Speeches by Reeves.

“I thank my hon. Friend for his question and for his campaigning work on this. At the spending review, I announced the changes to the Green Book and particularly our work on place-based business cases, looking at how spending can cumulatively benefit an area. We are rolling out the new Green Book with some test cases. I…”

“The NHS will remain free at the point of use for as long as there is a Labour Government. That is not something that Reform is able to promise. As usual, Reform does one thing and says another. In Kent, the party said that it would find efficiencies to keep down council tax, but it has not found a single one and that i…”

“We have made a commitment that every single primary school in England will have a library by the end of this Parliament. The Department for Education will set out the process in due course, but any primary school without a library can rest assured that it will have one soon.”

“My hon. Friend is a solid defender of businesses and working people in her constituency. The defence industrial strategy is about supporting British industry as we—and other countries around the world—up what we spend on defence. We want British businesses and British workers to benefit from that investment.”

“I thank my hon. Friend again for raising the opportunities in Portland. As he knows, we are working closely with Dorset council, the project and him to bring that to fruition.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her question. She is a proud supporter of everything in the Congleton constituency. This Government are committed to regional growth, with growth in all parts of the United Kingdom. That is why the Treasury has reformed the Green Book, looking at the value for money of different projects. It …”

“I thank my hon. Friend for drawing this issue to my attention. I agree that community projects such as solar panels are a fantastic opportunity to get down bills for schools so that they have more money to spend on teachers and on books. On my hon. Friend’s specific question about solar installations, there was a tempo…”

“The previous Government left a £22 billion black hole in the public finances, and in the Budget last year I had to take urgent action to ensure our public finances were on a firm footing and to properly fund our public services, including a £29 billion investment every year in our national health service. The Oppositio…”

“I thank the right hon. Lady for that question, and 43% of employers—almost 1 million—will pay no employer national insurance this year. That is an increase because of the changes we made to the employment allowance. Over half of employers with NIC liabilities will see no change, or will gain overall, and businesses can…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for that question. In his own constituency in the Isle of Wight, the six-monthly waiting list figures show that 5% fewer people are waiting for 18 weeks or longer. That is only possible because of the money we put into the NHS because of the tax changes we made. On retail sales and the impact…”

“In the hon. Gentleman’s constituency, the number of people waiting more than 18 weeks for an appointment has also fallen. That is exactly what that money is being used for. He needs to be clear, and so do those on the Opposition Front Bench: if they want to reverse the increase to national insurance, they must also acc…”

“My hon. Friend is a strong champion for people in Hornsey and Wood Green, including small businesses. Last year at the Budget, we set out the principles in the consultation on business rates reform. Our principle is to make it easier for small businesses and high street businesses, while making sure that the online ret…”

“That is exactly the case. The tax changes we made at the Budget last year enabled us to put £29 billion extra a year into the NHS, but also to roll out free school meals and free breakfast clubs for young people. That is the difference this Government are making. On capital spending, because of the changes I made to ou…”

“We increased the employment allowance at the Budget last year. That is, rightly, agnostic between part-time and full-time workers. That is why 865,000 businesses will not be paying national insurance at all this year—an increase to help our smallest businesses. Employment is up 358,000 so far this year; that is very di…”

“It was good to see my hon. Friend and the engineering company Redler in Downing Street yesterday. On the issue about schools, as I said in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Sarah Russell), the scheme is now reopened. I have not had a look at the schools mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud…”

“As the hon. Gentleman knows, that is not what I said in my speech this morning. In last year’s Budget we got rid of the non-dom tax status, we introduced VAT and business rates on private schools, we increased capital gains tax, we increased tax on private jets and we got rid of the carried interest—more than the Green…”

“We are increasing spending on research and development in real terms and in every year of this Parliament, for exactly the reasons that the hon. Gentleman mentions. But we are doing more than that: we are supporting start-up and scale-up businesses through our pensions reform, through the British Business Bank and thro…”

“Catapults have been a big success in driving economic activity, especially in manufacturing and engineering, which are prevalent in all parts of the country, including in my hon. Friend’s constituency. It was a pleasure to visit Hyndburn with her last year. I look forward to having the opportunity to do so again.”

“We will set out all our Budget measures at the Budget.”

“My hon. Friend is a proud champion of the people of Altrincham and Sale West. Investment through the transport for city regions fund will allow the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, to invest in local priorities, creating jobs, better commutes, bigger labour markets and more opportunity across Greater Manchest…”