Oral Answers to Questions

Stephen Timms Excerpts

Tuesday 11th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Sajid Javid)]

My hon. Friend is passionate about this issue, and she will be pleased to hear that the Government are removing unnecessary obstacles to investment in nuclear power plants and that new power stations will come forward. For example, the Government are undertaking electricity market and planning reforms and introducing an energy Bill. As it happens, I am meeting representatives of EDF later this afternoon, and I would be happy to share her concerns with the company.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

T5. Why is Britain in a double-dip recession when France and Germany are not?

[Mr George Osborne]

In case the right hon. Gentleman had not noticed, the eurozone is in recession. He talks about France and Germany, but the International Monetary Fund—[Hon. Members: “Answer!”] I am about to give him the answer. The IMF’s latest forecasts for growth next year show the UK growing at almost twice the speed of France, and the same with Germany. If the question is, “Why isn’t the British economy more like Germany’s?”, I will give him the answer. It is because we did not invest in skills over the past decade. We did not build our export links with China and India and the growing parts of the economy. We put all our bets on the City of London when the right hon. Member for Morley and Outwood (Ed Balls) was the City Minister and it all went spectacularly wrong. We are now clearing up the mess.