John Glen
MP for Salisbury · Conservative · United Kingdom
“I welcome the Chief Secretary to her new position, but what words of comfort could she give the residents of Salisbury in Wiltshire, a unitary authority? We are not part of a combined authority and we do not have a metro mayor.”
“Sam Moody is my constituent. He is the chief executive of Rockhopper. During my time in this House, he has been absolutely scrupulous in following the laws of this country and respecting the Falkland Islanders.”
“I listened carefully to what the Minister said about the process, and I respect that. But most people who take a pretty level-headed, pragmatic view of the need for a transition over time still cannot get their heads around the short-term reality: when we have so much turmoil in the middle east, why would we extend the time that we are no…”
“It is 55 days till the Budget. Given the market’s reaction to the Prime Minister’s statement on Tuesday, and given that our gilt rates are higher than those of our peers in the G7, could we have a debate on the implications of higher taxes for growth?”
“Before the hon. Lady makes her statement on Thursday, will she, when reflecting on the arrangement in Wiltshire that would embrace Wessex—although we have been told that that is not the Government’s view—address the prevailing concern that the people of rural Wiltshire will be considerably worse off without having the opportunity to embra…”
“I recognise that the Minister wants to come to what the Government are going to do, but does he not accept that the decisions already made in the last two years—with respect to the price of employment and the national living wage, the cost of employment with regard to legislation, and business rates—have depressed the appetite of many sma…”
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“We plan to increase the rates of the immigration health surcharge, which have been frozen for the past three years, despite high inflation and wider pressures facing the economy and the system in general, to ensure that it covers the full healthcare costs of those who pay it. Under our plans, the main rate will increase to £1,035, and the discounted rate for students and under-18s will increase to £776. That increase to the surcharge will help to fund the pay rise for doctors. At the same time, we will increase fees across a range of immigration and nationality routes, including for people coming here to live, work and study at a time of record high migration numbers.”
“To do so would be fiscally irresponsible, increasing national debt, passing the buck to future generations, weakening the foundations of our economy and further fuelling inflation. There will be no new borrowing or spending to fund the awards. More borrowing would simply add more pressure on inflation at exactly the wrong time, risking higher interest rates and higher mortgage rates. Instead, the awards will be funded through a combination of the significant provision for pay that was made at the last spending review, greater efficiency, and reprioritisation. Departments will be reprioritising within existing budgets and driving further efficiencies to focus spending where it delivers the greatest value. We will also take sound choices to maximise income.”
“Our 6.5% pay award for teachers will be fully funded, with the Government providing £525 million of additional funding for schools in 2023-24 and a further £900 million in 2024-25. In order to achieve this, we are reprioritising within the Department for Education’s existing budget to deliver this additional funding to schools while protecting frontline services. Alongside generous uplifts, today’s deal strikes a balance. It is a fair deal, which recognises the anxiety caused by cost of living pressures, supports recruitment and retention, and delivers one of the highest settlements in three decades. However, it is also fiscally responsible, and delivers pay rises that are broadly in line with the private sector. It would be neither fair nor affordable to meet unsustainable demands for pay rises well into double digits.”
“The lowest-paid armed forces will see a pay rise of over £2,000, and the starting salary of a junior doctor will rise by more than £3,000. That comes alongside our “Agenda for Change” deal, which delivered a 5% pay rise, along with one-off awards worth more than £3,600 for the average nurse and more than £3,700 for the average ambulance worker. Specifically, this means policing will receive a 7% headline uplift. NHS consultants, speciality and specialist doctors, salaried dentists and salaried GPs will receive uplifts of 6% this year. Junior doctors will also receive a 6% uplift, as well as an additional consolidated £1,250 increase. Prison officers in the operational bands will receive a pay increase of 7%, with larger increases for support grades. Armed forces will receive a 5% uplift, with an additional consolidated £1,000 increase.”
“Yet our decision is responsible because, unlike some unsustainable demands, we have delivered awards that do not further fuel inflation and make the inflationary environment worse. We said we would accept the outcome of the public pay review bodies, and that is exactly what we will do. We will do so because we are proud of our world-class public servants and owe them a debt of gratitude for their service through the last few years, including through the pandemic. Our police officers work tirelessly to keep this country safe, our armed forces defend us, our doctors and nurses make sacrifices to save lives, and our teachers go to school day in, day out to educate our children. All of them, and many more across many sectors, play a vital role in society. With these contributions in mind, new teachers will start on at least £30,000.”
“Inflation is currently at 8.7% in May, and core inflation stood at 7.1% in the 12 months to May 2023—the highest for 30 years. It is making everything from groceries and clothes to petrol and transport more expensive, so we must and we will do everything we can to tackle inflation. The best tax cut there is is a cut to inflation, and that means we must take responsible decisions on the public finances, including public sector pay, because more borrowing is itself inflationary. According to recent International Monetary Fund estimates, advanced economies that increased public expenditure by 1 percentage point, which would mean £25 billion for the UK, saw inflation rise by half a percentage point.”
“With permission, I will make a statement on the steps His Majesty’s Government are taking to deliver sound money while providing a fair deal to public sector workers. Today, I can announce that the Government have accepted the headline recommendations of the independent pay review bodies in full. We are doing this while abiding by sound money, which, as the Chancellor said at Mansion House on Monday this week, is our No. 1 focus. We cannot grow our economy or reduce the heavy burden of national debt without first cutting high, persistent inflation. Inflation makes every person in this country poorer. It is the most insidious tax rise there is, and that is why the Prime Minister has made it this Government’s priority to halve it this year.”
“Gentleman also sets out some questions about waiting lists. I recognise the challenges faced in the NHS, which is why it is one of the Prime Minister’s top priorities. We have made real progress with the virtual elimination of the two-year waits, and 18-month waits are down by 90%, but I acknowledge that there is more work to be done. The £2.4 billion invested in the workforce plan will make a considerable contribution to that. The productivity review that the Chancellor tasked me with leading a few weeks ago will look further at how we can drive more efficiencies in how we spend public money. I will finish my initial response by reiterating to the House that the decisions we have made today mean no new borrowing, no cuts to the frontline, no new taxes and no negative impact on inflationary pressures.”
“Labour did not take those difficult decisions between 2008 and 2010, and that was the situation we were in when, I believe, he was attending Cabinet. The right hon. Gentleman made some other observations about the economy. I am aware of the record growth over the past two years. I acknowledge the challenges we face at this point in time, and I have set them out in full with respect to inflation, but we have gone through a pandemic, where we borrowed significant sums of money. When we came out of that pandemic, we found ourselves in the first war in Europe for several generations. That is the context that the people of this country understand. I have set out clearly all the implications for each workforce, and there will obviously be a series of written ministerial statement from each Government Department. The right hon.”
“It is not clear to me or, I think, to the House as a whole whether the right hon. Gentleman accepts the Government’s acceptance of the pay review bodies’ recommendations in full today. He seems to have written his speech as a general critique of the Government’s economic policy, without addressing what matters most to public sector workers up and down the country, which is that we have listened carefully to the evidence-based advice, as is typical over the past 13 years, and agreed with all those recommendations. The right hon. Gentleman paints a picture of the last Labour Government and projects forward, as if it were utopia. That is why Labour did not win the 2010 general election and why one of my predecessors said there was no money left.”
“My hon. Friend makes some sensible points, and he is absolutely right on the pension changes that we announced in the Budget, which the British Medical Association had been for a long time asking for, and it welcomed them. For clarity, I should make it clear that health and care workers remain exempt from the immigration health surcharge. He speaks a lot of wisdom about potential refinements to the timetable, and we will look at those carefully.”
“It is a clear decision to take necessary steps to avoid additional borrowing, and to meet the outcomes and the numbers that derive from the PRBs, which give evidence-based advice to the Government. This is a careful set of judgments. Clearly they will not please everyone, but we have to make decisions in the interests of the whole economy at this time.”
“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his questions. I think we can agree to disagree on some of that. What we have to understand is that if we look at the growth levels over the past two years in the G7, this economy and this country have performed well. He makes a number of points. People are getting weary of this constant refrain around Brexit. There are people who voted for Brexit and people who did not; it has happened, and we will now take every step we can to maximise the benefits and opportunities and the greater discretion that we have consequential of that decision. With respect to the specific questions about visa fees, I am sure that my colleagues in the Home Office will publish those in due course. This is a carefully calibrated decision; it is not motivated by political dogma.”
“Member for Wolverhampton South East needs to come to terms with that, because the British people will in due course.”
“Yes, I can. I have written to every spending Minister in the past week. I will be having conversations with them and wider representatives about what can be done differently to drive savings and more productivity from the taxpayers’ money that we spend across Whitehall. To return to my hon. Friend’s previous point, I draw his attention and that of the House to what the International Monetary Fund said. For every additional £25 billion of spending, that is 0.5% on inflation. If Labour’s plan is to spend an additional £28 billion—Labour might say that it will be a bit later on in the Parliament, and it might be an attempt to outwit the Government on the massive leadership that we have shown on green finance and the green economy—that would be inflationary. The shadow Chief Secretary, the right hon.”
“We have got record levels of migration at this time. At the Budget, we set out a clear plan to get more people in this country back into the workplace, with a number of interventions through the Department for Work and Pensions and the health service. We have had to make a fine judgment around those fees in the context of not borrowing any more money. If the Liberal Democrats wish to be taken seriously as a party of government, they will have to make the numbers add up.”
“As ever, my hon. Friend is spot on. Everything that he said is absolutely correct. This is a significant pay settlement for teachers, and I hope that in due course we will learn that striking workforces will end their action and we can look forward with confidence to the autumn term.”
“I do not accept the hon. Member’s characterisation of the long-term fiscal risk to the economy. What I do accept is that we need to take tough decisions. It seems to me that he is saying what a significant tranche of the Labour party still believes: we can borrow, borrow, borrow and, in due course, if Labour ever gets into government, it will raise taxes sequentially, as happened previously.”
“I absolutely agree. That is indeed what we expect to see in the coming days. This is a tough decision based on evidence as well as what is right for the economy and the public sector as a whole. I hope that that is what happens in the coming hours and days.”
“I do not accept virtually anything that he said. What I do accept is that the whole of the world is dealing with massive inflation pressures, and if we look across the continent of Europe, we see very similar figures. Of course, they differ in some respects, but the Government are determined to bring inflation down, and today’s decisions are another contribution on that journey to halve inflation this year.”
“The first step today has been to ensure that we are not borrowing any more to make the settlement work. The productivity review that will take place in the coming days and weeks leading up to the autumn statement will be a key element of that. I have not wanted to set a target for that, because I will be looking everywhere to find better ways of spending taxpayers’ money to ensure that we deliver the services and commitments we set out at the spending review in the most efficient and effective way.”
“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. I think he welcomes what we have decided to do with the 6.5% pay increase, which leaves a typical teacher with £44,300. We are reprioritising within the Department for Education’s existing budget to deliver the additional funding to schools, but we are protecting core schools funding and frontline services. We have put in additional sums of money through the spending review and subsequent fiscal events: £330 million in 2023-24 and £550 million in 2024-25. The numbers add up, and he will recognise that. [Official Report, 17 July 2023, Vol. 736, c. 10MC.]”
“I say respectfully to the hon. Lady that we have taken a number of interventions and made a number of decisions across the board, and that does not just mean a single percentage—I set out the percentages across different workforces in some detail—and sometimes, such as within education, those distributions are designed to give more uplift to those at the lower levels. I am happy to correspond with her on anything specific that she wants to bring to my attention, obviously within the devolution framework.”
“The Government have an extensive programme led by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. I am sure that he would be happy to set out the further work he is doing in advance of the autumn statement.”
“As a result of rising prices, central banks around the world, including in the United States, Japan, New Zealand and the European Union, have been raising interest rates in order to force down the rate of price rises. As all Members will be aware, last week, the Bank of England’s independent Monetary Policy Committee raised rates to 5%. Let me say at the outset that the Bank of England and its Monetary Policy Committee has the full support and confidence of this Government, and will continue to do so as it takes whatever action is necessary to return inflation to the 2% target in the medium term. As the Chancellor was clear when addressing this place yesterday, he will not take action that undermines the Bank of England’s monetary objectives.”
“I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from “House” to the end of the Question and add: “welcomes the Government’s drive to halve inflation, grow the economy and reduce debt; particularly welcomes the Government’s new Mortgage Charter which has been agreed by 85 per cent of the residential mortgage market and will provide support to mortgage holders through new commitments and flexibilities to help borrowers who are anxious about rising interest rates; notes the extensive package of cost of living support to help families with rising prices, worth an average of £3,300 per household including direct cash payments to the eight million most vulnerable households; and further believes that Labour’s policies to manage the economy would be inflationary, lead to higher interest rates and put more pressure on mortgage holders and renters.” After two decades of low inflation, the world has been confronted with a bout of fast-growing prices, and we are not alone.”
“I am here to account for what has happened in the UK. Obviously, there are differences— [Interruption.] If I may answer. There are differences across the EU and the US. What I am telling the House, which is quite transparently clear, is that inflationary pressures are affecting all economies at the moment, and it is my responsibility to account for what we are doing as a Government.”
“I wish to make more progress. Where there are non-inflationary measures that we can take to relieve the anxiety faced by families, we will do so and we will do everything we can to address the situation. That is why, on Friday, the Chancellor met the UK’s principal mortgage lenders, alongside senior representatives from the Financial Conduct Authority and UK Finance, to agree new support for those struggling with their mortgage payments.”
“I will come on to set out in detail what arrangements we have made. As the Chancellor set out pretty clearly yesterday, we will hear in the next couple of weeks the details of that agreement, which includes a growing number of lenders—it currently covers 85% of lenders in the country.”
“If they want to switch to an interest-only mortgage or extend their mortgage term to reduce their monthly payments, they will be able to do so with the option of switching back to their original mortgage deal within six months without a new affordability check or affecting their credit score. For most people, the right course of action will be to continue to make payments on their current mortgage. Keeping up full repayments means that they will pay less interest overall. But this new measure means that people will be able to opt for a lower-cost approach for six months with full reversibility, giving them the peace of mind of knowing that they can try out a new approach and still change their mind later on.”
“I wish to make some more progress and then I will take some interventions in a moment. At that meeting on Friday, the Chancellor secured agreement from lenders to a new mortgage charter, which we published yesterday. It sets out what support customers will receive. We are proud to say that, over the weekend, more lenders signed up to the charter, and we encourage further lenders to join that 85% of mortgage market providers. The charter provides support for two groups of people in particular. The first group is those who are worried about their mortgage repayments.”
“I hope that more and more lenders will be added to those 85% of providers. The details will be known in the next few weeks. This comes on top of the FCA’s rules around lenders having to take an individual approach to the circumstances of their customers, especially those trying to find a way through when they fall into difficulty.”
“No, I wish to make a bit more progress. I will come back to the hon. Lady in a moment. This measure will take effect in the next few weeks and it means that a homeowner with £100,000 outstanding on their mortgage over 15 years can change their payments—with no impact on their credit rating—by extending the mortgage term by 10 years, which could save them over £200 a month, or by moving to interest-only payments, which could save them more than £350 a month. A further measure for this group of customers means that, if they are approaching the end of a fixed-rate deal, they will have the chance to lock in a new deal with the same lender up to six months ahead. However, they will still be able to apply for a better like-for-like deal with the same lender, with no penalty, if they find one when their current deal ends.”
“I thank the hon. Lady for her point. As the Chancellor said yesterday, he did raise that with lenders on Friday. We will continue to work closely with them on those disparities where they exist. My colleague the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, who is responsible for the relationship with financial services institutions, will also be attending to this issue. It is right that, with interest rates rising, banks should be looking to put as much of that rise as possible on to the savings rates that they offer to consumers.”
“I appreciate the passion with which the hon. Gentleman presents his point, but we have made an agreement with the FCA and with lenders, and in the next couple of weeks the details will be available for consumers and mortgage holders up and down the country. As I say, we have already moved from three quarters to 85% of lenders and I expect others to join in due course. We will continue to have dialogue with the FCA and to look at further ways to help consumers. The purpose of our intervention is to provide people with more flexibility and optionality to find the best deal for their circumstances. Mortgage arrears and defaults remain at historically low levels, with less than 1%—I think it is 0.86%—of residential mortgages in arrears in 2023, a lower level than just before the pandemic.”
“My hon. Friend makes a wise point, and I will come on to talk about some of the other measures in a moment. For those families involved, it is extraordinarily distressing to lose their home, so we will do all that we can to support people who find themselves in such a challenging financial position.”
“No, I am going to finish answering the previous point. As part of our strong regulatory framework for mortgage holders, banks and lenders already provide tailored support for anyone struggling, and they deploy highly trained staff to help those customers. Support offered includes temporary payment deferrals and part interest, part repayment, as well as extending mortgage terms or switching to interest-only payments. To supplement that, we agreed as part of the mortgage charter on Friday that, in the extreme situation in which a lender is seeking to repossess a home, there will be a minimum 12-month period from the first missed payment before there is a repossession without consent. I believe that that goes rather further than what the Opposition were suggesting.”
“Taken together, those measures should offer some comfort to those who are anxious about the impact of high interest rates on their mortgage and provide support to those who get into extreme financial difficulties.”
“I do not accept that, but I do accept that there are challenging situations for our constituents up and down the country. That is why this Government have intervened and are working in this way with lenders to find a constructive package of interventions to meet the situation those constituents are in. Anyone who is worried that they could be in those difficult situations should know that they can call their lender for advice without any impact whatsoever on their credit score. Lenders will also provide support to customers who are up to date with payments to switch to a new mortgage deal at the end of their existing fixed-rate deal without another affordability test, and provide well-timed information when their current rate is coming to an end.”
“As we have done before, we will face down these economic challenges while supporting the most vulnerable and setting us up for economic growth. Since a Conservative Government came into power in 2010, the UK economy has grown more than those of major countries such as France, Italy, or Japan, and about the same as Europe’s largest economy, Germany, which is now in recession. We have halved unemployment, cut inequality and reduced the number of workless households by 1 million. We have protected pensioners, those on low incomes and those with disabilities. We will now overcome this inflationary period, and offer a helping hand to those who need it as we do so.”
“Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) has had his wings clipped by the Leader of the Opposition for his excessive spending proposals, but in reality the shadow Chancellor is only slightly delaying Labour’s £28 billion spending spree to the second half of the next Parliament—an amended timetable, but the same reckless policy. We said that we would halve inflation, not because it was an easy thing to do, but because it was the right thing to do. History and the best economic insights that we have today tell us that the best way to beat inflation is to stick to our plan, backing the Bank of England’s monetary policy decisions. We will stick to the plan, because it is the only way we can give relief to families and reprieve to businesses.”
“I believe that that stands in sharp contrast to some of the policies offered by opposition parties. The Liberal Democrats are calling for a £3 billion mortgage protection fund, which would simply pour fuel on the fire of inflation, making it harder to bring prices down. That would be such a damaging move that it is apparently even too extreme for those on the Labour Front Bench to contemplate. However, I would say that the Labour party is not without its own flaws when it comes to offering unfunded inflationary policies. The media reports that the right hon.”
“That extension was funded in part by the energy profits levy that this Government introduced last year, recognising that profit levels in the sector had increased significantly due to those very high oil and gas prices, caused by global circumstances—including, of course, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Alongside holding down energy bills, freezing fuel duty, increasing universal credit and raising the national living wage and pensions, we are giving up to £900 in cost of living payments to households on means-tested benefits. Taking those measures together, the Government are already supporting families with one of the largest support packages in Europe, worth £3,300 per household on average. The Government’s approach makes targeted interventions to protect the most vulnerable, while maintaining a laser-like focus on tackling inflation.”
“The interventions we have made provide significant scope for assistance. To find an accurate number would be very difficult, but we will continue to work with industry and with lenders to find maximum flexibility and interventions to support them at this difficult time. While we roll out those measures, tackling inflation remains the No. 1 priority of the Prime Minister and the Government. Inflation makes every person in this country poorer and it has to be tackled head-on. Notwithstanding that, I am fully alive to the fact that some people remain in real distress. I assure hon. Members and their constituents that we will always stand ready to help where we can. That is why at the Budget we announced that the energy price guarantee would be extended for a further three months.”
“The Government undertake extensive assessment of the effectiveness of the sanction regimes, which are eroding Russia’s financial base. We have sanctioned 28 Russian banks, covering 80% of Russia’s banking sector, and frozen more than £18 billion of Russian assets, and we have implemented unprecedented trade sanctions in addition.”
“The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation works closely with our allies across the G7 to ensure that we have co-ordinated action among our international partners on this unprecedented package of sanctions. We have frozen the assets of 1,600 individuals and entities. We have implemented 35 different sanction regimes across government. I would be happy to take away the specific question that she has asked, because it is technical, and respond.”
“I am happy to take up my right hon. Friend’s case. We have expanded the OFSI resources. We have a monthly monitoring and efficiency dashboard. I accept how frustrating it can be for constituents’ businesses when such situations arise, and I am happy to take the matter away and get back to him swiftly.”
“The Government will be relentless in their pursuit of illicit assets. As I said, we have sanctioned 24 banks with global assets of over £940 billion and 120 elites with a combined worth of £140 billion. Working closely with our allies, we have incrementally and sequentially tightened that net and immobilised more than 60% of Putin’s war chest of foreign reserves worth £275 billion. We continue to work closely with our allies to intensify those measures as opportunities arise.”
“Those points demonstrate how serious and extensive the Government’s actions are, but I recognise that sometimes unfortunate situations arise and I am happy to look at that case and take it back to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation.”
“What I would say is that the Government are committed to an ever-tighter grip on illicit finance and those individuals close to Putin who make a material contribution to his regime. Obviously, I will not commit on the Floor of the House to individual extensions to what we have already done, but I have set out the range of sanctions regimes that exist across multiple Departments of Government and I am happy to receive representations on whatever case the hon. Member wishes to bring to me.”