Felicity Buchan: (a) The costs for the former Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng’s travel to Washington DC for IMF Annual Meetings was £8,533.56. (b) The costs for the former Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng’s one special advisor travel to Washington DC was £4,459.56. (c) The costs for the four civil servants that accompanied the former Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, to Washington DC was £17,746.58
Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Equitable Life Payment Scheme will respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Kwasi Kwarteng) of 10 May 2012 on behalf of a constituent with an outstanding case.
Kwasi Kwarteng: What steps his Department is taking to reduce the level of the budget deficit.
Kwasi Kwarteng: That is the whole point-that happened because of grade inflation. The results reached a high every year for 13 years. One must conclude that either students are getting much cleverer or exams are getting easier. You take your choice. [Interruption.]
Kwasi Kwarteng: With respect, the idea that, somehow, our wealth was purely predicated on Government spending is exactly the principle that Conservative Members have problems with.
Kwasi Kwarteng: In a debate that took place yesterday, the Minister for Universities and Science pointed out that manufacturing had collapsed even further under the Labour Government than under 18 years of the Conservative Government. I quote from memory, but it went from some 22% to 18% of GDP between 1979 and 1997, and had decreased to some 11% by 2009.
Kwasi Kwarteng: What does the hon. Lady think about the sovereign debt crisis in Greece, to which my right hon. Friend the Chancellor referred in his Budget statement?
Kwasi Kwarteng: What does the right hon. Gentleman think about the remarks written down by his party's former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Mr Byrne), who said, I believe, "There is no more money"?
Kwasi Kwarteng: To what degree does the right hon. Lady believe that the previous Labour Government were responsible for the massive budget deficit that we face?
Kwasi Kwarteng: Will the hon. Gentleman clarify his basic position? Does he believe that in principle corporations ought to pay more tax than they are paying already?
That Angie Bray, Lilian Greenwood, Mr Tom Harris, Kelvin Hopkins, Kwasi Kwarteng, Mr John Leech, Paul Maynard, Angela Smith, Iain Stewart and Julian Sturdy be members of the Transport Committee.
Kwasi Kwarteng: Does the hon. Gentleman believe that the content of the Bill differs significantly from legislation produced and speeches made by the former Prime Minister, the former Member for Sedgefield?
Kwasi Kwarteng: Those of us who have looked at bond yields will have noticed that the tightening-as it called-of British bonds actually happened in April. That happened as a consequence of the markets being sure that the Labour Government would be voted out, as everyone in the City has mentioned.
Kwasi Kwarteng: I am unclear about the hon. Gentleman's position on the status quo. Does he believe that the system is sustainable at current levels, given the economic climate?
Kwasi Kwarteng: Many Conservative Members would broadly agree with my hon. Friend's sentiments; I do not believe there is much division among us on the matter. What practical steps does he think Her Majesty's Government can take to stop the grotesque expansion in the budget?
Kwasi Kwarteng: What does the hon. Lady think was the reason behind our deficit being worse than that of every other country in the G20?
Kwasi Kwarteng: I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way. The House is unclear about Labour's position on the cap. Labour Members have accepted that there is a need for public spending restraint, but Government Members want to know whether they think the cap is fair or not.
Kwasi Kwarteng: The hon. Gentleman's comments seem to be a diatribe against all referendums anywhere and are not specific to the Bill. Of course a referendum is populist; it is the most direct form of gauging the popular will. The approach of his argument seems a complete waste of time.
Kwasi Kwarteng: I will have my say-don't worry.
Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to minimise the cost of interpretation in the court system.
