Contributions
1,562 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsI hate to break it to the hon. Gentleman, but I doubt the British people will forgive the Tories for Liz Truss’s record in office.01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsI can reassure the hon. Lady that since we won the election I have spent many hours with the oil and gas industry in Aberdeen. It is exactly why we confirmed in the Budget last…01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsAs we said at the Budget, not only were we setting out to cut the cost of living, cut NHS waiting lists and cut Government borrowing; we were also focusing on growth through…01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsAs I said earlier, the Government take the Budget process and our responsibilities to this House very seriously. As the hon. Lady is aware, the permanent secretary has committed…01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsMy hon. Friend is absolutely right: imagine if I were trying to defend a Budget to the House that was delivered with just a few billion pounds of headroom—what message would that…01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsAs I set out in my earlier remarks, we will be taking forward the recommendations of the report. In particular, as my hon. Friend mentioned, we will be working with the National…01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsWhat is clear is that we delivered a Budget to cut the cost of living, cut NHS waiting lists and cut Government borrowing.01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsI do not know whether the right hon. Gentleman heard what I said earlier when I underscored how importantly Ministers in this Government take the Budget process and how…01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsThe right hon. Gentleman talks about the energy profits levy. Let me be clear: we know that oil and gas have a role to play in our energy mix for many years to come. We want to…01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsThe Chancellor chose on 4 November to be up front with people about the challenges we face. At the Budget, she chose to cut the cost of living, cut NHS waiting lists and cut…01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsI thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. He is right to draw attention to the fact that the Conservatives want to completely distance themselves from their record in…01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsMy hon. Friend is right to point out that the OBR plays a critical role in the Budget process and an important role in the robust and transparent fiscal framework that underpins…01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsI would like to make a statement to the House on two separate but related matters. The first is regarding communication with the public in the lead-up to the Budget. I understand…01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsI am sorry that the right hon. Lady does not welcome the fact that the Chancellor is in Wales today to promote investment in Wales, but I can point her to the fact that the…01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsI recognise that there was a lot of speculation in the media in the run-up to the Budget. From the Government’s point of view, the Chancellor took a decision to set out her…01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsIt is clear that this is a very serious matter, and it is right that the Government respond to it with the seriousness it demands. As my hon. Friend made clear, this is not—to…01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsI do not quite understand the hon. Lady’s question. When we got into office in July last year, our task was to fix the mess of the public finances that the Conservatives had left.…01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsMy hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the fact that, had I been here today defending a headroom of £4 billion or less, it would have been a completely impossible task. This…01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsI thank my hon. Friend for his question on the OBR productivity downgrade, which has clearly played a really important and difficult role in this Budget process. What the OBR’s…01 Dec 2025HANSARDOffice for Budget Responsibility ForecastsI was unclear from what the shadow Chancellor said at the beginning of his comments whether he, like us, values the role of the OBR in the Budget-setting process. We value its…01 Dec 2025