Speeches by Grady.

“I fully support the Chancellor’s decision to rebuild the headroom, tackle Government borrowing and stick to her fiscal rules. It is consistent with Labour values. There is nothing progressive about 10% of Government spending being on interest. There is nothing progressive about leaving unsustainable debt to future gene…”

“There has been much mention of Shakespeare. I wonder whether the gravediggers in “Hamlet” might give us some clues as to what the last Conservative Government did to the British economy.”

“It is about choices—choices to invest in the health service so that people can return to work and contribute to the economy. There is nothing more heartbreaking than being a constituency MP and listening to people who have been waiting for over two years for a hip operation and cannot work. It is about choices to inves…”

“I am going to make some progress if I may. Given the public finance situation that we face, I am afraid it is incumbent on Opposition Members to come up with some credible alternatives. But of course we know what their credible alternatives are; they are the sort of decisions made by the gravediggers Liz Truss and Kwas…”

“I have worked in hospitality. I am not sure I was particularly successful at it, but there is a macro point here—an important point not to lose sight of. We hear from Opposition Members objection after objection to the Chancellor’s decisions, but no credible alternatives.”

“Does the Minister agree that it is due to the careful management of the public finances that we have record investment in defence and other areas of the Scottish economy, creating lots of well-paid jobs in Glasgow?”

“The Scottish public finances have been aided by a record budget settlement from the UK Government, but there is a £5 billion black hole in them. Might it be the case that after 18 years of the SNP, some responsibility for such matters lies closer to home, perhaps in Edinburgh?”

“Perhaps Reform UK is polling high in Perthshire as well. Leaving that to one side, let me tell the hon. Member what my constituents in Glasgow East are not relieved about: record NHS waiting lists, an SNP Government who block nuclear developments that would bring in hundreds of thousands of pounds a year through the cr…”

“I will make some progress—I am mindful of Madam Deputy Speaker’s time limit. Child poverty blights the lives of children in Glasgow East, and the levels of child poverty are a moral outrage. The Conservatives’ approach is to refer to my constituents as being on “Benefits Street”, which reveals the contempt that they ha…”

“Who in the FCA is responsible for driving this forward? Who is accountable to you for driving it forward day to day?”

“My understanding of a consumer duty, Ms Pritchard, is that firms have to tailor their communications to the consumer characteristics. Is that something you are looking at here, and the FCA is paying wider attention to at the moment?”

“Exactly.”

“To summarise this chapter of evidence more generally, the legislation governing mutuals, things like the Industrial and Provident Societies Act, the Credit Unions Act 1979 and so on, is all antiquated and needs thorough modernisation. Until we do that, we are not going to get the progress we would all like to see. Is t…”

“I have one follow-up question for your thoughts. One of the things about local credit unions and local mutuals is they get to know their communities, and that is often their unique but really important point of social value. That inherently puts them at a disadvantage to everyone else who operates electronically and in…”

“This is tolerable harm.”

“You have set up a mutual societies development unit, which is very exciting. The FCA and PRA have roles here. Can you briefly outline what you are looking to achieve with the way you see people’s remits here?”

“What do you see as the benefits for the economy of the people and consumers in growing the mutual sector?”

“All very interesting, but what are the barriers to growth for financial mutuals, Mr Rathi?”

“Moving on to building societies and mutuals, policy context is that the Government want to double the size of this sector. What are the main barriers, Mr Rathi, to growth of financial mutuals, from the FCA’s perspective?”

“Would you be prepared to share that with the Committee?”