Topical Questions

Question

If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities. Over a year ago, the Government launched their plan for jobs, a comprehensive and ambitious plan to help people back into work to earn more and to gain the skills they need to succeed in the jobs of tomorrow. The latest data shows that our GDP and our economy is recovering quickly, unemployment is falling, jobs are being created, and, indeed, household incomes have been protected.

Question

Cutting universal credit by £20 a week will hit working families very hard. It will leave support for unemployed families at the lowest real terms level for over 30 years. It will undermine the recovery and scupper the prospects for levelling up. Does the Chancellor of the Exchequer understand why every single former Work and Pensions Secretary since 2010 has opposed his cut?

Question

Will the Chancellor provide an update on the follow-up to the discussions we have had on maintained nursery schools, and will he urgently bring forward a long-term funding settlement for these brilliant schools?

Question

The Prime Minister's and the Chancellor's plans to increase national insurance will hit workers and businesses hard at the worst possible time. The British Chambers of Commerce described it as a “drag anchor” on jobs growth. The Federation of Small Businesses stated: “If this hike happens, fewer jobs will be created”. The TUC said that it is wrong to hit young and low-paid workers while “leaving the wealthy untouched”. We agree. Will the Chancellor of the Exchequer therefore explain why he is choosing a tax on jobs rather than on other forms of income?

Question

You cannot have it both ways. Cutting national insurance either benefits jobs or it does not. The Chancellor told voters at the election: “Our plans are to cut taxes for the lowest paid through cutting national insurance”. That promise is now in flames. The Chancellor is not cutting national insurance; he is putting it up. It cannot be right that nurses and builders are set to pay hundreds of pounds more each year in national insurance, yet those getting their incomes from a large portfolio of shares, stocks and property will pay not a penny more. Labour cannot and will not support this Tory Government's manifesto-breaking, economically damaging and unfair tax on jobs. So let me ask the Chancellor again: why will this Government not fund health and social care in a way that is fair for families and for businesses?

Question

The levelling-up fund is about improving a region. In Bosworth, we are putting forward the Twycross zoo for its national centre of conservation and education. It will be a world-leading scientific, education and conservation centre, driving tourism and the local economy. It is backed by the borough council, the county council, the local enterprise partnership and the midlands engine. Would the Chancellor like to come and visit it and, failing that, would he like to meet me to discuss how we can make this a symbol of the levelling up of the nation?

Question

Scottish communities, other than those in Shetland, failed to benefit from the North sea oil and gas bounty landing on their shores. Now that the North sea's offshore wind is casting ashore on East Lothian, will the Treasury ensure that East Lothian will actually benefit, as opposed to it all simply being transmission-stationed down south? Or will it go the same way as Scotland's oil and gas: down to the Treasury?

Question

I commend my right hon. Friend the Chancellor for all his determination to create new jobs and new investment and to upskill the workforce; I believe it is paying dividends, as we are seeing in the economy. Does he agree that further education colleges have a vital role in upskilling our workforce, both young and not so young, to get the best jobs for the future?

Question

The Government should lead by example with their spending power and with the design of public contracts to buy more from Great Britain, as Labour would, but the UK strategic steel sector has been neglected by this Conservative Government. Highly skilled jobs have been lost because a huge proportion of our steel, including for HS2, is purchased from other nations. Will the Chancellor explain why his Government do not even have a non-binding target for the use of our own steel in our national public infrastructure projects?

Question

We are working hard in Shropshire on a £500 million investment in modernising A&E services in our local hospital. There is a funding shortage; I have written to the Chancellor on the issue and would be very grateful for a response. There is nothing more important than modernising A&E services for the safety of our patients and constituents.

Question

Research by the Disabled Children's Partnership has revealed that nearly three quarters of disabled children have regressed in managing their conditions during the pandemic as vital services have been delayed. Ahead of the forthcoming spending review, will the Chancellor consider offering a lifeline to families and funding dedicated recovery to help disabled children and their families to catch up on missed services?

Question

The Chancellor referred earlier to the record amounts being invested in the rail network. May I urge him to ensure that one of the projects that he supports is an east-west freight corridor linking the Humber ports to the west coast? That would greatly maximise the benefits of freeport status; it would also aid the levelling-up agenda.

Question

At the last Budget, the Chancellor gave a £25 billion tax break to the top 1% of businesses in the form of the super deduction, but when the school catch-up tsar came to him asking for £15 billion over a three-year period, he said that he could not fund<br/>“everybody who comes knocking on my door.” Why is it that when an Amazon-style business comes knocking, the door is wide open, but when students come knocking, asking for money to get over the challenges of the past few years, the door is slammed in their face?

Question

Jobs are the most important way of helping communities to move forward. Those who have been out of work for 12 months or more can access the restart scheme, worth nearly £3 billion. Will my right hon. Friend ensure that part of his plan is helping everyone to have proper, decent work and decent training to enable them to get the right job?

Question

Will the Chancellor clarify which Department is paying the £200 million for the Prime Minister's vanity yacht? What does it say about this Conservative Government's warped priorities when the Chancellor approves that while planning to cut universal credit for those who need it the most?

Question

I am concerned about the need for 4,000 more doctors to tackle the backlog in the NHS. Does he agree that this is about reform as well as money, particularly in respect of the way we plan our workforce?

Question

Given that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have already decided to break their manifesto commitment on overseas aid and are now gearing up to break their solemn manifesto promises on the tax lock and the pensions triple lock, why should any voter believe ever again that a Tory manifesto promise is worth the paper it is written on?

Question

I know that this Government are listening to the levelling-up agenda, especially in the north of England, and on that note I should like to suggest that the best way of getting people back into work is putting forward new initiatives. Will the Chancellor meet me shortly to talk about Eden Project North?