Speeches by Glen.

“Ms Curtice, I want to briefly come back on what you said about better targeting than the last time we did some sort of energy support. My recollection is that there were some significant constraints around data points. What do you perceive has been enhanced over the last four years? I do not think any of us would want …”

“In reality, that does not happen though; if the Chancellor cannot get through the OBR and meet the rules, she knows that politically it is pretty damaging. In effect therefore, even though we like to say that the Chancellor has a choice, she knows that, given what happened in 2022, the OBR is essentially a sovereign ar…”

“The Chancellor hinted at that. The mechanics of the state in delivering a politician's intention is quite an important point but it does not get much airing. Understandably, all politicians are rightly accountable but how to deliver it efficiently does not get much scrutiny. Where do we go to scrutinise this meaningful…”

“How do you avoid a situation such as occurred last week, when the Chancellor came before us and said that there had been no negative scoring of the Employment Act? Now the OBR would say that it had not finished all the consultations on how the Act would play out but essentially, because of the way it is configured at t…”

“It is exactly that short-term/long-term focus that Mr Jessop might like to comment on in terms of a refined role for the OBR in this area.”

“I have a brief question. Paul Johnson at the IFS had a very prominent role in our national life and still does. He was pretty direct about all the manifestos going into the 2024 election; he thought they made very little difference either to voting intentions or appreciation of the factors involved. Does that suggest t…”

“I would like to talk about how the OBR treat supply-side measures, and the dynamic between the Treasury and the OBR. I was briefly Chief Secretary; in that year, I had the impression that there was a cat and mouse dynamic between the OBR and the Treasury. Jeremy Hunt, who was Chancellor at the time, wanted the OBR to p…”

“How do you fix this, Mr Jessop?”

“That is an interesting observation but where we are now, it is not a real choice, is it? It is an historical and academic analysis, but it does not help us make choices at this point.”

“Of course, nobody would expect the Government to contravene the indications of the Metropolitan police by publishing documents, but most people would expect that the first step for somebody applying for such an important job—the most senior diplomatic post—is to submit a declaration of interests. It is unclear whether …”

“The Secretary of State is a former distinguished Treasury Minister. Government is about taking decisions when things change. It is welcome that the Chancellor has addressed the heating oil crisis, but what will the Secretary of State do to make the Chancellor come to terms with the changes over the last few weeks, and …”

“My constituent Kate Szymankiewicz’s daughter, Ruth, tragically died in a mental health in-patient unit. She has been told by the Government that the law as it stands already provides adequate protections to ensure that family contact and visits can happen, but that plainly did not happen in this case, with tragic conse…”

“You had it as decreasing labour supply by 50,000 in ’24.”

“Could we turn to unemployment? Professor Miles, you mentioned in a previous answer that we have seen high unemployment. For certain age segments, particularly young people, it has reached quite worrying levels. What are your thoughts about the labour market and what is happening structurally? Some people would posit th…”

“Thank you.”

“I do not dispute that. Having worked, as you know, under four Chancellors, I recognise the difference between the theory of where we would like to be and the political reality of where we are. I would put it to you that what we are seeing at the moment might necessitate an action that might not be desirable—as it was n…”

“We have listened carefully to the measures and activities that you set out yesterday and again this morning. My question is simple: do you rule out addressing the fuel duty at all?”

“My last question, before I pass over to Mr Murphy, is on this AI business. There is quite a wide discrepancy of predictions, as you have just said, but also a discrepancy across different economies—between the US and the UK. Would you like to say something about how relatively well the UK is placed with respect to AI?”

“So it is possible that you could address it.”

“It was different then.”