Liam Byrne
MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North · Labour · United Kingdom
“The loss of 4,000 jobs at Jaguar Land Rover is a body blow for workers, families and communities across the west midlands, so I commend Richard Parker, the Mayor of the West Midlands, for moving quickly on Monday to put £500,000 on the table to help ensure that everybody gets back to work.”
“I wholeheartedly welcome this well-rounded statement from the Foreign Secretary, and put on record my thanks to the new Prime Minister for the hard yards that I know he has put in over recent days and weeks.”
“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way, and I offer my warmest congratulations to her on her appointment to the role; she will be a brilliant Minister.”
“Let me start with a word of thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for Chester North and Neston (Samantha Dixon), who is not in her place, who said quite rightly that an awful lot has changed since the Bill was first introduced to this House. Indeed, a lot has been revealed over the course of the summer.”
“The effect of new clause 34 would be to ban off-ramping, ban new forms of digital currency transactions and ban memecoins, which are exactly the kind of measures that Ministers now need to bring forward. If we want to take the crypto system out of political finance, this is what we need to do.”
“No doubt we will learn that Mr Cottrell was in fact on the electoral register when that money was passed. No doubt we will discover that his mother, Fiona Cottrell, declared and did not disguise the fact that the money had ultimately come from her son.”
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“In five minutes this afternoon, he has reversed three years of Liberal Democrat policy, of which he was the principal author. What a moment of abject humiliation! He will no doubt claim that the markets forced his hand. These were the markets in which interest rates were falling, not rising, throughout the winter and spring. He claims there is no reason why the Government can assume to carry forward underspends from previous years, despite the fact that, as he well knows, billions are underspent each year, including last year. It is customary on these occasions to ask the Minister a wide range of questions, but I will give him the luxury of answering only one, although I expect a straight answer: how many people will lose their jobs this year as a consequence of what he has just told the House? Do not beat about the bush—tell us how many.”
“I am glad that the decisions that we took on green energy, university modernisation, Airbus, Nissan, Ford, the automotive assistance programme, royal research ships, phase III of the Diamond science programme, the Tyne and Wear metro, the Leeds next generation transport scheme, Manchester Metrolink, the regeneration of Blackpool, accelerated development zones, Olympic park restructuring, hundreds of millions of pounds for the Ministry of Defence, £30 million for children’s hospices and three new hospitals have been reaffirmed. The country and the Liberal Democrats beyond, however, will be aghast this afternoon at the Chief Secretary’s attack on jobs, his attack on construction workers, his attack on industries of the future and the cancellation of a hospital. What could be more front line than that?”
“At the beginning of the week, we heard from Sir Alan Budd, who told us that the outlook for public finances is £30 billion better than expected, but now the Chief Secretary, who cannot even claim the defence of independence, has smashed the coalition’s claim that Labour spent unwisely. The House is united in its ambition to see the deficit paid down quickly. The defence of our country from the global recession did not come cheap, and now the bill must be paid, which is why we set out with such clarity £19 billion of tax increases and £20 billion of detailed spending cuts over the next two years alone. I, too, have reviewed the spending decisions taken since January, and my thanks go to the Treasury staff for facilitating this review.”
“I thank the Chief Secretary for early sight of his statement, which arrived a few moments ago. We were all impressed not to read his conclusions in the newspapers this morning. I congratulate him on his first statement to the House as Chief Secretary. I think that it was George Bernard Shaw who said that sometimes to succeed in politics one must rise above one’s principles—and few have risen so fast and, I now see, so far as the right hon. Gentleman. I start with a word of thanks to the Chief Secretary for finally nailing the myth that Labour generated some kind of scorched-earth policy, of which we heard so much in the first days of the coalition. The projects that he has decided to outline this afternoon amount to just 0.05% of this year’s Government spending.”
“I, too, welcome the Chancellor to his first Treasury questions. I know that he prefers the safety of the Treasury courtyard, but I am sure that the House will be on its best behaviour with him this afternoon. Since the 1970s, almost no country has cut its deficit significantly without increasing inequality. Will he make it a central goal of his deficit reduction plan to ensure that inequality does not rise?”
“On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. May I apologise to you and to right hon. and hon. Members for missing the beginning of the debate? I was unavoidably detained on Treasury business, but I am very sorry for any discourtesy. None was intended.”
“(2) This Resolution does not extend to the making of any amendment with respect to value added tax so as to provide— (a) for zero-rating or exempting a supply, acquisition or importation, (b) for refunding an amount of tax, (c) for any relief, other than a relief that— (i) so far as it is applicable to goods, applies to goods of every description, and (ii) so far as it is applicable to services, applies to services of every description. The Deputy Speaker put forthwith the Questions necessary to dispose of the motions made in the name of the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Standing Order (No. 51(3)).”
“Some shadow Chancellors lack experience and some lack judgment, but this shadow Chancellor lacks both. The truth is that these debates have revealed the Tory party as risky, wrong and unfair. Find me the parent on a modest income who says, “Please scrap my child tax credit. Those 3,000 richest estates desperately need an inheritance tax cut.” Our plan is for securing the recovery and renewing our country, and I commend the Budget to the House. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That— (1) It is expedient to amend the law with respect to the National Debt and the public revenue and to make further provision in connection with finance.”
“increase in the basic state pension from April 2010, and extra help again for winter fuel payments. What a contrast that is to the policies of the Conservative party. It is not a party of change because it has not changed its party. Five years of rebranding cannot hide its attempt to destroy child tax credits. Just to save the £400 million, it needs to make its own sums add up. It would have to cut credits for people earning as little as £16,000 a year. Its plans to cut child trust funds would rip the heart out of the scheme, taking away a scheme that encourages parents and grandparents to save for a child’s future—all to pay for a £200,000 tax cut for the 3,000 richest estates in Britain. The truth is, this was a policy authored by the shadow Chancellor.”
“What a contrast to the Conservative party, which has said that it will cut child tax credits and child trust funds for families on modest incomes, all to pay for a £200,000 tax break for the 3,000 richest estates in Britain. Our Budget seeks to extend help where it is needed and to support aspiration, hard work and families. That is why, for those families seeking to buy their first home, the Budget includes a two-year stamp duty holiday for those first-time buyers of properties of up to £250,000 in value. It helps with targeted support for children. The new child tax credit of £4 a week will help families with children aged one and two from April 2012—a point made by the right hon. Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Miss Widdecombe) earlier. It will extend extra help for Britain’s 12 million pensioners, with a 2.5 per cent.”
“The shadow Chief Secretary is fond of saying that he will take out the bulk of the structural deficit during the next Parliament. Labour’s plans already take out two thirds. Why will not the Conservatives tell us what “bulk” means. What does it look like? How would we recognise it if we saw it? Why do they insist on it being a secret? Why is this bulk being hidden away from us? After all of these debates, we are none the wiser. The Chancellor’s Budget set out an argument for fairness. This Budget was a Budget for the many, not the few. That is why the greatest burden will be carried by those with the broadest shoulders. In our deficit reduction plan, 60 per cent. of the £19 billion in new taxes that we need to secure will be paid for by the top 5 per cent. of earners.”
“This policy from a shadow Chancellor who told us “if you want to cut taxes you can’t simply rely on more buoyant tax revenues, you can’t simply rely on cutting red tape”. The Conservative party now has something of the order of £34 billion of unfunded tax and spending commitments—and counting. Just to meet those promises alone, let alone cut the deficit faster, it will need new tax rises or deeper cuts to front-line public spending. It is a huge credibility gap, which, frankly, it cannot fill. Despite this spiralling loss of control, it persists with the argument that it can cut the deficit further and faster. But it will not say which Departments it will cut next year. It will not say what it will cut next year. It will not say when it will halve the deficit. It will not say how much further it will cut the structural deficit.”
“We are now being invited to believe that he can save £12 billion from Government budgets, although he cannot say which ones—not to pay down debt, but to pay for a tax cut. Even the shadow Chancellor has said that that will cost £5.6 billion, but the Treasury has now costed those increases in national insurance thresholds at £6 billion in 2011-12, £6.3 billion in 2012-13 and 2013-14, and £6.7 billion in 2014-15. Once again he has got his sums wrong. This policy is not a U-turn; it is more of a handbrake turn. Only the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe had the honesty to say that only in the Budget after the election will we know if the national insurance tax cut is affordable.”
“In this Budget, we set out, Department by Department, £16 billion in cuts and efficiencies by 2012-13, on top of which will come £4.5 billion in savings by holding down public sector pay and reforming public sector pensions, as well as £300 million more in welfare reform savings. We do not salivate at the prospect of making those savings. We will do them carefully as we preserve our commitment to protecting front-line spending on the NHS, Sure Start, schools and police numbers. Conservative Members have attacked the clarity of the Budget, but the truth is that this week we have learned a lot about the plans of the Conservative party. Last week, the shadow Chief Secretary said to me that it was impossible to deliver £11 billion in efficiencies in two years’ time. Yesterday, the shadow Chancellor said he could do it in two weeks’ time.”
“That means that borrowing will fall by £78 billion over the next four years: £19 billion will come from increased taxes and £38 billion from cuts in public spending, with the rest coming from a return to growth in the economy. Difficult decisions will be demanded of us, but we will approach that challenge determined to protect vital front-line services—in health, education and police numbers—while we bring borrowing down. Because we blunted the force of the recession, our tax receipts are better than expected. Borrowing this year is £11 billion lower, but our plan to halve the deficit will continue at the same pace. We have already announced tax increases that make up £19 billion in tax by 2013-14.”
“Cable) say that now is not the time to slam on the brakes, as do 186 members of the IMF. Only North Korea and Iran disagree. At the very least, may I ask the shadow Chancellor to listen to his own fiscal adviser, Sir Alan Budd, the former Treasury chief economist? He says: “If you go too quickly then there is a risk that the recovery will be snuffed out”. Mr. Deputy Speaker, you know that you are in trouble when your own adviser starts repeating Labour’s dividing lines. Alongside our plan to secure recovery and growth, the Chancellor set out our plan to halve the deficit. It is the most ambitious plan in the G7. The forecasts set out by the Chancellor show that debt over the next few years will be £100 billion lower than forecast.”
“May I comfort him with the news that we have strengthened protection for temporary workers? The truth is that Conservative Front Benchers are auditioning for the same job without a script. That is the only explanation for why one day the right hon. Member for Witney (Mr. Cameron) says that Greece represents “the scale of the problem we could face”, and the next, the shadow Chief Secretary says “nobody is suggesting that we are going to follow Greece”. One day, the Leader of the Opposition says: “Of course there is a danger if you do too much too early, you could choke off demand.” The next day, the shadow Chief Secretary says, “We’ve got to make a start in 2010.” The IMF, the IFS, UBS, the CBI, two Nobel laureates and, greater still, the hon. Member for Twickenham (Dr.”
“The Engineering Employers Federation—a body not known for its slavish adherence to Labour party orthodoxy—has said that abolishing those allowances “would be a disaster. Any business would have to think twice about investing in the UK.” Did that move the Conservative party? Of course not. As the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) said, ignoring GE and the EEF was the right thing to do because he would not be “seduced by the arguments of losers.” With policy brains such as that at work, it is scarcely a surprise that the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke) has been manoeuvred in to help. As I was casually looking at my favourite new blog, order-order.com, I was surprised to read that at Tory central office the shadow Chancellor’s desk is now listed as “George Osborne/Hotdesk”. Are they trying to send him a message?”
“Then he said that he would stick with our spending plans, and then that he would not. Then he said that he would prioritise the deficit, and now he is back to tax cuts. It was no surprise to hear the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond) tell the BBC, “Of course there is no plan.” He was not kidding. First he got it wrong on regulation, then on banks, then on saving jobs, and now he has got it wrong on helping business. The Tory plan to scrap investment allowances, says the Institute for Fiscal Studies, would “be at the expense of businesses that are investing heavily in the UK.” The international tax adviser to General Electric said it was a “real own goal”.”
“It is why we are creating a £2 billion green investment bank, doubling entrepreneurs’ relief to £2 million, and investing £250 million more in our transport infrastructure. We will not leave recovery to chance, and we will not leave the jobs of tomorrow to the vicissitudes of the marketplace. The Budget puts £2.5 billion towards supporting the jobs of the future—what a contrast to the Opposition! The Leader of the Opposition is fond of saying that his party’s evolution is something of a journey. It would be a good aphorism for his economic policy, as it is a journey that has gone round in circles. Back in 2006, the shadow Chancellor said that stability and not tax cuts was his priority. In 2007, he dropped stability and said that tax cuts were all that mattered.”
“lower than across Europe, and 2 per cent. lower than America. The Chancellor’s action has worked to keep the rates of repossessions and business failures at half of what we saw in the 1990s. So the central argument set out in the Budget has to do with how we build on that action, lock in recovery over the months and years to come, and secure growth. That is why the Budget puts up public spending for the year ahead, rather than cuts it. That is why it widens the help for business cash flow, and why we are taking sweeping measures to increase lending to small and medium-sized businesses. It is why we are extending the offer of a job to every young person out of work for six months, and why we are bringing together £4 billion of new investment in small businesses.”
“Friend the Member for Crawley (Laura Moffatt), while others welcomed the investment in schools, the point made by my right hon. Friend the Member for Rother Valley (Mr. Barron). The hon. Member for Leominster (Bill Wiggin) made a powerful argument in support of the cider industry, and this afternoon the hon. Member for Northampton, South (Mr. Binley) flagged the impact on pubs. This morning, the Office for National Statistics confirmed that the British economy grew not by 0.1 per cent., or indeed 0.3 per cent., at the end of last year, but by 0.4 per cent., which is faster than Germany, Italy and across the European area. We must, of course, remain cautious, but it is fresh and welcome evidence that the action taken by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor has worked. That action has kept unemployment in this country down. It is 2 per cent.”
“Salmond) in his final contribution to debates in this House. Others, however, have welcomed this Budget for its help for manufacturing and business, and for its investment in their communities. My right hon. Friends the Members for Sheffield, Central (Mr. Caborn) and for Barrow and Furness (Mr. Hutton), as well as the hon. Member for Teignbridge (Richard Younger-Ross), my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Attercliffe (Mr. Betts) and the hon. Member for Upper Bann (David Simpson), echoed that point. This afternoon, my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Andrew Mackinlay) made the same point in his valedictory speech, as did my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, North-East (Mr. Purchase). Others welcomed the Budget’s investment in infrastructure such as Thameslink, which was the point made by my hon.”
“I know that all Members of the House will join me in wishing him a long and enjoyable retirement. Over the course of these debates, some hon. Members have argued for a faster pace of deficit reduction. We heard contributions on that from the right hon. and learned Member for Devizes (Mr. Ancram), and from the hon. Members for Stratford-on-Avon (Mr. Maples), for Gainsborough (Mr. Leigh), for Stone (Mr. Cash) and for Bournemouth, East (Mr. Ellwood). We also heard this afternoon from the hon. Member for South Staffordshire (Sir Patrick Cormack), who was making his last contribution in this place, and he was echoed by the hon. Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell).Others, on the other hand, argued that the stimulus provided in the Budget was insufficient. That was the argument as set out by the right hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr.”
“I am grateful for your guidance, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I was about start on a note of consensus, by agreeing with the shadow Chief Secretary that we have had four days of full and frank debate about the Budget. I should like to begin my words of congratulation with a tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for West Dunbartonshire (John McFall). He is not in his place at the moment, but he has made a significant contribution, just as he has contributed to economic debates in this House over the last 22 years—and not least during the eight years in which has chaired the Treasury Committee. My right hon. Friend outlined the importance of the Budget’s measures to support small business, and he endorsed the view that to end Government support for small business now would be nothing short of inviting disaster.”
“In the past year more than 3.5 million people have been helped off benefits and back into work, while more than 300,000 people have been helped to stay in their homes and more than 160,000 businesses have been helped to defer more than £5 billion in taxes. Together, those measures have helped our economy return to growth.”
“I am pleased that because of the measures that we have taken over the past year, unemployment in my hon. Friend’s constituency is not only lower than the UK average, but lower than the average for Yorkshire and the Humber. Thanks to the Government help that has been put in place, the partnerships to which she referred have now delivered more than 350 jobs to the local community. We have no plans to take away that support, which is helping to get people back into work. We still provide the young person’s guarantee which helps young people to obtain jobs when they have been out of work for six months, and extra help is also available to those aged over 25 who are in that position.”
“I congratulate my hon. Friend on the consistency with which he has championed that project over the past few years. It will make a great deal of difference to the local economy: I understand that it is worth 4,000 or 5,000 jobs to his area. As he will know, the Government have brought forward some £3 billion of capital expenditure to help fight the effects of the recession. I understand that the Departments for Transport and for Communities and Local Government have received an inspector’s report on the bridge, and I will continue to press my colleagues for an early decision.”
“The hon. Gentleman has been in the House long enough to know that tax decisions are matters for the Chancellor, who presents them to the House in both the pre-Budget report and the Budget. We will not cut support for the economy this year, unlike the Conservative party. Once growth is locked in, we will take action to halve the deficit over the next four years. What we will not do is make the commitment made this morning by the shadow Business Secretary, the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke), to bring down the deficit to 3 per cent. by 2014-15—a step that would take another £20 billion out of public spending over the medium term.”
“Over the past year, steps have been taken not only to increase the basic state pension, but to increase the support available through pension credit. We have increased the disregard in the pensions system to put more money into pensioners’ pockets, and they will also have benefited from VAT cuts over the past year which have put about £1 billion into the pockets of consumers throughout the country.”
“Gentleman does not wish to listen to those organisations, however, perhaps he will listen to his own economic adviser, Alan Budd, who has said: “If you go too quickly, then there is a risk that the recovery will be snuffed out and we will go back into a recession. I mean, what do the Americans say? ‘Remember 1937.’” I hope that the shadow Chief Secretary will heed that advice.”
“The argument that the shadow Chief Secretary seeks to advance is one that he has rehearsed over the past year. In his opinion, it would be right to start to cut public spending now, before the recovery is locked in. If he is so interested in the views of business leaders and others, let me quote a couple. Richard Lambert has said: “I think the Government is right to say that it would be a bad idea to slam on the brakes right now because the economy’s still… fragile.” The Institute for Fiscal Studies has said: “it doesn’t make sense to announce more tax increases or spending cuts that would take effect over the course of the coming year.” That argument has been reinforced by the International Monetary Fund. If the hon.”
“We could carry on trading quotes from business leaders, but the International Monetary Fund, the Bank of England and respected economists such as the chief economist of UBS have all made it clear that this year would be the wrong year to start making cuts. The hon. Gentleman is, I think, reaffirming the argument made this morning by the shadow Business Secretary, which is that another £20 billion should be cut from public spending. Will the hon. Gentleman deny that today? [Interruption.] Will he issue a statement denying that today? It appears that the shadow Chancellor and the shadow Business Secretary are now auditioning for the same job, but the problem is that they are using a different script.”
“I am very grateful for your judgment, Mr. Speaker; I shall answer Question 4 directly. The Chancellor will provide an update on the Government’s fiscal position, including forecasts for public finance, at the Budget. The Fiscal Responsibility Act 2010 puts a legal obligation on the Government to more than halve the deficit over four years and have debt falling by 2015-16.”
“We were clear in the pre-Budget report about our belief that £19 billion-worth of tax increases need to be secured over the next few years. We have not caveated our language with the kind of dissembling that we have seen in some quarters about whether proposals on national insurance contributions will be reversed or implemented. Alongside those proposals, we have said that £38 billion-worth of cuts and efficiency savings also need to be secured. We have been clear about our plans to halve the deficit—I hope that the Conservative party will match that clarity.”
“I think that the European Commission made the wrong decision by saying to the United Kingdom that we should reduce the deficit to 3 per cent. of GDP by 2014-15. That would entail a cut of well above £20 billion in public spending or commensurate tax increases. In the pre-Budget report we set out deliberately how we would save £20 billion of current spending over the next four years: £4.8 billion of that would come through savings on pay and pensions; there would be £5 billion of cuts to departmental expenditure limits; and £11 billion of it would come through the reorganisation of Whitehall and doing things more efficiently in the future. We set that out clearly in chapter 6 of the pre-Budget report.”
“We are very clear that what is in the interests of the United Kingdom economy—I believe that the hon. Gentleman has made this argument before—is rebalancing our economy in the years to come and having an investment and export-led recovery. No one country can secure that policy acting on its own, which is why international trade reform is part and parcel of our approach to the agenda for the G20 over the year to come. The truth is that if American savers carry on saving at today’s rates we will not be able to rely on them to drive growth in the global economy in the way that they have done in the past.”
“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Over the past year, 22 million people have benefited from tax cuts because of measures we have introduced. Up to 500,000 jobs have been protected, more than 160,000 businesses have been helped with their cash flow and 120,000 jobs have been provided through the future jobs fund. That has all been possible because of the measures that we took over the course of the past year. It would have been impossible to sustain those steps had we followed the advice of the Opposition.”
“What a non-question. What I did last week was set out very clearly proposals for how, over the next four years, we will increase taxes by about £19 billion. They are difficult decisions that no Chancellor wants to implement, but none the less they are decisions that we have faced up to. Alongside that, we have said that we will reduce spending on day-to-day public services, but we will not take precipitate action as proposed by the Opposition. We will lock in the recovery, not put it at risk, as proposed by the Opposition.”
“Not just my hon. Friends agree with our approach. My hon. Friend and others may convey it in different language, but that approach is supported not only by the International Monetary Fund but by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, UBS, the CBI, two Nobel economists, the hon. Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable) —on occasion—and the independent fiscal forecaster for the Conservative party, Sir Alan Budd.”
“The Government have introduced a significant package of support to help young people into work quickly. This includes the £1.3 billion young person’s guarantee of a job, and up to £1,000 for businesses that recruit unemployed young people.”
“I will take that as another Budget submission, but just to be clear with the hon. Gentleman, the young person’s guarantee is already providing jobs and work experience and training for those aged 16 to 24 who have been out of work for six months. From April this year, if a young person has been out of work for 10 months, they need actually to take that job or that training opportunity, or the community service on offer. We have already provided access to 120,000 jobs for young people through the future jobs fund, paid at the national minimum wage, together with 120,000 pre-employment training places.”
“We can, and partly because of the extra resources that have been put in place in jobcentres, many thousands more people have been added to the strength of that particular front line. That obviously increases the personalisation of the service that jobcentres can offer, and it is part of the reason that 3.5 million people have been helped off jobseeker’s allowance and into jobs over the past year.”
“Experience suggests that general national insurance cuts and wage support have very limited impact on employment. Of course, taking those national insurance contributions out of the forward programme for tax would leave a £7 billion hole in the tax base. The Conservative party has yet to come clean with the public about how it intends to fill that gap.”
“of GDP in 2014-15, because that would require taking out something like an extra £20 billion to £30 billion of public spending—a strategy that has not been renounced by the Opposition Front Bench this afternoon.”
“I have merely set out the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor at the pre-Budget report about how we plan to halve the deficit over the next four years by raising taxes by £19 billion. We will do so in a fair way, unlike the Opposition, if they ever get into power, by ensuring that half the taxes that we raise fall on the shoulders of the top 5 per cent. of earners. Alongside that, we will cut capital and current spending by £38 billion. In that way, we will halve the deficit over four years, as set out by the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2010. What we will not do is pursue the Opposition’s approach, which is to introduce cuts now and put the economy into a double-dip recession. We will not follow the approach set out by the shadow Business Secretary this morning by reducing our deficit to 3 per cent.”
“If I were asked to take £25 billion out of public spending, I would merely point out that that would involve halving the education budget or increasing VAT to 23 per cent.”
“I said this morning that we think the European Commission is wrong to say that we should be trying to reduce our deficit to 3 per cent. of GDP by 2014-15, which is the timetable proposed by the Commission. I look forward to members of the shadow Front-Bench team confirming that that is their position, too.”
“We have repaired the salaries of public service workers in this country. Over the past decade, public sector wages have risen by about 25 per cent., but at a time like this we think it is important that senior leaders in the public sector show an example, which is why, in our evidence to the Senior Salaries Review Body, we recommended a pay rise of 0 per cent. That was the rise that we implemented across the board last week.”
“At the risk of repeating myself, we said that over the next four years we will halve the deficit—we have not seen a plan as clear as that from the Conservative party—and we said that we would do that in a fair way. We said that in part we would need to raise taxes, and we set out very clearly how £19 billion of taxes needs to be secured, alongside spending cuts. I hope that during the next week or two we will see a plan of equal clarity from the Conservatives, and I hope that as part of that plan they will renounce the proposal that the shadow Business Secretary set out this morning to take another £29 billion out of public spending by 2014.”