My Lords, I welcome this opportunity to debate the information that will be provided to the Commission this year under Section 5 of the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993. As in previous years, the Government report to the Commission on the UK’s economic and budgetary position in line with our...

My Lords, I welcome this opportunity to debate the information that will be provided to the Commission this year under Section 5 of the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993. As in previous years, the Government report to the Commission on the UK’s economic and budgetary position in line with our...

My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Newby, made clear, the Government are required by the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993 to submit an assessment of the UK’s convergence programme towards the economic structure of the eurozone. This requirement is perhaps more apt this year than in past years. On...

My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Newby, made clear, the Government are required by the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993 to submit an assessment of the UK’s convergence programme towards the economic structure of the eurozone. This requirement is perhaps more apt this year than in past years. On...

My Lords, I welcome the good news this morning that our Chancellor has avoided the epithet of “the triple dipper”—of taking Britain into that sorry state and in that, as a good man of the north-west, rivalling Blackpool’s big dipper in effecting the number of dips in the UK economy....

My Lords, I welcome the good news this morning that our Chancellor has avoided the epithet of “the triple dipper”—of taking Britain into that sorry state and in that, as a good man of the north-west, rivalling Blackpool’s big dipper in effecting the number of dips in the UK economy....

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Harrison, whose enthusiasm for Europe usually knows no bounds. As he knows, it is an enthusiasm which I do not quite share. However, I would like to associate myself with his remarks on the FTT, which is a...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Harrison, whose enthusiasm for Europe usually knows no bounds. As he knows, it is an enthusiasm which I do not quite share. However, I would like to associate myself with his remarks on the FTT, which is a...

My Lords, I can maybe help the noble Baroness by confessing, “It was me that done it”. The objective at the time was to urge the then Government of John Major—Sir John Major as he is now—to make a report on the convergence procedure. The first time the debate took...

My Lords, I can maybe help the noble Baroness by confessing, “It was me that done it”. The objective at the time was to urge the then Government of John Major—Sir John Major as he is now—to make a report on the convergence procedure. The first time the debate took...

I am very pleased to learn that. I think that backs up my case for the repeal of Section 5 as having no meaning whatever. In addition to repealing Section 5, I hope that the Government will, as part of their current review of EU competences, also look carefully at...

I am very pleased to learn that. I think that backs up my case for the repeal of Section 5 as having no meaning whatever. In addition to repealing Section 5, I hope that the Government will, as part of their current review of EU competences, also look carefully at...

My Lords, I welcome this debate, which I think is more timely than on previous occasions when we have had this type of debate. Now even the IMF is beginning to question the Government’s strategy. Why is that? Because of the facts: we can see that the strategy is not...

My Lords, I welcome this debate, which I think is more timely than on previous occasions when we have had this type of debate. Now even the IMF is beginning to question the Government’s strategy. Why is that? Because of the facts: we can see that the strategy is not...

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend on powerfully reinforcing what my noble friend Lord Eatwell said from the Front Bench about why this government policy is so inadequate.

I must say to the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, that I thought she was telling us that she was not too happy...

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend on powerfully reinforcing what my noble friend Lord Eatwell said from the Front Bench about why this government policy is so inadequate.

I must say to the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, that I thought she was telling us that she was not too happy...

My Lords, I want to discuss the political and policy judgments that have been made since the financial crisis. The previous Chancellor, my right honourable friend Alistair Darling, like everyone else, did not see the 2007-08 banking crisis coming, nor the damage that it would do to our public finances,...

My Lords, I want to discuss the political and policy judgments that have been made since the financial crisis. The previous Chancellor, my right honourable friend Alistair Darling, like everyone else, did not see the 2007-08 banking crisis coming, nor the damage that it would do to our public finances,...

Before the noble Lord sits down, he is leading up to a rather important figure. Earlier in his most interesting speech he recognised that Darling had the problem of a ballooning deficit of borrowing. Everything that he is saying now would increase the deficit of borrowing. Would he like to...

Before the noble Lord sits down, he is leading up to a rather important figure. Earlier in his most interesting speech he recognised that Darling had the problem of a ballooning deficit of borrowing. Everything that he is saying now would increase the deficit of borrowing. Would he like to...

I am coming to that.

The intellectual prop of Rogoff and Reinhard turns out to be a shoddy piece of research because the corrected model shows that highly indebted economies can grow at 2% or more. Perhaps the unkindest cut of all, though, is the IMF’s verdict that plan A is...

I am coming to that.

The intellectual prop of Rogoff and Reinhard turns out to be a shoddy piece of research because the corrected model shows that highly indebted economies can grow at 2% or more. Perhaps the unkindest cut of all, though, is the IMF’s verdict that plan A is...

Perhaps the noble Lord could attempt to answer my question. He would give his whole contribution much more cogency if he could come up with a figure for the sort of level that he would like to see the Chancellor increase his borrowing to.

Perhaps the noble Lord could attempt to answer my question. He would give his whole contribution much more cogency if he could come up with a figure for the sort of level that he would like to see the Chancellor increase his borrowing to.

I am not talking about figures; I am talking about the importance of using the public finances to invest in growth. That is what we need. Without growth, we simply will not be able to repair the public finances.

I am not talking about figures; I am talking about the importance of using the public finances to invest in growth. That is what we need. Without growth, we simply will not be able to repair the public finances.

My Lords, I strongly support the fundamental economic strategy of my right honourable friend the Chancellor. On the other hand, I am not wholly happy with the way in which he has been attempting to carry it out. The objectives are right but the methods are rather questionable.

First, he has...

My Lords, I strongly support the fundamental economic strategy of my right honourable friend the Chancellor. On the other hand, I am not wholly happy with the way in which he has been attempting to carry it out. The objectives are right but the methods are rather questionable.

First, he has...

My Lords, in his manifesto defining the Mais lecture of February 2010, the Chancellor, just before he assumed office, announced a new macroeconomic and financial policy. He asserted that economic theory and, indeed, evidence suggested that tight fiscal policy would lead to recovery. He embraced the notion of austerity politics,...

My Lords, in his manifesto defining the Mais lecture of February 2010, the Chancellor, just before he assumed office, announced a new macroeconomic and financial policy. He asserted that economic theory and, indeed, evidence suggested that tight fiscal policy would lead to recovery. He embraced the notion of austerity politics,...

My Lords, this has been a most interesting debate and the Minister has a major task in replying to it. He has to address himself to the minutiae of parliamentary procedure and to the most philosophical aspects of the current policies of the Government.

On the question of procedure, I cannot...

My Lords, this has been a most interesting debate and the Minister has a major task in replying to it. He has to address himself to the minutiae of parliamentary procedure and to the most philosophical aspects of the current policies of the Government.

On the question of procedure, I cannot...

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have taken part in today’s debate. As the noble Lord, Lord Davies, said, we have covered everything, from macroeconomic theory to House of Lords procedure, and I will do my best to respond to as many of the issues raised as I...

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have taken part in today’s debate. As the noble Lord, Lord Davies, said, we have covered everything, from macroeconomic theory to House of Lords procedure, and I will do my best to respond to as many of the issues raised as I...

My Lords, the noble Lord has rather ably misrepresented what I said. I said that the economy was growing at 2%, which it was, and that the 2% growth would lead to a fall in the deficit, which it did. I did not say that at the time there was...

My Lords, the noble Lord has rather ably misrepresented what I said. I said that the economy was growing at 2%, which it was, and that the 2% growth would lead to a fall in the deficit, which it did. I did not say that at the time there was...

My Lords, businessmen take some notice of politicians, but they do not make investment decisions purely—or even largely—on what politicians say. They look around the market and see what is

happening elsewhere in the world. The speech of the noble Lord, Lord Eatwell, was notable in a number of respects....

My Lords, businessmen take some notice of politicians, but they do not make investment decisions purely—or even largely—on what politicians say. They look around the market and see what is

happening elsewhere in the world. The speech of the noble Lord, Lord Eatwell, was notable in a number of respects....

I must say that we spotted these inherent flaws in our 2011 report and repeated them. The problem was that the Government were supine in their approach. It was only by our goading, and at the very last moment, that they began to act. The point that I make in...

I must say that we spotted these inherent flaws in our 2011 report and repeated them. The problem was that the Government were supine in their approach. It was only by our goading, and at the very last moment, that they began to act. The point that I make in...