Government Performance against Fiscal Rules Debate
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John Slinger
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Government Performance against Fiscal Rules
John Slinger Excerpts(1 day, 17 hours ago)
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Darren Jones
I share the sympathies of the House with the family of my hon. Friend’s constituent.
My hon. Friend is right to point out that investment in HMRC had been cut over many years, which made it harder for tax to be collected from those who needed to pay it. The Chancellor has invested significant sums in HMRC to improve customer services for everybody who uses it, and to ensure that we are getting in the tax receipts that will pay for our public services.
John Slinger (Rugby) (Lab)
Does the Chief Secretary agree that it is the very decisions made by the Chancellor at the time of the last Budget, including those on the fiscal rules, that have enabled this Government to invest £190 billion in day-to-day spending and £113 billion in long-term investment, and that this simply would not have happened had the Conservative party been in power?
Darren Jones
I agree. As the House knows, when the Chancellor presented the Budget last year, she said that this Government “chooses investment over decline” for Britain. That was reflected in our spending review, which was investing in the renewal of Britain, unlocking billions of pounds as a consequence of the fiscal rules that the Chancellor had set out in the Budget—which were non-negotiable, and will therefore stay in place.