Business of the House

Jonathan Ashworth Excerpts

Thursday 8th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I would welcome such a debate. In the debate on Tuesday, a number of my hon. Friends drew the House’s attention to the generous pension increase next spring and reminded the House of the triple guarantee that we have introduced. My hon. Friend also trails the next development in pension policy, which I think will be warmly welcomed by pensioners in this country. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is taking that policy forward.

[Jonathan Ashworth (Leicester South) (Lab)]

I could never fall out with the hon. Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry), even if she will not accept that Leicester is the superior city. May I ask the Leader of the House about the scheduling of economic debates? He knows, of course, that the Government lost a vote. When we have a Budget, we have four or five days of debate immediately afterwards, as well as on the day of the statement. May we have a similar arrangement for autumn statements, so that we have debate on the day and perhaps for the following one or two days?

[Sir George Young]

I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman has had time to read the recommendations of the Wright committee, but we have done exactly what it recommended—namely, to provide in Government time a debate after the autumn statement. I drew to the attention of the shadow Leader of the House the fact that that was not a practice that had been adopted by a previous Government when we had a debate on the pre-Budget report only in response to a Standing Order request from my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), now the Chancellor of the Exchequer.