Charter for Budget Responsibility

Charlie Elphicke Excerpts

Wednesday 26th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Ed Balls]

The Chancellor said three times that Labour was proposing a rise in business taxes and that is untrue, Mr Deputy Speaker.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

Will the shadow Chancellor give way?

[Ed Balls]

Let me answer the hon. Member for The Wrekin and then I will come to the soon to be ex-hon. Member for Dover. [Interruption.] If hon. Members quieten down, I will answer the point. Since 2010 there has been a 129% rise in long-term youth unemployment: that is young people on the claimant count who have been out of work for more than 12 months. That figure has gone up by 129%. That is the truth. It is a fact, and I will place the information in the House of Commons Library. There has been a 129% rise since 2010 and I think the hon. Member for The Wrekin should support what I am about to say.

[Charlie Elphicke]

Will the shadow Chancellor give way?

[Ed Balls]

No.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ed Balls]

In the constituency of Ipswich there has been a 140% rise in long-term youth unemployment over 12 months, and long-term youth unemployment is a real problem. I am glad the hon. Gentleman intervened because I was reading his Hansard remarks from 2012 when he said that asking the Office for Budget Responsibility to audit the parties’ manifestos at the next election was the right thing to do. He said there was no reason why that could not be done. I will come back to him in a moment on that one.

We support the welfare cap. We will make different and fairer choices to keep the social security bill down and tackle the root causes of higher welfare spending. Let me explain—

[Charlie Elphicke]

Will the shadow Chancellor give way?

[Mr David Burrowes (Enfield, Southgate) (Con)]

Will the shadow Chancellor give way?

--- Later in debate ---

[Ed Balls]

All the evidence shows that action to get young people back to work, especially the long-term unemployed, pays real dividends. It is what we mean by tackling the root causes, and it is the right way to implement a tough welfare cap. That is the approach we will take.

[Charlie Elphicke]

rose—

[Ed Balls]

Oh, he is back again. Go on then, have your go.

[Charlie Elphicke]

Is the shadow Chancellor committed to a welfare cap on the same benefits and of the same numbers as this Budget—yes or no?

[Ed Balls]

Yes.

Let me end by discussing the role of the OBR, because that is also set out in this charter. Page 5 states:

“The Coalition Government’s major reform to the fiscal framework has been the creation of the Office for Budget Responsibility”.

We agree with that, which is why we have proposed a reform to enhance the OBR’s role and allow it, as the hon. Member for Ipswich has advocated, independently to audit the tax and spending commitments in the manifestos of the main political parties. Why has the Chancellor not used the opportunity of this updated budget responsibility charter to make that reform? If he were to think again, he would be joining not only me, but the Chair of the Treasury Committee and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, who have both supported this reform. We need legislation in the Finance Bill to make that happen.