Stamp Duty Land Tax
Iain Duncan Smith Excerpts(9 years, 5 months ago)
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Mr Speaker
I will take a point of order from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, but then we must proceed with Shabana Mahmood’s speech.
Mr Duncan Smith
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. May I, on behalf of the Government, unreservedly apologise to you if any indiscretion has been performed or any bad opinion has been made? This is not intentional. My Ministers and I will see this debate through to its conclusion on behalf of the Government.
Mr Speaker
I am very grateful to the Secretary of State. We will see whether the Treasury Minister turns up, but the willingness to help of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is noted and appreciated, and I thank him for his typical courtesy in what he has just said. Let us now proceed in a pragmatic way and listen to Shabana Mahmood.
Jobs and Growth
Iain Duncan Smith Excerpts(11 years, 12 months ago)
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The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr Iain Duncan Smith)
I welcome the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Mr Byrne) back from a potential sojourn in Birmingham as mayor—his announcement that he wanted to stand was so powerful that Birmingham, on the spot, rejected the whole idea of having a mayor. I have got to know him well over the past couple of years and he has been heavily involved in designing the policy framework for the Opposition. He talked about part-time work and, as a result of his leader’s decision, he will experience it himself. I am sorry about that, because I am sure that he would have done a very good job had he been allowed to continue—I certainly suspect that he would have done better than some of his colleagues.
Today is about the Queen’s Speech, and I want to welcome a number of Bills: the Crime and Courts Bill, the children and families Bill, the draft care and support Bill to modernise the care system, and, importantly, a pensions Bill to provide once and for all a decent single-tier state pension to reward those who save. Let me say a few words about that matter and in tribute to the Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Thornbury and Yate (Steve Webb). He and I have worked very hard together and I hope that when we publish the White Paper both the House and the country will see that we are proposing a genuine and serious reform that should improve the quality of retirement for everybody in the future. We will reform the state pension system, creating a fair, simple and sustainable foundation for private saving. The main benefits of the Bill will be that it will enable individuals to take responsibility for meeting their retirement aspirations in the context of increasing longevity and create an affordable and sustainable pension system for future generations.
Let me respond to a few of the comments made by hon. Members on both sides of the House. The right hon. Member for South Shields (David Miliband), who I see in his place, made an elegant speech, as ever, in which he referred to a number of different issues. In particular, he mentioned youth unemployment, and I want to ensure that we establish the baseline on that point. The trouble was that the previous Government gerrymandered the figures on youth unemployment. When somebody had been unemployed for six months, they put them on one of their programmes—the future jobs fund or whatever—and took them off the unemployment register. They were not put back on to the register until they fell out of that programme—[Interruption.] Members might want to hear this. If we add together the figures, we see that the total number of claimants aged 18 to 24 on jobseeker’s allowance or other forms of temporary support is lower this month than it was in May 2010. Under the previous Government, during a period of growth, youth unemployment rose every year from 2006.
Sheila Gilmore
The Secretary of State appears to be unaware of a briefing that his own Department gave to the Select Committee on Work and Pensions yesterday, which exposed the lack of rigidity in the figures. Apparently, the correct figure shows that in March 2010 the number of people who were taken off benefit on a training allowance was 18,000. It has come down to 4,000, but will he accept that that does not explain the rise in youth unemployment?
Mr Duncan Smith
Labour gerrymandered the figures, and that was a long suicide note about what they tried to do to change those figures. The hon. Lady can try as much as she likes but the truth is that the previous Government set in place every single mechanism to ensure that they did not count young unemployed people.
David Miliband
The figures that the right hon. Gentleman’s Department have put out show that in the past year—under his Government—long-term jobseeker’s allowance claimant figures have gone up threefold to 55,000. How does he explain that?
Mr Duncan Smith
As I said to the right hon. Gentleman—his point was about youth unemployment—the reality is that the figures I have given today are correct. His Government created a major crisis by putting us into a great big slump. That is what they did. Whatever else he wants to say in an attempt to defend the Labour Government, we are having to dig them out of a hole and we are the ones producing better youth programmes such as the youth contract. Those unemployment figures are very simple. When you add all the details together, you find that unemployment among young people was higher when we took office than it is now.
I want to move on to what other hon. Members said. The hon. Member for Leeds East (Mr Mudie) said that he wanted to see the right hon. Member for South Shields on the Front Bench. I wonder what role he would see the right hon. Gentleman in if he got him there. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood) on his speech. He reminded us that we had some great news the other day because Boris won again in London. That is very good news for all of us. [Interruption.] I wonder what Opposition Members are saying. The reality is that their candidate, Ken Livingstone, failed, and I note that a lot of them did not even bother to turn up to support him.
The hon. Member for Redcar (Ian Swales) attacked Labour very effectively. I should like to pick up a point made by the right hon. Member for Barking (Margaret Hodge), the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, who said that the welfare-to-work programme is unlikely to be good value for money. I differ from her on that. The big difference with the welfare-to-work programme is that we will not pay the providers unless they get someone into work. Under the future jobs fund and everything else that was going on under the previous Government they threw money at providers ahead of any kind of outcome, caring only to tick the boxes to say that they had done something rather than that they had done something reasonable.
A large number of people spoke in the debate, including my hon. Friend the Member for Warwick and Leamington (Chris White), the right hon. Member for East Ham (Stephen Timms) and my hon. Friends the Members for Bedford (Richard Fuller) and for North East Cambridgeshire (Stephen Barclay). The hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton (Steve Rotheram) made an interesting speech. I notice that he wants to put his name forward to be manager of Liverpool. I wish him the best of luck in that endeavour. As a Tottenham supporter, I am looking forward to him running Liverpool next season.
The Opposition approached this debate believing that they had the right to criticise our Government for what they call our failures, yet not once have they ever apologised for putting the economy in the worst possible state—the biggest bust. They try to compare themselves to other countries. It is worth noticing that the US economy is set to fall faster—
Ms Rosie Winterton (Doncaster Central) (Lab)
claimed to move the closure (Standing Order No. 36).
Question put forthwith, That the Question be now put.
Question agreed to.
Question put accordingly (Standing Order No. 31(2)), That the amendment be made.
The House divided: Ayes 213, Noes 312.
Economic Affairs and Work and Pensions
Iain Duncan Smith Excerpts(13 years, 11 months ago)
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The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr Iain Duncan Smith)
It has been a really interesting debate, and I thank the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) for her kind comments welcoming me back to the Dispatch Box. Her husband is probably away doing whatever one does when one is standing to be Leader of the Opposition. Let me say this to her so that she can quietly say it to him: it is not all that it is cracked up to be. She might whisper that in his ear and hope that he does not get the nominations.
We have had an excellent debate; the right hon. Lady is correct about that. As for all those who made maiden speeches, the degree to which they consider it a real honour to have been elected is a great reminder to all of us who have, over time, become a bit more cynical about the speeches that we make in this place. Almost every one of those speeches reminded me—and, I know, pretty much everyone else in the House—of that fact.
My hon. Friend the Member for Bromsgrove (Sajid Javid) confessed to being a banker, as the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford said. That is a pretty brave thing to do in this House at the moment. He paid a moving tribute to the two soldiers from his constituency who died. My hon. Friend the Member for Loughborough (Nicky Morgan) said that she was happy to be here, and I am happy about that, too, but she replaced a good friend of mine from the other side of the House, Andy Reed, with whom I used to play football. I am rather sorry to see him go—he was a very good MP—but not that sorry, and I am pleased to see my hon. Friend here.
The right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford is right to say that the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green) comes to this House with a strong record on the subjects that we are considering. I look forward to hearing her speak informatively, and to her bringing her great knowledge to debates. Most of us will consider her a real asset to this House.
The hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Nick Smith) said that he stood on the shoulders of giants, and I must say that they do not come any bigger than the two to whom he referred—Nye Bevan and Michael Foot, probably two of the greatest orators to have sat in this place—so he has huge shoes to fill. He spoke about benefit dependency, a huge issue, and one to which I shall refer in a second; it is at a ridiculous level.
My hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Andrew Bingham) challenged anyone in this House to match his constituency for natural beauty. I can with Chingford. We do not have a lot of countryside, but we have a lot of people who work very hard—and who pretty well tell their MP that MPs do not.
The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) talked about high unemployment in Northern Ireland; it is, of course, staggeringly high there—higher than in most other places. We know that there is a historical issue there, but there is also much more that we have to do about it. I hope that he will play a full part in that when the time comes.
My hon. Friend the Member for Aberconwy (Guto Bebb), who spoke very well, talked about his constituency. He said that my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House told him, when he arrived here, not to get too used to this place because his constituency would soon be abolished. That threat has been given to all of us throughout the years; it is either our constituency or we who should be abolished. One way or another, one can fit oneself around that. In my case, it was more me than the constituency that was to be abolished.
The hon. Member for Bethnal Green and Bow (Rushanara Ali) spoke about her direct predecessor, George Galloway, who stirs emotions on both sides of the House—not necessarily very constructive ones among Labour Members. Her predecessor but one, Oona King, was highly respected on both sides of the House. If she was in another party, I would wish her the best of luck with any chance that she has to be Mayor, but in the meantime, she will be a great adornment to the campaign.
May I tell my hon. Friend the Member for Worcester (Mr Walker), who mentioned his father, that those are a big pair of shoes to fill? I knew the father of my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (Mark Pawsey) incredibly well. Jim Pawsey was well regarded by Conservative Members and well liked, so my hon. Friend will have a big act to follow, as his father was always direct in telling people what he thought, regardless of whether it cost him a job: it did. The hon. Member for Labour—rather, the hon. Member for Leeds West (Rachel Reeves); I apologise, I did not quite hear some of the speeches, and I did not write all these notes. However, I gather that she made an extremely good speech, and spoke about her predecessor, John Battle, who was well liked in the House. She also quoted the Japanese advice to lead, and not to reduce borrowing quickly. I am an eighth Japanese, and the Japanese are not always right about everything.
My hon. Friend the Member for South Staffordshire (Gavin Williamson) praised his predecessor, Patrick Cormack—[Interruption.] Yes. Many of us remember him fondly. The one thing that we do remember about him is his incredible ability to speak about this place in 17th-century terminology as “Parliament assembled”. He will be much missed, and I hope that my hon. Friend fills his shoes very well indeed. The hon. Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr (Jonathan Edwards), who is a member of Plaid Cymru, spoke about fuel poverty—something to which we shall definitely return—and benefit complexity. I welcome him to the House if he shows interest in those subjects.
The hon. Member for St Austell and Newquay (Stephen Gilbert) spoke about being got rid of as a result of a boundary review affecting his constituency. Again, I suggest that he fight that if he can: he may be here longer than he thinks. My hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Glamorgan (Alun Cairns) spoke very well, and referred to “Gavin and Stacey”. I am not quite sure what the connection is, except that Gavin came from Essex—near Chingford—and Stacey came from Wales, which shows that on this side of the House, we can unite the party yet again. It is a fairly tenuous link, I grant.
The hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Shabana Mahmood) has very big shoes to fill. Clare Short ended her parliamentary career in some measure of dispute with her party, but I can hardly think of anyone who has left the House, whether in government or opposition who was more well respected—[Interruption.] Well, she spoke passionately, but people did not always agree with her. However, if someone’s fault is that they are passionate in the House, it is a fault with which everyone will agree.
My hon. Friend the Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) spoke well about his support for preventing poverty. The hon. Member for South Down (Ms Ritchie) was keen on the poverty agenda, and spoke about living in the same house as St Patrick. Any attempt to be deified in the House will end in tears. My hon. Friend the Member for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss) spoke about the importance of skills, in another very good speech. The hon. Member for Stockton North (Alex Cunningham) spoke about credit unions and loan sharks. I am with him on that: we need to do a lot more to try to break the stranglehold of doorstep lenders and, more particularly, of the very bad elements among loan sharks. I am very strong on seeing what we can do about credit unions.
May I tell my hon. Friend the Member for Grantham and Stamford (Nick Boles) that his seat is a Conservative gain, although it was Conservative before? His predecessor remains a friend of mine. It was always difficult to know quite where Quentin was going to be standing at any one time.
Mr Duncan Smith
That is exactly right.
The hon. Member for Belfast East (Naomi Long) said that she was dedicated to bridging the political divide and the regions, as a member of the Alliance party. She should come across to this side of the House: we are the living embodiment of an alliance, so perhaps she could join us. My hon. Friend the Member for Wycombe (Steve Baker) made a very good speech, and I remember his predecessor, Paul Goodman, very well. The hon. Member for Edinburgh South (Ian Murray) made an excellent speech and spoke about astronomical manufacturing. I am not quite sure what that means, but it sounded good at the time.
The hon. Member for Edinburgh West (Mike Crockart) spoke about the pivotal role of community groups. I agree with him. The hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central (Chi Onwurah) paid tribute to the grass roots and sense of respect of the people of Newcastle. She made an extremely witty speech. If she carries on like that in the House, she will rise fast and dominate her own side. I commend her.
My hon. Friend the Member for Orpington (Joseph Johnson), who made a very good speech, said that he did not have the humour gene of his brother, but he proved that not to be true. He has the hair, too, of which I am rather jealous. He will go far in the House, provided he follows his brother’s trait of never sticking to any particular line for any length of time but ending up being elected to highest office while he is at it, which is a pretty good record of success.
The hon. Member for Lewisham East (Heidi Alexander) made a very good speech. My hon. Friend the Member for Spelthorne (Kwasi Kwarteng) spoke about business being strangled by red tape. The hon. Member for Edinburgh East (Sheila Gilmore) made an excellent speech. My hon. Friend the Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Nadhim Zahawi) made a very good speech in which he spoke in Shakespearean terms about the gathering clouds and the dark lowering economy. I was getting so worried at one stage that I thought I would not get to the Dispatch Box to speak at all. Never mind, here we are.
I shall touch quickly on speeches not made by new Members. The right hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough (Mr Blunkett), whom I know and like enormously, blamed bankers, the world economy, the leadership candidates in his own party, and everyone except the previous Government, for the shambles that we are now in. He should think again. It was the Government of whom he was a member who reduced the country to the state that it is in.
Mr Duncan Smith
We do not have a great deal of time. I will give way, but I shall finish shortly.
Mr Blunkett
I am grateful and I shall be brief. Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman, whom I wish well, would describe to all of us why the rest of Europe has been devastated by the Labour Government.
Mr Duncan Smith
I can answer many questions, but I cannot say what the last Labour Government did as they toured Europe destroying all those economies, so I am afraid I cannot help the right hon. Gentleman. All I know is that we have spent huge sums, much of it not carefully adjusted to see whether it was working, including the future jobs fund, about which I was asked earlier. The issue is not that it was not creating jobs, but that the jobs that were being created were more than likely to be temporary, they were nowhere near the number originally projected, and the cost of the programme was running out of control.
Everyone wants to create jobs and stop the wage scar for the young unemployed, but I must tell the right hon. Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford that we face a nightmare in which we have to look at the spending to make sure that whatever we spend delivers real life change. We will be doing that with welfare reform to try to make it much easier for people to get back to work, and to make sure that the money they earn is real money and means that going to work pays. We will reform pensions. The right hon. Lady and her party managed to lower the level of life chances for far too many people in this country, and it is the coalition Government who now set out to help the young, the unemployed and the impoverished in Britain once and for all.
Question put, That the amendment be made.