"It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Norwich North (Chloe Smith) and my hon. Friend the Member for Westminster North (Ms Buck), both of whom spoke about the minimum wage and those on low wages. What the hon. Member for Norwich North forgot to say is that …..." Geoffrey Robinson - View Speech
"I will come to that in a moment, although the hon. Gentleman may have been here when I intervened on the Secretary of State on that precise point.
Let us examine the borrowing record, as borrowing should have been central to all this. Because we have been able to have …..." Geoffrey Robinson - View Speech
"We are very pleased to see employment increasing. What the hon. Gentleman needs to understand is that there is a problem of productive capacity in the economy, and we have done nothing to address it. Labour was challenged to spell out its criticisms of the Budget. The central point is …..." Geoffrey Robinson - View Speech
"The Minister is not having the best of days today, and I wonder whether I could help him by inviting him and the Chancellor to come to Coventry, where I could introduce him to many families in my constituency who are on very low wages and, despite both parents working, …..." Geoffrey Robinson - View Speech
"The whole House has heard the Chancellor proclaim over the last three years that when the recovery comes—as it will—it will be a different kind of recovery, based on investment and, indeed, investment-led. Is it not the case that business lending is stagnating, if not falling, that capital investment in …..." Geoffrey Robinson - View Speech
"I am pleased, Mr Crausby, to serve under your chairmanship. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry South (Mr Cunningham) on securing the debate, and I thank Mr Speaker for allowing this important local debate on the impact on Coventry of the autumn statement.
"If I could take us all back to the situation in Coventry—we could argue indefinitely about local finance and about the Government’s economic policy—I wanted to raise one other point, and apologise to the Minister for not having mentioned it before. I will write to her about, and hope that …..." Geoffrey Robinson - View Speech
"Is the Chief Secretary aware that figures from the Office for National Statistics show that infrastructure work, since this Government came to power, has dropped by 15%? Given its importance as a motor for growth, why is he now planning to cut it yet again in 2015?..." Geoffrey Robinson - View Speech
"The Chief Secretary will be aware that several conflicting and not very encouraging cost-benefit analyses for HS2 are currently in circulation. Could he not clear the air by commissioning and publishing a genuinely independent internal Treasury cost-benefit analysis of the project?..." Geoffrey Robinson - View Speech
"I wonder whether I could yank the Chancellor out of his complacency for one moment. Is he aware that, in the year since the funding for lending scheme was announced, lending to small and medium-sized businesses is, on the most recent figures, negative? Is he aware that that is symptomatic …..." Geoffrey Robinson - View Speech