Speeches by Jones.

“I think the House knows what losing control of the public finances looked like, because under the previous Conservative Government interest rates went through the roof, families were paying higher mortgage rates and the Chair of the Treasury Committee was calling out the irresponsible behaviour of Liz Truss and her Min…”

“As the shadow Chancellor knows, it is a long-standing convention of this and previous Governments not to provide a running commentary on a fiscal forecast, and it is for the independent Office for Budget Responsibility to assess performance against the Government’s fiscal rules in its official economic and fiscal forec…”

“The Government agree wholeheartedly with my hon. Friend. At the end of the current Parliament, people will be better off as a consequence of the decisions that this Labour Government are making. We have already increased the national living wage by 6.7% to benefit 3 million people, while full-time workers are seeing an…”

“The hon. Lady will know that we are waiting to receive detailed proposals from Heathrow for the development of the third runway. The Government will consider those proposals in due course and make further announcements when decisions have been taken.”

“On behalf of the House, may I thank social care workers for the service they provide in all our constituencies? As a result of this Labour Government commitment’s to social workers and the social care system, we will have increased funding for social care by £4 billion by 2028-29 through the local government settlement…”

“This Labour Government in Westminster are delivering for the people of Scotland. As a consequence of our spending review, Scotland will receive an average of £50.9 billion per year over this Parliament—the largest real-terms increase in funding since devolution began. The only reason there is a black hole in the budget…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for championing the Dorset clean energy super cluster opportunity, which was announced by her council at the UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum only recently. Offshore wind, hydrogen, nuclear, and carbon capture and storage are frontier technologies and industries that are at th…”

“The 10-year infrastructure strategy is a key part of this Government’s growth mission, committing to a minimum of £725 billion of investment over the next 10 years in local transport, affordable homes, and modernising schools and hospitals in every part of the country.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his question, and I extend the thoughts of the House to his constituents and the communities that he represents. He will know that I have always kept the service and sacrifices of the mining communities in my mind, both in opposition when campaigning for changes to the mineworkers’ pension sc…”

“One thing I can tell the Scottish people, and indeed the House, is that it is this Labour Government who have given the largest real-terms increase in spending to the Scottish Government since devolution began—billions and billions of pounds of extra money is going to the Scottish National party Government in Holyrood.…”

“There are currently no plans to review the operation of the Barnett formula. The Barnett formula has stood the test of time because it is simple and efficient, and it provides a clear and certain outcome. It is a key part of the arrangements for pooling and sharing risks and resources across the United Kingdom.”

“My hon. Friend the Minister for Industry recently met the trustees of the British Coal staff superannuation scheme to consider their proposals, and I have been monitoring the developments closely.”

“That is right: a + b = c in the documents—there is no denying that. The only discretionary point that I am making is that some councils have chosen in the past not to use the full 5%.”

“Some councils take different decisions from other councils, but it often depends on the local circumstances. I recognise that.”

“I totally recognise that council tax is something we all pay in our local communities, on top of our PAYE tax to national Government. In terms of the spending review, we assumed that councils will continue to behave in the way they have behaved, based on the rules that exist: you have 3% for core and, if you are a soci…”

“We are doing that, yes. As I say, we—”

“There are a couple of differences that I would point out. They might have been told by the last Government, but the last Government were not helping them reform SEND, adult social care and children’s social care. They did not give them multi-year settlements and lots of the other things we are trying to do to make it e…”

“We have assumed that councils will behave in the same way they have behaved recently, so the rules have not changed.”

“Yes, it comes from local tax that people—”

“On children’s social care—there are other examples—we expect to see improvements in the course of this Parliament, and that is how it has been costed in the multi-year spending settlement. Children’s social care is a good example of where there had been lots of work done, but the officials came to us in the spending re…”