Speeches by Glen.

“And only doing things over 0.1%.”

“Chancellor, you have talked about your youth guarantee and apprenticeships to help deal with the record youth unemployment, but I want to turn to AI. How do you see AI? It could have a massive effect on the economy and employment. Could you tell us what assessment you have made and what the Treasury is doing to evaluat…”

“£106 billion.”

“May I move to Mr Haile and ask about the dynamics of our processes in the UK and the effect that the OBR has had? There was a lot of discussion about the dynamics between the Treasury and the OBR in the run-up to the autumn Budget. What do you see in the way that the OBR’s dynamics with the Treasury have evolved? Are w…”

“It was different then.”

“I recognise that. I think everyone would say that. It was a pretty difficult situation before the Budget. I am thinking more fundamentally about the Treasury’s forecasting function, when it has to live within the OBR’s determinations. Is there a danger that the dynamic of decision making means that the reference point …”

“Essentially, you are saying that the analysis and commentaries are quite superficial, and do not take account of the real, relative values across different jurisdictions.”

“Thank you very much. Ms Mehta, the gilt yields that we see in the UK are the highest in the G7. Please could you explain to us why that is?”

“Over the last three or four months, perhaps as a function of what happened in the run-up to the last fiscal event and what happened with the OBR, there has been speculation, and you and your predecessor were very clear about the optimism bias, shall we say, in manifestos at general elections. Mr Hughes and Sir Robert C…”

“You will know that in the previous panel we heard evidence from the OBR on the presumptions about where spending will be towards the end of the period. For the unprotected Departments, I think it is a 4.4% cut. The IFS states that, for next year’s spending review, there is an assumption that day-to-day departmental bud…”

“That was nearly 30 years ago. We have seen youth unemployment at record levels now, in these first 20 months of your Government.”

“Mental health?”

“I am just not clear what you think is going to get those people into employment in the first place, and what is going to persuade employers, given the context that now exists for them, to make the decision to employ people.”

“It’s hardly likely to be positive, is it?”

“What does it do for an employer who is anxious?”

“Yes, but we are trying to understand that; we are trying to get to a better understanding of what is driving that. You have had a bit of a discussion about a number of factors. What answer would you give, the official answer from the OBR, as to why more young people are now unemployed?”

“What I am asking about is this: if the propensity to employ somebody is less, that is a theoretical construct, because the person will not be in a job in the first place. Are you saying that you are committed to a higher-cost labour and higher capital investment growth strategy? Is that a fair summary of where your mea…”

“Can I ask a question about the overall tax burden? You have a £10 billion further increase in the last year of the Parliament, and people are seeing that the level of tax overall is heading up to 50% of GDP. Do you have a view on what effect that has on the motivation of people to work and invest? Is there any upper li…”

“Chancellor, could we turn to growth? You are 20 months into a five-year term—a third of the way through. You have talked about the National Wealth Fund, planning reform and a new industrial strategy as some of the things that you have done to drive growth, but if we look at some of the OBR’s assessments, obviously ther…”

“Can I just interject there briefly? I do not think anyone would dispute the potential for those things to make a meaningful difference, but we have to address the immediate context that the country faces, which includes the cost of employing people and the behaviours that we see on the ground. The OBR has talked about …”