Oral Answers to Questions

Callum Anderson Excerpts

Tuesday 9th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

The spread on our gilts over the central bank rate is lower in the UK than it is in Greece, so maybe the right hon. Gentleman should look again at his evidence. The truth is that we have had five cuts in interest rates since this Government came to office. We are paying high levels of interest on the debt, but the debt was accrued by the Conservative party, which destroyed our economy and public services all at once. We are fixing the mess that the Conservatives left.

[Callum Anderson (Buckingham and Bletchley) (Lab)]

The trust of financial markets depends not just on the policy of the Government today, but on whether we keep that trust tomorrow. The Opposition squandered that trust when they were in government by trying to push through tax cuts that they could not afford—that the UK could not afford. Does the Chancellor agree that Labour, too, has to resist the temptation to duck the tough choices on spending, which would not only risk economic stability but hold back growth?

[Rachel Reeves]

I very much agree with my hon. Friend. That is why we published the spending review earlier this year. The review set out plans for day-to-day spending for the next three years and capital spending for the next five. Everything in the review is fully funded and fully costed through the difficult decisions that we had to make in the Budget last year to increase taxes. At the same time, the deficit is expected to fall by 1 percentage point of GDP this year.