a working person?
MS
Mel Stride
Indeed, my hon. Friend is absolutely right. We need to stand up for everybody—even our toolmakers. Let us be frank: we have had to table this motion today, which seeks to do nothing other than reaffirm the commitments that the Labour party has already made, because of the litany of broken promises that I have just shar…
JH
Jeremy Hunt
Does the shadow Chancellor agree that, following the welfare U-turns, public finances today are in a far worse state than they were a year ago when the Government came into office? There is a crucial difference: a year ago, the Conservative Government were taking difficult decisions to bring taxes down in order to grow…
DJ
Darren Jones
I roll my eyes because, evidently, all my hon. Friends put themselves forward and stood to serve the country. As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has made very clear, he changed the Labour party to make sure that we put the country first. The right hon. Gentleman makes the case that the name of the game is not t…
DJ
Darren Jones
A working person is someone who goes to work, and in our manifesto we made a very clear commitment to protect working people through the taxes they pay on their pay slips—which is something that we experience when we go to work. However, we did more than that. We ended tax breaks for private schools to help fund new te…
DJ
Darren Jones
Of course we engage with businesses, small and large, week in, week out, as Ministers in the Treasury, across Government, and in our constituency capacities. As Members know, the introduction of the employer national insurance contributions was weighted with changes in the threshold for payment with the aim of reducing…
DJ
Darren Jones
I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend, who is an excellent champion for her constituency. She is right to point out that the investment announced for her constituency was a consequence of the decisions made by this Chancellor and this Labour Government to invest in the renewal of Britain.
DJ
Darren Jones
That is a slightly odd question, but I can definitely confirm that any tax changes, one way or the other, will be announced by the Chancellor at the Dispatch Box in the normal way in the autumn. As I say, Conservative Members are welcome to come forward with suggestions about how they might pay for the decisions that t…
DJ
Darren Jones
As the right hon. Gentleman knows, my colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions, with the Stephen Timms review and other work, are taking those measures forward.
DJ
Darren Jones
Madam Deputy Speaker, it is because the review is named after the Member, which led to my naming him, but the Timms review will be taking forward that work and coming forward with proposals in due course. If Conservative Members wish to challenge the fiscal rules, I invite them to do so. Do they instead think it would …
Government Performance against Fiscal Rules7 Jul 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
As the shadow Chancellor knows, it is a long-standing convention of this and previous Governments not to provide a running commentary on a fiscal forecast, and it is for the independent Office for Budget Responsibility to assess performance against the Government’s fiscal rules in its official economic and fiscal forecast. In the most recent forecast,… published in March alongside the spring statement, the OBR confirmed that the Government were on track to meet their fiscal rules two years ahead of target. It also confirmed that the Government were on track to meet their fiscal rules early in the Budget last autumn. This is a choice—a responsible choice. When we contrast it with the actions of Conservative Members, who lost control of the public finances, we see working people across the country still paying the price. In line with the usual process, the Chancellor will ask the OBR to produce a new fiscal forecast in the autumn for the annual Budget. That forecast will include an updated assessment of the Government’s performance against their fiscal rules. As the Prime Minister confirmed last week, the Government are committed to their fiscal rules, which remain non-negotiable. We have seen what happens when fiscal rules are put to one side—[Interruption.] Conservatives Members may be chuntering from their sedentary positions, but families across the country are still paying the price of the consequences of Liz Truss’s experiment through higher mortgage payments, and we are not going to put the nation’s finances at risk as the Conservatives have done. In contrast, this Government are meeting their fiscal rules and, as a consequence of the Chancellor’s decisions, we are investing billions of pounds in the renewal of Britain: in schools, hospitals, affordable homes and public transport and in keeping the nation safe. Any future fiscal plans will be set out at the Budget in the normal way.
Hansard · 7 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
MS
Mel Stride
(Urgent Question): To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if she will make a statement on the Government’s performance against the fiscal rules.
MS
Mel Stride
The Chancellor said that she would not make any commitments that were not “fully funded and fully costed”, but the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has just said that he now expects us to wait until the autumn to hear how the Government intend to cover the £6 billion of unfunded commitments that their U-turns have run u…
CN
Caroline Nokes
Order. The shadow Chancellor will know the time limit. I am sure that this will be his last sentence.
MS
Mel Stride
It certainly is now, Madam Deputy Speaker. If Ministers are to begin putting their house back in order, that must start right now with full transparency and proper answers.
MH
Meg Hillier
We all know why the Government want to keep their fiscal rules tight, because we know what happens when the markets go wrong, but a lot of things have rocked the country since the Labour Government were elected a year ago. Will the Chief Secretary explain to our constituents what the benefits of the fiscal rules are fo…
DJ
Darren Jones
I think the House knows what losing control of the public finances looked like, because under the previous Conservative Government interest rates went through the roof, families were paying higher mortgage rates and the Chair of the Treasury Committee was calling out the irresponsible behaviour of Liz Truss and her Min…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the Chair of the Treasury Committee for her question. The way I would describe it to the public is that when the Government lose control of the public finances, as the Conservative party did in government, it affects not only the accounts in the Exchequer and the Treasury but the family finances in every house …
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Lady encourages me to act above my pay grade. The Chancellor will set out the date for the autumn Budget in due course. The hon. Lady invited me to explain to the House what our strategy was at the Budget—it was about investing in the renewal of Britain. That is why the Chancellor’s decision to update the fisc…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend knows from her work on the Treasury Committee that the fiscal rules are important because they prove that the Government are in control of the public finances. We saw what happened when the last Government lost control: the cost of Government borrowing went through the roof, and that takes money out of b…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Treasury engages with business leaders and investors all the time, and the one thing they tell me is that they are grateful this Government have brought back long-term, multi-year budgets, that we have the fiscal rules in place, and that we are reforming things like the planning system to make it easier to do busin…
DJ
Darren Jones
The fiscal rules are important because when we control the nation’s finances, we bring stability to family finances. We have all experienced the consequences of previous Governments losing control, and our mortgage rates and rents have gone through the roof. This Labour Government will never let that happen again.
DJ
Darren Jones
The Government are committed to the independence of the OBR. We will keep setting out future fiscal plans at one fiscal event a year.
DJ
Darren Jones
I agree with my hon. Friend that we have had four interest rate cuts under this Government which is good for mortgage holders and renters. Wages have increased faster than costs for the first time in many years, and the Chancellor has been able to invest billions of pounds in our country while keeping markets stable. T…
DJ
Darren Jones
I am not entirely sure what the question was, but I think the hon. Lady is exhibiting that she has learned some lessons from her party’s performance when she was last in government. Maybe she could share that with her Front-Bench colleagues in due course.
DJ
Darren Jones
This Government recognise that it was because of cuts, especially to capital investment through the austerity years under the Conservative Government, that we had such poor productivity in our economy. We are still suffering the consequences of that, which is why, as the Chancellor said at the Budget, we are choosing i…
DJ
Darren Jones
As a consequence of the Chancellor’s decisions, we gave Scotland the largest real-terms spending increase since devolution began, and the only radical change that we are now looking for is the Scottish National party to be kicked out of Holyrood next May.
DJ
Darren Jones
Because of the Chancellor’s decision to update the definition of debt—[Interruption.] We have been able to unlock billions of pounds of investment into houses and schools and hospitals and GP surgeries across the country. Opposition Members may laugh but, as my hon. Friend points out, they have no plan to share with an…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Chancellor was very clear that the last Budget was a once-in-a-generation Budget because it had to deal with the sheer scale of negligence and mess that we had inherited from the party opposite. I am very grateful now that we are one year into a Labour Government we do not have to keep clearing up their mess year a…
DJ
Darren Jones
I might suggest to my hon. Friend that the public are grateful not to hear very much from the Conservative party after 14 years of failure, but if Conservatives Members wish to be competitive again, I would encourage them to set out what they might actually do with the country.
DJ
Darren Jones
The right hon. Lady seems to have missed the fact that this Government have changed the non-dom tax status, which had been used by some of the wealthiest people in our country for many years; we have introduced VAT on private schools; and it is now much more expensive to fly in a private jet than it was under the forme…
DJ
Darren Jones
This is the first opportunity I have had to congratulate my hon. Friend on her recent damehood, which is very well deserved. She invites me to comment on the independent Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast methodology. Given its independence, I am afraid I will not to that, but I will point to the fact that in …
DJ
Darren Jones
I will not give a running commentary on my conversations with businesses or constituents in my constituency, but what I have heard from businesses in the defence and infrastructure sectors is welcome news regarding our long-term spending commitments, our reform of the planning system and our commitment to spending more…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for welcoming the trade deals that this Government have entered into with the United States, India and the European Union, with whom we got a great deal, especially on food and drink imports and exports, which will result in lower prices on the shelves of our supermarkets across the country. As m…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Lady will know that when the changes in national insurances contributions for employers were implemented, the scheme was designed so as to protect smaller businesses, in relation to bigger business. She points to our fish and chip shops, which are often beloved in all our communities. I know from fish and chip…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is right. If any party on the Opposition Benches wants to be competitive in the next election, it needs to set out what it proposes to do with the country and how it will pay for it. Time and again, whether it is the Conservative party, Reform UK, the Green party or any other party, it is all promises of…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Treasury obviously monitors all OBR forecasts and considers them in detail. As the hon. Gentleman knows, it is right and proper that the Treasury looks at OBR forecasts in an orderly way when it produces its forecast in line with the fiscal forecast. That is how we bring stability back to the public finances, and t…
DJ
Darren Jones
In a more conciliatory tone to Conservative Members, let me say that they have so few MPs they had no choice.
DJ
Darren Jones
The Chancellor has confidence in the OBR.
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is right. Whether it is investors, market traders or our constituents, they got sick to the back teeth of chaos under the Conservatives, whether it was the mess of Brexit or the change in Prime Minister and Chancellor every five minutes. Ultimately, that resulted in a Parliament in which people were wors…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Member knows that the Chancellor will set out any decisions on tax one way or the other in the Budget, which she will do in the autumn.
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend knows that this Labour Government are committed to fiscal and political stability, because that is what matters for family finances and getting this country back on track after years of chaos under the Conservatives.
DJ
Darren Jones
Because the Conservative party had not done a spending review since 2021 and let inflation go through the roof, and the cost of doing business was higher, along with a whole string of broken promises from the Conservatives. The sooner they reflect on their mistakes and apologise to the country, the better for all of us…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for demonstrating the real consequences of fiscal discipline, but also the fact that the Chancellor updated the fiscal rules to allow for investment in precisely the kinds of projects my hon. Friend mentions in his constituency—in hospitals, schools, better roads, public transport and more afford…
DJ
Darren Jones
I think the hon. Member is referring to employer’s national insurance contributions, which—as I have set out to the House—were designed to limit the burden on smaller businesses, with bigger businesses paying more. That was the way that the system was designed, and that was the system that the Chancellor put forward.
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend speaks passionately, because his constituents know that they were worse off at the end of 14 years of the Conservatives than when they started. He knows that this Labour Government are committed to making his constituents better off at this end of this Parliament than they were at the start. That is what…
DJ
Darren Jones
I do not disagree with this Government’s fiscal policies, no.
DJ
Darren Jones
I agree with my hon. Friend. It will be a benefit to the whole House that the shadow Chancellor will be in his Devon constituency for the whole of August.
DJ
Darren Jones
I know that the hon. Member and colleagues in Birmingham are in correspondence and communication with relevant Ministers in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. I point him to the fact that this Government have increased the local government grant by up to £2 billion by the end of this period—by 2…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for pointing out the legacy of the past 14 years, where so many of our constituents are waiting for secure, affordable housing. That is why the Chancellor’s decision not only to update the definition of debt, but to allow for the creation of a new national housing bank means that we can direct bi…
DJ
Darren Jones
I refer the hon. Lady to my previous answer.
DJ
Darren Jones
I can reassure my hon. Friend that we are taking no advice from the Conservative party on our approach to the economy, given their dismal record.
DJ
Darren Jones
I was not at the event, so I cannot comment on those discussions, but I point the hon. Member to record levels of investment in this country. We have £120 billion of investment from the private sector in the first year of this Labour Government—including, as the Prime Minister said last Wednesday at Prime Minister’s qu…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for his pertinent question. It rather begs the question of whether the last Conservative Government had any fiscal rules at all. Based on the experience of all of us paying our mortgages and rent, and looking at the cost of inflation at the back end of the last Parliament, the answer is no.
DJ
Darren Jones
I disagree with the premise of the question. We are not attacking investment in this country; we are welcoming it. We are increasing public investment, we are doing deal after deal with the private sector, and we are welcoming significant amounts of foreign direct investment that will create good jobs with good wages i…
DJ
Darren Jones
I congratulate my hon. Friend on being so successful. The amount of investment that he has secured for his constituency is clearly a testament to his ability to represent it. He is right to point to all those investments, because part of the Chancellor’s economic strategy is investing in the renewal of Britain to benef…
DJ
Darren Jones
Let me point to the fact that wages are now increasing faster than costs—for the first time in many years. He also invited me to comment on childcare provision, which the Government agree is important to families, whether middle-class or otherwise. We have extended school-based nurseries and breakfast clubs in schools,…
DJ
Darren Jones
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing investment in his constituency from this Labour Government. He is right to point out that in the past his constituents have been given failed promises, whereas this Labour Government are delivering on their promises.
DJ
Darren Jones
I share the sympathies of the House with the family of my hon. Friend’s constituent. My hon. Friend is right to point out that investment in HMRC had been cut over many years, which made it harder for tax to be collected from those who needed to pay it. The Chancellor has invested significant sums in HMRC to improve cu…
DJ
Darren Jones
I agree. As the House knows, when the Chancellor presented the Budget last year, she said that this Government “chooses investment over decline” for Britain. That was reflected in our spending review, which was investing in the renewal of Britain, unlocking billions of pounds as a consequence of the fiscal rules that t…
DJ
Darren Jones
I do. It is good that my hon. Friend has been able to raise that testimony from the Transport Committee, because it reminds us why the British people were so angry with the Conservative party after 14 years of failed promises, and why this Labour Government will always make sure that we deliver on our promises.
Barnett Formula: Scotland1 Jul 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
There are currently no plans to review the operation of the Barnett formula. The Barnett formula has stood the test of time because it is simple and efficient, and it provides a clear and certain outcome. It is a key part of the arrangements for pooling and sharing risks and resources across the United Kingdom.
Hansard · 1 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
SL
Seamus Logan
Whether she plans to review the Barnett formula for Scotland.
SL
Seamus Logan
We know that if the Government today pass their disgraceful, discriminatory and, some say, illegal cuts to disability support, that will almost certainly lead to a reduction in the Scottish budget as a result of the Barnett formula. That is a deliberate choice that Scottish Labour MPs will be making if they support the…
LH
Lloyd Hatton
In the recent spending review, the Chancellor outlined plans for a multimillion-pound investment in essential building works at Budmouth academy in Weymouth. We welcome that new investment in local schools in our town, and it will enable Budmouth academy finally to upgrade its school buildings. Looking ahead, will the …
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Unfortunately, I cannot see the relevance of the question. I call Bobby Dean.
DJ
Darren Jones
One thing I can tell the Scottish people, and indeed the House, is that it is this Labour Government who have given the largest real-terms increase in spending to the Scottish Government since devolution began—billions and billions of pounds of extra money is going to the Scottish National party Government in Holyrood.…
British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme1 Jul 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend the Minister for Industry recently met the trustees of the British Coal staff superannuation scheme to consider their proposals, and I have been monitoring the developments closely.
Hansard · 1 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
NS
Nick Smith
What recent discussions her Department has had with the trustees of the British Coal staff superannuation scheme.
NS
Nick Smith
I thank the Chief Secretary to the Treasury for his answer. Last weekend I attended the anniversary of the Six Bells mining disaster in 1960, in which 45 men and boys died. I met Mervyn Frampton, whose brother Keith was killed in that tragedy. Mervyn is 90 now, and we talked about when he and his butties powered our co…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for his question, and I extend the thoughts of the House to his constituents and the communities that he represents. He will know that I have always kept the service and sacrifices of the mining communities in my mind, both in opposition when campaigning for changes to the mineworkers’ pension sc…
Ten-year Infrastructure Strategy1 Jul 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
The 10-year infrastructure strategy is a key part of this Government’s growth mission, committing to a minimum of £725 billion of investment over the next 10 years in local transport, affordable homes, and modernising schools and hospitals in every part of the country.
Hansard · 1 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
JT
Jessica Toale
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the 10-year infrastructure strategy on economic growth.
JT
Jessica Toale
I was pleased to see that the creative and digital industries, financial services, and clean energy were all included as priority sectors in the Government’s industrial strategy. Those sectors have huge potential in my constituency of Bournemouth West. Focusing on the latter, as a fellow south-west MP, what assessment …
MW
Munira Wilson
The infrastructure plan reiterated the Government’s support for a third runway at Heathrow, a project that the Chancellor has repeatedly stated will be privately funded. However, given the vast amount of rail and road infrastructure that will be needed to support a bigger Heathrow, as well as the huge risk a private co…
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for championing the Dorset clean energy super cluster opportunity, which was announced by her council at the UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum only recently. Offshore wind, hydrogen, nuclear, and carbon capture and storage are frontier technologies and industries that are at th…
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Darren Jones
The hon. Lady will know that we are waiting to receive detailed proposals from Heathrow for the development of the third runway. The Government will consider those proposals in due course and make further announcements when decisions have been taken.
Topical Questions1 Jul 2025
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Darren Jones
The Government agree wholeheartedly with my hon. Friend. At the end of the current Parliament, people will be better off as a consequence of the decisions that this Labour Government are making. We have already increased the national living wage by 6.7% to benefit 3 million people, while full-time workers are seeing an increase of… about £1,400 a year in their wages.
Hansard · 1 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
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John Lamont
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
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Rachel Reeves
The Government are delivering on the priorities of the British people. Yesterday, the Office for National Statistics confirmed that the UK was the fastest-growing G7 nation in the first quarter of this year. Since the election, this Labour Government have brought £120 billion of private investment into our economy. The…
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John Lamont
The award-winning bookshop and deli Mainstreet Trading Company in St Boswells has been forced to reduce its operating hours because “increases to employer national insurance mean that our operating cost base has increased significantly.” What advice does the Chancellor have for small businesses suffering because of thi…
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Rachel Reeves
This Government increased the employment allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, and that means 865,000 employers will pay no national insurance at all. Indeed, half of employers will either gain or see no change. It was also welcome that the Lloyds business barometer showed business confidence at a nine-year high, with a pa…
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Lindsay Hoyle
This is topicals; we have got to get going. Brian Leishman will set a good example.
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Darren Jones
This Labour Government in Westminster are delivering for the people of Scotland. As a consequence of our spending review, Scotland will receive an average of £50.9 billion per year over this Parliament—the largest real-terms increase in funding since devolution began. The only reason there is a black hole in the budget…
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Darren Jones
On behalf of the House, may I thank social care workers for the service they provide in all our constituencies? As a result of this Labour Government commitment’s to social workers and the social care system, we will have increased funding for social care by £4 billion by 2028-29 through the local government settlement…
UK Infrastructure: 10-year Strategy19 Jun 2025
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Darren Jones
When this Government came to power, we were elected on a promise to deliver a decade of national renewal, and from day one, we have worked to fulfil that promise. Less than a year into the job, we have already started to see the results: the fastest growing economy in the G7 in the first… quarter of the year, interest rates cut four times and real wages rising more in the first 10 months of our Government than they did in the first 10 years under the Conservatives. However, we are under no illusions about the challenges ahead. We will be going further and faster to turn the page on 14 years of chaos and mismanagement from the Conservative party, and to deliver the decade of national renewal that we promised. That is the backdrop against which I present this strategy to the House today. I put on record my thanks to everyone whose input has helped to shape the document, including those involved in the review I led when in opposition, which resulted in this strategy and the creation of the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, about which I will say more shortly. Infrastructure is key to unlocking growth across the country. Our roads, railways, airports and digital infrastructure connect people to businesses, public services and one another; our energy, water and housing infrastructures create and support communities; and our schools, hospitals, prisons and social infrastructure provide high-quality public services and help to keep us safe. But good infrastructure means improved productivity and efficiency in our economy too: increased resilience to shocks, stronger public services, more jobs and ultimately higher wages for working people. From the development of the railways to the 2012 Olympic games, we have a proud history in Britain of innovating, developing and building high-quality infrastructure, but the reality is that we have now fallen behind many of our international competitors. Too many investors now question our intentions and our c
Hansard · 19 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
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Richard Fuller
I thank the Chief Secretary to the Treasury for his statement, and for providing early sight of it. Our ability to invest in public infrastructure is a positive for individuals, communities and the country as a whole, and it is right that the new Government set out their strategy. The last Government had to deal with a…
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Nusrat Ghani
As Mr Fuller knows, there were three of us on that Committee back in those good old days.
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Nusrat Ghani
I call John Grady, a member of the Treasury Committee.
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John Grady
I welcome today’s announcement and in particular the focus on housing and transport, because Glasgow has a real housing crisis. In my constituency, the busy Bridgeton train station does not even have lifts for disabled people. All taxpayers are concerned about value for money, particularly given the huge overspend and …
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Nusrat Ghani
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
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Darren Jones
I remember them very fondly, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am grateful for your support, and for that of the shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury in his statements today. He has asked me a number of questions, which I will take in turn. The first question was about detailed spending allocations between Departments. Today, …
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Darren Jones
The key thing I will point my hon. Friend to is the role of the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority sitting in the Treasury. The assessment on delivery, assurance, design and commercial capabilities for projects will be part of the advice now coming to me as Chief Secretary and to the Chancello…
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Darren Jones
The hon. Lady is right to point to the fiasco of HS2, which my right hon. Friend the Transport Secretary updated the House on yesterday. The complete and utter negligence in delivering on that project over many years has left us with the legacy of having to pay more for longer, which has implications for all the other …
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Darren Jones
Lastly, the hon. Lady asked about hospital maintenance. There is a big commitment in the infrastructure strategy on maintenance. Maintenance is not sexy, and it is not good for election leaflets, but it is important. That is why we are committing so many billions today to it, because there is an enormous backlog. NISTA…
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Darren Jones
I will give a shorter answer, given the time available. We will be setting out further detail shortly about where we will be piloting these place-based business cases. It is a new process for Whitehall. It requires a level of co-ordination that does not currently exist, but the outcome if we get it right will be people…
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Darren Jones
The difference from the last Government is that they promised things with no money, and we are promising things with actual money. The hon. Member points to the midlands hub in the spending review document. That is about development funding. One of our different approaches under this infrastructure strategy is that, in…
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Darren Jones
I am always happy to meet my hon. Friend. I can confirm that in the design and funding of NISTA, I have funded a particular team to work on the management of disputes under the old PFI contract schemes to make sure that we are getting the best outcomes and best deal for the public sector.
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Darren Jones
I am usually confident in my abilities, to be frank. We will be consulting on some of the design details. We will be using private capital for social infrastructure only in particular potential use cases. We mention in the strategy today certain types of primary neighbourhood healthcare centres. We will be transparentl…
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Darren Jones
I agree with my hon. Friend on our extremely ambitious plans for council houses—or social and affordable houses, as we call them now. He will know that I, too, grew up in a council flat. I now represent the constituency of Bristol North West, and over 20,000 people in the city of Bristol are waiting for secure housing.…
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Darren Jones
I am sure that the hon. Gentleman makes a very good case, which Ministers in the Department for Transport will need to answer, but I am pleased to know that the Liberal Democrats think maintenance is sexy after all.
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Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. One of the challenges that I learned on coming into government is that the last Government did not even ask what the maintenance backlog was in certain Departments. There was not a clear set of data that told us which assets the Government own and the quality or state of them, so we …
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Darren Jones
I politely point the hon. Member to the fact that previously there were two functions in Government, and I have closed both of them and created one, so we are actually down by one. He asks about the devolved Governments, which have devolved responsibilities. We will not interfere with the devolution settlement, but I t…
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Darren Jones
I agree very much with my hon. Friend. Next week I will be meeting finance Ministers from the devolved Governments in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. We will put forward today’s update on our infrastructure strategy and seek to partner with them as best we can to deliver for people and places across the whole of …
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Darren Jones
That was a stream of slightly incoherent questions, if I may say so. I point the hon. Gentleman to the document that we have published today, which does mention Scotland quite a few times. He says that this Labour Government have not delivered anything for Scotland. I will just point him to the largest real-terms incre…
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for raising the Ely junction. The great thing about the multi-year spending review in the 10-year strategy is that the Department for Transport and its partners are now able to plan ahead, so I encourage him to talk to Transport Ministers about that particular project. He is right to say that we …
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Darren Jones
I hope that Stepping Hill will be able to bid into the new, longer-term maintenance fund so that we can get work done more quickly than it has been done in the past. On the place-based business case pilots under the Green Book review, we have not yet made any decisions about where we will pilot them or how, so we now h…
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Darren Jones
It seems that I have a list of bids for place-based business case pilots, which we will take away and consider. My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight why this issue is important. When the Government are spending a lot of money on a particular thing, including through industrial policy or defence spending, we …
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Darren Jones
Noting that I need to manage carefully my conflicts of interest as a Minister and a constituency MP, I would just point the hon. Lady to the announcement made the other week—I thought it was very good—about nearly £800 million of devolved funding going to the Mayor of the West of England, Helen Godwin, allowing her to …
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend, who is a champion for securing investment in her constituency. The approach with the Green Book has been changed to make sure that we are investing in the places that have been left behind for too long. It will be for local leaders to work together to bid for the type of funding that will enable…
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Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Member for raising those important points. Adaptation and sustainable development are at the heart of this infrastructure strategy, and they have to be for all the obvious reasons. He may like to know that, as part of our new approach to spatial strategies in Government, we are already integrating data…
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for her question. I am always delighted to meet her, and we should meet colleagues from the Department for Transport to make sure that, where we are investing billions of pounds—whether that is public or private capital—in important infrastructure such as the lower Thames crossing, people benefit…
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Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Member for his question. As he will have seen from the Chancellor’s previous statements, we are increasing investment in transport—whether rail, road or buses—specifically in the north and the midlands, so there is plenty of opportunity to bid for the project he mentions, and I am sure he will talk to …
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Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and he will see in due course, when the industrial strategy is published, that we have been thinking across Government about the role of infrastructure as an enabling investment to unlock other types of investment, and to create great opportunities for people and economies where they…
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Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Member for her question. Without wanting to go through the entire infrastructure strategy or spending review, there is significant money coming to all parts of the country. The Chancellor has increased day-to-day spending by £190 billion and capital spending by £120 billion, so I am confident that the …
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Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to point out the failure of other Governments—both the previous Government at Westminster and the current Government in Scotland. When preparing this work in opposition, I was very taken by investors saying, “When I can invest anywhere in the world, if the UK says it is going to do so…
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Darren Jones
There is a key difference: under the last Government, Wales did not get a penny, but under this Labour Government, working with the Labour Government in Wales, it has had not only the largest real-terms increase in spending since devolution began, but £455 million for rail infrastructure, nearly £130 million for coal t…
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend, who knows that this Labour Government at Westminster have given the Scottish Government the money to get on with the job. They have no excuses left for not delivering for the people of Scotland. We will continue to partner with and support the Scottish Government as best we can, but ultimately t…
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Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Member for his question. He will know that the Government have renewed our commitment to regional airport capacity, with plans for a national policy statement to be published in due course. I am sure the Transport Secretary and her team are listening to him on the increasing costs for his constituents …
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Darren Jones
Our universities play a crucial part in our education and skills landscape. They are, of course, privately-owned organisations and so are funded separately from the departmental budgets we have allocated in the spending review. The money announced last week and in the infrastructure strategy today is for schools and fu…
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Darren Jones
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I thank my hon. Friend for his question and for championing not just his own constituency, but the region in which it sits. He is right to raise the fact that many communities have lost out on funding over many, many years because of the chaotic approach under the previous Government. O…
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for continuing to make the case for that investment in his constituency. Now that the spending review has concluded, it will be for the Department of Health and Social Care to make decisions on the allocation of its spending. I am sure that he will continue to lobby the Health Secretary in the no…
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Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We have long-term budgets, a long-term strategy and a long-term commitment to places across the country, in particular to Portsmouth where, working with our friends in the Ministry of Defence, we are spending an increased amount of money to ensure we have wider benefits for communiti…
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Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is right to highlight the legacy issue of poor planning. NISTA, our new centre of expertise in the Treasury that is implementing the strategy, has been given the authority by Cabinet to co-ordinate spatial strategies across Government. That means that Departments will have to think between themselves abo…
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Darren Jones
I congratulate my hon. Friend on being so successful in securing so much investment in his constituency. I am sure his constituents will be deeply indebted to him now and in future elections. I know he will continue to make the case for investment for his constituents.
Regional Growth4 Jun 2025
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Darren Jones
With permission, I shall update the House on the Government’s work to boost growth across the United Kingdom. As the Prime Minister set out in the plan for change, economic growth is the No. 1 mission of this Government. It is key to achieving the Government’s goals: higher wages for working people; delivering economic and… national security; and investing in our public services. We are already making progress. The most recent figures show that the United Kingdom was the fastest growing economy of any G7 country in the first quarter of the year and that real wages have risen more since July 2024 than over the first 10 years of the previous Conservative Government. But we are keenly aware that this progress must be widely felt in every part of the country. As such, our plan for regional growth will be hardwired into the spending review and infrastructure strategy, which will be set out in more detail in the coming weeks. This investment will be targeted squarely at the renewal of Britain and fixed on the priorities of working people, delivering on the promise of change and improving lives and communities across the country. This morning, the Chancellor set out her next steps for nationwide growth in a series of speeches across the north and the midlands, and I am pleased to update the House on those announcements now. A key part of the Government’s growth mission is the view that growth relies on dynamic, interconnected city regions, creating clusters of activity where people can get around, communicate, share ideas, commute, find good work, and earn wages that flow back into strong local economies. As most Members know, the majority of our city regions have poor public transport systems, holding back growth and improvements to air quality and making it harder to get around. Stronger transport links are therefore crucial. They create opportunities for individuals to access a wider pool of jobs, for employers to access a wider labour market, and for businesses to expan
Hansard · 4 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
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Lindsay Hoyle
I think you missed a couple of railway stations out of your statement, Minister, but not to worry. I call the shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
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Richard Fuller
I thank the Chief Secretary to the Treasury for his statement and for early sight of it. I will start with an area of agreement: it is a shared ambition to enable all parts of this country to participate in our growth and our future. Potential in the United Kingdom is everywhere, and it is right that the Government see…
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Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Treasury Committee.
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Meg Hillier
I warmly welcome this investment in Britain, and I hope that the Treasury will be fully evaluating the impact of this vital transport infrastructure on growth in regions, which we know has always lagged, except for in London and the south-east. Although these figures are fully funded now, with all the global shocks we …
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Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
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Darren Jones
I am pleased to see the shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury back in his place today; I always enjoy our exchanges. I welcome the fact that he supports our plans and sees the good value in them. I will respond to one particular question, and then answer the rest in the round: all the Green Book details will be publis…
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Darren Jones
My hon. Friend the Chair of the Treasury Committee rightly alludes to the fact that the Chancellor’s speech today makes the case for this Government investing in every part of the country and ensuring that growth is felt widely. My hon. Friend asks me about the supply chain and costs for building infrastructure. The Ho…
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Darren Jones
I am pleased that the Liberal Democrats welcome today’s announcement, which is specifically about investment in city regions. The House will know that, at the 2024 autumn Budget, the Chancellor said that this Labour Government are choosing investment over decline, which is why we are increasing investment in every part…
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Darren Jones
As my hon. Friend has mentioned, the Mayor of South Yorkshire has been given £1.5 billion, which is in line with our commitment to devolution and to city region mayors. It is for the mayor to decide how that money is spent. As my hon. Friend suggests, the mayor has announced that some of this money will be allocated to…
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Darren Jones
The Government recognise the strategic importance of the hon. Member’s region to the UK economy. This will be reflected in the industrial strategy when it is published in the coming weeks, alongside our other plans. On his specific question, announcements for funding outside of the Transport for City Regions funding wi…
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Darren Jones
I congratulate my hon. Friend on her decades of campaigning for that project. I also welcome her suggestion that this is a Labour Government delivering the change that they promised to the country, but may I add to that and say that it is also the difference that brilliant Labour MPs can make in their constituencies ca…
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Darren Jones
I can reconfirm to the House that this Labour Government have delivered the largest real terms increase in funding for Scotland since devolution began. Furthermore, may I politely point her to the fact that the announcement today is about England, not Scotland. Further announcements on our commitment to delivering a ne…
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Darren Jones
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this investment in his constituency. The key difference of course being that when he started campaigning for it, we were under a Conservative Government, and now, under a Labour Government, we are delivering. On his question about working with combined authority mayors, he is r…
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Darren Jones
I think the hon. Member is slightly confused. The statement today is about devolved transport funding to mayors for intra-city transport. He is asking me questions on the broader spending in the Department for Transport, which will be announced in the spending review next Wednesday.
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Darren Jones
I congratulate my right hon. Friend on securing that investment into Birmingham. I recently visited part of that development and saw the enormous potential that will come for his constituents from connecting Birmingham city centre with the new sports quarter. I am delighted to see how much private investment that inves…
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Darren Jones
I thank the right hon. Member for his question, which recognises the significant increase in investment in defence and security that this Labour Government are making. He has asked for a hint, but the only hint I can offer is that the answer will come next Wednesday at the spending review.
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Darren Jones
I congratulate my hon. Friend and colleagues from the Liverpool city region on securing £1.6 billion of transport investment. As he will remember, he and I were on a visit together looking at some of the potential for that money to be spent not long ago, including at a roundtable with local employers and workers at the…
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Darren Jones
Of course, the announcement today is on funding for combined authority mayors, which is why the west of England combined authority mayor has received two-thirds of £1 billion of transport investment for areas that are part of that boundary. We are still committed to investing in each and every part of Britain, and the …
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for his question and his campaigning over many years. As the Chancellor set out today in her speech on the funding for city regions, and as was set out in our review of the Green Book, we are purposefully tilting funding towards the north and the midlands after many, many years of those areas los…
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Darren Jones
One of the many benefits of the funding announced today for city regions is the positive effect that it will have for communities along these transport lines and for people who travel in and out of the city regions. This may be funding for transport in particular places, but I hope that the benefit will be felt widely,…
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for her question and her vociferous campaigning to ensure that we deliver on our promises to invest in left-behind areas across the country after years of failed promises on levelling up from the Conservative party. It is right that we find that money and invest it in her community. One important…
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Darren Jones
The right hon. Member raises important points that my colleagues in the Department for Transport will no doubt have heard. I am sure that he is talking to them about the delivery of that project. The Government have put record investment into Northern Ireland, and we have reset the relationship. Under the last Governme…
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Darren Jones
I congratulate my hon. Friend on working so positively with the Mayor of West Yorkshire to secure this historic amount of investment in her community. She asked specifically if there will be new bus stations as part of the announcement. I understand from Tracy Brabin that there will be new bus stations at Bradford and …
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Darren Jones
The hon. Member is encouraging me to get ahead of the statement and answer questions about next week’s spending review. All I can say for now is that the Labour Government are investing in every nation and region of the country. We are delivering on the promise of change in Scotland, where we know we need a new directi…
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for championing jobs and livelihoods in her constituency and the region, and for welcoming the historic £1.8 billion of investment announced today for transport infrastructure. As she rightly alludes to, the announcement is about transport infrastructure, but the Government are doing much more to…
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Darren Jones
I think that the hon. Member and I can agree on one important thing, which is the failed promises of the last Conservative Government, who made decisions that undercut investment in Wales and deprioritised Wales. She will know that we have a brilliant group of Labour MPs now representing Wales who have been making thei…
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for her excellent work as Chair of the Transport Committee, which has shown on a cross-party basis why the announcements we have made today are good for the economy, good for jobs and good for constituencies across the United Kingdom. She encourages me to answer questions about statements that wi…
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Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Member for, I think, welcoming the nearly £1 billion of investment in transport for the west of England, which we know is a thriving part of the country. With the right investment in affordable housing, clean, renewable transport that works on time and is affordable to use will be great for people livi…
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for welcoming the historic level of funding in transport infrastructure. As she will know, this is a devolved pot of money and regional mayors will decide how to spend it, so I cannot answer her question. I encourage her to talk to the mayor about the opportunities in her constituency.
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Darren Jones
The Government will be investing in every nation and region across the country. Further details will be published at the spending review next week. The announcements today are about particular investment in city regions with mayors, because we think that is an important driver for growth in those areas as well as for t…
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for her question and for rightly recognising the importance to our country of its capital city, which has been at the centre of our engine of growth for many years. She also alludes to the fact that we have a brilliant Labour Mayor of London in Sadiq Khan, who strongly makes the case for investme…
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Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Member for his campaigning and for welcoming today’s news of historic levels of investment into the west of England for transport. The best use of the money is to make sure that not only do we deliver infrastructure within our combined authorities, but that opportunities are unlocked for broader spendi…
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for welcoming this historic level of funding from a Labour Government to our brilliant Labour Mayor of the West Midlands. I note that not only does the investment go to particular railway tracks or bus facilities in certain places, but it creates great opportunities for people who live and work i…
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Darren Jones
The funding announced today is in the spending review timeframe—it will be available from 2026-27 onwards—while the money that we allocated at the Budget last year for this fiscal year will continue to be spent. We are all exasperated by announcements being made by politicians and spades never getting into the ground. …
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for her question and for her excellent work on the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee looking at those and related issues. She is right to point to the London’s success and the potential for future success through investment in London. As the Chancellor said today, we are tilting…
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Darren Jones
The hon. Member makes an important point about people’s lived experience of these types of policy announcements. We are trying to make it easier for people to use affordable, reliable public transport that is better for the environment and easier for them to use to get about in their day-to-day lives. We have seen that…
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend and the wider group of Labour Members from Cornwall, who have campaigned vociferously on the Green Book. That may seem technical, but for the people at home it is important because it alludes to all the issues that my hon. Friend points out—not least because in the past, Government have made deci…
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Darren Jones
As I have alluded to many times today, this Government are committed to investing in every region and nation of the country. Today’s announcement is about city regions and city region transport, but the spending review next week will show how this Government are delivering for people, irrespective of where they live.
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for campaigning for his constituency and for welcoming this historic funding of £2.4 billion today for the west midlands. He asked me about future projects. The good news is that the Mayor of the West Midlands has not spent all of this money yet, so there is definitely potential for lobbying him …
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Darren Jones
The hon. Member rightly alludes to the fact that because the Labour Government are increasing investment here in Westminster for the whole country, the nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland benefit, both through Barnett and direct spending from this Government, to make sure we are investing in every nation an…
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for welcoming the £2 billion of investment announced today for the east midlands. I have been on a number of visits to her region, including with Labour’s brilliant Mayor Claire Ward, who has made a very strong case for the investment being announced today. It shows the difference a Labour mayor …
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Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Member for continuing his work campaigning for Strangford and for Northern Ireland in general. As he knows, details of funding for the Northern Ireland Executive will be announced at the spending review next week, building on the back of significant increased investment. He is right to say that investm…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for his campaigning for Bury, and for welcoming the investment today. He points to two issues that are really important. First, why is this happening now? It is because of the decisions taken by a Labour Government, after the failed promises of the Conservative party. He asked about child poverty…
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Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is showing what brilliant Labour MPs can achieve through continuous campaigning and lobbying. He has made the case very strongly for his constituency, which of course will benefit from the record investment being announced today, but I know he wishes for more, and further details will come next week in t…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for making an important case for the transport infrastructure that her constituents rely on. The case that she makes for her constituency in Greater London is very similar to those being made for other parts of the country. People need to be able to get to the opportunities that we are creating; …
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for making the case for his constituency. As he says, the announcements today are for areas with combined authority mayors. The Government have said that if other parts of the country can get together and agree to have a combined authority mayor, they will be able to benefit from this type of ann…
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for his continuous campaigning for his constituency. I think I am right in saying that every time I have seen him in the House he has mentioned the Green Book review to me. He has been one of our most forthright campaigners for ensuring that we build the rules and frameworks to deliver for every …
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for the campaigning he undertakes for his constituents, and for rural communities. He touches on the important point that the funding we have made available to combined authority mayors today is not only for the combined authority, but the wider region. It is for mayors to decide how to spend the…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend rightly raises the point that the best combined authority mayors are those who work with local Members of Parliament and their communities to ensure that money is spent in the best way to meet the needs of local communities. As he knows, measures are in place in Whitehall to supervise spending by combine…
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for his leadership of the all-party group and for, alongside his colleagues and the mayor, making such a powerful case for investment in his region. There will be further announcements at the spending review next week, and in the infrastructure strategy and the industrial strategy, which will sho…
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Darren Jones
My hon. Friend rightly points to the frustration of his constituents with the failed promises of the previous Conservative Government. This Labour Government—working with him, the brilliant Labour MP for his constituency—are making a difference. At the Budget last year, the Chancellor changed the fiscal rules to tax th…
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend, who is a brilliant campaigner for his Rochdale constituency, for welcoming this historic level of funding for his community. As he says, the Chancellor made her announcement in Rochdale today, and showed that the investments are not just in track, bus stops and trains, but in jobs, livelihoods a…
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Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is a brilliant champion for his constituents in Hartlepool, and I thank him for recognising the historic investment that this Labour Government are delivering, off the back of brilliant campaigning from him and other colleagues in the region. The best combined authority mayors are those who work with the…
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for welcoming today’s historic level of funding into transport, which, as she rightly alludes to, will fix historic failures that other parties promised to fix over many years. She is also right to point to the fact that these transport investments unlock jobs and opportunities for people in the …
DJ
Darren Jones
London continues to be a crucial engine for growth for the whole country and important to us all as our capital city. I know that my hon. Friend will continue to work with our brilliant Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan to make sure that investment is tackling the problems that he has raised.
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for making the case for her constituency. She is right that we have a shared view that investment in public transport is important for people’s livelihoods and their enjoyment of the communities they live in. Unfortunately, the SNP Government continue to fail to deliver on their promises, whereas…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for campaigning so well for his constituents and for welcoming today’s historic level of funding. He asked whether there would be other funding, outside of today’s announcement for city region mayors for infrastructure and other capital projects. The answer is yes, and the details will come in th…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for his brilliant lobbying on behalf of his constituents and the east midlands, and for welcoming the historic level of funding for transport announced today. He is right to point out that this is about not just transport infrastructure but the communities in which people live, livelihoods and th…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for championing Cornwall and the opportunities it presents to the country. She makes a strong case, alongside her colleagues in Cornwall, for renewable energy, mining and other important parts of our industrial strategy. She knows, and makes the case frequently, that those opportunities will be m…
Clean Energy Transition: Spending Review20 May 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
The Prime Minister’s plan for change sets out our ambitious but achievable target for clean power by 2030. We have already announced £300 million for offshore wind supply chains, in addition to the significant uplift for the clean industry bonus scheme. These measures support clean energy and growth in the UK’s industrial heartlands, and further… details will be set out at the spending review.
Hansard · 20 May 2025 · parliament.uk
PH
Pippa Heylings
What steps she is taking through the spending review to support the transition to clean energy.
PH
Pippa Heylings
Successive Governments have failed to deliver a fair energy transition for workers and communities. We have seen the devastating closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery, and now we are seeing uncertainty around the gas storage facility off the east coast. Just seven out of 87 offshore oil and gas companies are planning…
ES
Euan Stainbank
I welcome the £200 million commitment to Grangemouth and clean energy through the national wealth fund, and I also welcome the Department’s confirmation to me recently that that money will not be fettered exclusively to the Project Willow proposals. The need for investment is urgent, with jobs lost and the broader econ…
JW
James Wild
The Climate Change Committee says that we will need oil and gas until at least 2050, but rather than maximise North sea production, the Government are taxing it out of existence. Harbour Energy has just announced hundreds of job losses as a result of the Chancellor’s 78% windfall tax. Instead of costly transition impor…
DJ
Darren Jones
Our skilled workforce in the oil and gas industry will be important for the continued role of oil and gas in the energy mix, but also for the transition to renewable and net zero energy, as the hon. Lady has pointed out. That is why we have invested significant sums of money in carbon capture and storage, working with …
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend, who is a champion for his constituency and for industry. As he has alluded to, the Government have already made hundreds of millions of pounds available through the national wealth fund for the company in question. We are working to ensure a just transition, harbouring the skills of people in Sc…
DJ
Darren Jones
I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s encouragement. That is why we are investing in home-grown secure energy, including renewables, nuclear and other forms of energy. In yesterday’s UK-EU trade deal—which I am sure the shadow Minister would like to welcome—we have enhanced our arrangements with the European Union on electric…
Spending Review: Cross-departmental Planning20 May 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
The Treasury has reformed the spending review process to ensure that it facilitates genuine collaboration across Departments. As part of this spending review, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and I have met Secretaries of State multilaterally in mission clusters, which have brought together Departments to agree cross-departmental priorities, increase transparency, reduce duplication and… align spending with mission delivery across Whitehall, while learning every possible lesson from the failure of the Conservatives to ensure that it is never repeated ever again.
Hansard · 20 May 2025 · parliament.uk
PP
Peter Prinsley
What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure cross-departmental planning in the development of the spending review.
PP
Peter Prinsley
Some 9,000 UK medical graduates compete with 15,000 overseas graduates for postgraduate training, meaning that many of our own graduates simply cannot progress into higher professional training, and either go abroad themselves or leave medicine. Does the Minister agree that the Treasury has a crucial role to co-ordinat…
RG
Roger Gale
While discussing the spending review, will the Treasury get the Agriculture Secretary and the Energy Secretary together in the same room, and make sure that agriculture receives the funding it needs and that energy is not allowed to charge agriculture, effectively, for its loss of income? In other words, will the Chanc…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Government are committed to training the staff the NHS needs as part of our 10-year plan. International staff clearly play an important role in the mix of staff that we have, but we also want to create opportunities for people across the country to work in our national health service. That is why, thanks to changes…
DJ
Darren Jones
A meeting of that nature has already taken place as part of our mission-led approach to Government. We continue to engage with the Departments for Energy Security and Net Zero and for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on these issues, as the right hon. Gentleman suggests—it is exactly what we mean when we talk about …
Topical Questions20 May 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
I join my hon. Friend in welcoming the official opening of the Charles Hammond berth. As she knows, we set up Great British Energy in Scotland, bringing forward £300 million of investment ahead of the spending review to secure jobs and supply chains. Funding for the Port of Cromarty Firth, announced in March, is expected… to support up to 1,000 highly skilled jobs, while our uplift to the clean energy bonus will support offshore wind supply chains across the country. That is yet another example of the Government working with business and of a Labour Government delivering for the people of Scotland.
Hansard · 20 May 2025 · parliament.uk
RD
Rosie Duffield
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
RR
Rachel Reeves
This Government are securing economic growth. Last week, the numbers published showed that the economy grew by 0.7% in the first quarter of this year, including an 8% increase year on year in investment spending. We are now the fastest-growing economy in the G7. Since the general election, there have been four cuts in …
RD
Rosie Duffield
Westminster is once again buzzing with the latest U-turns, speculation and briefings over the Chancellor’s policies on the winter fuel allowance and the two-child benefit cap. There is less of a buzz for the visitors to Canterbury food bank, however, which last month distributed enough food to make 13,545 meals, in a 4…
RR
Rachel Reeves
The only reason that we have been able to grow the economy and get those cuts in interest rates, which help working families in Canterbury and right across our country, is because we have returned stability to our economy. That means never making a policy commitment without being able to say where the money comes from,…
MS
Mel Stride
Will the Chancellor explain what the Economic Secretary to the Treasury meant last week when she said that there will be no tax rises on individuals at the autumn Budget? Will the Chancellor similarly confirm that there will be no tax increases on businesses?
DJ
Darren Jones
As my hon. Friend knows, the Government are committed to increasing spending on defence to 2.5% of GDP, with an ambition to go further to 3% in the next Parliament when economic and fiscal conditions allow. As part of that increase in spending, we are making sure that UK companies and UK workers get the benefit, includ…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Government have already increased NHS spending by £22.6 billion, police funding by £1.1 billion, and fire and rescue authority funding by £65.5 million. Further spending will be set out in the June spending review, but this is another example of a Labour Government delivering on the promise of change.
Economic Growth: Transport Infrastructure8 Apr 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
The growth mission is the central mission of this Government. At the Budget, we delivered a £1.1 billion cash increase to the transport budget for 2025-26 compared with 2024-25, representing a 1.5% real-terms increase. We will set out further spending plans for transport in June.
Hansard · 8 Apr 2025 · parliament.uk
SA
Sadik Al-Hassan
What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to increase economic growth through new transport infrastructure.
SA
Sadik Al-Hassan
What value does my right hon. Friend expect that the recently announced and much-anticipated Portishead and Pill railway line will add to the local economy of my constituency of North Somerset?
MV
Martin Vickers
If steel production ceases or is curtailed at the Scunthorpe steelworks, there will be a massive impact on the wider economy in northern Lincolnshire. Can the Minister give an assurance that contingency plans, including improvements to transport infrastructure, are in place should the worst happen?
GD
Gareth Davies
We know that the Energy Secretary is against airport expansion unless it is in Doncaster, and we know that many Labour MPs are against airport expansion unless it is in Pakistan. To be fair, at least the Chancellor wants airport expansion actually in this country, but at the same time she is jacking up air passenger du…
DJ
Darren Jones
First, I congratulate my hon. Friend on his campaigning on this issue. As I represent the neighbouring constituency, I declare that the project may have some indirect benefit for my constituents. I can confirm to the House that the project supports regional and national strategic objectives. The West of England is the …
DJ
Darren Jones
We recognise how important this issue is for the hon. Member’s constituency, the region and, indeed, the national economy. My ministerial colleagues in the Department for Business and Trade are in discussions on this particular issue, but in our infrastructure strategy we are considering, as he would expect, the best v…
High Streets: Liverpool Riverside8 Apr 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
Liverpool City Region combined authority will benefit from the £900 million UK shared prosperity fund, which will allow authorities to invest in local communities such as my hon. Friend’s. From the start of 2026-27, her combined authority will receive a single flexible pot through its integrated settlement. Integrated settlements will allow local leaders across the… UK to deliver important projects for their areas, including high streets. To fulfil our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties—including those on high streets—from 2026-27.
Hansard · 8 Apr 2025 · parliament.uk
KJ
Kim Johnson
What discussions she is having with Cabinet colleagues on helping to improve high streets in Liverpool Riverside constituency.
KJ
Kim Johnson
Everton, in my constituency, is the most deprived area in the country, and residents have received a double blow as a result of the imminent closure of Lloyds Bank and the planned closure of the Crown post office, which will have a devastating impact on residents and businesses alike. Will the Minister agree to meet me…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Is there a Liverpool overspill in Strangford? I call Jim Shannon.
JS
Jim Shannon
The Minister’s response is key. He is right to highlight the issues, whether they are in Liverpool, Everton, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast or Strangford. In Northern Ireland, we have made the most of over-the-shops apartment conversions as opportunities for housing. Does the Minister agree that the possibilities for the …
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
DJ
Darren Jones
As every constituency MP will know, the closure of banking services on our high streets is always a difficult decision. The Government are committed to championing access by rolling out banking hubs across the country. We are committed to delivering 350 of those hubs, and 220 have already been announced. The closure of…
DJ
Darren Jones
We have a shared ambition to ensure that our high streets are thriving communities for the people who live, shop or work there. We are delivering an integrated settlement for combined authority mayors in England, and have delivered a real-terms increase in funding for the Northern Ireland Executive—the largest since de…
DJ
Darren Jones
As I have informed the House already, we are committed to supporting independent businesses and retailers on the high street. The change to employer national insurance contributions was designed to support smaller businesses in our country; over 50% of businesses will pay the same national insurance as before, or less …
Topical Questions8 Apr 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
Mr Speaker, you shocked me by moving to topical questions so quickly, but I have now found my page and am ready to answer them.
Hansard · 8 Apr 2025 · parliament.uk
DM
Douglas McAllister
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
DM
Douglas McAllister
The Chancellor set out in the spring statement a clear plan to drive better value for taxpayers, including through the transformation fund, which will transform frontline delivery while making savings in the long term. Does he agree that that is in stark contrast to the SNP Scottish Government’s record of waste?
MS
Mel Stride
It was obvious to many before the emergency Budget that the President of the United States was going to be slapping tariffs on our exports. May I therefore ask the Chancellor why it was that she came forward at the emergency Budget with a recklessly slender slither of headroom—the same headroom that she had at the time…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Just to correct the record, the Order Paper has not changed at all in topicals.
MS
Mel Stride
You are quite right about that, Mr Speaker, as you are about everything. Indeed, the right hon. Gentleman is completely wrong when he says that he inherited less headroom than was the case at the autumn Budget. He inherited, on the current Budget, £23 billion, and he took it down to £9.9 billion to be precise. He also …
DJ
Darren Jones
From ferries to the National Care Service, we have seen failure after failure from the SNP in Scotland, including a track record of waste. In contrast, this Labour Government are tackling waste and investing in frontline services such as our national health service, which has seen waiting lists fall for each of the pas…
DJ
Darren Jones
As my hon. Friend knows, we have given the Scottish Government the largest increase in spending since devolution began. The people of Scotland expect that money to be spent well, which we are doing in England by transforming public services and improving the national health service. However, given that SNP Members are …
DJ
Darren Jones
I am sorry to disappoint the shadow Chancellor, but I am afraid that, because of the ordering of questions, he is stuck with me. To answer his question, he will have seen at the Budget that we increased the fiscal headroom back to our agreement of £9.9 billion, which was more than the headroom that we inherited from th…
DJ
Darren Jones
My apologies, Mr Speaker. It was our ordering that caused the problem, not the ordering of questions in the House. The right hon. Gentleman knows that tight decisions were taken at the Budget, but we have been very clear that we are working hand in glove with businesses to be able to bring growth back to the economy an…
DJ
Darren Jones
Yes, and I congratulate my hon. Friend on championing jobs and businesses in her constituency. As she knows, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have confirmed that defence spending will increase to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and that a minimum of 10% of the Ministry of Defence equipment budget will now be spent on novel te…
DJ
Darren Jones
The right hon. Member knows that we are supporting airport expansion alongside investment in things like sustainable aviation fuel to be able to reduce carbon emissions from long-haul flights as well as supporting investment into decarbonised surface transport, to help people get around the country and to their airport…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend knows that the Government are committed to reducing child poverty and that we will be bringing forward a child poverty strategy later this year. It will look at levers that support households to increase their income, such as supporting parents into secure employment, supporting progression in the labour…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for his question and for the invitation to join him in his constituency. I very much enjoyed the regional reception with business leaders, as I have done in every region and nation across the country during the spending review. We will continue to work hand in glove with them to unlock investment…
Economic Growth: New Transport Infrastructure4 Mar 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
The growth mission is the central mission of this Government, and transport is an important enabler of that growth. The spending review delivered a £1.1 billion cash increase to the transport budget in 2025-26 compared with 2024-25, representing 1.5% real-terms growth with record spending. Further announcements will be made in the spending review.
Hansard · 4 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
KB
Kevin Bonavia
What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to increase economic growth through new transport infrastructure.
DR
Dave Robertson
What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to increase economic growth through new transport infrastructure.
KB
Kevin Bonavia
In my constituency, Stevenage borough council is working to secure jobs and opportunity, with town centre regeneration under way and over 590 council homes delivered, but outdated infrastructure is holding back growth. Businesses have been clear with me that upgrading Stevenage station gateway would unlock growth, with…
DR
Dave Robertson
The midlands rail hub project would represent major investment in rail infrastructure across the west midlands. Crucially, it would mean more frequent trains on the cross-city line, which serves Lichfield. Before the pandemic, that was the busiest commuter line in the country outside London. What assurances can Ministe…
GS
Graham Stuart
The great university cities of York and Hull are unusual in that they do not have a direct rail line between them. The whole region—Labour MPs, Liberal Democrat councillors, Conservatives—is united in believing that reopening the Beverley to York line, so that the two great minsters of Hull and York can be reconnected,…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right that investing in infrastructure will enable growth in cities, towns and villages across the whole of our United Kingdom. We will set out further detail alongside the spending review in our 10-year infrastructure strategy in June. No doubt Stevenage, being sited between London and the…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend, who is a strong champion for his constituency, for raising this rail project. In relation to such projects, the case that he has made will be an important part of our consideration in the months ahead as part of the spending review. I will arrange for him to meet the appropriate Transport Minist…
DJ
Darren Jones
I am sorry to hear that the right hon. Gentleman failed to persuade his party, when in government for 14 years, to open that line. I can reassure him that this Government take rail infrastructure seriously, and I will happily consider any detail that he wishes to write to me about.
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Member will know that the Government have entered negotiations with our counterparts in the European Commission to improve trade between the UK and the European Union. I had a great meeting to discuss these issues last week in Cardiff with Finance Ministers from the Northern Ireland Executive as well as from S…
Regional Growth: England4 Mar 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
At autumn Budget 2024, we set out the first major steps in our approach to regional growth through devolution, investment and reform. The January growth speech regional investment package built on that. We have made clear the Government’s focus on attracting inward investment across the country and to investing in infrastructure needed to support cities… and regions to grow. We have made it clear that the importance of investing in major city regions across the UK will play an important part in that endeavour. For example, if we improve the productivity gap in Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds, we estimate we can deliver an extra £33 billion in economic output.
Hansard · 4 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
GS
Graham Stringer
What steps she has taken to increase regional growth in England.
MS
Michelle Scrogham
What fiscal reforms she has made to help increase economic growth in Cumbria.
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call Graham Stringer. [Interruption.]
GS
Graham Stringer
Sorry, Mr Speaker. I was nearly as shocked when you called me as I was when listening to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Radio 4 talking about economic growth. She said there had not been a new runway built in this country since 1945. Manchester airport would be very surprised to hear that, because its new runway ha…
MS
Michelle Scrogham
At the autumn Budget, the Government announced a range of support measures for small businesses, including vital support for the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. Will the Minister confirm the measures being taken to support the independent and important craft brewing and distillery sector in Cumbria?
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for his questions; I will do my best to answer them. I can confirm that Treasury officials routinely engage with local and regional officials across the country, including frequently in Manchester with Mayor Burnham and his team. I would point my hon. Friend gently to some of the announcements ma…
DJ
Darren Jones
As the House has already heard today from my hon. Friend the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, we have made permanent decisions to give businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors certainty that their discounts will apply to business rates relief for the long term, not just on a one-year rolling tempor…
DJ
Darren Jones
I visited Airbus in Newport last week to look at some of the advanced technologies we have in this space. I was told about the important connections between Newport and the hon. Gentleman’s region, with GCHQ and the industrial impact that it has on the supply chain in the UK. The increased spending on defence announced…
DJ
Darren Jones
I can commit to working with DFT colleagues on projects such as that and others around the country as we make decisions in the upcoming spending review. I would make an observation that it is not just about the decisions on spending; there have been problems in the past where decisions have been made and U-turned, and …
DJ
Darren Jones
I find it odd that Members on the Conservative Benches do not welcome an additional £7 billion of investment into our economy; it is rather a testament to their poor performance on investment over many years in government. To answer the hon. Gentleman’s specific questions, I can confirm that each of the business cases …
Affordable Housing: Supply4 Mar 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
At Budget, the Government announced major steps towards delivering a once-in-a-generation increase in social housing, including a £500 million boost to the affordable homes programme, increasing annual spend to £3.1 billion—the biggest annual budget for affordable housing in more than a decade. Earlier this month, the Government also announced an additional £350 million to fund… affordable homes. That is the difference a Labour Government can make to people across the country waiting desperately for secure housing. Further investment decisions will be set out at phase 2 of the spending review.
Hansard · 4 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
CS
Cat Smith
What steps she has taken with Cabinet colleagues to increase the supply of affordable housing.
CS
Cat Smith
Will the Minister join me in paying tribute to the Lancaster Guardian for its recent investigative report into the reality for many families living in temporary accommodation in the Lancaster district? That is paired with a frustration I hear from local house building developers over delays in the planning process in t…
RH
Richard Holden
To what extent is the Chancellor concerned about multiple potential breaches by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs of its charter since it issued Spotlight 63, which impacts rental housing supply and is causing real concerns among my constituents—both landlords and tenants? Will the Minister meet me urgently to discuss …
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend knows that we are doing everything possible in this place to streamline and improve planning legislation and planning processes. We are providing clear signals to everybody across the country that we need to build and build rapidly, not least to meet our housing target. Local councils play an important r…
DJ
Darren Jones
I am afraid that I have no idea what the answer is, but if the right hon. Gentleman writes to me, I shall make sure that he gets an answer.
Public Spending: Value for Money4 Mar 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
The Government are committed to spending taxpayers’ money efficiently. At the autumn Budget, we launched the Office for Value for Money to realise benefits from every pound of public spending. Through phase 1 of the spending review, Departments were set a 2% productivity, efficiency and savings target to ensure that every pound of taxpayers’ money… is well spent. The next phase of the spending review has gone further. I have asked each Department to conduct a line-by-line review of existing day-to-day budgets to identify where spending is no longer aligned with this Government’s priority or is poor value for money.
Hansard · 4 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
NC
Nesil Caliskan
What steps she is taking to help ensure value for money in public spending.
NC
Nesil Caliskan
I thank the Minister for his answer. As a member of the Public Accounts Committee, I see on a weekly basis the waste that existed under the previous Government, from the billions spent on badly procured covid contracts to a Rwanda scheme that delivered nothing. What steps will the Minister be taking to make sure that w…
AB
Alison Bennett
The adoption and special guardianship support fund provides excellent value for money in Mid Sussex for Beacon House, which is a specialist mental health and trauma clinic. Unfortunately, however, the clinic’s financial future is looking uncertain. Does the Minister agree that investing in mental health is always a goo…
RF
Richard Fuller
Improving public sector productivity was the No.1 ask of Institute of Directors’ businesses trying to weather Storm Rachel, but under Labour, public sector productivity has fallen further behind pre-pandemic levels. The number of civil servants working from home has gone up and, shockingly, as The Daily Telegraph has f…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. [Interruption.] Conservative Members are chuntering, but that is their legacy. Not once in 17 years was a zero-based review done, not once did former Conservative Ministers require their Departments to go line-by-line through their budgets, and not once did they think that the respon…
DJ
Darren Jones
I agree entirely that mental health services are in desperate need of investment and support across the country. The evidence is very clear that there are, for example, too many people out of work who would be like to be in work, but who are waiting at home unwell and unable to receive the support and services that the…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Member for his question. My No. 1 ask is that he has another go at making better jokes in future. To answer the substance of his question, I agree with him that the state is not productive enough on a whole range of issues. He talks about civil service headcount, about Government offices and locations,…
Economic Growth: Scotland4 Mar 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
Economic growth is the No. 1 mission of this Government. Scotland will play an important role. At the autumn Budget we announced that the Scottish Government will be provided with £47.7 billion in its 2025-26 settlement—the largest in real terms in the history of devolution. We also confirmed £130 million of targeted funding, including for… city and growth deals.
Hansard · 4 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
ES
Elaine Stewart
What steps she has taken to help increase economic growth in Scotland.
TG
Tracy Gilbert
What steps she has taken to help increase economic growth in Edinburgh North and Leith constituency.
ES
Elaine Stewart
In Scotland, we have seen almost two decades of wasteful spending while public services get worse. Does the Minister agree that good public services are essential to economic growth, and that Scottish taxpayers are not getting good value for money under the SNP Government?
TG
Tracy Gilbert
I am sure that my right hon. Friend will agree on the importance of the Scotch whisky industry. Support for the industry starts at home by attracting investment, including at the Port of Leith distillery in my constituency, which is producing single malt Scotch whisky, attracting tourists and showcasing the best of Sco…
JS
Jamie Stone
Mr Speaker, you will have seen the film “Skyfall”, in which James Bond and M travel up the A9. But the A9 is a killer road, and we have had a litany of broken promises from the SNP Government. That is hardly conducive to economic growth in Scotland.
DJ
Darren Jones
On my recent visit to Scotland I heard just that. The people of Scotland deserve the same approach that the people of England are getting from this Government, who have stability and economic growth as their mission and who are getting a grip of public finances after years of failure. Quite frankly, we have given the S…
DJ
Darren Jones
Scotch whisky is a proud British brand and export, and this Government will always support the industry. I have checked with Ministers from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and I can confirm that we will not be watering down the definition of single malt whisky.
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Member for his tour of the scenic A9 and for telling us the importance of that road to Scotland. I am sure that I support what would have been his question. The Scottish National party Government in Scotland ought to take infrastructure seriously, as we are doing here in the UK Government.
DJ
Darren Jones
Of course, when we make changes to taxes, even when that it is difficult, that results in additional funding for the hon. Member and his colleagues to spend. I am sure he is grateful that we have given a record-breaking increase in investment to the Scottish Government.
DJ
Darren Jones
He may be grateful for nothing, and he may be agitating in his place. I suggest that he goes back to the people of Scotland and explains his party’s record in government.
Topical Questions4 Mar 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
This Government, as the hon. Member will know, has already given £26 billion of additional funding to the national health service and additional funding to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for social care. We know that we have more to do. The Government are working hard on that and will set out… further details in due course.
Hansard · 4 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Josh Newbury
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
RR
Rachel Reeves
It is clear that the world is changing, which is why we must bring about a new era of security and renewal to keep our country safe. Last week, I convened European Finance Ministers at the G20 to discuss our shared challenges. I set out that national security will always be the first responsibility of this Government a…
JN
Josh Newbury
As the father of five-year-old, I know at first hand how important indoor play facilities are. Providers in Cannock Chase, such as the Beach Hut in Norton Canes and the Kids Rule Play Cafe in Cannock, have written to me asking for consideration for a sector-specific VAT reduction and the opportunity to shape the reform…
RR
Rachel Reeves
The Government have no plans to consider zero rating indoor play facilities for VAT. All tax breaks must provide value for money and evidence suggests that such savings are only partially passed on. I would, however, welcome my hon. Friend engaging with us as we look to inform our “Transforming Business Rates” paper ah…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.
DJ
Darren Jones
Impacts on ODA budgets are currently under review by the Government. Our commitment is to prioritise legal obligations and minimise disruption. We will confirm details in due course, but I will happily meet my hon. Friend and colleagues to discuss this further.
DJ
Darren Jones
We have to decide whether we are for growth or against growth. This Government are for growth and we will set out further details of this particular project when the developers come forward with their plans for the Government to consider.
DJ
Darren Jones
To ensure that we protect the country from the devastating impacts of flooding, we have committed £2.65 billion over 2024-25 to 2025-26 to improve flood defences, and we have established a flood resilience taskforce to feed into our decisions on future spending, which will report in due course.
DJ
Darren Jones
Heathrow, as an important hub airport, will have benefits for regions across the country, as chambers of commerce have said to us. Of course, I understand that the Transport Committee is looking at the issue, and we will consider its report when it publishes it in due course.
DJ
Darren Jones
I join my hon. Friend in celebrating investment in her region. Our growth mission is one in which each part of the country will benefit, and we look forward to working further with her.
DJ
Darren Jones
Just to clarify, I did not say there was an impact assessment; I said that the impact of the changes is being considered by the Government, but we will set out the detail on that in due course.
Growing the UK Economy29 Jan 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
With your permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to update the House on the Government’s work to unlock investment and secure economic growth. That is the No. 1 mission of this Government. Without growth, we cannot deliver on the priorities of the British people, cut NHS waiting lists, rebuild our schools or put more police… on our streets. That is why the pursuit of growth is our first mission, putting our country on a new path towards a brighter future after 14 years of failure from the Conservatives. By helping businesses to invest and create wealth, we ensure they can provide jobs and opportunities that change lives, putting more pounds in people’s pockets and rejuvenating communities across the country. We have seen progress on that already, with huge private sector investments into our country since this Government came into service, but now we must go faster and further. We must help businesses and places to achieve their potential. We do that by being an active and strategic state—one that works in true partnership with businesses, investors and local leaders to deliver for the British people in every corner of the country. That principle was at the heart of the Chancellor’s speech earlier today in Oxfordshire, where she announced the latest steps that the Government are taking to drive growth across the country. I am pleased to update the House on those announcements now. The economic growth we are pursuing must reach into every town, city and community across the United Kingdom—inclusive growth for everyone, not just those at the top—because there is untapped talent and unrealised opportunity throughout the country and we cannot let that go to waste any longer. If we can raise the productivity of major cities like Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds just to the national average, we will deliver an extra £33 billion in economic output. So I can confirm that our plans for regional growth will be hardwired into the spending review, the infrastructure strategy, the
Hansard · 29 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.
MS
Mel Stride
The Chief Secretary told us that growth is the No. 1 mission of this Government and added, “Now we must go faster”, which I have to tell him suggests a certain lack of ambition. What we do not need is some hasty mañana moment of unquantified, vague promises of a better tomorrow; we need action now to reverse the grievo…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Treasury Committee.
MH
Meg Hillier
I welcome this Government’s commitment to infrastructure investment and to telling the world that Britain is open for business, but to achieve all of this, we will need a really skilled workforce to deliver on those major construction projects. May I ask my right hon. Friend to set out how the Government will ensure th…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
DJ
Darren Jones
The House is indebted to the shadow Chancellor—Mr Melmentum himself—for his lecture on the need for speed from this Government. Let me tell him that we have done more in the last six or seven months than that lot did in the last 14 years. The shadow Chancellor asked me about our plans to work with business. The comment…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the Chair of the Treasury Committee for her question. This is an important test of turning policy into real-world delivery. Through our infrastructure and industrial strategies, we are engaging right now with businesses and investors across the country so that as we bring forward our plans, we have a skills and…
DJ
Darren Jones
As the hon. Lady knows, this Government committed in their manifesto to not rejoin the single market or the customs union. We will honour that promise, but the trade deal that the previous Government put together was clearly not good enough. There is room for us to improve our trading, energy and security relationships…
DJ
Darren Jones
Thank you. I thought it was “EU” again—I could not read my own handwriting. The whole premise of the growth corridor is that we will have a transport spine through that corridor that allows for all the developments—housing, lab space or communities—around it. That is a crucial part of our plans, and we will make sure t…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee for her question. She and her Committee know the huge advantage we have in the UK with our brilliant universities and research and development ecosystem, which is why we are supporting them and putting rocket boosters underneath their activity to dev…
DJ
Darren Jones
The right hon. Member has been down this path before because it was his Government who went down it and blocked all these developments over the past 14 years. This Government are working on reforms to the planning system, looking at national policy statements, thinking about skills and infrastructure supply chains, and…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend, who is a strong advocate for the economy in the East Midlands and for his constituency. He will know that I visited the region last week and met businesses and investors with our Mayor, Claire Ward. The region is doing a brilliant job of securing inward investment, and there is huge untapped pot…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Lady. The growth commission will be looking at all potential options for stimulating growth. We want to find strategic enabling investments across the country to unlock, for example, house building and inward investment, and I am sure it will look at those proposals with interest.
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend. As I informed the House recently, our infrastructure strategy, which will be published in June, will for the first time align social infrastructure plans for schools, GP surgeries and other public service facilities with those for housing and economic infrastructure. For the first time, we will …
DJ
Darren Jones
I point the right hon. Member to the Chancellor’s Mansion House speech, which set out in detail this Government’s approach to financial services. They are an important enabler for the UK and a particular strength globally, as I know he knows very well. On his particular question, I will need to write to him with the an…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend the Chair of the Transport Committee for her question. I think it alludes to the fact that this is the announcement not just of a runway, but of a project which we must make sure is optimised for delivering growth for the whole of the United Kingdom, as I made clear in my statement. That means th…
DJ
Darren Jones
I am sure the hon. Member shares my view that we can achieve growth through our net zero plans. These things are not an either/or. For example, the announcement of this Government supporting investment in Heathrow and in the sustainable aviation fuel sector will stimulate investment in net zero technologies and industr…
DJ
Darren Jones
Those are exactly the issues that Departments are now considering as they submit bids to the Treasury in the spending review. As we move into those negotiations in March, we will have to look at the best growth potential and what we can get delivered on what timeframe. We will be able to confirm those plans in the comi…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Chancellor will be disappointed that the right hon. Member did not listen to her speech. She announced today—[Interruption.] We are in negotiations with the project leaders at the lower Thames crossing. We are committed to bringing that forward and will have further announcements to make in due course.
DJ
Darren Jones
I know that my hon. Friend has been working on this issue for many years. As I have said, we want the Heathrow project to be a success for the whole country, and that means in relation to sustainable low-carbon transport and connectivity as well as for local jobs and the local economy. As I said in the statement, as pr…
DJ
Darren Jones
We hear from businesses, investors, businesspeople, travellers and people who want to be able to come through London or the UK that we are losing trade and investment in comparison with other hub airports on mainland Europe. We have every opportunity to secure that here in the UK, and that will, by its very nature, sec…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend knows that I am not let out of the Treasury often, but when I am I will be delighted to visit. These are classic examples of how, by working together with private investors and local businesses to co-ordinate investment on road junctions, rail, housing developments or even football stadiums, we can get t…
DJ
Darren Jones
The right hon. Member is inviting me to speculate on the OBR forecast, which will be presented to the House on 26 March .
DJ
Darren Jones
As I have confirmed to the House, we are inviting applications from Heathrow, which will be considered in the normal way. When those applications have been received and due diligence has been undertaken, we will be able to report the details that will answer the right hon. Member’s questions.
DJ
Darren Jones
Scotland is an important part of our United Kingdom economy. We will continue to invest in the country, as we did at the recent Budget, with the largest real-terms increase in spending since devolution. I am always ears-open to opportunities for growth, but the hon. Member might want to speak to his SNP colleagues in t…
DJ
Darren Jones
That sounds like an excellent initiative that will benefit from the huge untapped potential in the Greater Manchester and regional economy, which we are trying to stimulate with our announcements today. I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend in due course to understand more of the detail.
DJ
Darren Jones
I am sure that the Transport Secretary has heard the hon. Member’s request. As he will know from our announcements today and at the Budget, the investment that we seek to unlock in his region is a crucial part of our industrial plans, not least the investment in sustainable aviation fuel that I set out. If the transpor…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend, who has campaigned tirelessly for this investment in the region since he has been the House. As he will know, the Government are in negotiations with partners for the development. Unfortunately, I cannot update the House at this stage, but I look forward to doing so in due course.
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Lady for her suggestion. It is not for me to get in the middle of boundary disputes, but I will take that back to the Treasury and see what we can do.
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. These projects have to benefit local communities, local workers and local businesses, as well as others. There can be no greater advocate of that approach than the Mayor of Greater Manchester. Between his work and good offices and the Government’s approach to social value and pr…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Member is what we call a blocker. That is not in the nature of this Government. We will get on and deliver.
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. In working on the plan for change’s priority of 1.5 million new homes, the Deputy Prime Minister has already identified that as a great opportunity for the Government. Working with partners in Network Rail and elsewhere, we can unlock the land adjacent to existing infrastructure for …
DJ
Darren Jones
The right hon. Member is confused. I am enormously proud of my region of Bristol and the south-west, not least because of our heritage and the potential that we have to offer the country. The aerospace industry in north Bristol will benefit enormously from our announcements, which is great for workers and businesses in…
DJ
Darren Jones
Today we have announced that the Office for Investment, which partners with foreign direct investment into the UK, will be given a line of sight to opportunities across the country, and not just to the large project that the Government are interested in on a particular day. Working with mayors in our combined authoriti…
DJ
Darren Jones
I am not sure I agree with the premise of the question. We do not seek to undermine Scotland, but to enable it, as an important part of the United Kingdom. That is why we have put significant money into the Scottish Government, why GB Energy will be based in Scotland, and why exciting plans on energy infrastructure hav…
DJ
Darren Jones
I am pleased to announce to the House today the Government’s commitment to build, baby, build. We will deliver that for this country. My hon. Friend is right to point out the difference that a change in Government can make. This Labour Government are getting on with the job of dealing with planning regulations and bloc…
DJ
Darren Jones
As has been rehearsed repeatedly on the Floor of the House, the Chancellor had to make difficult decisions to get a grip on the public finances, given the state in which the hon. Member’s party left this country. Today’s announcement makes it very clear that businesses small and large and this Government share the ambi…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend knows that I have long been an advocate and campaigner for climate justice and our net zero plans, but I am clear that by working with partners and investors to unlock investment in the UK, we will also unlock investment in the net zero transition, and get the industry, the jobs and the capabilities that…
DJ
Darren Jones
We always get a bit grumpy as we get older, don’t we, Madam Deputy Speaker? But I agree with the right hon. Gentleman: we should go back to our childhoods and sing the song of that bright future that is ahead for all of us. It will cheer our spirits and lift the House as we look forward to the future with positivity. L…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is exactly right. We need businesses to invest, train and employ, and to sell their goods and services. The Government’s partnership working with Rolls-Royce is a great example of how we have been able to unlock billions in investment not just for the region, but for its exports around the world.
DJ
Darren Jones
From the nature of his question, I am not sure the hon. Gentleman enjoyed the statement today. Look, there are lots of examples today, both in this statement and in the Chancellor’s commitment, that have stimulated investment and, as a consequence, will stimulate growth in the economy. The key question here is: are bus…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend and all my hon. Friends from the Teesside region, who have campaigned hard for investment in their area. I visited the plant in question when I was Chair of the Business Committee in the former Parliament, and I remember clearly the company saying how frustrating it was that the previous Governme…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Environment Secretary, working with the regulator Ofwat, has agreed the largest investment in the water industry on record, with more than £100 billion over the years ahead to tackle issues with sewage and leaks in the Victorian infrastructure, and, crucially, for the first time in decades, to actually build a rese…
DJ
Darren Jones
These partnerships with the national wealth fund are crucial to ensure that local entrepreneurs, businesses and investors have access to the services provided by the Government. Too often, it is only people who know how the system works or who know the people involved who can get deals done, which means that people, es…
DJ
Darren Jones
Just to reassure the hon. Gentleman, I will point to three things he may wish to look at: in its long-term forecast, the OBR forecasted growth increasing in this country, unlike what he has said; the International Monetary Fund has just upgraded the growth projections for the UK; and PwC just released a report showing …
DJ
Darren Jones
Well, I thank my hon. Friend for coming to the House today to inform us of those interesting statistics—I am sure Opposition Members are listening closely. He is right: behind the support for the plans for Heathrow coming forward is not only that we think that we are losing investment and jobs to other countries, but t…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and his campaigning on behalf of his constituents. As I am sure he will have seen, the Government recently announced hundreds of millions of pounds of inward investment for skills in the green economy in his side of Wales, in Pembrokeshire, where there is enormous potential b…
DJ
Darren Jones
Pithy, Madam Deputy Speaker! Yes, I completely endorse my hon. Friend’s question. He knows very well that in the technology space there are huge opportunities for investment in the UK. Our AI investment zone announcement will be the first of many such announcements in the years ahead.
DJ
Darren Jones
I am afraid I cannot give the hon. Gentleman a date, because negotiations are, as he will know, negotiations. They are ongoing, but I am hopeful that we will be able to come back shortly with updates to show that we are able to deliver deals much faster than his party, when it was last in government.
DJ
Darren Jones
I support my hon. Friend’s encouraging words on the Chancellor’s announcement on the lower Thames crossing. The Treasury is working with the Department for Transport and the project leaders for the lower Thames crossing, and I suspect we will have more to say in the coming months.
DJ
Darren Jones
As the hon. Member will know, at the Budget, in our design of the national insurance contribution scheme for employers, we protected small businesses to ensure that over 50% of businesses will pay either the same as they did before or less than they did before in employer national insurance contributions. That is in ad…
DJ
Darren Jones
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. This is a Government who are willing to act in the interests of the UK economy. Investors around the world are taking note, as the Chancellor heard at Davos. They know that Britain is back, Britain wants to build and we are here to do business.
DJ
Darren Jones
We share the hon. Member’s ambition for the Northern Ireland economy and the people of Northern Ireland. We continue to work with them to unleash that potential. In respect of our trading relationship with the EU, Ministers are in active discussions right now.
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend. As he has seen from announcements today, but also from our ambition for the country more generally, we are on the hunt for growth opportunities, wherever they may be. We worked in partnership with business investors to unleash their potential to generate great jobs, businesses and innovations fo…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for his leadership of the Labour growth group, which shows that from the Back Benches all the way through to the Front Bench, this Labour party in government is committed to stimulating growth in the economy in the interests of working people, unlike the Conservative party which just argued with …
DJ
Darren Jones
Those sectors are important not just for UK plc, but for communities such as my hon. Friend’s. It is right that we support those businesses and the workers in those industries to develop opportunities to grow and invest, as well as to work through the transition required to ensure that they are sustainable for the futu…
DJ
Darren Jones
I have a growing list of invitations, Madam Deputy Speaker. I look forward, if my diary manager allows me, to going to my hon. Friend’s constituency. He will know that the transport connectivity and the house building targets in our plan for growth are crucial to ensuring that people are able to seize opportunities whe…
DJ
Darren Jones
I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend, who is doing a brilliant job, as the local MP, to ensure that these projects are done properly. I can confirm that, of course, all appropriate processes, including on the development consent order, will be undertaken in due course.
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for her excellent question and for highlighting the important role the west midlands plays in our important automotive sector. As the House knows, we want to transition over time to electric vehicles. That means investing in jobs, skills, industrial capacity and, crucially, bringing down the cost…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend, who is absolutely right. The growth corridor is an important enabler not just for developments along the railway, but for the whole region, as we see from other countries that get such projects right—for example, the Chancellor referred to silicon valley—where the opportunities for the broader r…
DJ
Darren Jones
I congratulate my hon. Friend on her airport and look forward to seeing it in due course. The premise of her question is entirely right: if businesses are to export, they need to be able to send their goods, and if they cannot get slots at Heathrow to enable those goods to be distributed around the world, they will jus…
DJ
Darren Jones
I have to confess that “build, baby, build” was not included in the “lines to take” this morning, but perhaps it is now. My hon. Friend asked about private capital. We know that there is an enormous amount of interest in investing in the UK, so long as we can show that we can deliver and get things done, and we are wor…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right; our ports play a really important role in the UK economy—I declare an interest in respect of my own constituency. She will, I am sure, have welcomed initial Government investment in our ports, not just for trade and logistics but for our ability to deliver infrastructure—for example,…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right; both mass transit within city regions and intercity connectivity link people with jobs and opportunities, which is why it is a crucial part of our growth mission. We will give further details later this year of how we will unlock investment in the sector and provide jobs for people t…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend makes an excellent case for the positive impacts that this will have on the Scottish economy and the important role that it plays in our United Kingdom economy in respect of growth across every nation and region. It is a nice contrast, might I say, with voices opposite that were talking down the potentia…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is right, and she is a great advocate for businesses in her constituency. She will know that Mayors in the UK, for example, have committed themselves to buying electric buses from British manufacturers, and we will be working with mayoral authorities in the years ahead to ensure that we can do more of th…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that case. Let me encourage him to write to the Transport Secretary and copy me into his correspondence, so that we can look at the details and consider it further.
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for his question and congratulate him on his upcoming paternity leave. He knows that the Government are committed to protecting the environment but also to cutting red tape. We have shown that that can be done in a win-win way, through the nature fund announced by the Environment Secretary recent…
Charter for Budget Responsibility29 Jan 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
I beg to move, That the Charter for Budget Responsibility: Autumn 2024, which was laid before this House on 22 January , be approved. It feels like I was in the House only a few moments ago, but I am delighted to be back at the Dispatch Box for this important debate. Sustained economic growth,… supported by sound investment, is the only route to improving the prosperity of our country, and, in so doing, the living standards of working people. Growth is the primary mission of this Government. This debate is timely, as the House knows, given that the Chancellor gave her growth speech only this morning. In her speech, she reiterated that without a stable economy, we cannot hope to attract investment into the UK; that we cannot grow our economy with a black hole in our public finances; and, importantly, that fixing the foundations of the economy starts with the new fiscal rules, which we are voting on here today. The Chancellor announced in her speech that we are taking difficult decisions in the long-term interests of the country, including, for example, on a third runway at Heathrow airport. As she set out, the Government support and are inviting proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer. Once proposals have been received, we will take forward a full assessment through the airport national policy statement, to ensure that any scheme is delivered in line with our legal, environmental and climate obligations. According to a recent study from Frontier Economics, a third runway could increase GDP by 4.3% over the next 25 years. It is estimated that over half—around 60%—of that boost would go to areas outside London and the south-east, underlining the fact that Heathrow as a hub airport brings prosperity not just to London but to every region and nation of the country. The Government have also set out further plans to reform our planning system, to provide confidence to investors and builders, and to show that Britain can get building agai
Hansard · 29 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
NG
Nusrat Ghani
For the record, the Minister can take an intervention if he wishes to. This reminds me of the many years all three of us spent on the Business and Trade Committee, when we could not agree on anything either.
RF
Richard Fuller
I am grateful for the opportunity to intervene. Can the Chief Secretary to the Treasury confirm whether the OBR validated his £22 billion claim?
JC
Jeremy Corbyn
In his assessment, what estimate has the Minister made of the increase in poverty and child poverty in our society and the effects of largely uncontrolled rents in the private rented sector, often well above the local housing allowance, which leads people into poverty?
NG
Nusrat Ghani
To clear up any confusion, this is the debate and motion on the charter for Budget responsibility. The next motion and debate will be on the welfare cap. I call the shadow Minister.
RF
Richard Fuller
As the Chancellor scours the nation turning over every stone in her desperate effort to mitigate the damage from her choices in last year’s Budget of broken promises, it falls to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to keep his face straight as he lectures the House on the importance of fiscal responsibility. He has sho…
DJ
Darren Jones
I was always enamoured of your arguments, Madam Deputy Speaker, as I continue to be today. I look forward to the prospect of many interventions from Members across the House as part of this important debate, and I encourage the shadow Chief Secretary to intervene.
DJ
Darren Jones
The OBR was very clear, as Members will see in its publications in the House of Commons Library, that the spending plans announced by the previous Government were—to quote the chair of the OBR in his evidence to the Treasury Committee—a “fiction.” The OBR forecast provided to the Government made it clear that had the i…
DJ
Darren Jones
The right hon. Member knows that the Labour party takes child poverty seriously. That is why we launched the child poverty taskforce at the start of this Government, co-chaired by the Work and Pensions Secretary and the Education Secretary, to do a root and branch review of the long-term structural causes of child pove…
DJ
Darren Jones
As the shadow Minister and, I hope, the House knows, I am a humble man and am always ears-open to advice, wisdom and feedback on how we can do things better. Given his opening remarks on fiscal stability, I wonder whether he has any reflections to offer the House from the time of his party being in government and, inde…
DJ
Darren Jones
On the point of prudent financial responsibility—[Interruption.] I think the House is interested in a long and detailed debate this evening, so it is important that we dive into the details. On this issue of prudent fiscal responsibility, the hon. Gentleman presumably welcomes our fiscal rule that day-to-day costs will…
DJ
Darren Jones
It is important. I think we should reflect on what some of the drivers are behind the increased spend in the welfare budget, because the evidence is very clear. For people who can be—and indeed wish to be—economically active but are in receipt of universal credit support and other forms of payment, the main reasons are…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank right hon. and hon. Members for this afternoon’s debate. I will reflect on some of their questions and comments in winding up the debate. To begin, I can provide assurance to the shadow Chief Secretary, the hon. Member for North Bedfordshire (Richard Fuller) . He was concerned that the Labour party had misled t…
DJ
Darren Jones
That is a very strong accusation, which I refute in the strongest terms. The Chancellor was very clear that debt would be falling as a share of the economy. That is the fiscal rule. As predicted by the OBR, we will deliver on that promise. It is right that the Chancellor chose at the Budget to define debt as public sec…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Health Secretary is actively working on this. There are huge opportunities, not just in the NHS but in the Department for Work and Pensions where my right hon. and hon. Friends are working, and throughout Government as a whole. Imagine having a jobcentre in your pocket, on your phone, where you can gain access to t…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the right hon. Member for his question, because he invites me to talk the House through our infrastructure strategy. For the first time, we are bringing together Government plans on economic infrastructure, housing and social infrastructure in the same place. It means that when we go through the spending review…
DJ
Darren Jones
That is a great question. All these infrastructure opportunities will go through both value-for-money assessments and growth assessments. The argument that we have been making today is that initiating projects such as the East West Rail line in a co-ordinated way with private capital, universities and our house buildin…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. He reminds me that the right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) asked me about broader reform to ensure that infrastructure is delivered differently from how it has been in the past, and I would point the House to the action that Ministers have already taken to …
Official Development Assistance21 Jan 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
The Government remain committed to restoring ODA spending to 0.7% of GNI as soon as fiscal circumstances allow. The latest OBR forecasts show that the ODA fiscal tests are not due to be met within this Parliament, but we will continue to monitor future forecasts closely and each year we will review and confirm, in… accordance with the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015, whether a return to spending at 0.7% of GNI on ODA is possible.
Hansard · 21 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
ED
Emily Darlington
What the fiscal circumstances are that would allow official development assistance to return to 0.7% of gross national income.
ED
Emily Darlington
I thank the Minister for protecting the level of ODA given the fiscal situation we inherited, but there are more wars going on in the world than at any time since world war two. Will he review the fiscal formula, which he and the Chancellor rightly voted against when put forward by the previous Government, put the ODA …
MH
Monica Harding
Given that the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that the fiscal test of returning to 0.7% will not be met in this Parliament, and that there has been no equivalent uplift to the £2.5 billion that the Conservatives put to spend on in-country refugee costs, are the Minister and this Labour Government content to…
DT
David Taylor
To follow on from the Minister’s answer, Members will be reminded of the fact that ODA costs spent in the UK are now at record levels, thanks to the last Government. That should not be the case. ODA should be spent, as much as possible, in the world’s poorest countries. What steps are the Government taking to help the …
AM
Andrew Mitchell
I know that Members on the Treasury Bench attach great importance to the international development budget, not least because I recall that the Chancellor of the Exchequer supported my efforts to stop the 0.7% being cut by my own Government, even winding up the debate with great skill and flair. Will Treasury Ministers …
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for her question on a topic that I know she has great expertise in. She will know that it is important that spending across Departments, whether on military, humanitarian or economic support, is aligned with our ODA spending. The multi-year spending review is under way, and we will confirm budget…
DJ
Darren Jones
One of the issues, to which the hon. Lady alludes, is that under the last Administration, when they lost control of the borders and the asylum system, the cost of hotels to house asylum seekers waiting for their decision was included in the ODA definition of spending. That is why the Home Secretary is working at pace t…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is why both dealing with the Home Office backlog in processing claims and returns and working with counterparts in the Ministry of Justice to ensure that the tribunal process is up to speed are intrinsically important to the ODA budget. Under the last Administration, crucial ODA…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the right hon. Gentleman, as I am sure the Chancellor does, for his kind words. A key part of the test on ODA spending in terms of fiscal circumstances requires those circumstances to improve. One of the reasons we are in this problem in the first place is because of the mess the previous Administration left th…
Former Mineworkers’ Pensions21 Jan 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
This Government recognise the contributions that miners made to the prosperity of the nation and the challenging circumstances in which they worked. That is why the Government agreed to transfer the investment reserve fund to members of the mineworkers’ pension scheme, so that the mineworkers who powered our country receive a fairer pension.
Hansard · 21 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
RB
Richard Baker
What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to uplift former mineworkers’ pensions.
NS
Nick Smith
What steps she has taken with Cabinet colleagues to uplift former mineworkers’ pensions.
RB
Richard Baker
Does my right hon. Friend agree that ending the injustice of the mineworkers’ pension scheme is great news not only for the 849 former mineworkers in my constituency who will benefit, but for the economies of the local communities where they live, which were left behind by the previous Government? Will he and his colle…
NS
Nick Smith
This is an important issue for south Wales families. My uncle Jacky was a deputy at Cwm Marine pit and my uncle Georgie was a deputy at Oakdale. Sadly, they have now passed, but they were members of the British Coal pension scheme. Many of their mining friends will be in their 80s and 90s, and their pensions deserve up…
DM
David Mundell
I have significant former mining areas in the Douglas valley and Upper Nithsdale in my constituency. Constituents there are concerned about the British Coal scheme, because many people in that scheme actually worked underground before being promoted into other jobs. To ensure fairness in the implementation of this Gove…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for his question and his work on behalf of his constituents. He may know that, in the previous Parliament, I and colleagues worked on the mineworkers’ pension scheme through the Business and Trade Committee to lay the ground for the initiatives that this Government were quickly able to implement …
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that question on an issue that I know is deeply important to him, his constituents and his family, and on which he has worked for many years. The Government are actively considering proposals from the scheme’s trustees, and we will set out the next steps in due course. My hon. Friend …
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the right hon. Member for his question, and I think “fairness” is the right word. That is why we worked in opposition to try to persuade the last Government to act on the mineworkers’ pension scheme, but we failed because the last Government did not think this was an urgent issue for them to consider. The Labou…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Member for his question. I am afraid I have not had time to do so since he told me 35 minutes ago that he was going to ask that question, but I have heard it clearly. I will take that away and come back to him in course.
Topical Questions21 Jan 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue, which clearly is important to him and his constituents. I confirmed to the House today that the Minister for Trade in the Department for Business and Trade is working with the trustees of the BCSSS to consider options. I will meet the Minister to look at… those options and provide further updates to the House in due course.
Hansard · 21 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
FM
Frank McNally
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
RR
Rachel Reeves
When I became Chancellor, there was a £22 billion black hole in the public finances. We simply could not carry on like that, which is why I have taken control of our public finances and made growth the No. 1 priority of the Government to improve living standards. In December, I launched the second phase of our spending…
FM
Frank McNally
The recent drop in the rate of inflation is welcome news for those facing financial pressures across Coatbridge and Bellshill, as is the expectation that the UK will become the fastest growing economy in Europe. What further action is my right hon. Friend taking, working in partnership with Cabinet colleagues, to ensur…
RR
Rachel Reeves
I thank my hon. Friend for that question. I know that the cost of living has a deep impact on all our constituents, including in Coatbridge and Bellshill. Like my hon. Friend, I was pleased to see the reduction in inflation last week. The Bank of England’s independence is sacrosanct to carry on those efforts. In additi…
MS
Mel Stride
A moment ago, the right hon. Lady spoke about the importance of spending money wisely, so in the light of the Treasury Committee’s conclusion that her new Office for Value for Money is a waste of money, does she agree that one of its early actions should be to abolish itself in order to save money?
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Gentleman knows that in order for us to restore public finances and put them on a firm foundation, departmental settlements have to reflect the cost of the civil servants they employ; that is how the Departments are working. As the Chancellor has previously confirmed, the Department for Education has received …
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend, who is an important champion for the Welsh economy. Wales can and will play a vital part in our growth mission. Our two Labour Governments continue to work together as we review the position inherited from the Conservative Government, including on rail infrastructure, and decisions will be set o…
Public Finances: Borrowing Costs9 Jan 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
I am always grateful to see Conservative Members welcome me to the House. Financial markets are always evolving, as the shadow Chancellor knows, so there is a long-standing convention that the Government do not comment on specific financial market movements, and I will not break that convention today. Financial market movements, including changes in Government… bond or gilt yields, which represent the Government’s borrowing costs, are determined by a wide range of international and domestic factors. It is normal for the price and yields of gilts to vary when there are wider movements in global financial markets, including in response to economic data. In recent months, moves in financial markets have been largely driven by data and global geopolitical events, which is to be expected as markets adjust to new information. UK gilt markets continue to function in an orderly way. Underlying demand for the UK’s debt remains strong, with a generally well-diversified investor base. The Debt Management Office’s gilt sales operations continue to see strong demand. The latest auction, held yesterday, received three times as many bids as the amount on offer. The Chancellor has commissioned from the Office for Budget Responsibility an updated economic and fiscal forecast for 26 March incorporating the latest data. Only the OBR’s forecast can accurately predict the effect on the public finances of any changes in financial markets or the economy, and I will not pre-empt that forecast. There should be no doubt of the Government’s commitment to economic stability and sound public finances. That is why meeting the fiscal rules is non-negotiable. May I end by saying that I am pleased that the shadow Chancellor is holding this Government to account on our stewardship of the economy? It is important that he does so. He will remember when his party crashed the economy with unfunded tax cuts, unrealistic public spending plans and a clear disregard for the consequences on family finances. F
Hansard · 9 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
MS
Mel Stride
(Urgent Question): To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if she will make a statement on the growing pressure of borrowing costs on the public finances.
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.
MS
Mel Stride
The performance we have just seen was a slightly anxious and breathless one, which leads me to the question: where is the Chancellor? It is a bitter regret that at this difficult time and given these serious issues, she herself is nowhere to be seen. In the last 48 hours, borrowing costs have reached a 27-year high, an…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Treasury Committee.
MH
Meg Hillier
We all know that fiscal rules and certainty are vital for the markets and the good stewardship of the public finances, so will the Chief Secretary to the Treasury explain what process he will be going through as he conducts the spending review, and what notice he will give to Departments about extra cuts that they may …
DJ
Darren Jones
I am pleased that the right hon. Gentleman enjoyed my performance—I have not even had my first cup of coffee yet this morning. Let me answer some of his questions. [Interruption.] Conservative Members might like to listen, if the questions are so important to them. The right hon. Gentleman asked me about the fiscal rul…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the Chair of the Select Committee for her question. As the House knows, we have started the second phase of the spending review, to set public sector budgets from 2026-27 onwards. The Chancellor confirmed in a written ministerial statement before the House rose for Christmas that there will be a forecast from t…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Member for his question. He will note from the Prime Minister’s plan for change that the NHS is the subject of one of this Government’s key commitments, with commitments to get the elective waiting list down and to invest in the national health service so that we can do so. He will have heard that from…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend knows very well that this Government’s approach has been about stability, investment and reform: the stability we have brought following the chaos of the years under the Conservative party, as has been recognised by the British people and by the markets; the investment we have been unlocking, from our gl…
DJ
Darren Jones
I can absolutely assure the Father of the House that we are working through this spending review on the basis of the envelope set at the Budget. Public services will have to operate within the means that we are providing to them. The OBR forecast will come in March, which will give us the latest set of information, and…
DJ
Darren Jones
I very much agree with my hon. Friend. We have to pay day-to-day bills with the income we generate day to day. The lesson that we learned from the Opposition was about what they were happy to do, but this Government are not. They were happy to announce plans and programmes to make promises to the British people, even t…
DJ
Darren Jones
I have been clear to the House, as has the Chancellor, that the fiscal rules are non-negotiable. Public services will have to live within their means. We set the Budget in the autumn last year, and we have the OBR forecasts coming in March. Those are the numbers that Departments are working to in the spending review, a…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee for her question. She will know that our first commitment in the Labour party manifesto at the last election was to fiscal responsibility. It is the bedrock of this Government and the bedrock of every decision we take. As the Prime Minister set out i…
DJ
Darren Jones
I must say I am rather surprised by the inflammatory language of the former Chair of the Treasury Committee, which is clearly no reflection of reality. The Chancellor is going on her trip to China. It has been well documented for many weeks, and it is an important visit for trade and investment in the UK economy. May I…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is right. May I offer some probably unwelcome advice to Opposition Members? The sooner they stop groaning and stop laughing about their performance when they were last in government, and the sooner they apologise for it, the sooner the British people might start listening to them again.
DJ
Darren Jones
At the autumn Budget, the Chancellor invested in frontline public services, because we recognise that people rely on them, but also because functioning public services are an important route to growth in the economy. If people are sick and cannot get to work, they need to be able to see a doctor in a timely fashion, so…
DJ
Darren Jones
I very much agree. That is why fiscal stability and economic responsibility are at the heart of this Labour Government and the Chancellor’s agenda. Members on the Opposition Benches may want to pay attention to that.
DJ
Darren Jones
As I said, the fiscal rules are non-negotiable. The only reliable sources on future financing will be the OBR forecast on 26 March , the conclusion of the spending review in June, and the Budget, which the Chancellor will present in the autumn. The hon. Gentleman mentioned austerity, but I remind him that this Labour G…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Let me set out the difference that the British people will experience. At the end of 14 years of Conservative Government, they had higher mortgages, higher bills, a higher cost of living and public services on their knees. At the end of this Labour Government, pointing towards the ne…
DJ
Darren Jones
I am always grateful to the hon. Gentleman for thinking that I am making such substantive interventions, and for his continued support in that respect. This is not austerity, as he will know full well. Austerity was ideological cuts to public financing and the size of the state. It was 3% cuts, irrespective of what tha…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend asks an important question. Why did we have to take that action? Why was this Government’s first Bill about fiscal responsibility? It was because of the mess that Conservative Members left this country in. That is why we have given the Office for Budget Responsibility stronger, independent powers of over…
DJ
Darren Jones
I think the question was whether I was going to demand that the Chancellor come back from her trade trip to China. I will not, no.
DJ
Darren Jones
That is exactly why our fiscal rules are non-negotiable. While the Conservatives borrowed to pay the bills every month because they did not have enough money to pay for all their promises, this Government are investing in the future of our country, whether through reforming public services or investing in infrastructur…
DJ
Darren Jones
The question was whether the Government have an iron grip on public finances; the answer is yes.
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Our industrial strategy, through which we will invest alongside businesses and industries of the future, and our infrastructure strategy, which sets out how we will get Britain building again, are two examples of the Government playing their part by bringing economic and political st…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Gentleman will know that this Government’s approach to stimulating growth in the economy is about stability, investment and reform—the political and economic stability the Chancellor has brought to this country; the investment from private sector partners, as well as from the state, where appropriate; and the …
DJ
Darren Jones
I am sorry to disappoint the right hon. Member, but I will answer the question none the less. She asked me whether I stand by the Chancellor’s statements, and the answer is yes.
DJ
Darren Jones
It is absolutely right that the Labour Government are bringing fiscal and economic stability back to this country, because we know that when you play fast and loose with the nation’s finances, you play fast and loose with family finances. That is what voters in every constituency experienced when the Conservatives were…
DJ
Darren Jones
As I have said, it seems that the Conservative party is proud of its record on austerity. We do not support austerity, which was blind ideological cuts to public services—3% cuts—irrespective of the outcome for the people who rely on public services. The Chancellor increased investment in public services at the Budget …
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is right to point out that the Government are in the service of working people. What does that mean? It means that people’s lives—the money they have in their pocket, and the ability to pay the bills, get a roof over their head and seek opportunity—are at the very heart of what it means to be in the Labo…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Chancellor is going to China, as has been well documented. Again, I am sorry that it disappoints the hon. Member that I am here. I refer him and his colleagues to the urgent question, which is about a statement on borrowing costs and public finances. He will know that I am the Minister for public finances, which is…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. His constituents will know from their family finances that they cannot just put the bills on the credit card every month without having a plan for how to pay it off. That is not a sustainable way to manage household finances, and it is the same for the country. One of the reasons why…
DJ
Darren Jones
You will correctly tell me, Mr Speaker, that it would not be right for me to comment on legal proceedings, but I am happy to say that one of the huge lessons for the country, for the British voting public and perhaps, one day, for the Conservative party is that the actions that the Conservative party took were not just…
DJ
Darren Jones
It might have been legitimate for the Conservatives to say that their economic policy was to borrow for day-to-day costs—as they did. That could be a decision that they took. What is not forgivable is the fact that they reached a point at which they were making promises to the British people that they knew they did not…
DJ
Darren Jones
The right hon. Gentleman may not wish to reflect on his party’s performance in government, but I am afraid he has to. Although this is a new Government—we have been in office for six months—the reality is that we are having to clear up the mess that the last Government left us. That is why we have to talk about it, and…
DJ
Darren Jones
Yes, I can. There is no denying that the economic inheritance that we were given by the Conservative party makes life very difficult for us: it means that we have to take difficult decisions. The fiscal rules are non-negotiable and public services have to live within their means because that is that the bedrock of any …
DJ
Darren Jones
One of the issues was that the Conservative party made a whole list of unfunded spending commitments. They promised hospitals and train stations, they had unsettled pay disputes with public sector workers— I could go on and on. That is why the Chancellor took the decision at the Budget to wipe the slate clean, to deal …
DJ
Darren Jones
Restoring economic and political stability is important. When the markets observed the behaviour of the Conservative party in government, it is no wonder they did not want to invest in the UK, and that is why the market crashed, to the detriment of working people across the country. It is very clear that under this Lab…
DJ
Darren Jones
The fiscal rules are non-negotiable, and they will be met.
DJ
Darren Jones
The Office for Value for Money is an important part of our spending review process, as we undertake for the first time in 17 years a zero-based review of every single pound of public spending. We should focus on that for a moment: not once under the last Conservative Government was there a zero-based review. Not once d…
DJ
Darren Jones
I think the hon. Member might want to ask his constituents whether they appreciated their doctors and nurses being on strike for so long or whether they wanted them to be able to see their patients. He may want to ask his constituents whether they were grateful to have the trains not working for so many months because …
DJ
Darren Jones
Thank you, Mr Speaker. It is important, when you are paid by the House, to act responsibly; I agree with you. My hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (John Slinger) makes a really important point, and Conservative Members who have their head in their hands may wish to listen to him. It will be important for the Conservativ…
DJ
Darren Jones
I did not realise that the hon. Member knew my mum and that I am apparently the future. It is very kind of him to say so; very few have that in their thoughts. He talks about lefty experiments. Fiscal responsibility is not a lefty ideology. Economic responsibility is not a lefty ideological and political experiment; it…
DJ
Darren Jones
I am very happy to set out the Government’s plan, as I have done repeatedly today. The hon. Member will have seen in the Chancellor’s Budget last autumn a clear plan to wipe the slate clean, to deal with the mess that we inherited, to protect working people, and to invest in our public services. He will have seen it in…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Chancellor meets the Governor of the Bank of England on a regular basis and will continue to do so.
DJ
Darren Jones
I am pleased that the hon. Member can afford the subscription to Bloomberg News; I cannot, unfortunately, so I could not read the article to which he refers. He inadvertently asks me a question about the process of the spending review. [Interruption.] That was the question. We are embedding mission-led government, whic…
DJ
Darren Jones
I lead for the Treasury on inter-ministerial relationships with Finance Ministers in the devolved Governments. I regularly meet my counterparts, and I will meet them in Wales in the coming weeks to talk about our spending plans for the future.
Crown Estate Bill [Lords]7 Jan 2025
DJ
Darren Jones
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. May I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Alex McIntyre) on his moving ten-minute rule Bill, which he just presented? The purpose of the Crown Estate Bill is to bring legislation governing the Crown Estate into the 21st century. The… Crown Estate is a commercial business, independent from government, that operates for profit and competes in the marketplace for investment, yet it is restricted in its ability to do so by legislation that has not been amended since 1961. With less ability to compete and to invest, it is less able to deliver returns for the public purse than it might otherwise be able to do. Existing limitations on the Crown Estate’s powers have meant it has had to generate capital for investment by selling its assets, which is neither desirable nor sustainable. Under current legislation, the Crown Estate is constrained in its ability to support sustainable projects and to preserve our heritage for generations to come. These are the reasons why the Bill is necessary and why the Crown Estate has asked successive Governments for reforms. The Bill has been expanded and improved during its passage in the other place, with requirements relating to sustainable development, GB Energy and the composition of the board. Fundamentally, the changes that the Bill proposes will give the Crown Estate new freedoms, including the power to borrow as their competitors can, enabling them to adopt a sustainable and competitive business model. The Bill has two key objectives. First, it broadens the scope of activities that the Crown Estate can invest in, in order to support the delivery of its core purpose across net zero, nature recovery, economic growth and generating returns to the public purse. In its current form, it is predominantly a property estate and is significantly limited in its investment options. The Bill would provide it with the ability to invest more widely in new growth opportunities—for
Hansard · 7 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
SF
Stephen Flynn
I hope the Minister will not hear much disagreement about the points he is making so eloquently. However, may I query why these provisions and powers, which he believes are relevant for the Crown Estate in England and Wales, are not also being provided to the Crown Estate in Scotland?
SF
Stephen Flynn
On that point, will the Minister give way?
MP
Mark Pritchard
Let us be clear that this is a huge departure for the Crown Estate. The Bill basically allows it to go to the City and to raise capital based on its assets, most of which, as the Minister highlights, are property. As he knows, the sponsor Government Department for the Crown Estate is the Treasury, but investments go up…
MP
Mark Pritchard
Is there not a potential conflict of interest? The Minister mentions GB Energy, a new national organisation introduced by Labour Government policy. Because of the Crown Estate’s partnership with the Treasury, the Government are encouraging the Crown Estate to invest in GB Energy, but what if people out there do not lik…
AC
Alistair Carmichael
I understand that the Minister is proposing that, in relation to the seabed, the Crown Estate will be a licensing authority for renewable energy projects and will now be able to invest in them too. The commissioners have a primary duty to maximise the return to the Crown Estate of any activity they undertake. To comply…
DJ
Darren Jones
As the right hon. Gentleman knows, Crown Estate Scotland is a separate organisation to the Crown Estate that is the subject of the Bill. Of course, we continue to have conversations and we will be pleased to talk to him and others about that issue for the future.
DJ
Darren Jones
I will make some progress. The second objective of the Bill is to enable the Crown Estate to invest in capital-intensive projects more effectively. It does so by empowering the Crown Estate to reduce the size of the cash reserves it needs to hold, thereby expanding its ability to use its land and property assets far mo…
DJ
Darren Jones
I will come to a number of those points later in my speech. If I have not answered the right hon. Gentleman’s points as I get towards the end, I will take another intervention from him. As a result of the changes in the Bill, the Crown Estate will be able to accelerate investment in redeveloping and decarbonising its R…
DJ
Darren Jones
The right hon. Gentleman is doing a brilliant job of anticipating sections in my speech. Once again, I will point at him when I come to the relevant section; in fact, it is the next section, so he is in luck. There will be a memorandum of understanding in place between the Treasury and the Crown Estate that will govern…
DJ
Darren Jones
That is a great question. I have no idea, so I will commit to writing to the right hon. Gentleman with an answer, if he will forgive me for not knowing.
DJ
Darren Jones
Only if it is a question to which I know the answer.
DJ
Darren Jones
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her help, which I hope gives the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) some reassurance, as it sounds eminently sensible.
DJ
Darren Jones
I am continually grateful for the team effort, and I am grateful to my hon. Friends for having paid such close attention to the Bill.
DJ
Darren Jones
The right hon. Gentleman should not take my not knowing the answer as meaning that other people are not paying sufficient attention to the issue. He has asked a very technical question, and I commit to making sure an answer is made available to him and the House before the Bill goes to Committee. The Bill currently pla…
DJ
Darren Jones
The right hon. Gentleman will know that the ambitions for GB Energy are broader than those relating to the provisions of this Bill. On the connection between the Crown Estate and GB Energy in relation to this Bill, it is merely about the partnership that has already been announced to facilitate the investment opportuni…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for his excellent question. He will know from the work of ministerial colleagues in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero that the enormous potential for offshore wind in the Celtic sea and off the south-west coast is currently largely untapped. A lot of the work that needs to be done t…
Clause 118 Dec 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship today, Madam Chair. We had a very constructive debate on Second Reading of the Bill. In particular, I wish to express my appreciation for the universal support that the House has shown for the provision of this vital funding. It is clearly a subject close to… the hearts of many of us across the House. I look forward to further discussion on this important Bill today. As the Committee is aware, the extraordinary revenue acceleration is an ambitious scheme designed to provide Ukraine with a total of $50 billion in additional support, to be repaid by the extraordinary profits generated on Russian sovereign assets held in the European Union. The United Kingdom’s contribution of £2.26 billion is joined by pledges from the United States, the European Union, Canada and Japan. The Bill contains only two clauses. They are both straightforward. Clause 1 grants the Government the legal spending authority to fulfil the commitment we have made to provide Ukraine with the UK’s contribution to the extraordinary revenue acceleration. The clause empowers the Treasury or the Secretary of State to provide the Government of Ukraine with funds approved by Parliament as a result of the extraordinary revenue acceleration loans for Ukraine scheme, or “any subsequent arrangements that are supplemental to or modify or replace those arrangements.” Payments made under clause 1 will be those that are necessary to perform the UK’s commitment to the ERA scheme.
Hansard · 18 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
CN
Caroline Nokes
With this it will be convenient to consider: Clause 2 stand part. New clause 1—Reports on loans or other financial assistance to Ukraine— “(1) The Secretary of State must— (a) prepare reports on the operation of assistance provided in accordance with section 1(a), (b) lay a copy of each report before Parliament. (2) Ea…
JL
Julian Lewis
In of course welcoming the Government’s measures, I note that the Minister referred to the extraordinary interest from the frozen Russian assets. Have the Government permanently set their mind against any possible actual seizure of the assets themselves, perhaps in agreement with other G7 members or EU members?
SG
Stephen Gethins
I thank the Minister for his acknowledgement of the cross-party support for this measure, but to back up my colleague, the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis) , the $3 billion from the UK is generous and will make a difference, but the $300 billion in frozen assets would be utterly game changing. I…
RF
Richard Fuller
I thank the Minister for opening the debate. The Conservative Government were a vociferous advocate for mobilising Russia’s frozen sovereign assets to support Ukraine. We drove G7 and European partners to try to coalesce around the most ambitious solution possible to achieve that outcome. The announcement on 22 October…
AS
Alex Sobel
I want to speak to new clause 1, which I have signed, but I first want to reiterate my support for the Government and the Bill. As I said on Second Reading, it is absolutely right and proper that Russia pays for the damage it has done to Ukraine and its people. The Bill is an important first step in providing that fina…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the right hon. Member for his contribution. As we debated on Second Reading, this is a commitment across G7 partners and with the European Union to take action on the proceeds of the assets that are held. For other complicated legal reasons, there is no intention to seize those assets at this time.
DJ
Darren Jones
I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s encouragement, which I take in good faith. He will know that these matters are multilateral and subject to negotiation with other allies and G7 colleagues, but he will also know, as I am sure the whole House does, that we go into 2025 with a strength of resolve across those G7 countries t…
DJ
Darren Jones
In closing, I thank right hon. and hon. Members for their contributions. I thank my hon. Friends the Members for Leeds Central and Headingley (Alex Sobel), for Livingston (Gregor Poynton), for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward), for Hexham (Joe Morris), for Bolton West (Phil Brickell) and for Hemel Hempstead (Dav…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Government’s position, as the right hon. Gentleman will know, is that we will set out the trajectory to 2.5% of GDP on NATO qualifying spend in 2025, following the conclusion of the strategic defence review and the spending review. He will also know that we fund our armed forces not just to be prepared, but to be r…
DJ
Darren Jones
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time. Once again, I extend my gratitude to Members from across the House for contributing to today’s debate and facilitating the swift passage of the Bill. Today, and throughout the Bill’s passage so far, this House has made clear its strong feelings on the plight of t…
Employer National Insurance Contributions4 Dec 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
The shadow Chancellor made a number of interesting points, and I will give him the courtesy of going through a number of them. He talked about how this Government are risking inflation, when his Government sent it spiralling to the highest level in a generation. He said that Labour Members are talking down the economy,… when his Government crashed it. He said that Conservative Members disagreed with the measures in the Budget, specifically in relation to national insurance contributions, but not one alternative option was laid out in his speech. The public have a right to know what his choices would be: would the Conservatives want to increase income tax on workers or VAT in the shops, or would they like to increase corporation tax again on business? Would they like to cut tens of billions of pounds from public services or borrow more money every single day to pay the bills, or continue to make a black hole in the public finances? He suggested that the Labour party’s transparency with the country about the £22 billion black hole that the Conservatives left was not real, but they know that they created it. The sooner they say sorry to the country, the sooner the public might start listening to them once again. I will finish with a positive comment. The shadow Chancellor said that his party was a “job-creating machine”. I am very grateful for the number of former Conservative MPs they have released into the labour market, given how many vacancies we have filled. In her Budget statement on 30 October , the Chancellor set out the difficult decisions that the Government needed to take on welfare, spending and tax. Those decisions were not just difficult but necessary, given the fiscal irresponsibility and economic mismanagement of the Conservative party over the past 14 years. I welcome a debate on the choices, as I hear Members say from a sedentary position, “Choices, choices, choices.” What are yours? You should set that out to this House and you—[Interruption.] The par
Hansard · 4 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
MS
Mel Stride
I beg to move, That this House regrets that increasing the rate of employers’ National Insurance contributions (NICs) to 15%, and reducing the per-employee threshold at which employers become liable to pay NICs on employees’ earnings to £5,000, will lead to increased costs for businesses and lower wages for employees, …
TP
Toby Perkins
The right hon. Gentleman talks about the OBR figures, but he fails to mention that his party misled the OBR to the extent that it had to put the failure in writing. Given that he is talking about Lewis Carroll, is it not true to say that the figures that the OBR was working with were more likely to have been received f…
MS
Mel Stride
That is an amusing intervention, but it is thoroughly inaccurate, I am afraid. The OBR did indeed look into the suggestion that there was a black hole of £22 billion, and what did it conclude? It concluded that the fiscal pressure in that year was less than half that amount. The OBR readily accepted that had it had dis…
PW
Paul Waugh
The right hon. Member refers to broken manifesto pledges. The Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto said they would not raise national insurance, yet three years later he and all his colleagues voted to raise national insurance—not just on employees, but on employers. Can he help us with that process of logic?
MS
Mel Stride
I think the hon. Gentleman might just be overlooking a little something called covid, which shrank the UK economy by over 10% overnight. What this Government have done is take us right back to the 1970s when it comes to the jaw-dropping level of tax increases and spending splurges. The impact on jobs is stark, and it i…
DJ
Darren Jones
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. To be very clear and to correct the record, the Conservative party should tell the country what its choices are. I am all ears. The Labour party inherited a mess and we, as a responsible party of government, have needed to take measures to fix the public finances, fund the national heal…
DJ
Darren Jones
The right hon. Gentleman might in future give me advance notice of specific references to documents so that I can refer to them. I cannot tell him about table 3.2 in the OBR document because it is not here, but we will of course get an answer to him. He may wish to consider why the OBR said that had the Conservative pa…
DJ
Darren Jones
I will give way in a second. We have decreased the secondary threshold for employers, which is the threshold above which employers begin to pay employer national insurance contributions on their employees’ salaries, from £9,100 to £5,000. At the same time, we have increased protection for small businesses by more than …
DJ
Darren Jones
We have factored small businesses into the design of our policy, in terms of both employer national insurance contributions and our commitment to permanent lower rates for business rates than were given under the previous Government, as well as other support for the high street. We are also expanding eligibility to the…
DJ
Darren Jones
I agree with my hon. Friend, and I encourage Opposition Members to put forward proposals. I am all ears. I am willing to listen to them, but so far all we have is opposition and no policies. Maybe that will change in the future. The motion claims that the Government have not set out any impact assessment of the policy …
DJ
Darren Jones
As my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary has made very clear, when the Labour party came into government the NHS was broken. Why? Because of actions taken by the Conservative party over the last 14 years. That is why the Government have to take decisions to get a grip of the public finances and our public services.…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Member tells the House that he would go for growth. How did that go when his party tried it last time?
Living Standards3 Dec 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
We plan to raise living standards by boosting economic growth to put more money in people’s pockets, and by developing a comprehensive strategy on child poverty to give every child the best start in life. Already, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that living standards will increase during this Parliament, at more than double… the pace observed in the previous Parliament.
Hansard · 3 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
NF
Natalie Fleet
What steps she plans to take to help improve living standards.
PN
Pamela Nash
What steps she plans to take to help improve living standards.
NF
Natalie Fleet
Fourteen years of Conservative rule meant that we all saw child poverty levels rise. One in five children across the country now grows up in scarring poverty. A quarter of all children in Bolsover live in poverty. Can the Minister please set out the measures that this Labour Government will take to end this travesty?
PN
Pamela Nash
In the Chancellor’s first ever Budget, she delivered over £1.5 billion for Scotland this year and £3.4 billion next year—the largest ever block grant settlement in the history of the Scottish Parliament. Unlike the Tories and the SNP, it is clear that this Labour Government are choosing investment over simply managing …
GS
Graham Stuart
Can the Minister confirm that of the £26.4 billion tax rise through the increase in employer NICs, £19 billion will come directly out of people’s pay packets? Secondly, can he confirm that the net amount that the Treasury will actually get from that £26.4 billion after behavioural change and public sector compensation …
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for her question. She will know that this Government, like every Labour Government, are committed to improving living standards right across the country. From 1 April 2025 , the national living wage will increase by 6.7% to £12.21 per hour for eligible workers aged 21 and over. That represents an…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for her question. As she said, the Scottish Government’s spending review settlement for 2025-26 is the largest, in real terms, of any settlement since devolution began. The Scottish Government are receiving at least 20% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the Uni…
DJ
Darren Jones
The right hon. Gentleman seems to have forgotten the cost that working people paid as a consequence of his party’s actions in government, with inflation on house prices racing to 11%, the cost of living crisis, higher energy bills and a loss of grip on public spending. People suffered a direct cost in their disposable …
DJ
Darren Jones
This Government’s commitment to economic growth will improve living standards for people right across the country. I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer and suggest that his party might want to apologise before trying to lecture this Government on the change that we are delivering.
Topical Questions3 Dec 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend has campaigned extensively on this issue in his constituency. I understand that National Highways continues to develop proposals to improve the A50/A500 corridor through Uttoxeter. That is part of the pipeline of projects for future road investment strategies. He will know that in the Budget, we invested £1.6 billion to maintain and… renew the nation’s local roads. That includes a £500 million increase in 2025-26 alone.
Hansard · 3 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
CE
Clive Efford
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
RR
Rachel Reeves
At the Budget, I wiped the slate clean after 14 years of chaos and mismanagement of our public finances, and I have brought stability back to our economy, so that we can get on with fulfilling our promise of delivering change. That means investing to fix the NHS and rebuild Britain, while ensuring that working people d…
CE
Clive Efford
According to the Local Government Association, local government spending on public services is down 42% on what it would have been had it kept pace with demand and costs since 2010. My local authority, Greenwich, faces a £3 million to £5 million gap in commissioned social care costs, and after 14 years of Tory austerit…
RR
Rachel Reeves
As my hon. Friend will know, in the autumn Budget and phase 1 of the spending review, more than £1 billion was made available to local government, including £600 million for social care. The allocation of that money will be set out in the normal way over the next few weeks, so that local government is funded properly a…
MS
Mel Stride
What a pleasure it is to appear opposite the right hon. Lady for the first time. I was tempted to ask her how things were going, but I did not want to start out by being unkind. I will instead ask this: when she recently pledged to the CBI that she would not raise taxes again, did she mean it?
DJ
Darren Jones
The Government have no overall estimate of the impact of the UK’s exit from the EU, but the OBR has projected a 4% drop in productivity in the long term. That is why we are starting negotiations with the EU to improve trade in our mutual interest.
DJ
Darren Jones
The Government recognise that ports are an important route to growth, which is why the national wealth fund will deploy at least £5.8 billion into five priority manifesto sectors, including ports. I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss that specific constituency issue in due course.
DJ
Darren Jones
The Government will always support local authorities to deliver good value for money road enhancements to support economic growth and improved connectivity. The Norwich western link road is currently the subject of a live planning application, so I am afraid that I cannot comment further on the specifics.
DJ
Darren Jones
The Government are committed to increasing the flow of investment to every nation and region of the United Kingdom, and we will continue to work with the Northern Ireland Executive to deliver that for the people of Northern Ireland.
Financial Assistance to Ukraine Bill20 Nov 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. I am proud of the unity that this House has shown in its support for Ukraine. This support has been steadfast since the onset of Russia’s illegal full-scale invasion in February 2022, regardless of the party in office, and it remains so… today. We in this House recognise that while Ukraine is on the frontline, it is fighting for democracy and security across Europe. I want to make it clear that this Government stand, and will continue to stand, in unwavering support of Ukraine with our G7 allies. On 22 October , my right hon. Friends the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Defence Secretary announced that the UK would contribute £2.26 billion to the G7 extraordinary revenue acceleration loans to Ukraine scheme, the ERA. This landmark agreement will provide Ukraine with a total of $50 billion in vital additional funding, allowing it to continue to fight back against Putin’s war machine. Crucially, these funds will be repaid not by Ukraine, but from the extraordinary profits made on sanctioned Russian sovereign assets held in the European Union. This Bill simply provides the spending authority for the UK to contribute to the ERA scheme, enabling us to begin disbursing funds to Ukraine. It is another important demonstration of the UK’s commitment to backing Ukraine for as long as it takes. It will unlock our £2.26 billion contribution to the ERA, funding which is additional to all previous commitments. The UK has long been at the forefront of support for Ukraine. Our total military, humanitarian and economic support pledged since February 2022 already stands at £12.8 billion. We have often been the first mover on military support in particular, which ranges from training over 47,000 Ukrainian military personnel to providing a squadron of Challenger 2 main battle tanks. Earlier this year, the Government announced that the UK would continue to provide guaranteed military support of £3 billion per year to Ukraine for
Hansard · 20 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
RF
Richard Fuller
Before I turn to the Bill, I just say that the Chief Secretary, in an earlier debate, kindly welcomed me to my new role, and I would like to reciprocate that welcome today. He and I have worked together as members of the Business and Trade Committee, which he chaired and of which I believe you were also a member, Madam…
AS
Alex Sobel
We are now 1,000 days into the Russian invasion of Ukraine and we are entering a crucial period for Ukraine and its people, with the Kursk offensive and Administration change in the United States. I would first like to praise our Government for their evolving strong support for Ukraine, reflecting the needs on the grou…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, James MacCleary.
JM
James MacCleary
Yesterday, Ukraine entered its 1,000th day since the start of Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion, and it is about to enter its toughest winter yet. This Bill represents a significant and welcome step in providing much-needed financial support to Ukraine as it continues its courageous resistance. It will deliver t…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call Linsey Farnsworth to make her maiden speech.
Income Tax (Charge)5 Nov 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
I rather enjoyed that! I hope the hon. Gentleman can take a breather now. May I welcome the new shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to his place? From what he has said today—I should confess that I am not a clinician—I think he may have some amnesia about the performance of his party… in government, but maybe the right hon. Member for Tatton (Esther McVey) , the former Minister for common sense, can help him find some before he next appears before the House. May I also welcome the new shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the hon. Member for North Bedfordshire (Richard Fuller) , to his place? Madam Deputy Speaker, some Members of this House will know that you, the shadow Chief Secretary and I worked very well together for many years on the Business and Trade Committee. Clearly, some things have changed and some have not. You, Madam Deputy Speaker, are now very much in control in the Chair; I am on the other side of the Table and answering the questions; and the shadow Chief Secretary will still shout at Ministers, irrespective of whether they are Conservative or Labour, for being too socialist. Every Government come into office seeking to improve the country, but it is now clear that the last Conservative Government did not come into office to improve public services. In a recent report from the Institute for Government, two key conclusions were drawn: first, that most public services are performing substantially worse in 2024 than they were in 2010, and secondly, that public service performance has been damaged by a lack of capital investment. After 14 years of failure from the Conservative party, this Government will begin the work of implementing a bold programme of public service reform. This Budget starts that work by choosing a different path—by choosing investment over decline. In doing so, we will make sure that every pound is spent well and that reform is baked into our approach to governing, but we have also signed up to the much greater challenge
Hansard · 5 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
WS
Wes Streeting
This Budget is the moment we turn the page on 14 years of Tory neglect of our NHS, when we begin to fix the foundations of our public finances and public services, when we wipe the slate clean after 14 years of stagnant growth and under-investment, and when we start to rebuild Britain. This Government were elected to d…
WS
Wes Streeting
I am happy to give way to the hon. Gentleman to tell us why.
JW
James Wild
On the new hospital programme, the Government committed in the Budget to move swiftly to rebuild reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete hospitals. The Queen Elizabeth hospital in King’s Lynn is keen to make progress with its plans. Will he meet me and the trust so that we can unlock the funding and get that hospital re…
WS
Wes Streeting
That is a commitment that we have made and a commitment that we will keep. I am happy to ensure that the hon. Member can meet the relevant Minister and project team as we get under way on delivering that project. I did actually go back to check the pledges made by the Conservative party in its 2024 manifesto just to se…
LE
Luke Evans
On the Budget, GPs, hospices and care homes have been found to be either exempt or not exempt from the national insurance contributions. Will he clarify whether hospices, care homes and primary care are exempt or not? That really matters to their costs.
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. These were promises made by the last Government that they knew they did not have the money to pay for. This was spending from the general reserve—the money put aside for genuine emergencies each year—that they blew three times over within the first three months of the financial year.…
DJ
Darren Jones
As the hon. Gentleman knows, the ombudsman reported to this House before the election, making a number of recommendations, but did not conclude the basis on which a compensation scheme might apply. Further work is therefore required, which the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is looking at, but I would point hi…
DJ
Darren Jones
It is the greatest real-terms increase in funding since devolution began. If the devolved Government wish to take responsibility for devolved matters, they should do so. If they do not wish to do so, Labour will happily take over at the next election to deliver better services for the people of Scotland. Many Members h…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Gentleman perhaps forgets that the vote is tomorrow. No doubt he will come to the House to vote to support the allocation of £22 billion of extra funding so that the national health service can cover the cost of the doctors and nurses who, under his Administration, were striking on the picket line while Minist…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the right hon. Member for his question. This Government have aspirations to improve the social care system, and we will set out further detail on those plans in due course. Lastly, although not related directly to the NHS or public services, I welcome the supportive comments from Members across the House about …
Northern Powerhouse29 Oct 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
Investment—[Interruption.] I am delighted to be welcomed by those on the Opposition Benches, and am pleased to see them in their place as well. Investment is a key part of the Government’s growth mission, alongside stability and reform. By ensuring adherence to robust fiscal rules and respect for our economic institutions, we are building the… confidence needed to deliver greater investment across the country.
Hansard · 29 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
TM
Tom Morrison
What fiscal steps she is taking to encourage investment in the northern powerhouse.
TM
Tom Morrison
I thank the Minister for that response. A key part of the northern powerhouse agenda was investment in our rail infrastructure, and residents in my constituency were excited that Cheadle train station finally got planning approval recently. However, recent talk of cuts to infrastructure investment has caused concern. C…
BE
Bill Esterson
The creation of the national wealth fund, and the record success of the £63 billion of investment announced at the investment summit, comes on top of investments that Ministers have just announced in carbon capture in the north-west. Those are examples of the success—
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. The hon. Gentleman is a very good Member who has been here a long time. Please try to look at me occasionally; it would be helpful.
BE
Bill Esterson
The successful investments announced are a great example of this Government delivering jobs and economic growth, in the north of England and across the country. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this is in stark contrast to the abysmal record of the Conservative party in its 14 years in government?
DJ
Darren Jones
The Government are fully committed to ensuring that investment in all parts of the UK, including the north of England, creates growth and impact for working people. The north of England is home to crucial levers to achieve this, as evidenced by our recent announcements on Teesside and Merseyside, which will create thou…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend rightly points out that this country faces a choice: investment or decline. As we saw at the general election, it chose investment, and that is what the Government will deliver.
Public Spending: Value for Money29 Oct 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
The Government have launched a multi-year spending review to set out our long-term plans for public spending and to ensure that every pound of taxpayers’ money is spent effectively. The first phase of the spending review is due to report this week, alongside the Budget, and phase 2 will begin shortly after the Budget.
Hansard · 29 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
AD
Anna Dixon
What steps she is taking to help ensure value for money in public spending.
AD
Anna Dixon
I thank my right hon. Friend for his response. Recent National Audit Office reports have revealed the extent of the Tories’ economic mismanagement over the past 14 years. That has put capital projects such as Bingley pool in my constituency at risk. As a member of the Public Accounts Committee, I will ensure that taxpa…
TF
Tim Farron
Given that, I assume, everyone in the Chamber has eaten at some point today, do we think that backing Britain’s farmers is a good use of public money, and given that there is a £2.4 billion budget for British farming, which the last Government underspent foolishly, recklessly and carelessly, will the Chief Secretary gu…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for her question. I can confirm that the Budget tomorrow will be an honest assessment of the mess left to this country by the Conservative party, but crucially our plans for clearing up the mess and then delivering the change we promised.
DJ
Darren Jones
Actually, I did not have breakfast today, so I am looking forward to lunch, and I therefore welcome that short question from the hon. Member. This Government are committed to farming and rural affairs, and to the production of the food that they provide for us, which is important for security of supply as well as, in d…
Topical Questions29 Oct 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is right to point out the opportunities for improvement. As the Chancellor set out in her July statement, prevention will be at the heart of this Government’s new approach to public service reform. That will be set out in the spending review in the coming months.
Hansard · 29 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
RL
Rebecca Long-Bailey
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
RR
Rachel Reeves
Tomorrow I will present my first Budget. It will be a Budget that fixes the foundations of our economy and delivers on the promise of change. It will turn the page on low growth and will be the start of a new chapter towards making Britain better off. It will mean more pounds in people’s pockets, an NHS that is there w…
RL
Rebecca Long-Bailey
I commend the Chancellor for recently outlining investment in social housing, but in the interim the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has stated that the previous Government’s decision to freeze local housing allowance rates will push 80,000 private renters on housing benefit, including 30,000 children, into deep poverty dur…
RR
Rachel Reeves
My hon. Friend makes a really important point, which I think is familiar to all of us in our communities, about the cost of housing outstretching people’s incomes. In our manifesto we committed to building 1.5 million new homes, including social housing, which is so important and can give security to people who would o…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
As this is his farewell question time, let us now come to the shadow Chancellor.
DJ
Darren Jones
The Government recognise the significant pressures that all councils are facing. We are looking at consolidating funding streams for local authorities into the local government finance settlement, and we will work towards implementing our commitment to a multi-year financial settlement.
DJ
Darren Jones
Councils’ housing revenue accounts are a significant part of local authority finances, and it is therefore not right to exclude them from our fiscal rules, but I reassure my hon. Friend that this Government’s commitment to deliver 1.5 million new homes will be delivered.
Fiscal Rules28 Oct 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
With your permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a statement to the House about the action the Chancellor will take this week to fix the foundations and rebuild Britain. Economic growth and modern public services can only be built on strong foundations. That is why this Government have brought political and economic… stability back to Britain. After years of chaos from the Conservative party—chaos that cost families, businesses and public services dear—the British people are now rightly looking to this new Labour Government to clear up the mess from the last Government, fix the foundations and rebuild Britain. That is the change that my party promised the country, and it is the change that we will deliver. To deliver that change, the fiscal rules that the Chancellor will set out this week will establish the basis for stable fiscal policy, meaning careful management of day-to-day spending and responsible long-term plans to invest and grow the economy. As we committed to in our manifesto, the Government will have two robust fiscal rules that will guide the decisions we take. The first is our stability rule: we will pay for all day-to-day spending on public services from receipts. The current budget was last in surplus under the last Labour Government, and this Labour Government will return the public finances to that position.[Official Report, 13 May 2025 ; Vol. 767, c. 4WC.] (Correction) The second is our investment rule, which will get debt falling as a proportion of our economy. It will ensure that we can secure the investment that our economy needs to grow, and to generate jobs and opportunities for people across the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, while maintaining a strong fiscal anchor and ensuring that our debt burden falls over time. The plans that we inherited from the last Government would have seen public sector investment decline to the lowest level in more than 10 years. The path of declining investment is the path of
Hansard · 28 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call the shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury.
GD
Gareth Davies
I wondered whether the Chancellor’s announcement of changes to the fiscal rules would survive the weekend, given the five fictitious freeports that came and went. It was a cautionary tale about the uncertainty and confusion that can be created when policy is not announced in the proper way in Parliament. I welcome the …
MH
Meg Hillier
As Chair of the Treasury Committee, which has responsibility for scrutinising the Budget, I find the timing of this statement a bit frustrating, as we will have questions that presumably cannot be answered until Wednesday. Will the Chief Secretary explain how the guardrails will work? There is the national infrastructu…
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
DC
Daisy Cooper
Under the Conservatives, the fiscal rules changed five times in seven years, so a change to fiscal rules is not that unusual in and of itself. However, does the Minister agree that what would be completely unforgivable is a repeat of the Conservatives’ disastrous mini-Budget, in which they tried to pursue £40 billion o…
DJ
Darren Jones
I am very fond of the hon. Gentleman, but he has some brass neck to stand up in this House and tell this Government how to behave after his party’s maladministration over the last 14 years. May I politely point out that he might be getting slightly ahead of himself? The Chancellor has not set out the detail of the fisc…
DJ
Darren Jones
I know that the Chancellor looks forward to giving evidence to the Treasury Committee following the Budget in the normal way. To answer the question, the national infrastructure strategy will, for the first time, bring together all the infrastructure and major project asks of Whitehall Departments into one place alongs…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Lady for her question and share her continued anger about the behaviour of the last Conservative Government, because as she and the whole House will know, our constituents are still paying the price of that Government’s chaos and failure. That is why the first Act of this Labour Government— the first A…
DJ
Darren Jones
I will avoid the suggestion that we might go back to putting things on stone tablets if I may, but I will accept the invitation in my hon. Friend’s question, and say that after 14 years, we have seen the failure of the approach taken by the last Government. I noted in my statement that public sector investment would no…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Member’s constituents will note at the Budget on Wednesday that this party honours its promises—the promises, set out in its manifesto, to protect working people. He might want to reflect on the way that his party failed his constituents at the last election before trying to lecture this Government.
DJ
Darren Jones
We made a commitment to delivering 1.5 million homes, and we will do just that. On the second part of the question, the whole purpose of the national infrastructure strategy and the overlapping multi-year spending reviews is to give investors and suppliers confidence that when the Government say something will be deliv…
DJ
Darren Jones
What I can confirm is that what affected interest rates and mortgage payments so severely was the chaotic behaviour of the hon. Gentleman’s party in government before the last election. That is why we have had to legislate to make sure that if they ever returned to Government, they could not behave in similar ways. We …
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend points rightly to the £22 billion black hole that we are having to clear up after the Tory party. In the Budget on Wednesday, the Chancellor will set out how we are resetting public finances and fixing the foundations, so that we can get on and deliver our manifesto.
DJ
Darren Jones
I am delighted to hear the hon. Gentleman tell the House that he welcomes the positive change that this Labour Government in Westminster are delivering to the Scottish people. I agree with him. On early announcements, I can point to GB Energy and the huge commitments we have made on energy infrastructure, which we know…
DJ
Darren Jones
I welcome my hon. Friend’s question. [Interruption.] I know that Opposition Members find it uncomfortable, but it is a matter of fact that we will return to time and time again, because the sheer truth of it is that the last Government made promise after promise to the British people, knowing that they did not have the…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Gentleman is trying to be clever, but he is inviting me to speculate on the Budget. He will have to wait until Wednesday.
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is right. We have a choice at this Budget either to continue with the failed policies of the previous Government or to change them. The British people will not be surprised that our decision is to change them, reflecting on the fact that the cut in investment under the previous Government has led to poor…
DJ
Darren Jones
I obviously cannot speculate on the Budget, so I invite the hon. Gentleman to come back to the House on Wednesday for the answer to the first part of his question. On the second part, he might know that I lead for the Government on our relationship with the devolved Governments. I have met Finance Ministers from Scotla…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend has invited me to answer the question, “Why wasn’t there investment over the last decade or so?” Quite frankly, it is because of the choices of the Conservative party. This Labour party in government is taking a different set of decisions and we will set out the detail on Wednesday.
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Member asks me so politely, but he will know that I cannot guarantee anything in advance of the Budget. However, it sounds as though he has already experienced the positive way in which this Government are approaching how we will repair the NHS and get it back on its feet, both by getting junior doctors off th…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend, and I thank his constituent for putting her trust in this Labour Government. As the Prime Minister said today, this Government will “run towards” the problems, as opposed to running away from them, as the Conservative party did. That will mean difficult decisions at the Budget on Wednesday to de…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Member for his question. He and his constituents will know, as much as mine do, that the problem for this country before the election was that the last Government had to borrow each month to pay for bills that they did not have the money to pay for, and that they made a whole list of promises across th…
DJ
Darren Jones
I share my hon. Friend’s commitment to wanting to tackle child poverty in this country—this party had a proud record on that when we were in government previously. That is why we have set up the child poverty taskforce, which reported last week, and our ambition is to reduce child poverty over the course of this Parlia…
DJ
Darren Jones
I point my hon. Friend to our very successful international investment summit only a couple of weeks ago, when it was very clear from investors that bringing stability back to our politics and our economy has been long wanted. That is why we were able to commit to £63 billion of investment in the country at the summit,…
DJ
Darren Jones
With my hon. Friend’s reference to payday loans, she points to the behaviour of the previous Government. As I have told the House this afternoon, this Government, with their first fiscal rule, will take us to a place where we are not borrowing to pay the bills each month, as had happened for years under the Conservativ…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend knows that the test of a good Government is whether they can secure private sector investment to come alongside them—something that declined under the last Government. That is why the national wealth fund, which the Chancellor has announced, will secure billions of pounds of private sector investment, al…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend will know, from speaking to his constituents during his campaign to be elected and since, that people’s experience of public services across the country shows the fact of the matter: after 14 years of failure from the Conservatives, our public services are on their knees. That is why they need a Governme…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for his excellent question, and I agree that £63 billion invested in this country was a sign of confidence, because investors around the world know that Britain is back after years of chaos.
DJ
Darren Jones
I can give my hon. Friend that reassurance, and I point to the Office for Value for Money, which will work for us to ensure that we improve on behaviours of the past. I also point more broadly to the way that we manage our current assets. People have only to look at the state of our prisons, hospitals and schools, with…
Clause 1 - Announcement of fiscally significant measures4 Sep 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Nokes. May I start by congratulating hon. Friends and others on delivering their maiden speeches? It has been a pleasure to be in the Chamber to hear them this afternoon. They will clearly be great champions for their constituencies. I will take a few moments… to remind the House of why we are taking forward the important clauses in the Bill, and to set out the Government’s views on the proposed amendments. At the general election, the Government received a mandate for economic growth. That is the only route to improving prosperity, and it is now our national mission. A crucial first step to achieving it is to deliver economic stability. We have seen what happens without stability: at the 2022 Conservative mini-Budget, huge unfunded fiscal commitments were made without proper scrutiny, and key economic institutions such as the Office for Budget Responsibility were sidelined. That is why we have made a commitment in our manifesto to a fiscal lock that will strengthen the role of the OBR, and why we have taken quick action to deliver on that commitment. That will reinforce credibility and trust by preventing large-scale unfunded commitments that are not subject to an independent fiscal assessment, and proves that we are a responsible Government who will not play fast and loose with the public finances as the previous Government did. The Bill sets out the legal framework for the operation of the fiscal lock, and builds on the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011. In line with that established legal framework, some of the technical detail underpinning the fiscal lock will be set out via an upcoming update to the charter for budget responsibility, a draft of which the Treasury has published to support scrutiny of the Bill today. I will now talk through the Bill’s two clauses. The first is the main substantive clause, setting out the operation of the fiscal lock. It introduces a new section 4A into part 1 of t
Hansard · 4 Sep 2024 · parliament.uk
NH
Nigel Huddleston
I beg to move amendment 9, page 1, line 14, at end insert— “(c) or any changes to the government’s fiscal targets.” This amendment requires the OBR to produce and publish a section 4(3) report at the time new fiscal rules are announced by the Treasury.
NG
Nusrat Ghani
With this is will be convenient to take the following: Amendment 2, page 1, line 25, at end insert— “(2A) In any case where the Office has acted in accordance with subsection (2), it may notify the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests of the circumstances in any case where it considers those circumstances may be…
NH
Nigel Huddleston
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. May I first take the opportunity to congratulate you on your election? I promise to try not to try your patience over the coming weeks, years and so on, but we will see how things go. I wish primarily to speak today to amendment 9 and, of course, consequential amendment 10, which effec…
AG
Andrew Griffith
My hon. Friend is making a fantastic speech on the importance of being responsible with our public finances. Much of the Bill is concerned with responsibility and transparency. Does he know whether the Government published an impact assessment when they took away the winter fuel allowance?
NH
Nigel Huddleston
I thank my hon. Friend for that point. My understanding is that the Government have not published an impact assessment, as would normally be the case for something with such a significant impact. I think that speaks to the whole narrative that we are hearing from the Government: claiming one thing when the facts speak …
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend has hit the nail on the head. Indeed, I might go so far as to say that that was one of the reasons we achieved such a large mandate at the last general election, with so many hon. Friends on the Government Benches. We will never play fast and loose with the economy, as Members on the Conservative Benches…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Gentleman is enjoying himself, but he knows the answer: wait for the Budget. The amendments from the official Opposition are therefore not necessary. To answer the question from the shadow Financial Secretary, the hon. Member for Droitwich and Evesham (Nigel Huddleston) , as I have been invited to do so, the C…
DJ
Darren Jones
And it is equipped to do the job it is supposed to do, alongside the other regulatory body that holds the Government to account, the Committee on Climate Change. In conclusion, I hope I have been able to provide some assurances and that hon. Members will be content to retract their amendments. If not, I urge the House …
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way, and for inviting me to suggest whether I should try to find a job in another Department. I just point out that, having arrived at the Treasury, I have seen the impact of fiscally significant levels of debt after 14 years of the Conservative Government. Has he got anything to s…
DJ
Darren Jones
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time. I will not take up too much more time, but I will provide a final reminder of how important this legislation is. At the general election, the Government received a mandate for economic growth. Sustained growth is the only route to improve prosperity and to improv…
DJ
Darren Jones
I always welcome the opportunity to return to the Dispatch Box, and I thank the shadow Minister for inviting me to do so. Opposition provides an opportunity for reflection. While he is offering his thoughts on our two months in office—two months of great relief for the British people—does he have anything to say about …
Planning Reform: Fiscal Steps3 Sep 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
We have committed ourselves to delivering 1.5 million new homes as part of our mission to achieve economic growth across the country, and we have already announced reforms of national planning policy that will help to get Britain building. They include the reintroduction of mandatory housing targets, and the removal of the effective ban on… onshore wind in England.
Hansard · 3 Sep 2024 · parliament.uk
AM
Alice Macdonald
What fiscal steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to reform the planning system.
AM
Alice Macdonald
If unlocked, Anglia Square, a significant brownfield site in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich South (Clive Lewis) , could provide more than 1,000 homes and many jobs. The last Government failed to support the progression of this important site. Can my right hon. Friend tell me what local author…
AG
Andrew George
The Minister knows that the planning system is built on the ability to make millionaires at the stroke of a pen as a result of passing planning permission, which does not necessarily result in developments that are in the best interests of a local community. Surely there is more that the Government can do to ensure tha…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for her follow-up question and welcome her to her place. As she knows from the Chancellor and the Deputy Prime Minister, this Government take seriously our target to deliver 1.5 million new homes, and we will look at each and every opportunity across the country to do so. That includes making imp…
DJ
Darren Jones
The issue of so-called hope value was referenced in the Labour party’s manifesto, and the Government will set out further detail in due course.
Topical Questions3 Sep 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
Water companies are commercial entities. It would therefore not be appropriate for me to comment on that. It is for the company and its investors to resolve their possible issues.
Hansard · 3 Sep 2024 · parliament.uk
GM
Gagan Mohindra
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
RR
Rachel Reeves
This Government have inherited a £22 billion black hole in the public finances, and rectifying the situation requires tough choices. We will also clamp down on egregious spending and halve Government spending on consultancy, which will save £500 million next year. Increasing consultancy spend has been rife across Gover…
GM
Gagan Mohindra
I welcome the Chancellor to her place. Notwithstanding what she has just said, can she tell the House why she has made the political decision to scrap the commitment to spend at least 2.5% of GDP on defence, undermining our support for Ukraine, and has instead prioritised giving her union paymasters inflation-busting p…
RR
Rachel Reeves
Let me respond directly on the issue of Ukraine. In my first couple of weeks in this job, I had the pleasure of meeting Minister Marchenko from Ukraine, and made a commitment to him to go ahead with the extraordinary revenue acceleration programme. It is important that we work together across the House to support the U…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Can I remind everybody that this is topical questions? I have a big list to get through. Rachael Maskell will give us a good example.
DJ
Darren Jones
I championed this issue in the last Parliament as Chair of the Business and Trade Committee. I am pleased to confirm that I am working with colleagues across Government to make progress, and I will update the House further in due course.
DJ
Darren Jones
The Government are reviewing the new hospitals programme as part of our spending review. We will undertake a full and comprehensive review while continuing to deliver the most advanced and most urgent hospitals in a realistic timeframe.
DJ
Darren Jones
We are appointing a fixed-term covid fraud commissioner through an open competition that is now running as of this morning. The commissioner will make sure everything is done to return money owed to the taxpayer. It will report to the Chancellor, working with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and will …
DJ
Darren Jones
The Government’s spending review is currently under way. All decisions on official development assistance spending will be taken in the round as part of that process. I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend and her colleagues to discuss this issue.
Budget Responsibility Bill30 Jul 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. I congratulate you and welcome you to your place in the Chair, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is a privilege to open this debate in my first appearance at the Dispatch Box as a Minister in this new Labour Government. At the general… election, the British people voted for change, and this new Labour Government began work immediately to deliver on that mandate. Sustained growth is the only route to the improved prosperity that this country needs and to improve the living standards of the British people. After 14 years of Conservative failure, this work is urgent—it is now our national mission. To deliver on that mission, as my right hon. Friend the Chancellor set out days after taking office, we must fix the foundations of the economy and restore economic stability. She emphasised that commitment to delivering economic stability by meeting with the Office for Budget Responsibility soon after becoming Chancellor. Under the legal framework we inherited from the Conservative party, there is no requirement on the Treasury to subject fiscally significant announcements to independent OBR scrutiny. We all experienced what happens when huge unfunded fiscal commitments are made without proper scrutiny and key economic institutions such as the OBR are sidelined. The country cannot afford a repeat of the calamitous mini-Budget of September 2022, when Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s reckless plans unleashed economic turmoil that has loaded hundreds of pounds on to people’s mortgages and rents. Conservative Ministers put ideology before sound public money and party before country. This Labour Government are turning the page: we will always put the country first and party second. Our commitment to fiscal discipline and sound money will never waver. That is why we are firmly committed to the independence of the OBR, and to the important principle that in normal times, the announcement of a fiscally significant measure should always be
Hansard · 30 Jul 2024 · parliament.uk
JS
Jim Shannon
The Minister is setting out the stark realities of where we are financially, which it is important that we all understand. Given that the financial positions of all of us within the United Kingdom could be fairly dramatically changed, regionally, it will be important that discussions with the Northern Ireland Assembly,…
GD
Gareth Davies
Madam Deputy Speaker, congratulations on your election. Let me take my first opportunity to congratulate the right hon. and hon. Members in the new Treasury ministerial team, who have taken up some of the best jobs in government. I loved every minute of my time in the Treasury, even when I had to come to this place to …
SC
Stella Creasy
I am genuinely perplexed whether the hon. Gentleman is with the former Member for South West Norfolk, who wanted to see the OBR abolished and not part of any decision making, or feels that the Bill does not go far enough. Either way, does he recognise and accept, as thousands of mortgage payers in this country now do, …
GD
Gareth Davies
We support the OBR. I have been clear on that. We created the OBR, so to suggest that we do not support it is incorrect. I would just pull the hon. Member up on some economic facts. The reason interest rates were so high and mortgages went up is that we faced a global challenge, which this Government will now experienc…
SC
Stella Creasy
I feel as though I am almost in Alice in Wonderland world when I listen to the Opposition response to this legislation. I certainly feel concerned that they, with the Cheshire Cat and possibly following the Queen of Hearts, might have been trying to pretend that their previous Conservative Prime Minister did not exist,…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his contribution. As I am sure he knows, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury is traditionally the lead Minister in Government for relationships with the Finance Ministers in the devolved Governments. I have already met a number of times with counterparts in the Northern Ireland Executive,…
Public Sector Productivity Programme7 May 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
The only productivity improvement we have seen from this Government is the awarding of wasteful contracts. On top of all the PPE waste that my hon. Friend the Member for Eltham (Clive Efford) referred to, there are still £1 billion-worth of unresolved PPE contracts that this Government awarded, but that have not been delivered on.… Only one company, PPE Medpro, is facing legal action. Why are the Government not taking legal action against the other companies that have not delivered on their contract with members of the public?
Hansard · 7 May 2024 · parliament.uk
JP
John Penrose
If he will use outcome evaluations to assess the effectiveness of the Public Sector Productivity Programme.
JH
Jeremy Hunt
Improving public sector productivity is a major focus for this Government, which is why I announced £4.2 billion of funding to make our public services more efficient in the Budget.
JP
John Penrose
As a former Health Secretary, my right hon. Friend will know that evidence-based medicine transformed health productivity, systematically cutting out ineffectual treatments and replacing them with ones that worked better. Using the evaluation task force and the What Works centres to do the same for other public service…
JH
Jeremy Hunt
My hon. Friend is right to talk about the What Works programme, which has delivered more than 500 trials and is recognised internationally. There are some very good example in the NHS of what is working, including the NHS app. That is now used by 75% of NHS patients—including 17,000 over-90s, so let no one assume that …
CE
Clive Efford
Some £8.7 billion was wasted on defective personal protective equipment during the covid crisis, much of it paid to people associated with the Conservative party. People did not have to be Conservative party members to benefit from the fast track, but it did not half help. What is the Chancellor doing to get public mon…
DJ
Darren Jones
The Chancellor says that he is making progress, and that there is no hiding place, but that money belongs to our public services. The Government know that the contracts have not been delivered on, but they will not reveal the names of the companies and the contracts that have not been delivered on. If there is no hidin…
Clause 1 - The funding limit: funds to be disregarded19 Apr 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland Central (Julie Elliott) . As we all know, it is sheer luck to come top of the private Member’s Bill ballot, but drafting a Bill that generates strong cross-party support and becomes law is the result of tremendous hard work. This is a classic private Member’s… Bill that, as she suggested, might look technical in nature but will make a huge difference to those people affected. The Bill is also true to Labour and Co-operative values, and we in the Labour party are delighted to support it. My hon. Friend has worked painstakingly over many months to draft and develop the Bill, engaging with Treasury civil servants and Ministers. She has also worked closely with Labour’s sister party, the Co-operative party, and the wider mutual sector, including the Building Societies Association and Nationwide. We have heard excellent contributions in the debate that have highlighted the importance of the sector and the positive impact that the Bill will have for communities and families, not least in the context of bank branch closures across the country. Building societies and mutuals have a long and proud tradition of supporting working people in accessing affordable finance. Today, the sector continues to play a crucial role in promoting financial responsibility and resilience among its members. Building societies also enable families to get on the housing ladder. As we have heard, they direct a significant proportion of their lending to first-time buyers, and the Bill could unlock significant additional lending capacity from building societies, supporting more working people to become homeowners, not least in my constituency of Bristol North West, where so many people are struggling to buy their first home. Since the Bill first came before the House, my hon. Friend the Member for Hampstead and Kilburn (Tulip Siddiq) has launched the Labour party’s financial services review. That landmark review outlines Labour’s plan to work h
Hansard · 19 Apr 2024 · parliament.uk
JE
Julie Elliott
I beg to move amendment 2, page 2, line 9, leave out from “(9B)” to end of line 11 and insert “may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.” This amendment changes the procedure that applies to an SI containing regulations under new sub…
EL
Eleanor Laing
With this it will be convenient to discuss amendment 1, page 2, line 10, leave out from “to” to end of line 11 and insert “approval by both Houses of Parliament”.
JE
Julie Elliott
Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. The variety of Bills is in the strange nature of this place. We are going from the warm and fluffy Bill that we have just discussed, which I am delighted has received its Third Reading, to what is rather a dry Bill —but an important one none the less. Amendment 2, which stands…
CC
Christopher Chope
I rise very much to support amendment 2 in the name of the hon. Member for Sunderland Central (Julie Elliott) . I am grateful to her for effectively taking forward my amendment 1, which we were told was defective because, although it would achieve exactly the same purpose, it does not use the normal wording that Govern…
JE
Julie Elliott
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time. It is a pleasure to bring this Bill back for further debate, as it now exists in an amended form. It is a key moment for a Bill that is important to the building society sector, and I must thank all colleagues from both sides of the House who have taken part as t…
Tax Policies: Impact on Living Standards19 Mar 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
Why does the Treasury Minister think people feel worse off after 14 years of Conservative Government?
Hansard · 19 Mar 2024 · parliament.uk
PB
Paul Blomfield
What recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of his tax policies on living standards.
DC
Dan Carden
What recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of his tax policies on living standards.
RH
Rachel Hopkins
What recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of his tax policies on living standards.
NH
Nigel Huddleston
Thanks to the combined impact of national insurance cuts and above-inflation increases to thresholds since 2010, an average worker on £35,400 in 2024-25 will pay over £1,500 less in personal taxes than they otherwise would have done. These national insurance contribution cuts were possible due to the significant progre…
PB
Paul Blomfield
I heard what the Minister has to say but does he not recognise the OBR’s assessment of the interplay between the Government’s threshold changes and NICs? The OBR concludes that for every 5p gain per year there is a 10p loss, particularly for those on lower wages. Does he accept the OBR assessment?
DJ
Darren Jones
The Minister did not answer the question about why the public feel worse off. We on the Labour side of the House know why. He mentions tax cuts, but he does not talk about the freezing of tax thresholds, or indeed about the council tax that is about to be levied on people, not just this year but each year for the next …
Income Tax (Charge)12 Mar 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
I am starting to worry about right hon. and hon. Members of the Conservative party—not just because there are so few of them here today to defend their Budget, but because of their state of mind. I am not sure whether it is confusion, delusion or denial, but whatever it is, they need an intervention… from the public. On Conservative confusion, the Chancellor called this a tax-cutting Budget, but the independent forecasts confirm that the tax burden is due to go up each and every year over the next five years. On Conservative delusion, the Chancellor called this a Budget for a long-term plan for growth, but in the middle of this recession, the growth forecast per person was downgraded once again, after seven quarters of decline. On Conservative denial, which is the worst of the three examples, the Conservative party came out of the Budget promising to abolish national insurance contributions altogether —an irresponsible, unfunded and massive spending commitment costing £46 billion a year, all without a plan to pay for it.
Hansard · 12 Mar 2024 · parliament.uk
LT
Laura Trott
It is a privilege to open the final day of debate on the Budget—a Budget with a plan to grow the economy, a plan for better public services and a plan to make work pay. Today’s debate is focused on a theme close to my heart: improving productivity. As some Members know, back in 2010, before I became a Member of Parliam…
AB
Alan Brown
Rather than cherry-picking statistics, will the Minister tell us what she thinks about the fact—confirmed by the House of Commons Library—that the UK has the lowest investment in the G7 and is the second worst performer in the G7, post-pandemic, in terms of economic growth?
LT
Laura Trott
I will say to the hon. Gentleman that since 2010 we have grown faster than France, Germany and Italy, and we are predicted to do the same in the next five years. It is no coincidence that between 2010 and 2019 the number of violent crimes and burglaries halved. Our reading standards in schools, which were previously be…
SD
Stephen Doughty
While the Chief Secretary is on the subject of the OBR, may I ask her whether the OBR is correct in saying that the target public sector debt measure is forecast to increase, or whether her own personal calculations continue to suggest that debt will fall?
LT
Laura Trott
I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will see in the OBR figures that public sector net debt overall is expected to fall, and public sector net debt excluding the Bank of England is due to fall in the fourth and fifth year of the forecast. [Interruption.] No, that is just the overall public sector net debt figure.
DJ
Darren Jones
Two short answers: first, we are not sticking to the Conservatives’ spending plans and, secondly, the OBR forecasts Conservative party failure, not the success that the Labour party will bring to this country and the economy. I know that Conservative Ministers do not like to think about their fourth Prime Minister sinc…
DJ
Darren Jones
That is yet more evidence of the Conservatives’ ill discipline. Last time, they wanted to disregard the Office for Budget Responsibility, and announced unfunded tax cuts; now the former Chancellor supports these new, unfunded tax cuts, and yet again the Government are not giving the OBR the information that it needs to…
DJ
Darren Jones
I would like the hon. Gentleman to explain that to the public. Given that the Conservative party makes promises at every single election and fails to deliver them, I think the public have the same question in mind. Moving on to the confusion about this being a tax-cutting Budget, the Budget documents confirm that the U…
DJ
Darren Jones
I was waiting for an intervention from the SNP. Is the hon. Gentleman an SNP Member?
DJ
Darren Jones
I read the article on the BBC, which I can assure the hon. Gentleman is a pretty reliable source of information. If the SNP wants to tell teachers and nurses earning £28,000 a year that they are high earners, I encourage it to do so in the general election coming up this year. Labour first called for a windfall tax on …
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention, which I think reflects the mood of the public. When Conservative Ministers stand up and say that we have never had it so good, people at home look at their payslip and their bank balance and realise that is not the case. Let us now turn to the delusion of this Budget being a…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Member is right. What we need is a country that creates the opportunities and jobs for people who need them in the areas in which they live, whether that is about affordable housing, delivering transport infrastructure on time and on budget—something the Conservative party seems unable to do—or ensuring worker…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is right. Ministers should answer this question and I am repeatedly giving them the opportunity to do so. What is the answer to the question? How will the Conservatives fund their £46 billion unfunded tax cut commitment? We can only assume, given that taxes are the highest they have been for 70 years and…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my right hon. Friend, the Chairman of the Work and Pensions Committee, for raising that important and, I might say, obvious question. The public will want to know the answer. Why are Conservative Ministers not telling the Office for Budget Responsibility how they plan to pay for this £46 billion unfunded tax cu…
DJ
Darren Jones
I am happy to be welcomed to intervene, but the debate is about the Conservative Budget here in Westminster. If the SNP has questions to answer about its performance in Government, it should do so in Scotland.
DJ
Darren Jones
I always welcome the chance to return to the Dispatch Box. Just to answer the hon. Gentleman’s question, I said that it was morally abhorrent to abolish national insurance contributions at a cut of £46 billion a year with no plan to pay for it. The Minister has the opportunity once again to tell us how he is going to f…
Tax System: Fairness6 Feb 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
The Labour party has set out clear proposals to close tax loopholes on non-doms, private schools and private equity to give a much-needed boost to our public services. Will the Treasury Minister confirm whether the Government have assessed, or plan to assess, the merits of such a policy?
Hansard · 6 Feb 2024 · parliament.uk
CB
Clive Betts
What recent steps he has taken to ensure fairness in the application of the tax system.
NH
Nigel Huddleston
Regarding fairness, we have a progressive tax system where the top 5% of income tax payers pay nearly half of all income tax, while the top 1% pay more than 28%. In addition, the national insurance reforms announced at the autumn statement cut taxes for 29 million people. That package also strengthens the fiscal positi…
CB
Clive Betts
The Minister talks about tax cuts, but in April most households in this country will receive a 5% increase in their council tax. That is not because local councils have mismanaged their finances, but because after 13 years of austerity, the local government finance system is essentially broken and relies on a regressiv…
NH
Nigel Huddleston
I am afraid that is a ridiculous characterisation. We on this side of the House care, including about our vibrant, important local councils. That is precisely why they just received an additional £600 million, and future spending will be a matter for future fiscal events.
JG
James Gray
I am a strong believer in fairness in taxation. Would my hon. Friend care to advise the House about who would bear the heaviest burden of taxation, should His Majesty’s Government choose to adopt the £28 billion spending commitment that the Labour party announced on the radio this morning?
DJ
Darren Jones
That is a short answer, but the answer to the wrong question—perhaps the Minister can have a second go. While he is thinking about the answer, I point out that the Comptroller and Auditor General has highlighted that the Government are wasting up to £28 billion a year on mismanaged procurement and governance of major p…
Loan Charge18 Jan 2024
DJ
Darren Jones
May I start by congratulating the right hon. Members for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson), for Hemel Hempstead (Sir Mike Penning) and the hon. Member for Motherwell and Wishaw (Marion Fellows) —with whom I have worked for many years on the Post Office Horizon scandal—and the hon. Member for Buckingham (Greg Smith) , on securing this… important debate today? I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting the time and pay tribute to the members of the loan charge and taxpayer fairness all-party parliamentary group, other right hon. and hon. Members here in the Chamber today, and the journalists who have investigated this issue so doggedly, including The Yorkshire Post. One of my core political beliefs is that, when one person has power over another, they must be subject to effective checks and balances. That is a crucial part of our democratic system and at the heart of the freedoms that we should all enjoy in a democracy such as ours. In my roles as a lawyer, a trade unionist, a Member of Parliament, the Chair of a parliamentary Select Committee —the Business and Trade Committee—and now a member of the Shadow Cabinet, I have always contributed to ensuring that the delicate balance of power is tilted towards the citizen and away from the powerful, and that unchecked power is challenged and brought into line. On this issue today, I recommit myself to that cause. That is why we in the Labour party believe a key principle of our tax system is that the Government should treat everybody fairly. It is why we support attempts to tackle tax avoidance schemes, including disguised renumeration schemes. However, HMRC’s approach to the loan charge, which has affected tens of thousands of people to date, means that the Government have failed in ensuring that duty of fairness. As we have heard, ordinary people who are victims of mis-selling are facing financial ruin and personal harm because of the way in which HMRC has pursued the loan charge. Tragically, at least 10 people affect
Hansard · 18 Jan 2024 · parliament.uk
SW
Sammy Wilson
I beg to move, That this House is deeply concerned that HMRC has confirmed the suicides of 10 people facing the Loan Charge and that, despite the Morse Review, thousands face unaffordable demands, with the risk of further suicides; notes that HMRC has also confirmed 24 cases of serious harm, including 13 suicide attemp…
RW
Rosie Winterton
Order. I am slightly concerned that there is something wrong with the sound. Let us start again.
SW
Sammy Wilson
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I hope that the point I was making about Tony Lloyd was picked up. I want to pass on the condolences of our party to his family, and I pay tribute to the work he did as shadow Minister for Northern Ireland. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting the debate. It is a timely…
WH
Wera Hobhouse
Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that it seems to be the case yet again that people acting in good faith are being prosecuted and pursued, whereas the people who absolutely knew what they were doing are getting away scot-free?
SW
Sammy Wilson
That is a point I want to come to. We are seeing that once again Ministers are turning a blind eye, and these lessons should be learned. Apart from two examples of Ministers that I can think of, one of whom—a former Minister—is present, Ministers turned a blind eye for years. We then had the result, but it was not unti…
Topical Questions19 Dec 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
Merry Christmas to you and to the House, Mr Speaker. Let me start by thanking the Chancellor for his kind words about the late Lord Darling, which I think show the gratitude of Members from across the House for his lifetime of public service. The public have a right to know why so many billions… of pounds of their taxes have been wasted by this Government. Baroness Mone has claimed today that Conservative Ministers knew about her personal connections to the company PPE Medpro from the very beginning. So why did the Government not correct the record when a misleading picture was being painted in the media about Baroness Mone’s personal connection to PPE Medpro in the first place?
Hansard · 19 Dec 2023 · parliament.uk
LC
Lisa Cameron
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
JH
Jeremy Hunt
Today is the funeral of Lord Darling, who will be greatly missed by many in this House, as well as by Maggie and his family. Civil servants are known for being good at concealing their private feelings about more challenging Ministers, but that was never necessary with Alistair Darling. He was Chief Secretary to the Tr…
LC
Lisa Cameron
I, too, send my full sympathy. I also wish everyone across the House a merry Christmas. Industry has fully supported the Prime Minister’s vision of the UK becoming a cryptocurrency hub, but many licensed companies are still finding it difficult to open bank accounts here. So will the Chancellor meet the all-party group…
JH
Jeremy Hunt
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for asking that question, because the UK, and London in particular, has become the global crypto hub. To make sure that the market can really take off in the way that was intended—in a responsible way—we need to regulate it, which is why we have introduced regulations on stablecoins and …
JH
Jeremy Hunt
I am not going to comment on allegations by Baroness Mone or, indeed, on the individual case, but let me say this: we put together a taskforce of more than 1,000 people that opened 46,000 investigations and so far has made more 80 arrests, so we will stop at nothing to tackle fraud and bring to justice anyone who was r…
DJ
Darren Jones
We all know that Baroness Mone’s enrichment via PPE Medpro is subject to an investigation, but that does not allow Ministers to refuse to answer questions here in the House today. So let me ask another: Baroness Mone’s husband, Doug Barrowman, alleged that in November 2022 he was approached by a Government official ask…
Autumn Statement Resolutions - Rates of Tobacco Products Duty27 Nov 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
It is a pleasure to close this debate, and the debate on the autumn statement as a whole, on behalf of the Opposition. I pay particular tribute to my hon. Friend the new Member for Tamworth (Sarah Edwards) for her excellent maiden speech and welcome her to the House, and to the shadow Work and… Pensions Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester West (Liz Kendall) , for her comprehensive and damning opening on the Government’s record. I also pay a particular tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for North Durham (Mr Jones) and express my condolences for the loss of his constituent. It is a tragedy that he did not see justice from the Post Office Horizon scandal before he died, but I know that he and his family will be proud of the work that my right hon. Friend has done over many, many years to bring justice to those who have been affected. More broadly, we have heard a range of excellent speeches, including from my hon. Friends the Members for Halton (Derek Twigg), for West Ham (Ms Brown), for Bootle (Peter Dowd), for Ealing, Southall (Mr Sharma), for Vauxhall (Florence Eshalomi) and for Blaydon (Liz Twist), to name just a few who set out from their constituencies how, even though the Conservatives tell us things are doing alright, the lived reality for families across the country is anything but. We also heard from my right hon. Friend the Member for Barking (Dame Margaret Hodge) about the amount of money the Government have wasted over many, many years, and what that could do to support people in constituencies across the country, including Blaydon, Lewisham East, Newport West, Liverpool, West Derby, Cynon Valley, Coventry South, and Rutherglen and Hamilton West. Lastly, we heard from my hon. Friends the Members for Middlesbrough (Andy McDonald), for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Steve McCabe), for Pontypridd (Alex Davies-Jones) and for Selby and Ainsty (Keir Mather) about 13 years of Conservative failure on the economy and the consequences for their constit
Hansard · 27 Nov 2023 · parliament.uk
EL
Eleanor Laing
Before we resume the debate, I remind hon. Members that, as Mr Speaker said last week, in addition to being present at the start of the debate, after a Member has spoken in the debate, they must, as an absolute minimum, remain in the Chamber for at least the next two speeches, and preferably for the majority of the deb…
MS
Mel Stride
Securing good jobs for more people is the best way out of poverty, and the best route to raising living standards. That is why, in his autumn statement, the Chancellor announced a cut in the main rate of employee national insurance from 12% to 10%. That is why we have raised the national living wage, representing a boo…
EL
Edward Leigh
If we were to insist on work visas being given only to people who are on average UK earnings, would that not create a virtuous circle by which only skilled people came here, and care homes would be forced to pay proper wages, ensuring that more people came off my right hon. Friend’s books and got into productive work?
MS
Mel Stride
My right hon. Friend is attempting to tempt me into matters that I know are under discussion at the highest levels of Government at the moment around the policy that we should adopt on immigration, but I will not be drawn immediately in that direction.
SC
Stephen Crabb
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way. Let me return to the record of the past 13 years. At various points in that time, there has been no shortage of people in this House and outside who have been very quick to predict an explosion in unemployment—whether that was when we were introducing the public spe…
Economic Growth14 Nov 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
I welcome the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Laura Trott) to her place. I look forward to holding her to account. Last month, the Chancellor’s National Infrastructure Commission said that in order to unlock the billions of pounds of private investment that is available to get our economy growing, we… need a Government who can “make good decisions, fast.” Why does the Chancellor think his Government have been making bad decisions slowly for quite so long?
Hansard · 14 Nov 2023 · parliament.uk
CE
Chris Elmore
What recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the economic growth rate.
JH
Jeremy Hunt
Our policies are increasing economic growth, as the Office for Budget Responsibility confirmed following last year’s autumn statement and the spring Budget, but the only way to secure higher, sustainable, long-term growth is to bring down inflation.
CE
Chris Elmore
The OBR judged the Chancellor’s last Budget to have no overall long-term impact on the level of potential productivity. Does he expect the OBR to make a similar judgment of his next Budget?
JH
Jeremy Hunt
I remind the hon. Gentleman of what the OBR actually said about the spring Budget: “the overall impact on GDP is around 0.2 per cent in 2027-28. This is the largest upward revision we have made to potential output within our five-year forecast as a result of fiscal policy decisions taken by a Government”.
MV
Martin Vickers
Economic growth in northern Lincolnshire will be severely impacted if changes go ahead at British Steel’s Scunthorpe works, which will result in redundancies and a massive impact on the supply chain. Will my right hon. Friend give an assurance that the Government will not proceed with any support for those changes unti…
DJ
Darren Jones
That, Mr Speaker, was a list of very slow decisions still being badly taken. The Labour party has a raft of plans available to help drive economic growth and investment in every corner of our country, from speeding up the grid to accelerating planning for critically important infrastructure. Today, I am making them ava…
Economic Growth14 Nov 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank all right hon. and hon. Members who have contributed to the debate this afternoon. In particular, I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Alistair Strathern) on his brilliant maiden speech; it is great to see him here today. I also thank my hon. Friends the Members for Sheffield South East… (Mr Betts) and for Lancaster and Fleetwood (Cat Smith), the Chairs of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee and the Petitions Committee, for their contributions on behalf of their Committees. We heard excellent speeches from many colleagues, including my hon. Friends the Members for Oldham East and Saddleworth (Debbie Abrahams), for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Steve McCabe), for Walthamstow (Stella Creasy), for Newcastle upon Tyne Central (Chi Onwurah), for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Mike Kane), for Birmingham, Edgbaston (Preet Kaur Gill), for Leeds East (Richard Burgon), for South Shields (Mrs Lewell-Buck), for Aberavon (Stephen Kinnock), for Enfield North (Feryal Clark), for Norwich South (Clive Lewis), for Leeds North West (Alex Sobel), for Birmingham, Hall Green (Tahir Ali), for City of Chester (Samantha Dixon), for Cynon Valley (Beth Winter), for Ilford South (Sam Tarry), for Portsmouth South (Stephen Morgan), for Stockport (Navendu Mishra) and for Wirral West (Margaret Greenwood). That long list shows the importance that Opposition Members place on growing the economy on the bedrock of fiscal responsibility. We heard that, from skills to housing, infrastructure to net zero and public services to poverty and inequality, there were a whole host of issues missing from the King’s Speech that we would put into a Labour King’s Speech if we were to win the next general election. I am pleased to conclude the debate on behalf of the Opposition this evening. As you know, Mr Deputy Speaker, I was appointed to the shadow Cabinet just over two months ago, yet even within my short tenure, I already find myself in a position to welcome a second Chief
Hansard · 14 Nov 2023 · parliament.uk
RG
Roger Gale
I inform the House that Mr Speaker has selected amendment (m) in the name of the Leader of the Opposition. I call Rachel Reeves.
RR
Rachel Reeves
I beg to move an amendment, at the end of the Question to add: “but respectfully regret that the Gracious Speech fails to include legislative proposals to prevent a repeat of the economic fallout from the September 2022 Growth Plan, by amending the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011 to give the Office fo…
AB
Alan Brown
I am listening to the right hon. Lady’s speech about values. The values of my constituents are such that they are calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Does she support those values?
RR
Rachel Reeves
We have just had an hour and a half’s worth of questions on that issue. I am going to focus on how to grow the economy and tackle the cost of living crisis. I wish that today we were debating the Government’s significant economic reforms and new measures to get our economy back on track after 13 years of Tory economic …
SD
Samantha Dixon
Does my right hon. Friend share the concern of many that rather than improving, economic growth is forecast to go into reverse next year under the Tories? Does she agree that this new Tory economic failure does not bode well for people’s living standards next year?
Growth Plan: Mortgage Interest Rates5 Sep 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
It is estimated that 140,000 households will face a rise in their mortgage bills this month. If someone in a random constituency, say Mid Bedfordshire, were to remortgage their house in the next six months, they could pay an average of £300 more per month compared with before the disastrous Tory mini-Budget this time last… year. What can the Chancellor and his team do to reassure the country that, if the Conservatives were to win the next election, they would not just mess up the economy all over again?
Hansard · 5 Sep 2023 · parliament.uk
FA
Fleur Anderson
What recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the growth plan of 23 September 2022 on mortgage interest rates.
AG
Andrew Griffith
Over the course of 2022, high inflation from Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine saw interest rates increase across most western economies. The path to lower rates is through low inflation, which is why the Prime Minister made halving inflation one of our five priorities for this year. I am pleased that the latest Bank…
FA
Fleur Anderson
Mortgage and associated rental costs are soaring in Putney, Roehampton and Southfields, and the Government like to claim it is all due to global shocks or the war in Ukraine, but the latest Bank of England data from July shows that the cost of lending to buy a home remains higher in the UK than in Germany, Italy or Fra…
AG
Andrew Griffith
I am glad that the hon. Lady’s constituents, among many others, will benefit both from our mortgage interest support and from there being almost double the number of mortgage products on the market now than in October 2022. I repeat the comment of my colleague, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury: if the hon. Lady …
AB
Anthony Browne
In the UK, homebuyers are overwhelmingly dependent on short-term fixed rate mortgages of just two, three or five years, which means that in times of rising interest rates, as we have at the moment, they are hard hit by massively increasing mortgage bills. In most other countries, homebuyers have long-term fixed rate mo…
DJ
Darren Jones
That is a bit rich from the Government, and it is no answer whatsoever to the people of Mid Bedfordshire who will not be able to afford to pay their bills over the coming months. It is one year ago today that the former Tory Prime Minister took a huge ideological gamble and sabotaged Britain’s economy. They crashed the…
Post Office Horizon IT Scandal: Compensation18 Jul 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
The victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal should be fully compensated, so that they are put back into the position they would have been in had they not been a victim of this miscarriage of justice in the first place. The Minister has agreed with that statement from the Dispatch Box before, but it… is not happening. Can I say that it is not a complicated process to be able to quantify their losses and to be able to compensate them fully? My Committee, I understand the advisory board and the statutory inquiry have suggested that one way to try to improve this is to remove the Post Office entirely from this process and to make it an independent process, properly budgeted, with the requirement to fully compensate the victims in the way I have described. Why will the Government not just do that?
Hansard · 18 Jul 2023 · parliament.uk
KJ
Kevan Jones
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade if she will make a statement on the interim report of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal inquiry relating to compensation.
KH
Kevin Hollinrake
I thank the right hon. Member for his question and his tireless campaigning on this issue. I am also grateful to Sir Wyn Williams for his work and for publishing his interim report. We will, of course, consider that properly in the coming days and provide a formal response to the House. Sir Wyn’s report recaps the prog…
KJ
Kevan Jones
May I start by declaring an interest, as a member of the Horizon compensation advisory board? I thank the Minister for his remarks and for the positive and constructive approach with which he has addressed this issue. I also thank Sir Wyn and the inquiry for their ongoing work. I agree with many of Sir Wyn’s recommenda…
KH
Kevin Hollinrake
I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his work. He is right to say that there are three schemes, which might be described as suboptimal. As Sir Wyn has said on this occasion and previous occasions, we are where we find ourselves, and we must push on. That is the easiest way and the best way to get compensation …
BB
Bob Blackman
I thank my hon. Friend for the update. Some 555 individuals have suffered incredible destitution and injustice for far too long. This has gone on for more than 20 years, and some people have died during this process. Will he ensure that the Post Office owns up to what it has done and that the individuals who were respo…
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership18 Jul 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
UK car manufacturers are currently changing their supply chains to buy components from either the EU or the UK so that they can continue to export their cars into the EU. However, under CPTPP, those same companies ought to be buying parts from Vietnam to export their cars to Mexico. That is quite confusing. Will… the Department publish guidance for business that highlights the regulatory conflicts between trade with the European Union under the trade and co-operation agreement and trade with members of the CPTPTPP? Sorry—you know what I meant. [Laughter.]
Hansard · 18 Jul 2023 · parliament.uk
HM
Helen Morgan
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade if she will make a statement on the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership.
NH
Nigel Huddleston
The Secretary of State for Business and Trade signed the accession protocol to the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership on Sunday 16 July in Auckland. The UK will be the first new member since CPTPP was created. With the UK as a member, CPTPP will have a combined GDP of £12 trillion and…
HM
Helen Morgan
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question. The Government published a written statement yesterday that the CPTPP had been signed on 16 July . Unfortunately, Members have not had an opportunity to scrutinise the agreement, or to ask the Secretary of State questions about its impact. The CPTPP contains con…
NH
Nigel Huddleston
I am disappointed that the hon. Lady does not see the opportunities for farmers and for this country as a whole from CPTPP. If she shared the confidence in British producers and British services that we have on the Government Benches, she might be able to look at this deal with a glass half full, rather than a glass ha…
RJ
Ranil Jayawardena
Despite what the naysayers on the Opposition Benches might say, is it not true that this deal benefits counties and nations across these isles and gives our farmers the opportunity to export to parts of the world that will pay a premium for their great products?
BUSINESS AND TRADE COMMITTEE13 Jul 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
The Business and Trade Committee has today published a report on the scrutiny of free trade agreements. The Select Committees of this House were recently restructured following the Prime Minister’s decision to restructure Government Departments. This resulted in the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee becoming the Business and Trade Committee, with the International Trade… Committee being wound up. My Committee therefore now has the responsibility, on behalf of the House, for scrutinising any future free trade agreements that the Government enter with other countries. The report sets out how we on the Business and Trade Committee intend to do that work, and I will now update the House on a number of key points. First, when the UK left the European Union we took back responsibility for negotiating our own free trade agreements, which also meant that this Parliament took back responsibility for the oversight of such processes from the European Parliament. However, our Select Committees are structured and resourced differently from the committees of the European Parliament. Crucially, our powers are based on a convention agreed in the late 1920s, the so-called Ponsonby rule, which was to some extent codified in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. The rule was codified at a time when we relied on the European Parliament to scrutinise trade deals on our behalf. Post Brexit, our powers are therefore out of date, inadequate and in need of reform. The powers that exist today mean that Parliament does not, by right, have access to information during a negotiation period or to draft free trade agreements in advance, nor do we have the power to vote on or amend specific parts of a free trade agreement. Under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act, all we can do in this House is delay the ratification of an agreement, in the hope that we might persuade the Government to change their mind during the delay. In reality, this power has never been
Hansard · 13 Jul 2023 · parliament.uk
RG
Roger Gale
We now come to the Select Committee statement. The hon. Member for Bristol North West (Darren Jones) will speak for up to 10 minutes, during which no interventions may be taken. At the conclusion of his statement, I will call Members to ask questions on the subject of the statement. They should be brief questions, not …
AM
Anthony Mangnall
I congratulate the Chairman on subsuming the International Trade Committee, and on running the Business and Trade Committee so effectively. I join him in sending my best wishes to James Hockaday following all the excellent work he has done, particularly on scrutiny. I have two questions. First, does the Chairman have a…
NG
Nia Griffith
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol North West (Darren Jones) and his Committee for their important work on this report. As the report points out, “we operate within finite resources and recognise that attempting exhaustively to scrutinise every aspect of the Department’s work is impractical… We intend, there…
NH
Nigel Huddleston
I thank the hon. Gentleman, all members of the Committee and the officials, whom he mentioned, for their work on this report. It shows how seriously they take their responsibilities, which is very much appreciated by the Government. We believe that the level of transparency and scrutiny for trade agreements stacks up q…
RG
Roger Gale
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his report on behalf of his Committee.
DJ
Darren Jones
I welcome the hon. Gentleman to the Business and Trade Committee, following the demise of the International Trade Committee. There are two important points. First, the 21-day period under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act needs to be reformed. One such reform might be that the Committee needs more than 21 si…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for her questions and comments from the Dispatch Box, and I will take each in turn. My hon. Friend is right about resource allocation. As I said in my speech, we have subsumed not only the responsibilities of the International Trade Committee but those of our former colleagues on the European Par…
DJ
Darren Jones
We are always very grateful for Ministers wanting to appear before the Committee, and we would be delighted to have the Minister before us. There is definitely a debate to be had about how we update our rules. I make the point again that not only were our rules set at a time when we were part of the EU and therefore th…
Topical Questions29 Jun 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
Last year it was the energy companies; this year it is the water companies. The sectors have changed but the taxpayers are still on the hook. So will the Secretary of State commit to undertaking a review of the financial resilience of all companies in each regulated sector and to present her findings to the… House?
Hansard · 29 Jun 2023 · parliament.uk
NW
Nadia Whittome
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
KB
Kemi Badenoch
Last week, I was pleased to lead discussions with international partners and businesses at the Ukraine recovery conference and welcomed the Prime Minister of Ukraine and First Deputy Prime Minister to Mansion House, alongside over 150 companies, showcasing how UK companies in our private sector can use their ingenuity …
NW
Nadia Whittome
Recent research by a former chief competition economist to the European Commission—shared with me by Unite the union—estimates that average UK mobile phone bills could rise by up to £300 a year in the case of a merger between Three and Vodafone. Is the Secretary of State aware of that risk, and will her Department be t…
KB
Kemi Badenoch
The hon. Lady will know that we have an independent regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority, which would look at cases such as the one she raises and make a call on whether it would be harmful or beneficial to the UK economy. I trust the CMA—it has been doing a good job so far—and I look forward to seeing its …
LR
Laurence Robertson
Morocco is very much looking to do more trade and business with the United Kingdom. What are the Government doing to enable that country to do so?
Artificial Intelligence29 Jun 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am Chair of the Business and Trade Committee, but if there is an AI Committee I am certainly interested in serving on it. I declare my interest, as set out in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, and I thank the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Matt Warman)… and the Backbench Business Committee for organising and agreeing to this important debate. I will make the case for the Government to be more involved in the technology revolution, and explain what will happen if we leave it purely to the market. It is a case for a technology revolution that works in the interests of the British people, not against our interests. In my debate on artificial intelligence a few weeks ago, I painted a picture of the type of country Britain can become if we shape the technology revolution in our interests. It is a country where workers are better paid, have better work and more time off. It is a country where public servants have more time to serve the public, with better access and outcomes from our public services, at reduced cost to the taxpayer. It is a country where the technological revolution is seen as an exciting opportunity for workers and businesses alike—an opportunity to learn new things, improve the quality of our work, and create an economy that is successful, sustainable, and strong. I also warned the House about the risks of the technology revolution if we merely allow ourselves to be shaped by it. That is a country where technology is put upon people, instead of being developed with them, and where productivity gains result in economic growth and higher profits, but leave workers behind with reduced hours or no job at all. It is where our public services remain in the analogue age and continue to fail, with increased provision from the private sector only for those who can afford it. It is a world in which the pace of innovation races ahead of society, creatively destroying the livelihoods of many millions of people, and w
Hansard · 29 Jun 2023 · parliament.uk
NE
Nigel Evans
I remind everybody that following the end of the debate that is about to begin, we will have a statement on the migration and economic development partnership. Anybody wishing to ask a question in that debate should start to make their way to the Chamber as soon as the wind-ups in the artificial intelligence debate beg…
MW
Matt Warman
I beg to move, That this House has considered artificial intelligence. Is it not extraordinary that we have not previously had a general debate on what is the issue of our age? Artificial intelligence is already with us today, but its future impact has yet to truly be felt, or indeed understood. My aim in requesting th…
DB
Dawn Butler
The hon. Member is making an important speech. Is he aware of the AI system that, in identifying potential company chief executive officers, would identify only male CEOs because of the data that had been input? Even though there is existing legislation, we have to be mindful of the data that is going into new technolo…
MW
Matt Warman
The hon. Member is absolutely right that, when done well, AI allows us to identify discrimination and seek to eliminate it, but when done badly, it cements it into the system in the worst possible way. That is partly why I say that transparency about the use of AI will be absolutely essential, even if we largely do not…
RG
Roger Gale
I call the Chair of the AI Committee, Darren Jones.
DJ
Darren Jones
Could I invite my hon. Friend to inform the House which of us in this debate is the one who got wasted?
National AI Strategy and UNESCO AI Ethics Framework22 May 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
I am grateful, Mr Deputy Speaker, that this Adjournment debate on the regulation of artificial intelligence has been granted. I declare my interest as set out in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Britain is at a turning point. Having left the European Union, irrespective of what people thought about that decision, we have decided… to go it alone. This new chapter in the long history of our great nation is starting to unfold, and we have a number of possible destinations ahead. We stand here today as a country with great challenges and an identity crisis: what is modern Britain to become? Our economy is, at best, sluggish; at worst, it is in decline. Our public services are unaffordable, inefficient and not delivering the quality of service the public should expect. People see and feel those issues right across the country: in their pay packets, in the unfilled vacancies at work, and in their local schools, GP surgeries, dentists, hospitals and high streets. All of this is taking place in a quickly changing world in which Britain is losing influence and control, and for hostile actors who wish Britain—or the west more broadly—harm, those ruptures in the social contract present an opportunity to exploit. Having left the European Union, I see two destinations ahead of us: we can either keep doing what we are doing, or modernise our country. If we take the route to continuity, in my view we will continue to decline. There will be fewer people in work, earning less than they should be and paying less tax as a consequence. There will be fewer businesses investing, meaning lower profits and, again, lower taxes. Income will decline for the Treasury, but with no desire to increase the national debt for day-to-day spending, that will force us to take some very difficult decisions. It will be a world in which Britain is shaped by the world, instead of our shaping it in our interests. Alternatively, we can decide to take the route to modernity, where workers co-creat
Hansard · 22 May 2023 · parliament.uk
JS
Jim Shannon
I commend the hon. Gentleman on bringing this debate forward. It is a very deep subject for the Adjournment debate, but it is one that I believe is important. Ethics must be accounted for to ensure that any industries using AI are kept safe. One issue that could become increasingly prominent is the risk of cyber-threat…
PS
Paul Scully
I congratulate the hon. Member for Bristol North West (Darren Jones) on securing this excellent debate and on his excellent opening speech. The issue ahead of us is an international issue, and as he said, the UK is at the forefront of AI development, with our history and with the Turing and Lovelace institutions around…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Member is of course right. In the first part of his intervention, he alluded to the risk I have just been referring to, where machines can automatically create, for example, novel cyber-risks in a way that the humans who created those systems might not fully understand and that are accessible to a wider range …
UK Car Industry17 May 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
The story overnight came from written submissions to my Committee’s inquiry on the future of battery manufacturing in the UK. Stellantis will be here in Parliament next Tuesday to give further evidence. The Minister will know two things: that she and her departmental officials are in ongoing negotiations with other car manufacturers in the UK… beyond Stellantis, and that all the car companies are raising exactly the same issues and are asking for a step up in activity from the Government and an end-to-end industrial strategy to show that the UK is serious about the future of UK production of electric vehicles. Will the Minister confirm for the record that those assertions—that the Department is in negotiations right now with other car manufacturing companies and that they are raising exactly the same issues as Stellantis—are indeed correct?
Hansard · 17 May 2023 · parliament.uk
JM
Justin Madders
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade if she will make a statement on the future of the UK car industry.
NG
Nusrat Ghani
The automotive industry is vital. It is a vital part of the UK economy and it is integral to delivering on levelling up, net zero and advancing global Britain. After a challenging period where covid and global supply chain shortages have impacted the international automotive industry, the UK sector is bouncing back. Pr…
JM
Justin Madders
Thank you for granting this urgent question, Mr Speaker, and I thank the Minister for her response. The warnings from Stellantis overnight are deeply concerning, not just for my constituents who work at Vauxhall Motors in Ellesmere Port, but for the automotive sector more widely. She will know of the huge efforts put i…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
The hon. Gentleman will know, when I respond to this question, just how seriously I take the sector, as he does—he and I have worked on this previously. I agree that the automotive industry is a vital part of the UK economy and I will go on to explain all the work we are doing there; if we add it all up, it is more or …
MP
Mark Pawsey
The automotive industry has been a huge success story for the west midlands and can be so in the future as we transition to electric vehicles. However, with 40% of the weight and cost of an electric vehicle being made up in the battery, it is vital that we get a battery manufacturing site in the west midlands. A site h…
Buses: Funding17 May 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
Since 1 March , my constituents have been logging their daily experiences of bus services in my Bristol North West bus survey. Since then we have had over 200 reports of so-called ghost buses: buses that are timetabled but never turn up. What in the Minister’s statement will stop that from happening?
Hansard · 17 May 2023 · parliament.uk
RH
Richard Holden
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to make a statement on the steps that the Government are taking to ensure that bus travel remains accessible and affordable for everyone, while bearing down on the cost of living. Let me start by summarising the situation as we find it. People across the country are facing …
RW
Rosie Winterton
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
LH
Louise Haigh
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement. Our bus services are in crisis. Bus users across the country listening to the statement today—waiting for a bus that never turns up and robbed of a service they depend on—will be wondering, frankly, whether the Minister is obl…
RH
Richard Holden
It was delightful to hear the shadow Secretary of State’s prepared attack lines, because I do not think she actually listened to the statement. We are exceeding the bus back better commitment by £500 million. I note that the hon. Lady did not mention the fact that Sheffield city region is getting £3.15 million today—[I…
RW
Rosie Winterton
I call the Chair of the Select Committee on Transport.
Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill17 May 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
I declare my interest as set out on the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I am grateful to the Government for having reflected in the Bill so many of the recommendations in my Committee’s report on post-Brexit competition and consumer law policy. Although I am grateful to the Minister and shadow Minister, my hon. Friend… the Member for Feltham and Heston (Seema Malhotra) , for thanking me for my work, I should humbly put it on record that there would be no report were it not for my colleagues on the Committee, my Clerks, and the witnesses who gave evidence. I will not test the patience of the House by listing all the Committee’s achievements in this respect, but I will focus on one area that our report talked about—oversight of the Competition and Markets Authority and other regulators that operate in the digital market space—where provisions are missing from the Bill. The CMA is an independent regulator, but it is directly accountable to Parliament for the performance of its functions and duties. Only yesterday, we welcomed its chair and chief executive officer to the Business and Trade Committee to answer questions on topical cases, its annual plan, the draft strategic steer from the Department and, indeed, this Bill. In practice, Committees such as mine only really scrutinise regulators, agencies and arm’s-length bodies on their day-to-day performance perhaps on an annual basis at best, or once there has been a failure. We recognised that ourselves in respect of issues at the energy regulator, Ofgem, which we only uncovered once there had been a multibillion-pound failure in the market. We gave ourselves an action in that report, as well as in our post-Brexit competition and consumer law report, to enhance our oversight of the CMA and other regulators to avoid this happening again. It is not a new problem. As many Members will know, the noble Lord Tyrie, who chaired the Treasury Committee during the banking crisis, has written and spoken extensively about
Hansard · 17 May 2023 · parliament.uk
KH
Kevin Hollinrake
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. Digital technologies are a 21st-century miracle. They bring us closer together and connect us to the world. Today it is difficult to remember a time without answers at our fingertips, or the ability to buy goods and services from across the globe in just a few cli…
DC
Damian Collins
My hon. Friend got through part 1 a bit quicker than I thought he would—I have a question relating to part 1. Clause 38 creates a final offer mechanism for dispute resolution. The news media industry has been waiting for this legislation for a long time but it is not expressly referenced in the Bill. Can he confirm tha…
KH
Kevin Hollinrake
My hon. Friend makes a good point. I wish him the best of luck in the election this afternoon. It is for a very important Committee that will scrutinise this legislation. The final offer mechanism is innovative and represents a positive way forward, in that it will bring parties to the table and they will both have to …
JP
John Penrose
Like my hon. Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Damian Collins) , I was concerned that the Minister might be moving on from part 1 a fraction early. This is a welcome Bill that will do an enormous amount of good, and it has allowed me to tick off a large number of the recommendations that I made in my report, …
KH
Kevin Hollinrake
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his engagement on this. We have discussed this at length many times, both in my role as a Minister and in my previous role as a Back Bencher, when we looked at the best form of regulation. I think we both agree that ex post regulation is preferable to ex ante regulation, as is a pro-…
DJ
Darren Jones
If I answered shortly with the word “Yes” it would ruin the rest of my speech, so I am going to keep reading through my notes. However, the hon. Member, having asked that question, will understand the direction of travel. The Minister was pointing at himself, I think noting for the House that he of course has responsib…
DJ
Darren Jones
I find myself in the unusual situation of being in complete agreement with the right hon. Gentleman, and perhaps that shows the cross-party support for the points I am making about the Bill.
DJ
Darren Jones
I do not claim to be a parliamentary historian, but the Regulatory Reform Committee is very modern history. About two years ago I got a call from the Government Chief Whip, telling me that the Government were collapsing the Regulatory Reform Committee and merging it with mine, but that I should not ask for any addition…
Artificial Intelligence Technologies: Regulation3 May 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
With elections under way and a general election due next year, people are rightly concerned about the fake videos, images and audio being created by artificial intelligence. Can the Secretary of State confirm to the House what actions her Department is taking to protect the integrity of our democratic processes in that context?
Hansard · 3 May 2023 · parliament.uk
TL
Tim Loughton
What steps she is taking to ensure effective regulation of artificial intelligence technologies.
CS
Chloe Smith
Artificial intelligence plays a vital role in our economy and society, from helping doctors to identify cancers faster to powering smart devices and driverless cars. We recognise the need to act not only to unlock the opportunities but to address the potential risks of this technology. Our White Paper articulates what …
TL
Tim Loughton
When advances in medical technology—around genetic engineering, for example—raise sensitive issues, we have debates on medical ethics, we adapt legislation and we put in place robust regulation and oversight. The explosion in AI potentially poses the same level of moral dilemma and is open to criminal use for fraud or …
CS
Chloe Smith
I recognise the profound experience from which my hon. Friend speaks. We also recognise that many technologies can pose a risk when in the wrong hands. The UK is a global leader in AI, with a strategic advantage that places us at the forefront of these developments. Through UK leadership—at the OECD, the G7, the Counci…
CS
Chloe Smith
I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s involvement, and I look forward to debating these issues with him and others across the House. I can understand his concerns and the anxiety that sits behind his question. We have a fully developed regime of electoral law that already accounts for election offences such as false statement…
International Trade and Geopolitics20 Apr 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
I beg to move, That this House has considered international trade and geopolitics. I thank right hon. and hon. Members from across the House, and the Backbench Business Committee for granting the debate today. I declare my interests as set out in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I applied for this debate because I… am concerned about Britain’s standing in a world that is changing more quickly than we appear to be responding. From trade and industrial policy to innovation and skills, we have just sticking-plaster policies and no long-term economic plan. There is no strategy for UK plc that shows the path to prosperity, and I hope this debate may trigger some answers from the Government on their plan to drive economic growth within the UK and through exports abroad. The era of increasing globalisation that we have come to know over the past decades is coming to an end. We are now in an era of economic retrenchment, higher levels of state subsidy and new forms of partnership between the public and business, but how is the UK responding? Ministers are merely saying to competitor countries, “This is not how you’re supposed to play the game,” but they are not listening, and we are losing. There are several factors underpinning these changes: geopolitical competition between China and the United States; war in Europe and security tensions in Asia; the need for democratic nations to show their people that our system of government can deliver good jobs, good pay and prosperity; the net zero transition; and the technological arms race in both its military and civilian contexts. Based on current data, our direction of travel as a country is not a good one. Only this morning, the Government announced that the UK fell from being the fifth largest exporter of goods and services in the world in 2020, to seventh in 2021. Our trade deficit has ballooned from £2.3 billion to £23.5 billion, meaning that we are exporting fewer goods and services, while being increasingly de
Hansard · 20 Apr 2023 · parliament.uk
RF
Richard Fuller
It is a great pleasure to be part of this debate and to listen to the hon. Gentleman, and I hope he will not mind me picking him up on this point. He kindly acknowledged that the sizeable increase in UK debt is due to the response to covid, and I do not think he has concerns about the major schemes that comprised that.…
HB
Hilary Benn
My hon. Friend is making an extremely powerful case. Does he agree that geography still matters when it comes to trade, and if we as a country choose to make our trading arrangements with our biggest trading partner, which is still the European Union, more difficult, more costly and more bureaucratic, that is bound to …
MF
Margaret Ferrier
China’s growing assertiveness on the international stage is rightly cause for concern, and the CPTPP is an example of where the Government need to be cautious. If China is successful in joining, it could block Taiwan’s application in the face of growing tensions between the two. Does the hon. Gentleman believe that the…
RF
Richard Fuller
It’s not that old-time! As the hon. Gentleman will realise, the Benches are not replete with Members for his debate, so I hope he will continue to be generous. The hon. Gentleman has put his finger on an important issue, and this could be an informative debate on both sides. He has just mentioned one potential conflict…
AM
Andy McDonald
Does my hon. Friend share my concern that in pursuance of net zero and the decarbonisation agenda, the automotive industry, for example, faces significant challenges in ensuring not only that we have a self-contained supply chain, but that we can engage with the European Union on our doorstep given restrictions on rule…
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Gentleman and I, perhaps surprisingly, share something in common, in that we would like to get the national debt under control. He will recognise that his party was in government for each of those years from 2010 when debt increased, year after year. The Opposition can come forward with policy proposals, but h…
DJ
Darren Jones
I think everybody recognises that that is completely right, and my right hon. Friend recognises that with both the European Union and the United States, the bulk of our trade exists in this bit of the planet in which we find ourselves. Trade with Asia is welcome, but it will not be able to deliver larger economic oppor…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Lady for giving that suggestion to those on the Treasury Bench, and perhaps the Minister can answer when she responds to the debate.
DJ
Darren Jones
I have two examples that are relevant to intervention of the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Margaret Ferrier) , but I will give way one more time, for old times’ sake.
DJ
Darren Jones
I will do so briefly so that I do not test the patience of the Chair too much, given the number of pages I have left to read before the end of my speech. My initial observations are that it is in the UK’s interest to be a global leader on the net zero transition, both because that is the right thing to do and because i…
DJ
Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is exactly right, and electric vehicles are a prime example. He and I were in Sweden last week on a Select Committee visit to look at how its electric vehicle battery manufacturing looks in comparison with the UK. If we are to continue to export cars to the European Union, we will have to hit the so-call…
DJ
Darren Jones
I have to take the hon. Gentleman’s suggestion at his word as he knows much more about his constituency and farming than I do. If there are export opportunities that is great, but the question is whether that will deliver the wholesale economic growth that we need across the whole UK economy. It will be an important pi…
DJ
Darren Jones
Once again, my hon. Friend is absolutely right. That is why the European Union has responded to what is happening in America, but what do we have here in the United Kingdom? I tried to be generous to the Government in a collegiate fashion, but the only thing I could find that allowed me to give the Government credit wa…
DJ
Darren Jones
It is a factual statement. The hon. Member is chuntering from a sedentary position, as I think we say in this House, but I can assure him and the House that on many occasions that is the exact conversation people have had with me. I hope that the Minister, when she responds, will be able to inform the House, on behalf …
DJ
Darren Jones
The hon. Gentleman is generous in giving way, but as he has put words into my mouth on the record, I ought to correct him, if I may. From our Select Committee’s work on industrial policy and from my comments on that work, it should be clear that I am not somebody who believes that the state is where wealth is created o…
DJ
Darren Jones
May I invite the hon. Gentleman to reflect, for the benefit of the House, on his recent involvement in the Conservative report on the reform of economic regulators? I was afforded the courtesy of being shown the embargoed report, but I am not sure whether the embargo has now been lifted and I can talk about the report …
DJ
Darren Jones
Oh, I can. Very good. The report recognises—I invite the hon. Gentleman to confirm or contest this point—that industrial policy is not just about money, but about policy direction, about regulation by economic regulators and about creating the conditions for business to prosper, for entrepreneurs to create businesses a…
DJ
Darren Jones
The point I made in my opening remarks was that we should recognise, with some humility, that Britain can have only so much influence on these global trends. The hon. Gentleman is inviting us to conclude that were we to do more deals with our friends and allies, as I have suggested, those arrangements would be dictated…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank Members for their interventions, contributions and—dare I say—compliments, for which I was very grateful. I think we all agree that the world has changed. The question is: what next for Britain? From empire, to Europe, to what? A new chapter in our long history. Clearly, there is disagreement on both sides of t…
Data Protection and Digital Information (No. 2) Bill17 Apr 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. The Bill has had a curious journey. It started life as the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, in search of the exciting Brexit opportunities that we were promised, only to have died and then arisen as the Data Protection and… Digital Information (No 2) Bill. In the Bill’s rejuvenated—and, dare I say, less exciting—form, Ministers have rightly clawed back some of the most high-risk proposals of its previous format, recognising, of course, that our freedom from the European Union, at least in respect of data protection, is anything but. We may have left the European Union, but data continues to flow between the EU and the United Kingdom, and that means of course that we must keep the European Commission happy to maintain our adequacy decision. For the most part, the Bill does not therefore represent significant change from the existing GDPR framework. There are some changes to paperwork and the appointment of officers, but nothing radical. With that settled—at least in my view—the question is this: what is the purpose of this Bill? The Government aim to reduce regulatory burdens on business. To give Ministers credit, according to the independent assessment of the Regulatory Policy Committee, they have adequately set out how that will happen—unlike for other Government Bills in recent weeks. I congratulate the Government on their so-called “co-design” with stakeholders, which other Departments could learn from in drafting legislation. But the challenge in reducing business regulation and co-designing legislation with stakeholders is knowing how much of an influence the largest, most wealthy voices have over the smallest, least influential voices. In this Bill—and, I suspect, in the competition Bill as its relates to the digital markets unit, and, if rumours are correct, the media Bill—that means the difference between the voice of big tech and the voice of the people. If reports ar
Hansard · 17 Apr 2023 · parliament.uk
JL
Julia Lopez
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. Data is already the fuel driving the digital age: it powers the everyday apps that we use, public services are being improved by its better use and businesses rely on it to trade, produce goods and deliver services for their customers. But how we choose to use dat…
CJ
Christine Jardine
Does the Minister agree that the retention and enhancement of public trust in data is a major issue, that sharing data is a major issue for the public, and that the Government must do more—perhaps she can tell us whether they intend to do more—to educate the public about how and where our data is used, and what powers …
JL
Julia Lopez
I thank the hon. Lady for her helpful intervention. She is right: as I said earlier, trust in the system is fundamental to whether citizens have the confidence to share their data and whether we can therefore make use of that data. She made a good point about educating people, and I hope that this debate will mark the …
JL
Julian Lewis
My hon. Friend gave a long list of people who found the rules we had inherited from outside the UK challenging. She might add to that list Members of Parliament themselves. I am sure I am not alone in having been exasperated by being complained about to the Information Commissioner, in this case by a constituent who ha…
JL
Julia Lopez
Let me gently say that if my right hon. Friend’s constituent was going to pick on one Member of Parliament with whom to raise this point, the Member of Parliament who does not, I understand, use emails would be one of the worst candidates. However, I entirely understand Members’ frustration about the current rules. We …
Critical Minerals23 Mar 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
The Minister knows that the steel industry is an important customer for critical minerals in this country, so will she confirm for the House the status of the Steel Council in her Department and whether it is actively meeting?
Hansard · 23 Mar 2023 · parliament.uk
SM
Sheryll Murray
What steps her Department is taking to help protect critical minerals supply chains.
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I wish everybody a happy Ramadan on our first day of fasting. We are moving towards a world powered by critical minerals. We need lithium, cobalt and graphite to make batteries for electric cars, and we need silicon and tin for our electronics. I am pleased that we recently published our “Critical Minerals Refresh.” Th…
SM
Sheryll Murray
Cornwall is known for its mining—some people even define a mine as a hole in the ground with a Cornishman at the bottom. What efforts is the Department making to ensure that we make the most of our home-grown mineral security?
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I am so grateful to my hon. Friend for reminding the House of Cornwall’s mining heritage and the world-renowned Camborne School of Mines. This is why we are backing Cornish lithium and geothermal engineering, through the Getting Building fund and the automotive transformation fund, which are collaborating to build a ze…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Select Committee.
Food Price Inflation23 Mar 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
Many food and drink businesses express their frustrations to me, as Chair of the Select Committee on Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, about the lack of co-ordination between the Minister’s Department and BEIS. Given the influence of inflation, the challenges in the labour market, and the need for technology adoption and automation in the sector,… is it not time for a proper, co-ordinated sector deal between BEIS, the Department for International Trade and the Minister’s Department for the food and drink industry?
Hansard · 23 Mar 2023 · parliament.uk
JM
Jim McMahon
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on food price inflation.
MS
Mark Spencer
I will respond on behalf of the Secretary of State. I draw attention to my declaration in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. We recognise that food prices have gone up. The recent increase in food price inflation was driven by upward price movements in eight of the 11 food categories. The three most signific…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
JM
Jim McMahon
I thank the Minister of State for his response, but this is a cost of living crisis driven in large part by the cost of food, so where is the Secretary of State? She seems to spend more time in the departure lounge than in her own Department at times. Mr Speaker, I feel like I am shadowing a shadow. Where is the Secret…
MS
Mark Spencer
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his comments and statements—there were not many questions in there. I can tell him that the Government wholly recognise the challenge that inflation brings to the economy. That is why the Chancellor of the Exchequer has set out a number of measures to curb inflation and to manage the econ…
Business of the House23 Mar 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
The crisis in NHS dentistry continues to worsen. Only this month, another dental surgery in my constituency, Bell Barn dental surgery, not only stopped new NHS patients from joining, but removed its entire NHS list and became fully private. I have had extensive correspondence with Ministers, tabled written parliamentary questions, and had a debate in… this House in January last year on the issue. Could the Leader of the House advise me on what more I could do to encourage her ministerial colleagues to take the issue more seriously?
Hansard · 23 Mar 2023 · parliament.uk
TD
Thangam Debbonaire
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
PM
Penny Mordaunt
The business for the week commencing 27 March will include: Monday 27 March —Consideration in Committee of the Illegal Migration Bill (day 1). Tuesday 28 March —Consideration in Committee of the Illegal Migration Bill (day 2). Wednesday 29 March —Second Reading of the Finance (No. 2) Bill. Thursday 30 March —General de…
TD
Thangam Debbonaire
I thank the Leader of the House for the forthcoming business. In his first speech on the steps of Downing Street, the Prime Minister pledged to lead a Government with “accountability at every level”, requiring Ministers to take responsibility for decisions and actions and submit themselves for scrutiny. Does the Leader…
PM
Penny Mordaunt
I note that today is the day of reflection marking three years since we first entered lockdown. I know all Members will be reflecting on the experiences of our constituents, as well as those of our own families, during those dark days, and reflecting in particular those who lost their lives and those to whom we owe an …
RW
Rosie Winterton
I call the Father of the House.
Post Office: Horizon Compensation23 Mar 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the Minister for his statement and advance notice of it, and the members of the advisory board for their important work. I want to focus on one particular sentence of the Minister’s statement, which is very important. He said that the intention of the compensation scheme is “to return postmasters to the position… that they should have been in had they not been affected by the Horizon scandal”. He will know that that has an important meaning in law for the calculation of compensation. Some victims of this scandal feel that they have not been fully put back into the position they would have been in had they not been a victim of this scandal. Can he confirm for those victims what process they should follow to ensure that the compensation scheme delivers on its intention as stated on the Floor of the House today?
Hansard · 23 Mar 2023 · parliament.uk
RW
Rosie Winterton
Before we come to the statement, I wish to make a short statement about the sub judice resolution. As has been said to the House on previous occasions, there are relevant active legal proceedings in the Court of Appeal. I am exercising the discretion given to the Chair in respect of matters sub judice to allow referenc…
KH
Kevin Hollinrake
With your permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a statement on the Post Office and compensation for the Horizon scandal. The Horizon scandal was a truly appalling episode in this country’s history. Our postmasters—those hard-working, thoroughly decent people, who give so much to our communities right a…
RW
Rosie Winterton
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
JR
Jonathan Reynolds
I thank the Minister for his statement and for advance sight of it. I too begin by paying tribute to Alan Bates and the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance, which has campaigned for decades for compensation, justice and the truth. In addition, I recognise the campaigning efforts of Members from across this House on beh…
KH
Kevin Hollinrake
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his words, and for welcoming the statement and the opening of the scheme. I absolutely concur that we should all be grateful for the work of my predecessors—not least, as he said, my hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully) . The hon. Gentleman is right to say that we wan…
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee23 Mar 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
I rise today to give a statement on behalf of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee in respect of our memorandum of understanding with the Government on scrutiny of the use of powers contained in the National Security and Investment Act 2021. I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for giving me the… time to do so. As the House knows, the National Security and Investment Act established a new statutory regime for Government scrutiny of, and intervention in, investments for the purposes of protecting national security. The Act applies to a wide range of sectors, which themselves are broadly defined, and—unlike in other countries—covers all transactions, not just those involving foreign investment. The investment security unit was then established within the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to operationalise the Act. At that stage, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy was the decision maker. When the Bill was going through the House, the Government confirmed their preference that scrutiny of the use of these powers should be done by my Committee. There was a debate in this House and in the other place about whether a departmental Select Committee had sufficient processes, people and protections in place to scrutinise secret information, and right hon. Members from the Intelligence and Security Committee understandably argued that their Committee was best placed to do that work. However, the Government were not minded to accept amendments for a statutory regime of scrutiny in the Bill, nor to change their position on which Committee should have oversight of the regime. As such, Ministers committed to entering into a memorandum of understanding with my Committee to set out how information would be made available to allow us to do our work. While negotiating that memorandum, my Committee established a new National Security and Investment Sub-Committee and appointed special advisers. We are al
Hansard · 23 Mar 2023 · parliament.uk
RW
Rosie Winterton
We now come to the Select Committee statement on behalf of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee. Darren Jones, Chair of the Select Committee, will speak for up to 10 minutes, during which no interventions may be taken. At the conclusion of his statement, I will call Members to ask questions on the sub…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I welcome this report, especially paragraph 11. We have always welcomed scrutiny of our decisions. As the hon. Member rightfully pointed out, the investment security unit has left the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, but I am still responsible and we now sit in the Cabinet Office. Obviously, we want to s…
KJ
Kevan Jones
Can I thank my hon. Friend for his statement, but also say how disappointed I am with it—not from his point of view, but from the Government’s? The Intelligence and Security Committee, which I sit on, is the only Committee that can look at the highest classification of information. My hon. Friend even admits that, unde…
JW
Jeremy Wright
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his statement and recognise that a huge amount of work has gone into it, including with the Government. I thank him for the engagement he has had with my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis) , the Chairman of the ISC, of which I, too, am a member. I know tha…
JH
John Hayes
Just to endorse the comments of my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Kenilworth and Southam (Sir Jeremy Wright) , I know that the hon. Member for Bristol North West (Darren Jones) has behaved in an admirably collegiate manner throughout. On the issue of exceptional access to highly sensitive information, the…
DJ
Darren Jones
I thank the Minister for her question. Of course, for a long time, she was a member of my Committee. She pushed me quite hard to ensure that we got very effective scrutiny of this legislation, so I look forward to working with her collaboratively on the exchange of information as it relates to our interests as a Select…
DJ
Darren Jones
I am in the unusual circumstance, as a member of the Opposition, of having to put the Government line to my right hon. Friend. I merely recognise, as he will know from our extensive conversations, that it has always been the case, in line with the Osmotherly rules for Select Committees, that we do not have a statutory …
DJ
Darren Jones
There is an interesting question there, to which none of us knows the answer: how routine will it be for us to have to look at either commercially sensitive or national security-sensitive information about individual transactions? From our study visit to the United States, it seemed that most of the transactions were o…
DJ
Darren Jones
We have to give the MOU a whirl and see how it works. I understand the right hon. Member’s concerns. My only point is that I am not sure there will be lots of documents we will want to host in a safe special location for us to keep returning to. Our job broadly is to look at the implications for investment and for busi…
DJ
Darren Jones
I hope the right hon. Member recognises that, albeit I have been in the House for the short period of six years, I am not a timid politician. If I am blocked or prevented from doing the work I have been asked to do by the House, I will make it clear that is the case. I am happy to come back to the House as and when app…
Topical Questions28 Feb 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
Can the Secretary of State confirm whether the responsibility for industrial decarbonisation rests with his Department or the Department for Business and Trade?
Hansard · 28 Feb 2023 · parliament.uk
BJ
Boris Johnson
I congratulate my right hon. Friend— Oh sorry, question 1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
GS
Grant Shapps
I know my right hon. Friend is new to this House. This winter, as I mentioned, the Government have been paying half the energy bills of most British households. In these difficult times, that has been an extraordinary intervention that we are all very proud of. But it has taught us a valuable lesson—we can never again …
BJ
Boris Johnson
I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his continuing commitment to Great British Nuclear, but is it not vital that we reaffirm the target of 24 gigawatts by 2050 and that we accelerate the tech selection process, so that small modular reactors, whether made by Rolls-Royce or anybody else—it would be wonderful if they …
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. I have the greatest respect, but these are Topicals and I want to get everybody else in as well. And I agree—nuclear reactors from Lancashire could be fantastic.
GS
Grant Shapps
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. He will know, as will the whole House, that every single nuclear reactor currently operational in the UK was given permission under the Conservative party. He is right to champion Great British Nuclear and we will get the nuclear industry going again. Indeed, I was the first En…
Electric Vehicle Battery Production18 Jan 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
The Americans have announced significant subsidies for industry under the Inflation Reduction Act, and the European Union is responding by streamlining state aid rules and announcing its own subsidies for industry in the European Union. Surely the Minister must recognise that businesses are being attracted to the US and the EU, away from the UK.… What is he going to do about it?
Hansard · 18 Jan 2023 · parliament.uk
JR
Jonathan Reynolds
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy if he will make a statement on the UK’s gigafactory capacity given the announcement of Britishvolt entering into administration.
GS
Graham Stuart
Britishvolt entering into administration is a regrettable situation, and our thoughts are with the company’s employees and their families at this time. The Government are entirely committed to the future of the automotive industry and promoting EV capability. As part of our efforts to see British companies succeed in t…
JR
Jonathan Reynolds
When the Britishvolt site was first announced in 2019, with the promise to deliver the UK’s second ever gigafactory and create 8,000 jobs in Northumberland, it was lauded by the Government as their flagship example of levelling up: the right hon. Member for Spelthorne (Kwasi Kwarteng) , then Business Secretary, said th…
GS
Graham Stuart
The hon. Gentleman is right about one thing: there is a tremendous opportunity. That is why we have the automotive transformation fund. That is why we did thorough due diligence on Britishvolt. It is because we set conditions around milestones that it had to meet that not a penny of that fund was dispensed to Britishvo…
JR
John Redwood
As we are very short of commitments to assemble more EVs in the United Kingdom, which would be needed to create battery demand, will the Minister pause the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles until our EV capacity has caught up? Otherwise, the industry will shrink too much.
Small and Medium-sized Businesses17 Jan 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
Britishvolt, the once valued £3.8 billion site of national importance for the production of electric vehicle batteries in our country, is today going into administration. Does the Minister agree with me that the future of UK car manufacturing relies on UK battery production? If so, what is he going to do about it?
Hansard · 17 Jan 2023 · parliament.uk
DS
David Simmonds
What steps he is taking to support small and medium-sized businesses.
MT
Maggie Throup
What steps he is taking to support small and medium-sized businesses.
SH
Stephen Hammond
What steps he is taking to support small and medium-sized businesses.
KH
Kevin Hollinrake
It is absolutely right that we direct support where we can to our SME community. We have reversed the national insurance rise, saving SMEs approximately £4,200 a year on average; provided £13.6 billion of business rates support over five years; cut fuel duty for 12 months; and raised the employment allowance to £5,000.…
DS
David Simmonds
Before Christmas I held a session with hospitality businesses in my constituency. Although they were appreciative of the energy bill relief scheme, they expressed some concern that they were not necessarily seeing it reflected in their bills. What assurances can my hon. Friend provide to ensure that companies, such as …
Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill16 Jan 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
I declare an interest as a member of Unite the union. May I start by correcting the public record? As always, I am grateful to Ministers for taking the time to speak with me directly about Bills in my capacity as Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee. Unfortunately, in a Westminster Hall… debate on Thursday, the Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake) , referenced our discussion without giving me advance notice. He said that I was “very supportive of a minimum service level”.—[Official Report, 12 January 2023; Vol. 725, c. 372WH.] Let me be very clear to the House, to the Minister and to my constituents: I am against the Bill and will vote against it this evening. What I said to the Minister was that I—and, I am sure, many people—think it reasonable for there to be a minimum level of service from our emergency services during a period of strike action, and I encouraged him to pursue that via discussion with the relevant services and trade unions, not by threatening them with the prospect of an effective statutory ban on their right to strike. When I asked the Minister whether he had sought to achieve that before introducing the legislation, he was unable to fully answer my question. As we have already heard this evening, the rationale for the Bill is therefore in question. The Government say that the legislation in place is not effective and that voluntary agreements cannot be sought, but that is not correct. Indeed, in signing off the Transport Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill and its compliance with the European convention on human rights, even the Government said: “In the case of other key public services, important factors exist to mitigate the impacts of industrial action”. So what has changed? As we have already heard, section 240 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 makes it a criminal offence and a breach of employ
Hansard · 16 Jan 2023 · parliament.uk
RW
Rosie Winterton
I must inform the House that the reasoned amendments have not been selected.
GS
Grant Shapps
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. The Government firmly believe that the ability to strike is an important element of industrial relations in the UK. That ability is rightly protected by law, and we understand that an element of disruption is likely with any strike. However, we also need to mainta…
SM
Steve McCabe
Will the Secretary of State give way?
GS
Grant Shapps
I will make a little bit of progress first. Right now, up and down the country, households are struggling with the repercussions of high inflation caused by covid and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The UK is not alone in feeling the pressure, which is also felt by many other countries, particularly within the European Un…
JS
Jim Shannon
Secretary of State, I believe in the fundamental right of a worker to withdraw their labour, whether that happens to be from an employer or against the Government. I understand that at this time many people feel the same, and for those who are toying with this idea, let me say that the ambulance service, nurses and doc…
Non-domestic Energy Support9 Jan 2023
DJ
Darren Jones
We know from the design of the domestic scheme that people in particular circumstances are not being helped as the Government perhaps intended. Will the Minister therefore confirm that the Government will tweak the design of this policy in the same way that they did the domestic scheme where there are legitimate cases of businesses… not being helped as Ministers intended?
Hansard · 9 Jan 2023 · parliament.uk
JC
James Cartlidge
With permission, Mr Deputy Speaker, I will make a statement on how the Government are continuing to support businesses, charities and the public sector with their energy bills. Before I outline how we are helping businesses, I remind the House why we are in this position. Although wholesale energy prices are now fallin…
AO
Abena Oppong-Asare
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and happy new year. I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement. Businesses have been crying out for some much-needed clarity. In September, the Government promised a review to look at targeted support, saying of the energy bills support scheme: “We will publish a review…of the…
JC
James Cartlidge
I am grateful to the hon. Lady. She asked what happened to the review. Well, I am making a statement about the results of the review, and the policy decisions that we have come to a conclusion on, based on the review and consulting all the key stakeholders in business and industry and also the voluntary sector, who I s…
RG
Roger Gale
I call the Chair of the Treasury Committee.
HB
Harriett Baldwin
I welcome the Minister’s announcement. He rightly points out that President Putin has, by illegally invading Ukraine, effectively weaponised the cost of energy against western economies, and he is right to highlight that we have been able to withstand that attack with £18 billion of support over this six-month period. …
