Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Economic Growth

Tuesday 21 January 2025 · 4 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Key points

  • Ministerial Questions addressed economic growth and funding delays for a new hospital in Eastbourne.
  • The Chancellor defended the October Budget as a necessary measure to fix inherited public finance issues.
  • Criticism was raised regarding the impact of current policies on rural economic growth and farming support.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Josh Babarinde Lib Dem Eastbourne
NHS Economy
Context

A new hospital in Eastbourne would help drive economic growth but its delivery is delayed to 2041 due to lack of funds. Previous government left a £22 billion black hole.

Question

A new hospital in Eastbourne would help to drive economic growth in my town and across rural Sussex, but years of Tory tumbleweed and, I am afraid, yesterday’s announcement mean that it will not be delivered and built until 2041. Will the Chancellor accelerate the release of funds to the Department of Health and Social Care to bring forward the building of our new hospital, to support patients in Eastbourne and beyond, and of course to support wider economic growth?

Answer from Rachel Reeves

I recognise the strength of feeling about this issue. We were left a terrible situation by the previous Government, with a £22 billion black hole in the public finances and the promise of things for which absolutely no money had been put aside. We have now done the responsible thing by reviewing the programmes that we inherited from the previous Government. That means that the timetable for some projects has had to be pushed back, but it is because the previous Government made promises knowing that the cheque would bounce.

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Q2 Saqib Bhatti Con Meriden and Solihull East
Economy
Context

Businesses are reeling from the Chancellor’s Budget. A commitment was made at the CBI conference not to come back for more taxes.

Question

Businesses in my constituency and across the country are still reeling from the Chancellor’s damaging Budget. She made a commitment at the Confederation of British Industry conference that she would not come back for more taxes. Does she stand by that commitment?

Answer from Rachel Reeves

I had to do a once-in-a-generation Budget in October to fix the mess in the public finances left by the previous Government. I will never have to do a Budget like that again because we have now fixed that terrible inheritance.

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Q3 Sammy Wilson DUP East Antrim
Economy Agriculture & Rural Affairs Environment
Context

Devastating changes to inheritance tax, increased environmental costs because of net zero policies, and diversion of farming support to foreign countries.

Question

Devastating changes to inheritance tax, increased environmental costs because of net zero policies, and diversion of farming support to foreign countries—with those kinds of policies, how does the Chancellor ever expect to generate economic growth in rural areas?

Answer from Rachel Reeves

Bringing stability back to our economy by fixing the public finances is the No. 1 thing we can do to help businesses to grow, alongside our planning reforms to make it easier to build things in Britain and our reforms to the pension system to help businesses access long-term patient capital. As for agricultural property relief, the latest figures show that the top 7% of claims—117 claims—accounted for 40% of the total value of the relief, costing the taxpayer £219 million. We cannot afford to carry on like that, which is why we made those progressive and fair reforms in the Budget.

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Q4 James Wild Con North West Norfolk
Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

Farming’s vital role in growing our rural economy, growing our food and protecting the countryside is threatened by Labour’s family farm tax. The National Farmers Union and others have shown that the tax is based on flawed assumptions.

Question

Farming’s vital role in growing our rural economy, growing our food and protecting the countryside is threatened by Labour’s family farm tax. The self-proclaimed “iron Chancellor” is proving herself to be the tin-eared Chancellor, ignoring evidence from the National Farmers Union and others showing that the tax is based on flawed assumptions. Ahead of Saturday’s farming day of unity, rather than threatening family farms, will she speak to farmers, think again and withdraw those damaging proposals?

Answer from Rachel Reeves

The problem with the Conservatives is that they support increased spending in vital areas but they have not supported any of the tax increases necessary to pay for them, which, frankly, is why we are in the situation we are in today, having inherited a £22 billion black hole in the public finances. The hon. Gentleman will know that in the Budget we announced £5 billion for the farming budget over two years— including the largest funding directed at sustainable food production and nature recovery in this country’s history—and £60 million to support farmers affected by flooding.

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