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1,178 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDFinancial Statement and Budget ReportWhen the Prime Minister and I came into office, inflation was 11%, but the latest figures show it is now 4%—more than meeting our pledge last year to halve it. Today’s forecasts…06 Mar 2024HANSARDFinancial Statement and Budget ReportThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Good public services need a strong economy to pay for them, but a strong economy also needs good public services. In 2010, schools in the UK were…06 Mar 2024HANSARDFinancial Statement and Budget ReportThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. If we want that growth to lead to higher wages and higher living standards for every family in every corner of the country, it cannot come from…06 Mar 2024HANSARDFinancial Statement and Budget ReportWhen patients do not show up or one member of a team is ill, operating theatres are left empty despite long waiting lists. When we published the NHS long-term workforce plan, I…06 Mar 2024HANSARDEconomic Growth Forecasts: 2024 and 2025I have been talking with my hon. Friend about these issues recently. In fact, we were discussing increasing the VAT threshold only last night—such are the interesting evenings I…06 Feb 2024HANSARDBankers’ Bonuses: Removal of CapI suspect that when the hon. Gentleman tabled his question, he was not expecting that the biggest supporter of abolishing the bankers’ bonus cap was not the Chancellor but the…06 Feb 2024HANSARDEconomic Growth Forecasts: 2024 and 2025We announced 110 growth measures in the autumn statement. Taken together with the measures in the spring Budget, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility says that they…06 Feb 2024HANSARDEconomic Growth Forecasts: 2024 and 2025May I gently correct the hon. Lady on the IMF? It said that over the next four years, UK growth will be higher than in Germany, France, Italy and Japan. I agree about SNP tax…06 Feb 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsI thank my hon. Friend for asking that question. I am curious to know where that figure of £28 billion has come from, but as she has asked the question, I will tell her that, if…06 Feb 2024HANSARDBusiness Investment: Fiscal MeasuresIf that was being nice, I am relieved that I have not seen the other type of questions that the hon. Member asks. I agree that manufacturing is central to our economic fortunes,…06 Feb 2024HANSARDBusiness Investment: Fiscal MeasuresMy hon. Friend is an assiduous supporter of the many pubs, restaurants and shops in Devon, and I commend him for that support. We will, of course, keep all those measures under…06 Feb 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsI am sure the hon. Lady understands that I cannot talk about what will be in the Budget ahead of the Budget because no decisions have been made. I celebrate with her that the UK…06 Feb 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsWhat I will say to them is that responsible, difficult decisions, the vast majority of which the shadow Chancellor opposed, have seen the inflation rate more than halve and…06 Feb 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsLet me tell the hon. Gentleman some positive messages he can take home to his constituents in Bradford: violent crime and burglaries have been halved, school standards are up, the…06 Feb 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsAs my right hon. Friend knows, as Health Secretary I campaigned for extra money for the NHS to make sure that we could pay NHS staff fairly, but I do believe that junior doctors…06 Feb 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsWith great respect to the right hon. Lady, who has campaigned formidably on this issue, I do not think she is giving a fair representation of what the Government have done. I…06 Feb 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsThe way we are helping families with mortgages is not just through the mortgage charter, which is a lifeline to many families, but by bringing down inflation. We have been having…06 Feb 2024HANSARDBusiness Investment: Fiscal MeasuresMr Speaker, may I add my comments to yours yesterday about His Majesty the King? I wish him and his family well, as well as saluting his courage in being so open about his…06 Feb 2024HANSARDBusiness Investment: Fiscal MeasuresMy hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the pressures caused by business rates. That was why in the autumn statement we introduced the 75% discount for retail, hospitality…06 Feb 2024HANSARDBusiness Investment: Fiscal MeasuresI will always look at anything that helps businesses to grow and expand. I set up and ran my own business for 14 years. Can I gently say to the hon. Lady that it is slightly…06 Feb 2024