James Plaskitt: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to make my maiden speech in this debate. It allows me to confirm, especially for the benefit of the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke), that the Budget measures introduced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor are welcomed throughout the constituency of Warwick and Leamington, which I have the honour to...
James Plaskitt: I shall be happy to confine my remarks to the order. I congratulate the Minister for Local Government and Housing on her decision with regard to Warwickshire. That decision is welcome news for my constituents and will be welcomed throughout the whole county. I thank her for receiving our cross-party delegation, and I thank her and her officials for listening carefully to our arguments....
James Plaskitt: I am grateful for that intervention; I was about to make precisely that point.
James Plaskitt: The help, as the hon. Gentleman regards it, came in the form of credit approvals and was very much a temporary respite. The measures that the Government have introduced are beginning to channel extra money into Oxfordshire for education. They are, of course, extremely welcome, but they are only a trickle when compared to the gaping hole in the bottom of the bucket which is caused solely by...
James Plaskitt: What representations he has received from employees' representatives on his policy to spend the proceeds of the windfall tax on a welfare-to-work programme. [21065]
James Plaskitt: I also welcome the introduction of the welfare-to-work scheme in the pilot areas. However, looking forward to the time when the scheme goes nationwide, can my hon. Friend confirm that many substantial employers in my constituency, Warwick and Leamington, have expressed a commitment to participate in the scheme, and that their involvement will be vital to bring opportunities for work and...
James Plaskitt: I welcome the fact that we are having a debate on such an important issue, and the serious and constructive tone in which it is being conducted. Child Support Agency cases quickly emerged as a major element of my work as a newly elected Member. I am sure that that is also the experience of all recently elected colleagues. In the first few months of being in office, I collected no fewer than...
James Plaskitt: This debate is about credibility, and it was audacious, not to say foolhardy, of the Conservative party to choose tax as the topic for debate. Perhaps it was a form of aversion therapy, given its record and the electorate's recent judgment on it. I should have thought that a period of silent contemplation might be more appropriate. Instead, we have an attempt to create a smokescreen, as one...
James Plaskitt: I was just going on to contrast the record of the Tory party on VAT with my party's record. My party has never increased the general rate of VAT. In fact, once before, we cut it; and in the lifetime of this new Government, we have already cut the rate on fuel and power. The inescapable conclusion is that only Labour Governments can be trusted on VAT. We deliver on our VAT election pledges....
James Plaskitt: Doesmy hon. Friend not she accept that since the Government granted independence to the Bank of England, long-term interest rates have consistently fallen and are at their lowest for more than 30 years, and that that is the pointer for the future movement of interest rates, rather than what has happened over the past few months?
James Plaskitt: Having listened to the hon. Member for Grantham and Stamford (Mr. Davies), I can conclude only that he has misread his Ladybird book of economics. It is time to return to both reality and brevity. I welcome my right hon. Friend's Budget statement this afternoon. As I have had time to study the Red Book, the tests that I apply—
James Plaskitt: No, not at this stage. The first tests that I have applied to my right hon. Friend's Budget statement involve assessing its contents against the needs of my constituents and my constituency. The Budget statement responds very well and effectively to those needs and I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his achievement. I began by assessing the Budget in terms of its impact on the 3,200...
James Plaskitt: Does my right hon. Friend agree that the lobby held yesterday against the Child Support Agency reflects growing concern that the agency has failed many families and children? Will he assure the House that the Government review will be completed as speedily as possible; and that it will concentrate first and foremost on the interests of children?
James Plaskitt: Over the Easter weekend, there was some severe flooding in Leamington Spa in my constituency, causing millions of pounds worth of damage to private and commercial properties. We were grateful for a visit from the Deputy Prime Minister, which happened very quickly, but there are outstanding issues to be dealt with in the aftermath: financial assistance for local authorities that are now...
James Plaskitt: Does the hon. Lady not see the dangerous logic in her argument? She is in effect arguing that law breakers should be allowed to dictate the Government's fiscal policy.
James Plaskitt: I have listened to the right hon. Gentleman's protestations about the merits of low tax, as he sees it. Is it not the case, however, that, after the Conservatives' 18 years of government, the proportion of tax raised from income tax was the same as it had been at the start of that period?
James Plaskitt: If the tax sums add up, why do the Liberal Democrat proposals imply an increase in borrowing of £23.5 billion?
James Plaskitt: And even larger houses.
James Plaskitt: Auctions.
James Plaskitt: I welcome the Minister's statement and the Government's response to the Bye report. In my constituency, Warwick district council appreciates the swift response of the Bellwin scheme. The Minister's comments on compensation for the county council under that scheme were welcome news. Royal Leamington Spa was badly affected by flooding and was the subject of a special report within the Bye...