"It is not only fair, but common sense. The Labour cash merry-go-round, when Labour was taxing people with very low earnings and then handing back the money in the form of benefits, did not provide a sustainable model. The measures that we have introduced have been far more effective in …..." Kwasi Kwarteng - View Speech
"I have my own ideas about the banking collapse, which I am happy to share with the hon. Lady—although not, perhaps, tonight.
The financial crisis, which we all remember, devastated everyone. Even today, the United Kingdom economy is 3% smaller than it was in 2008. I cannot speak for everyone …..." Kwasi Kwarteng - View Speech
"I accept what the hon. Gentleman says, but I am talking about the position in general. It cannot be right, arithmetically, for benefits to rise, year after year, faster than the wages of the low-paid people to whom he has referred. However, we must look at the overall picture. The …..." Kwasi Kwarteng - View Speech
"Jonathan Portes is not right. I do not think that anything he has ever written—I read his blog—makes any sense whatsoever, and I am happy for Hansard to record that. On the point about the automatic stabilisers, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer that my right hon. Friend …..." Kwasi Kwarteng - View Speech
I shall try to keep my closing remarks brief. The 1% rise in the uprating is surely a temporary measure; I would not want to see this in perpetuity. My right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham talked about the need to combat inflation. Clearly if …..." Kwasi Kwarteng - View Speech
"The right hon. Gentleman gives a very powerful speech in which he mentions lots of facts and statistics, but there is a very fundamental question that he has not answered. Is it right that people on out-of-work benefits should be receiving faster and greater increases in their income than people …..." Kwasi Kwarteng - View Speech