Speeches by Reeves.

“I could not agree more with my hon. Friend, and that is why I announced—on the basis of many representations from colleagues, including her—a comprehensive set of measures at the Budget to crack down on illegal high street activity. We want our high streets to thrive, but we must crack down on these illegal businesses …”

“As my hon. Friend knows, we have permanently reduced the multiplier for business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure, but my hon. Friend the Exchequer Secretary will set out the support for pubs in more detail later today. We are determined not only to support pubs, which are the lifeblood of so many communities,…”

“Under the previous Government—when the right hon. Gentleman was in government—7,000 pubs closed. We have permanently lowered the tax rate that retail, hospitality and leisure businesses pay. When I became Chancellor of the Exchequer, we faced a situation in which all of the covid support was going to disappear overnigh…”

“This Government have a plan to grow the economy and reduce the cost of living, and it is the right plan for Britain. We are cutting the cost of living and the national debt and creating the conditions for growth in all parts of our country. We have had six cuts in interest rates since the general election, reducing typ…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for that question. He did not mention the beautiful Bournemouth pier, which we visited together in August and where we enjoyed a very nice ice cream, but he did mention J.P. Morgan, which has announced record investment in its Bournemouth campus. It is employing a shedload of apprentices on that …”

“I was at Primark just ahead of the Budget, where we announced that we were going to take action on low-value imports. That was welcomed by Primark and many other retailers who are undercut by foreign importers that do not pay customs duty on what they bring into the country. Far from working against business, we are wo…”

“While the Bank of England has overall responsibility for returning inflation to target, this Government are taking the action that we can: £150 off energy bills from April this year, freezing prescription charges for the second year in a row, and freezing rail fares for the first time in 30 years. As a result, the Offi…”

“Some of the numbers that are bandied around by the right hon. Gentleman do not reflect the reality, because they do not reflect the £4.3 billion of transitional support that we have put in to taper those increases in business rates. I do not think anyone in this House seriously believes that temporary support during th…”

“I am not sure whether the hon. Gentleman thinks that the Chancellor of the Exchequer should not be in Davos, but I think it is important that the Chancellor is there banging the drum for Britain and bringing investment here. While I was in Davos, we secured new investment and worked with our allies on securing new trad…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for bringing this matter to the House’s attention. I cannot comment on individual cases of covid fraud and tax, but that person would not be the first member of Reform who took a fraudulent covid loan—[Interruption.] The hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Richard Tice) is here just in time. I a…”

“This Government are determined to get back all the money that was lost through covid fraud and corruption. That is why I appointed the covid corruption commissioner when I became Chancellor, and we have already brought in £400 million that the previous Government gave up on.”

“Sadly, I cannot comment on any individual cases, but I am absolutely determined to get that money back, because that money belongs in our schools, hospitals and public services, not in the pockets of Tory friends and donors.”

“If you give me the opportunity, I would be delighted to. I reserve the right to be able to take action at any point. I believe the headroom that we have and the changes that we have made mean that I will not need to do that in the spring, but I reserve the right at any time to take action.”

“Shall I finish answering your question, Dame Harriett? You have asked about economic growth. You will know that in the spring, the OBR upgraded their growth forecast. It was the biggest upgrade to growth from a non-fiscal measure that the OBR, in its 15-year history now, has ever made. That reflected the changes we mad…”

“Not at all. The £22 billion black hole left by the previous Government, which we had to fill, was set out to me by Treasury officials on the weekend that I became Chancellor of the Exchequer. Then there was the £16 billion downgrade to productivity and the impact that that had on fiscal revenue. The Office for Budget R…”

“First of all—we have been through this a number of times—there was new information after the general election: first, the £22 billion black hole in the public finances left by the previous Government.”

“The Prime Minister and I met two or three times a week during the Budget process. That is not always the case between Chancellors and Prime Ministers—I recognise that—but there is a very close partnership between myself and the Prime Minister. We took him through all the numbers and options, and we decided it together,…”

“The Prime Minister has been clear that that was one of the things that we looked at, but we were also looking at the tax thresholds. In the end, because of the decisions we made on higher value council tax, property, dividends and a number of other measures, we were able to keep the contribution from working people as …”

“I was very up-front in my speech in Parliament, when I delivered the Budget, that that would mean everyone was having to contribute, in exactly the way that I set out in my speech on 4 November. So I very much stand by the speech I made. I said in that speech that we were going to cut the cost of living, and we did: 0.…”

“A couple of things. First of all, in the speech on 4 November, I was very clear that everyone would have to make a contribution, and you saw that in the Budget on 26 November: we froze, for an additional three years, the tax thresholds—national insurance and income tax—that the previous Government had frozen for seven …”