Speeches by Baldwin.

“Does anyone have anything to say on consumer finance and mortgages?”

“For consumers, one of the most important things that they have had to deal with over the last few years has been their mortgage. With so many low-rate, fixed-term mortgages having come to an end, they are now having to pay much higher rates. Starting with Anne Pardoe, do you think there is anything in the Bill that wil…”

“Are you disputing the actual numbers?”

“I was fascinated to hear Mr Saks speaking about incentives. A report last week from Britain Remade and the Centre for British Progress pointed to the 65% cost premium of UK infrastructure compared to European comparables. Where are the incentives and who is incentivised to bring those costs down to a European average? …”

“Can you share with the Committee what the impact that you have given to the Treasury is?”

“Hinkley Point is going to cost six times more than a South Korean nuclear power station. Where are the incentives to save money? I can see the incentives to spend a lot of money on these projects, but who is incentivised to do this in an efficient way?”

“Mr Saks, on the supply chain question, I wondered if you had done any work on the impact of the 50% tariff coming in for steel manufacturers and imported steel. Presumably, quite a lot of people in the supply chain rely on imported steel. The 50% tariff with lower quotas is going to raise the cost of steel across the e…”

“It is an up. Is it an increase?”

“rose—”

“I am grateful to the Secretary of State for giving way. He mentioned parental consent—what would happen in a situation where the child was in the care of the state? Would they be included or excluded from this trial?”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“I thank the Minister for giving way. If everything is so great, why has Lord Robertson described the Government’s situation as one of “corrosive complacency”?”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“On 1 July, the Trade Minister is slapping a 50% tariff on steel from many of our allies, much of which goes into the aerospace and defence supply chain. That will affect the cost of the defence investment plan. Will the Minister urgently review those tariffs and their impact on our defence spending? I am sure he will a…”

“You say it is a system you inherited, and of course that is the case, but the changes you have made include reducing the interest rate, which as we heard earlier actually benefits those on higher incomes. Is that fair?”

“We heard that list before. I am going to put on the record, Chair, my concern that the Chief Secretary is not aware that interest rates are now considerably higher than they were under that 49-day premiership that she alluded to. On the point about the evidence that the Committee received, I want to highlight the fact …”

“I know there will be more questions about those retrospective changes, but I will carry on asking about interest rates. The Committee has received evidence suggesting the interest rate really should be just a pass-through of what the Government themselves pay. Would that be practical, Chief Secretary?”

“You said in your written submission that 7% was unfair. I think I just heard you not say that 6% is fair. You do not think 6% is fair either do you, Baroness Smith?”

“My hon. Friend the Member for Droitwich and Evesham (Nigel Huddleston) and I have a hope, which is that parking at Worcestershire Parkway station can expand. We have been told by Great Western Railway that it can no longer do that, because it is now the responsibility of Great British Railways. Can the Secretary of Sta…”

“Is it fair to have frozen the thresholds in the way that the Chancellor did? That is another £7.5 billion that will be asked of students in one stroke of the pen.”