Speeches by Reeves.

“I thank my hon. Friend for that question. He did not mention the beautiful Bournemouth pier, which we visited together in August and where we enjoyed a very nice ice cream, but he did mention J.P. Morgan, which has announced record investment in its Bournemouth campus. It is employing a shedload of apprentices on that …”

“I was at Primark just ahead of the Budget, where we announced that we were going to take action on low-value imports. That was welcomed by Primark and many other retailers who are undercut by foreign importers that do not pay customs duty on what they bring into the country. Far from working against business, we are wo…”

“While the Bank of England has overall responsibility for returning inflation to target, this Government are taking the action that we can: £150 off energy bills from April this year, freezing prescription charges for the second year in a row, and freezing rail fares for the first time in 30 years. As a result, the Offi…”

“Sadly, I cannot comment on any individual cases, but I am absolutely determined to get that money back, because that money belongs in our schools, hospitals and public services, not in the pockets of Tory friends and donors.”

“This Government are determined to get back all the money that was lost through covid fraud and corruption. That is why I appointed the covid corruption commissioner when I became Chancellor, and we have already brought in £400 million that the previous Government gave up on.”

“My understanding is that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is still consulting on this matter, so the hon. Lady and other colleagues will have a chance to feed into that process. In the spending review, we put an extra £600 million into supporting local authorities after the years of austerity u…”

“My right hon. Friends the Northern Ireland Secretary and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury are in discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on some of the additional pressures they are facing. We are working through those plans and will have more to say shortly.”

“At the Budget, we published our North sea oil and gas plan and provided certainty by announcing that the energy profits levy introduced by the previous Government will end at the end of this Parliament. At the same time, we are supporting the transition to new jobs in new industries right across Scotland, including in …”

“This Labour Government are investing more than £250 million in economic development and regeneration in Ayrshire, including but not limited to the Ayrshire growth deal. My hon. Friend is a great champion of Ayrshire, and I look forward to working with her and my good friend Anas Sarwar in the months and years ahead to …”

“My hon. Friend has been a tireless campaigner for the Moor Farm roundabout, which holds back both commuters and businesses, and therefore both growth and prosperity. I will continue to work with her on this. I know that the roundabout is now being properly considered for inclusion in the road investment strategy and I …”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her commitment to her constituency. It is right that the money is allocated through the regional economic partnerships in Scotland, and I have absolutely no doubt that my hon. Friend will make the case for her local area. The regional economic partnerships have already worked together to deli…”

“I am very sorry to see your leg in such a way, Mr Speaker. We are committed to driving growth everywhere. The Budget ensured that Scottish public services are fairly funded, with an extra £820 million for the Scottish Government through the Barnett formula, on top of a record settlement in June this year. We are also i…”

“Of course we look at what we think the growth impacts of different policies will be but, as I said, we do not prioritise things based on whether we think the OBR will take them into account; we prioritise them based on the impact that we think they will have on growth. Certainly, those three trade deals—with more to co…”

“I hope that you see, in this Budget and last year’s Budget, that, due primarily to the work of the former Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury—who is now the Chief Secretary to the Treasury—and the new Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, we have done some really good work on cracking down on tax avoidance and closing l…”

“Yes.”

“When people come back and say, “Well, that was the case in the spring”—”

“That is not the case.”

“Headroom went as low as £6.5 billion in the last Parliament. I built it up to £9.9 billion in my Budget last year and in the spring statement. I felt that that was the right approach, but obviously since then we have had a number of global shocks, whether shocks to trade, ongoing conflicts or disruptions to supply chai…”

“I increased taxes by £40 billion in the Budget last year, and I do not remember any party clamouring for more tax increases. In fact, I think the Liberal Democrats opposed most of the ones that we are trying to take forward. I think we got the balance about right last year, but I was really clear that one of the object…”

“In the end, what really matters is not whether something is scored or not, but whether you actually get the growth or not. When we are deciding on policies at the Treasury, we do not say, “What will the OBR score?”. We say, “What will actually deliver the growth?” I have been really clear from opposition into governmen…”