Speeches by Grady.

“My final question or set of questions is on the cut in the interest rate from 8% to Bank base rate plus 1%. How are you going to monitor whether this leads to firms delaying resolving cases because the cost of them is lower, if they do not have to pay the 8% but base plus 1%?”

“In terms of the metrics, you have seen this drop-off. What is the sense of the FOS—again, this is maybe for Mr Dipple-Johnstone—as to whether you are seeing less meritorious complaints fall away and better evidenced complaints forming a larger proportion or a reduction in poorer complaints? What is the mix? What is you…”

“I have some questions for Ms Simmonds. You introduced fees for claims management companies and there has been a very significant drop in the number of claims since you introduced the charge. How have you gone about assessing the impact of this change on vulnerable customers? Do you have any data?”

“Glasgow has many brilliant young people who just want to work. They have been let down by the Tories and the SNP, with school standards plummeting and the refusal to fund the Rolls-Royce welding centre. In many meetings I have with employers, they emphasise to me how little they see of the apprenticeship levy they pay …”

“I pay tribute to the staff of the British embassies in Doha and across the middle east for their professional work in incredibly challenging circumstances. On a separate note, the economic crisis flowing from this war will have a disastrous effect on the poorest countries in the world, plunging people into deeper pover…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate and paying tribute to the bravery of firefighters. As the Member of Parliament for Glasgow East, I wish to pay tribute to the brave firefighters in Glasgow who risked their lives to battle the fire on Union Street this past week, preventing casualties and saving Glasg…”

“I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Gorton and Denton (Hannah Spencer) for a profound speech. She used the phrase “our humanity is the same”, and there is a profound truth in that. We in this House must recognise that there are people who disagree with that and want to tear us apart. I have a diverse constituency, whi…”

“On de-escalation, obviously you are having discussions with G7 Finance Ministers. Do I have it right that there is a limited amount that Finance Ministers can do to de-escalate, and that sits with the Foreign Office and the Prime Minister? I am just picking away at what the Treasury can actually do to help de-escalate …”

“You mentioned on Monday that you are in regular contact with the Bank of England. People coming to this Committee express concern about private markets and so on. Do you have any concerns about firm-level or system-level financial stability, given all the volatility that we are seeing in the different markets?”

“Moving on to the state of the public finances, we have a very high ratio of debt to GDP. There is already a discussion about schemes to assist businesses and consumers with bills but, given our high debt-to-GDP ratio, do we have the fiscal room to carry out something akin to what happened after Ukraine, which cost betw…”

“I suppose, Chancellor, what we have heard from witnesses recently is a sense that since the OBR was introduced people have always promised tightening tomorrow but that whenever a crisis comes along we spend money, and then the tightening never occurs. What is your response to that criticism?”

“Just a quick question from me on the electricity generator levy. Of course, a lot more electricity is now fixed price under CfDs and the like, so presumably, all other things being equal, it would raise less than it did before when there was more merchant capacity. At the same time, we arguably want to see more investm…”

“The panellists we had yesterday were all clear that this was bad news for the British economy—there were no bright spots in it. Would you concur with those panellists?”

“Chancellor, what does the Iran war mean for inflation, interest rates and growth?”

“How are you helping or working to de-escalate the conflict?”

“Are you clear about what would make traffic up the strait of Hormuz insurable again? Yesterday, there was quite a bit of confusion about whether tankers had or had not been escorted up the strait of Hormuz by the US army.”

“Chancellor, there are two, or three, protagonists in this conflict. One is the US; one is Iran. In the meetings with Scott Bessent that the Finance Ministers have held, has it been made clear that the UK’s position is that the US should return to the negotiating table and seek to de-escalate this conflict?”

“The root cause of this issue in Britain is our excessive reliance on gas. That is why consumers in Glasgow East pay much more for their energy. The Conservatives had an offshore wind auction with no bids and an onshore wind moratorium, and the SNP is against any new nuclear power stations. Does my right hon. Friend the…”

“I will quickly follow up on that topic, because it is something that I pursue as a constituency MP. You have spoken to Surviving Economic Abuse, Mr Singh. In the social landlord sector, DAHA provides external assurances to social landlords about whether they are doing the best by victims of economic abuse. Specifically…”

“Moving on to online and offline exclusion, realistically, there are some people who will never be able to use online banking for all sorts of reasons. Those are most likely to be more expensive customers to serve. Is serving those customers commercially sustainable in the long run for your organisations?”