Speeches by Dean.

“As the Minister for Growth, I want to understand what you think about when you think about growth. Is it just the rate? Is it 0.7% or 0.8%? Is it about achieving the highest possible number? Are there other things you are considering when going for growth?”

“We heard evidence from the New Economics Foundation, which recommended that the National Wealth Fund takes a lot more equity stakes in the projects that it invests in to try to avoid the Government socialising the risks and privatising the profits, as they put it. Is that something the National Wealth Fund will look to…”

“My point is that this is well understood in the world of finance, but it is not very well understood in the world of politics. There is probably going to be pressure, maybe even from this Committee, from Opposition politicians or the Government’s own side about high-profile project failures. Are you and the rest of the…”

“Just going back to the idea that the National Wealth Fund needs to take more risk, with that comes political risk as well. Will you be in front of the TV cameras to defend it if the National Wealth Fund’s projects have failed? Is the Chancellor prepared to do that? Who is going to be the spokesperson that explains to t…”

“The New Economics Foundation’s point is that the market has broadly dictated that. Of course, they will want to have fewer strings attached, if they can get it, but that is not always in the public interest. Are the Government going to take a stronger approach to taking equity stakes in companies? The market may not be…”

“I know it is a core part of the offer, but is it something that you are going to look to step up? Are you going to do more of that and less of the other types of support that you provide? Is it still an option among a suite?”

“We heard evidence from the New Economics Foundation, which recommended that the National Wealth Fund takes a lot more equity stakes in the projects that it invests in to try to avoid the Government socialising the risks and privatising the profits, as they put it. Is that something the National Wealth Fund will look to…”

“I totally accept that clean energy can generate growth, but sometimes there are opportunities in front of you, such as airport expansions, where you might feel, “In the name of growth, we are going to press this button, even though it may be detrimental to net zero ambitions.” If growth continues to be stagnant over a …”

“Sometimes they do not.”

“A lot of those are still about rates. There is a bit of inequality mixed in there, by making sure the per head living standards element goes up. What about the environment, for instance? There are probably lots of ways that you could achieve good growth that might be damaging to the Government’s long-term net zero poss…”

“As the Minister for Growth, I want to understand what you think about when you think about growth. Is it just the rate? Is it 0.7% or 0.8%? Is it about achieving the highest possible number? Are there other things you are considering when going for growth?”

“Yes. Just to confirm to the Committee, when is the end of the forecast period?”

“The Government probably need to be prepared to make the argument, because it is something that the public will not be used to. Finally, my colleague Rachel Blake spoke about the year-on-year losses that we have had so far. You have said that is okay because these are early days. How long could we tolerate year-on-year …”

“My point is that this is well understood in the world of finance, but it is not very well understood in the world of politics. There is probably going to be pressure, maybe even from this Committee, from Opposition politicians or the Government’s own side about high-profile project failures. Are you and the rest of the…”

“Just going back to the idea that the National Wealth Fund needs to take more risk, with that comes political risk as well. Will you be in front of the TV cameras to defend it if the National Wealth Fund’s projects have failed? Is the Chancellor prepared to do that? Who is going to be the spokesperson that explains to t…”

“The New Economics Foundation’s point is that the market has broadly dictated that. Of course, they will want to have fewer strings attached, if they can get it, but that is not always in the public interest. Are the Government going to take a stronger approach to taking equity stakes in companies? The market may not be…”

“I know it is a core part of the offer, but is it something that you are going to look to step up? Are you going to do more of that and less of the other types of support that you provide? Is it still an option among a suite?”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“I cannot proceed with my speech without putting on record my admiration for the hon. Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Dr Tidball). She made a courageous and passionate speech, and I hope that all Members listened to it very carefully. Let me start on a personal note. My dad is currently receiving PIP. He has been…”

“The Minister will no doubt be aware of reports of the so-called exodus of millionaires. Those reports are from “high profile individuals” and city spokespeople, but there are rarely hard numbers behind them. Are Treasury Ministers able to verify the Tax Justice Network’s research that says that just 0.3% of millionaire…”