UK Infrastructure: 10-year Strategy

Lola McEvoy Excerpts

Thursday 19th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

Order. The Minister missed the Mexican wave that took place behind him. It was down to Chris Vince mostly, although probably it was also down to the length of the answers, which could be shorter.

[Lola McEvoy (Darlington) (Lab)]

I thank the Chief Secretary for his excellent work on this strategy, which will turbocharge confidence in the investment community while improving the lives, incomes and opportunities of my constituents in Darlington, which is exactly what I was elected to do. It will not surprise him to hear me ask politely for him to outline more detail on his ambition for the place-based approach, the Green Book reforms and the pilots that he has mentioned. Can we have one in Darlington, the home of many of his Treasury colleagues?

[Darren Jones]

I will give a shorter answer, given the time available. We will be setting out further detail shortly about where we will be piloting these place-based business cases. It is a new process for Whitehall. It requires a level of co-ordination that does not currently exist, but the outcome if we get it right will be people experiencing co-ordinated, thoughtful infrastructure spending in the places they live, in a way that makes sense for how they live in those areas. I am sure my hon. Friend will continue to bid for Darlington as we decide where to pilot those place-based business cases in due course.

Spending Review 2025

Lola McEvoy Excerpts

Wednesday 11th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

It is difficult to understand exactly what the Conservative critique of this spending review is. The shadow Chancellor says that we should spend less, but the hon. Gentleman has just asked us to spend more. If hon. Members on either side of the House want to spend more, they need to say where the money would come from. I am not sure that he has an answer to that.

[Lola McEvoy (Darlington) (Lab)]

I welcome the Chancellor’s statement and her steely determination to ensure that everyone in Darlington is better off. I particularly welcome the capital infrastructure projects, which are essential not only for sovereign security but for regional growth. Does she agree that these projects will be transformational for engineering and fabricating SMEs in my constituency, many of which were set up and are staffed by incredibly highly skilled people who found themselves out of a job when the last Government turned their backs on British foundation industries?

[Rachel Reeves]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right: what this spending review does, through its investment in infrastructure, is create jobs in our supply chains for small businesses in communities right across our country. The investment in some of our foundational industries, such as steel, offers real opportunities for good, unionised jobs that pay decent wages, and I am really proud to be able to set out that investment and the jobs that young people in Darlington and around the country will be able to access because of the choices we have made today.

Public Finances: Borrowing Costs

Lola McEvoy Excerpts

Thursday 9th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones]

The fiscal rules are non-negotiable, and they will be met.

[Lola McEvoy (Darlington) (Lab)]

Does the Minister agree that the reckless ideological austerity measures taken by the Conservative party in government have directly led to my constituents being significantly worse off and made it harder for them to get on in Darlington? Can he outline the impact that the new Office for Value for Money will have on the huge inefficiencies and waste that the last Government presided over?

[Darren Jones]

The Office for Value for Money is an important part of our spending review process, as we undertake for the first time in 17 years a zero-based review of every single pound of public spending. We should focus on that for a moment: not once under the last Conservative Government was there a zero-based review. Not once did they go line by line through every pound of taxpayers’ money and public spending to check it was being spent in the people’s interests. Not once did they think that was a responsible thing to do. That is the first thing we are doing in government.

Finance Bill

Lola McEvoy Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 27th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lola McEvoy (Darlington) (Lab)]

I pay tribute to Conservative Members for embracing their role in opposition. They are throwing their whole heart into it, and it is wonderful to see them in their rightful place—long may it continue.

I am the Member for Darlington, where a quarter of the Treasury is based, and my wonderful home town is filled with people from all walks of life. We share the unifying belief that despite our rich railway heritage we do not like to be taken for a ride. The coalition of people who elected me came from every part of the town, from people working two jobs, worried about keeping their children fed, right across to people earning six figures who voted Labour for the first time because they were worried about the lack of opportunities for their children to succeed. The people in that coalition lead different lives but agree completely on their reasons for voting Labour. Their reason was the same as for those up and down the country who voted for Labour for the first time in droves: the Conservatives had crashed our economy and stifled growth, and all those people were worse off because of it.

As a member of the prestigious Treasury Committee, I am privileged to hear the views of the top economic leaders in our country. Their advice is clear: growth and investment require economic stability, and this Finance Bill will deliver economic stability. Our Labour Government were elected to offer industry and the markets the assurances they need that Britain is back in business. The Bill does just that. Our Labour Government were elected to ensure that people in every corner of the country can be better off. This Finance Bill will create the conditions to do just that. Our Labour Government were elected to get our children’s future back—a future that they can be excited about, with a life filled with opportunities, prosperity and public services that work when they need them. The Bill is essential to deliver just that.

I am proud to stand here to champion a Bill that will create the conditions for long-term investment in my area. The huge amount of investment from big business that this Government have already crowded in is testament to the fantastic reputation our country has on the global stage—a reputation that the last three Prime Ministers nearly destroyed. While the Conservatives chopped and changed their leaders, Chancellors and policies, the markets, business leaders and global investors stepped back. They watched and waited to see if the new Prime Minister knew what they were doing, or if the next new Prime Minister had the backing of their colleagues. They watched and waited to see the new Prime Minister’s long-term vision for the country, but scandal after disastrous scandal led them to lose confidence—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

Order. The hon. Lady should sit when I am on my feet. This needs to be a debate about the Finance Bill, not other matters, and certainly not a general debate on the Budget again.

[Lola McEvoy]

The Conservatives stopped answering the phone to Labour; the industry ghosted them; and then the country rejected them. But, on the Finance Bill, not 100 days into this new Labour Government, Britain is back open for business with billions of pounds of investment in green technology, new nuclear, solar and hydro projects being given the go-ahead, and a whopping £63 billion of private investment crowded in. Tough choices were taken to fix the foundations and to stabilise the economy—choices only necessary because of the incompetence, inertia and wilful ignorance of the last Government. To govern is to choose, and I am proud to have chosen to stabilise the economy, invest in net zero and energy independence, balance the books and begin to rebuild our public services, all in the service of working people. This House will pass the Bill; the economy will be stabilised; and every corner of our great country will be better off, and not a moment too soon.