Former Labour MP for North Tyneside
In fact, I was about to launch a separate attack, not that particular one. There is a serious point to be made about public spending. The thrust of the speech that I made on Saturday was that it is the responsibility of all political parties, before the upcoming general election, to be clear about where spending reductions will fall, and that it would be a fraud on the electorate to fail to...
It is always a pleasure to follow a fellow pro-European in the form of the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke). The Budget and the Queen's Speech are the two moments in the parliamentary calendar that allow the Government of the day to define their priorities, restate their values and give political direction to their time in office. That is especially important in this...
The hon. Gentleman will be delighted to hear that I will focus most of my contribution on the 50p tax rate. However, before I come on to that, I express my regret that not enough was done to address child poverty. I know that this has been a difficult Budget, with limited room for manoeuvre, but we had a clear target of reducing child poverty by half by 2010. We could have done an awful lot...
We can tackle child poverty in a number of ways, but I am not sure that my hon. Friend's prescription is the right way forward. I was about to make a point that reflects comments that he has made in the past: focus groups are not always right. On this occasion, over-reliance on such a popular measure for the moment—we understand the circumstances in which such a proposal is thought to be...
That is simply not true, as the hon. Gentleman will know. I was making a serious point about the breaking of a key pledge in the 1997 manifesto. We repeated that pledge in 2001 and 2005, for good reason. For many years to come, the Labour party will regret that a manifesto pledge on tax was broken in such a way, and broken literally a few weeks before a general election. If the 50p tax rate...
I hope that my right hon. Friend is right. That is why I am raising my concerns about the fact that there have been mixed messages from the Government. The Chancellor is clear that for him, the 50p rate is a short-term measure, not a permanent fixture of the tax regime. Other members of the Cabinet are saying other things. We members of the Labour party need clarity about the direction in...
rose—
I do not want to question Rachel Sylvester's normally accurate reporting, but I understand that it was a 50-minute intervention. [ Laughter. ]
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in North Tyneside whose occupation is registered as electrician or electrical fitter are receiving jobseeker's allowance.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects to sign the co-production treaty concerning the film industry with the Government of Israel.
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will amend the tax credit system to reflect the respective financial contribution by parents who have separated towards the cost of raising their children.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 18 May 2009, Official Report, column 1163W, on immigration, whether the UK Border Agency has obtained the further information needed in order to be able to decide the immigration case of Mrs Mohinder Kaur.
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will provide additional funding to Tyne Metropolitan College for the purposes of (a) avoiding redundancies and (b) maintaining numbers of available courses.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to make a decision on the immigration case of Mrs Mohinder Kaur.
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what his most recent assessment is of the progress made by the European Investment Bank to (a) Nissan and (b) Jaguar Land Rover in agreeing terms for financial assistance; on what date he estimates the financial assistance will be made available; and if he will make a statement.
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many Civil Service jobs have been re-located from London to (a) Wales, (b) Scotland, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) each English region in (i) 2006-07, (ii) 2007-08 and (iii) 2008-09.
