"I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way and for securing this debate on an important subject. Does he agree that linking the personal allowance with the minimum wage would be an excellent way to take everyone who is on the minimum wage out of income tax?..." John Stevenson - View Speech
"The investment of £270 million in schools and further education colleges is extremely welcome. If schools and colleges in my constituency have plans on the runway that are ready to take off but just need a little additional financial support, will the Chancellor help them to take the leap?..." John Stevenson - View Speech
"Given that the policy of significantly increasing the personal allowance has been hugely successful, would the Chief Secretary agree that the long-term goal should be to link the personal allowance with the minimum wage, thereby ensuring that anybody on the minimum wage does not pay income tax?..." John Stevenson - View Speech
"I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way and indeed for securing this very important debate. Does he agree that what we need in the UK is a two-tier banking system? We need the large banks nationally, but we also need—as he is suggesting—smaller banks operating at a …..." John Stevenson - View Speech
"Does my hon. Friend agree that part of the Government’s problem is the fact that the last Government borrowed in good years, and had borrowed some £40 billion before we even entered the recession?..." John Stevenson - View Speech
"The Office for Budget Responsibility’s Budget report stated that the interest paid on our national debt will be about £43 billion this year, rising to about £60 billion by the end of this Parliament. That rise in interest payments is a direct consequence of the previous Government’s action, but what …..." John Stevenson - View Speech
"It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to participate in the debate. I appreciate that it is primarily concerned with the state of the economy at present, and I accept the reality that the economy is likely to dominate our debate and politics for the next few years as …..." John Stevenson - View Speech
"I completely agree. Growth is not in Europe but elsewhere in the world, and we should try to increase our trade with the BRIC countries. We need to look at those new markets and rediscover our trading instincts.