r dream. you sit there denying, you know, trust me, i used to be a politician. you know, trust me, i used to be a pandzian. you know, trust me, i used to be a pand ofl. you know, trust me, i used to be a pand of course, you know, it's >> and of course, you know, it's a dark it's about passion. a dark it's all about passion. lampard all about passion. lampard is all about passion. >> so i have to say, if anyone should know, jeremy hunt would ace it. >> i mean, jeremy hunt. >> i mean, jeremy hunt. >> i mean, jeremy hunt. >> i think jeremy hunt will lose his seat at the next election and he will be serious and he will be a serious candidate in strictly. candidate to go in strictly. >> well, he might lose his seat before election. might before the election. he might lose chancellor. lose the position of chancellor. sorry, before the election, because the because i think i think the tories are determined get tories are determined to get a woman there spike guns woman in there to spike the guns of party, which want of the labour party, which want rachel reeves to be the first ever woman chancellor. >> they so mean >> would they be so mean spirited petty? yes. spirited and so petty? yes. >> think would >> yes. do you think they would bnng >> yes. do you think they would bring truss ? bring back liz truss? >> be her. >> it won't be her. >> it won't be her. >> no . >> no. >> no. >> although she would like to be chancellor. heard her chancellor. i have heard her saying we're counting on. chancellor. i have heard her say if; we're counting on. chancellor. i have heard her say if you're ne're counting on. chancellor. i have heard her say if you're juste counting on. chancellor. i have heard her say if you're just tuning ng on. chancellor. i have heard her say if you're just tuning in on. chancellor. i have heard her say if you're just tuning in now, >> if you're just tuning in now, emily be taking you emily and tom will be taking you through afternoon, through with. good afternoon, britain talking you through the autumn statement this afternoon. we've got pmqs and then we've got jeremy hunt is going to be delivering to you what your economic what your economic situation, what your financial situation might look

like although, also like. although, stephen, we also we understand and again, this will be clarified that any suggestions that come out today, any policy won't any policy changes, won't be enacted the spring? enacted until the spring? >> well, they can't be because that here is prime that and here is prime minister's on his feet. >> yeah, it's better than being on anybody else's later. >> but let me just say we welcome the agreement reached overnight for a humanitarian pause gaza. this is something pause in gaza. this is something that we have consistently pushed for and crucial step for and is a crucial step towards ending the nightmare for families of those taken hostage in hamas terror attack and also addressing the humanitarian crisis in gaza . mr speaker, this crisis in gaza. mr speaker, this morning i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. in addition to my duties in this house. i shall have further such meetings later today, just in. >> oswald. >> oswald. >> you, mr speaker. and >> thank you, mr speaker. and today government will say today his government will say that disabled people have a duty to work from home or lose their benefits, as if a suitable job of this kind is something that can be conjured up at will. it should be obvious to anyone that this kind of punitive policy is

not incentivising work. it is simply punishing disabled people who are already among the most marginalised in our community. yeah, so can the prime minister do his duty and tell us now how many of the 137,000 jobs on the dwp find a job website? are rules which specify that you can work from home. prime minister >> well, mr mr speaker , it >> well, mr mr speaker, it wouldn't be right to pre—empt the chancellor's autumn statement later, but let me just say this. i'm proud. proud say this. i'm proud. i'm proud of this government's record in supporting those with disabilities . mr speaker, not disabilities. mr speaker, not only have we closed the disability employment gap, not only have we increased the number of employed that are now disability confident, we are also making sure that support also making sure that we support those most vulnerable in those who are most vulnerable in our society, not least with the cost of payments this cost of living payments this yean cost of living payments this year, include £150 for all year, which include £150 for all those on means tested disability benefits. >> andrew jones thank you, mr speaken >> does the prime minister agree that the measures taken to get

us through the economic shocks caused by covid and putin's war were right for that time, but they not the blueprint for they are not the blueprint for they are not the blueprint for the long term successful economies future for its economies of the future for its innovation skills and innovation and skills and investment in these, such as the imminent rebuild of harrogate college the 12,000 local college or the 12,000 local apprenticeships since 2010. >> these are our foundation and not the fantasy fairy tale. >> tens of billions of borrowing from the labour party . well mr from the labour party. well mr speaken from the labour party. well mr speaker, my old friend is right and i'm proud that since 2010 we've created 5.5 million apprenticeships and, mr speaker, that's the difference between us. >> us. >> we now know that the party opposite want to halve the number of apprenticeships if they were in office. meanwhile we want to make an apprentice education secretary, but my honourable friend is right that labour's plans to borrow £28 billion a year would just push up inflation, interest rates and taxes, undermining all the progress that we've made on the economy. and it's only the conservative evs that will give

people opportunity to build people the opportunity to build wealthier, secure lives for wealthier, more secure lives for them and their families . them and their families. >> leader of the opposition keir starmer . starmer. >> thank you, mr speaker. >> thank you, mr speaker. >> like the prime minister i know the whole house will welcome the agreement reached overnight . might we repeat our overnight. might we repeat our calls for hamas to release all hostages as immediately this humanitarian pause must be used to get the hostages out safely to get the hostages out safely to tackle the urgent and unaccept humanitarian catastrophe in gaza and to make progress , yes, to a full progress, yes, to a full cessation of hostilities. >> mr speaker, in recent years, the international community has treated the two state solution as a slogan rather than a serious strategy , and that must serious strategy, and that must now . change like the prime now. change like the prime minister, i also i'm sure i speak for everyone in the house in saying our hearts go out to families and friends of the the families and friends of the four young men from shrewsbury who tragically lost their lives

this week. it's a living nightmare for any parent, and i can hardly begin to imagine their loss . mr speaker , mr their loss. mr speaker, mr speaken their loss. mr speaker, mr speaker, this week the prime minister unveiled the latest version of his five pledges for the country . let's hope he has the country. let's hope he has more success with these than the last ones . did he forget the nhs last ones. did he forget the nhs ? prime minister well, mr >> mr speaker. mr ? prime minister well, mr >> mr speaker . mr speaker, not >> mr speaker. mr speaker, not only when i became prime minister just weeks after becoming prime minister we injected record funding into the nhs and in social care. we also unveiled the first ever long term workforce plan in the nhs. 75 year history. but i'm pleased he mentioned the five pledges because, as he knows , three of because, as he knows, three of them are economic and on a day which we will focus on the economy, i'm pleased to report that we have indeed halved inflation. no thanks to the party opposite . we have indeed party opposite. we have indeed grown economy and we have

grown the economy and we have indeed reduced debt. that's a conservative government delivering for this country. starmer . well, the reason he starmer. well, the reason he ignored the nhs not only in his new pledges but just now, is because 7.8 million people are currently on the waiting lists. that's half a million more than when he pledged to bring them down nearly a year ago. >> the prime ministerjust claimed that this is all about economic growth. so let me ask him if a labourer or a care worker is forced to wait a year for an operation , how are they for an operation, how are they meant to help grow the economy ? mr >> mr speaker, we're doing an enormous amount to bring waiting lists down an enormous amount. expanding patient choice, rolling out new community diagnostic centres, new surgical hubs, as well as putting more doctors and nurses in our ward. but i guess the question, mr speaken but i guess the question, mr speaker, is when he talks about targets waiting lists, i targets and waiting lists, i really hope the welsh really just hope that the welsh labour government aren't

listening because after after 25 years in power, they're missing every single one of his targets. weren't they meant to be his blueprint ? weren't they meant to be his blueprint? keir weren't they meant to be his blueprint ? keir starmer weren't they meant to be his blueprint? keir starmer mr speaken blueprint? keir starmer mr speaker, more than double the entire population of wales are currently on a waiting list in england. >> he really needs to take some responsibility and on his watch , responsibility and on his watch, 2.5 million people are too sick to work with the majority also suffering from mental health issues. on top of his failures on waiting lists, can he tell us how many people are waiting for mental health treatment ? yes. mental health treatment? yes. well, actually , mr well, actually, mr >> mr speaker, we've injected record sums to expand the number of mental health treatments in our country. but, mr speaker , i our country. but, mr speaker, i talked about the practical things we are doing with talked about the practical thingsand we are doing with talked about the practical thingsand surgical doing with talked about the practical thingsand surgical hubs| with talked about the practical thingsand surgical hubs ,with talked about the practical thingsand surgical hubs , but he cdc's and surgical hubs, but he doesn't also seem to realise that the union action that he fails to condemn and that his members of parliament support from the picket lines have led

to several hundred thousand cancelled appointments, all making waiting lists worse and he asked about wales. but we can look at it in wales. over 70,000 people are waiting over 18 months for treatment compared to in england, where thanks to our efforts, we have virtually eliminated 18 months wait. and that's the difference between us. mr speaker , he wants to play us. mr speaker, he wants to play politics. we get things done. yes . yes. >> so raising the waiting list by half a million is getting things done . yes, it's true. things done. yes, it's true. looking glass. this one i asked the prime minister how many people are waiting for mental health treatment and he knows the answer . health treatment and he knows the answer. he just health treatment and he knows the answer . he just doesn't want the answer. he just doesn't want to give it . the answer. he just doesn't want to give it. 1.2 million the answer. he just doesn't want to give it . 1.2 million 200,000 to give it. 1.2 million 200,000 are children. some waiting nearly two years to be seen . nearly two years to be seen. would the prime minister accept those kind of delays if it were one of his family or friends as prime minister? well mr speaker,

one of the key things we are doing to bring down waiting lists is to expand the access of patient choice . patient choice. >> it's a very straightforward idea to make sure that patients can choose where they get treated and that way we will bnng treated and that way we will bring down waiting lists for mental health and other treatments far faster. now the labour party's policy this is labour party's policy on this is a total and utter mess. first, labour party's policy on this is a tpromised|tter mess. first, labour party's policy on this is a tpromised iner mess. first, labour party's policy on this is a tpromised in hisiess. first, labour party's policy on this is a tpromised in his words, 'st, labour party's policy on this is a tpromised in his words, to ban he promised in his words, to ban nhs use of the independent sector. then he said he wants more use of the independent sector . his shadow health sector. his shadow health secretary agreed with that, but then the deputy leader said that she would end it as ever , you she would end it as ever, you simply don't know what they stand for and you can't trust a word they say . word they say. >> as ever, no responsibility for the shocking state of the nhs . the truth is, the prime nhs. the truth is, the prime minister would not accept those waits for his family and neither should anyone else . this morning should anyone else. this morning ispoke should anyone else. this morning i spoke to an nhs nurse for many months for many months, camhs

struggled to find time to see her 14 year old son mikey, until her 14 year old son mikey, until he became seriously unwell , ill he became seriously unwell, ill and now he hasn't been able to be in mainstream education for over a year. mike his mum, is having to balance nursing with caring and being a parent and this isn't a one off. there are families up and down the country in exactly the same situation, working hard, trying to get through the cost of living crisis whilst desperately worried about relatives who can't get the treatment they need. can't get the treatment they need . how does he think they need. how does he think they feel when they see the prime minister refusing to take response ability and boasting that everything is fine when in prime minister >> mr speaker, we are doing absolutely everything we can to put money into the nhs to bring down the waiting list, because i down the waiting list, because i do want families up and down the country to have access to the health care that they need. he's absolutely right. they do deserve then is deserve it. but then it is incredibly mr speaker, deserve it. but then it is in

deserve it. but then it is in> 13, 13 years in and all he's got to offer is trying to blame the opposition for his failures over and over again . over and over again. >> mike is mum. mike is mum. i'll tell you what, mike. his mum said to me this morning, shall i? if you're so interested to hear. she said she said i'm going to quote her. she said whatever spin the government puts on it, you can't hide the reality for ordinary working people. that's her words . it's people. that's her words. it's worth reflecting on. yes now, i'm glad that in recent years,

real progress has been made in tackling the stigma surrounding mental health. but the fact remains that the suicide rate for 15 to 19 year olds has doubled since 2010, and suicide is now the biggest killer of men under 45. and they're not just statistics . every single one is statistics. every single one is a tragic loss to families and to friends . politics has the friends. politics has the ability to turn this around . it ability to turn this around. it means tough choices . if we were means tough choices. if we were to scrap tax loopholes, we could have a thousands more staff, more support in our schools , more support in our schools, more support in our schools, more support in our schools, more support in our communities that would allow us to treat patients on time, getting them back to work, back to their families and crucially, giving them their lives back. this is about mental health. that's labour's plan. will he back it? prime minister

>> well, mr speaker , it was this >> well, mr speaker, it was this government that for the first time in the nhs history ensured that it had a long term workforce plan , providing it workforce plan, providing it with record funding so that we can eliminate long waits , but can eliminate long waits, but also ensuring that it has the money that it needs to train, record numbers of doctors and nurses whilst radically reforming how they work to improve productivity. because the only way we will get everyone the treatment that they needis everyone the treatment that they need is to make that the need is to make sure that the nhs staff that nhs has a fantastic staff that it and it's this it needs and it's this government has that in government that has put that in place can look because he place and we can look because he talks about records, mr speaker , talks about records, mr speaker, because something that because this is something that no done the no government has done in the past. something proud past. it's something i'm proud we've record on we've done. labour's record on this is clear . we've done. labour's record on this is clear. it was this issue is clear. it was a disastrous failure . year of disastrous failure. year of workforce planning and those weren't my words. mr speaker . weren't my words. mr speaker. those were the verdict of the labour chaired health select committee. it was labour that did not train the consultant that we need. now that take 13, 14, 15 years to train and it's this government that is for the

first time making sure that every family will finally have the doctors and nurses that they need double. >> thank you very much, mr speaker . access to >> thank you very much, mr speaker. access to housing that local people can afford is the biggest challenge we face in cornwall . and whilst we need to cornwall. and whilst we need to build more houses, we need to ensure that they are available and affordable to local people and affordable to local people and meet the needs of our rural and meet the needs of our rural and coastal communities. >> now, local knowledge, particularly from elected representatives, is an important part in ensuring we achieve this. >> yet the leader of the opposition has made clear that his intention is to ignore or override the views of local people in decisions on planning matters . can the prime minister matters. can the prime minister assure me and the people of cornwall that under his government the views of local communities will play a part in the planning process ? the planning process? >> mr i thank my honourable friend for his excellent campaigning on behalf of his constituents and i agree with him that housing must meet the needs of local communities and our affordable homes programme

is delivering hundreds of thousands homes across the thousands of homes across the country. crucially on this country. but crucially on this side of the house, mr speaker, we that local we believe that local communities consulted . communities must be consulted. and contrast labour's plan and in contrast to labour's plan , which is top down housing targets, concreting over the green belt and destroying our precious countryside , snp leader precious countryside, snp leader stephen flint yes , thank you, mr stephen flint yes, thank you, mr speaken >>i speaken >> i think all of us in the chamber are united in our relief at reports that hostages are due to be released by hamas in gaza . to be released by hamas in gaza. but we can't afford to lose sight of what comes at the other side of the temporary pause in hostilities that we are about to see at the end of four days. do we simply see the return to the killing of children in gaza every ten minutes, or do we choose in this house to instead back a permanent ceasefire prime minister? >> well, mr speaker, we do welcome the agreement reached

overnight. and as i said, this is something that we have consistently pushed for and is a crucial first step as we try and resolve this situation. and indeed the humanitarian crisis indeed the humanitarian crisis in gaza . of course, we want to in gaza. of course, we want to see all hostages released as quickly as possible , including quickly as possible, including british nationals. and i would urge all parties involved to deliver the agreement in full. i would also like to put on record my thanks to qatar for their important role. and we will continue to work with the united states and israel to ensure the safe return of hostages and maximise seize the opportunity of temporary pause to step of this temporary pause to step up to suffering civilians in up aid to suffering civilians in gaza. it is something that we have pushed for. we've continued to do and the uk is playing a leading role in delivering de—man speaker , de—man flynn mr speaker, ultimately it is not a pause in the killing of children that we need. >> it is an end to the killing of children that we need and i can think of no better time than now for the prime minister to advocate for that permanent ceasefire. but given that he will not currently do that, will

he instead lay the foundation for that two state solution by finally recognising the state of palestine ? prime minister palestine? prime minister >> mr speaker, actually what the agreement that has been reached demonstrates that it wasn't right to have a unilateral ceasefire and what was right was to do as we have done , to do as we have done, consistently push for a pause that would allow not just for aid to reach people in gaza who desperately need it, but also for hostages to be released. thatis for hostages to be released. that is what we have pushed for. and i'm glad that that is now being delivered versus a unilateral ceasefire, which will have emboldened and strengthened hamas. and our position on the middle east peace process more broadly is clear. we do support a negotiated settlement leading to and secure israel to a safe and secure israel living alongside a viable and sovereign palestinian state state. i've spoken to president abbas and met with him to discuss this issue, and we are clear about it. strengthening the palestinian authority and

reinvigorating efforts to find a two state solution and our long standing position is that we would recognise the state of palestine when it best serves the interests of peace . the interests of peace. >> thank you, mr speaker. >> thank you, mr speaker. >> can i welcome the prime minister's network north project , which will see the full £1.7 billion put into the midlands rail hub, which will reopen the central platforms at kings norton train station, which have been derelict for so long. >> and can i ask him to bring forward the cash so we can increase capacity on the line and improve journey times? >> and can he look at my campaign to extend the new camp hill line to longbridge, which will up access to the new will open up access to the new longbridge business park, which he visited earlier in the year, which bringing back which we bringing back manufacturing jobs to longbridge for the first time since mg collapsed in 2005. >> brit school look, i am pleased that my honourable friend's constituency will benefit from the decision on hs2 and benefit significantly from

new network north funding an additional billion pounds to deliver the midlands rail hub in full. >> and i know that decisions about kings norton are due to be made later this year , which made later this year, which should be good news to him and the extension of the forthcoming camp hill line services between birmingham and kings norton and longbridge will be assessed in due course as well . so i hope due course as well. so i hope that's helpful. and i'm sure the rail him up to rail minister keeps him up to date progress. date on progress. >> roberts so the prime >> saville roberts so the prime minister will join me and the community that i represent in sending heartfelt sympathies community that i represent in sen familiesrtfelt sympathies community that i represent in sen families and sympathies community that i represent in sen families and friendsthies the families and friends grieving at the loss of four young lost in a tragic young men lost in a tragic accident in carrigallen rotherham. >> this week. people in north wales pay the highest standing charges on energy bills at £340 a year. that's a third more than london. that's despite having lower average incomes and people that are living in older, poorly insulated houses with a further increase in standing charges due next april . he must recognise next april. he must recognise that he can't leave this to

ofgem . will that he can't leave this to ofgem .will his that he can't leave this to ofgem . will his government ofgem. will his government therefore tackle unfair standing charges and that before winter sets in? yes, mr speaker, we have provided an extraordinary package of support for households across the country to help with energy bills totalling almost £100 billion over the past year or two. >> the ofgem price cap has also fallen to around £1,300, currently and our price guarantee will remain in place until spring of next year, which will provide further protection for families. but crucially, the chancellor announced previously that we have removed the premium paid by households using prepayment metres until the epg ends, bringing their costs into line with those paid by comparable direct debit customers. and we continue to provide considerable support for vulnerable families throughout the winter with their energy bills. >> liam fox thank you, mr speaken >> liam fox thank you, mr speaker. setting strategic aims for the middle east requires us to be precise about the terms we use, and that includes the word peace. peace is not just the

absence of war or conflict , but absence of war or conflict, but the freedom from the fear of conflict or oppression or terror. peace requires mutual respect. freedom from persecute , respect. freedom from persecute, action, and living without fear of destitution. it comes with self determination and liberation from arbitrary justice. it needs hope and dignity and enforceable rights. does my right honourable friend agree that only when all the people of the middle east can achieve all of these things can any of us talk about having achieved peace? >> mr well, i agree wholeheartedly with my right honourable friend and thank him for what he says, and i know his advice will continue to be of value to the government we value to the government as we find for peaceful, more find a way for a peaceful, more secure future for everyone living in the region. patricia gibson thank you. >> mr speaker. >> mr speaker. >> the scottish surcharge on energy, according to ofgem , energy, according to ofgem, means that people in scotland pay means that people in scotland pay 50% more in standing charges than londoners, despite export kwarteng 3.2 million hours of

electricity to england in the last two months alone. >> scotland. >> scotland. >> meanwhile, scottish green energy producers pay higher charges than english power companies to connect to the grid. does the prime minister think is fair to think that this is fair to scotland's consumers and businesses here? >> mr speaker, i refer to my previous answer about the considerable support that we're providing to families across the united kingdom with their energy bills and actually what would be good. she mentioned scottish businesses and what would be goodisif businesses and what would be good is if the snp realised that they support the 200,000 they should support the 200,000 people employed in scotland's north sea oil and gas industry . north sea oil and gas industry. >> kevin foster, thank you, mr speaken >> the latest film from talkies unleashed theatre company three steps outlines the impact of homelessness. >> what further steps does the government plan to take in order to ensure everyone has a place of their own ? of their own? >> prime minister, i thank my honourable friend for highlighting the important work of local theatre company of his local theatre company unleashed and i wish them well in their future endeavours. >> we investing an

>> we are investing an unprecedented £2 billion over the three years to tackle the next three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping, including building thousands of move homes and implementing move on homes and implementing our landmark homelessness reduction act, which has already prevented or relieved almost 600,000 households from suffering from homelessness. liz cunningham thank you very much, mr speaker . mr speaker. >> why are 34% of children in my constituency nc living in poverty ? poverty? >> prime minister >> prime minister >> mr speaker. mr speaker, it's this government that has ensured that across our country 1.7 million fewer people are living in poverty as a result of the actions of this government . yes, actions of this government. yes, thatis actions of this government. yes, that is true, mr speaker. not only that, hundreds of thousands fewer children are living in poverty and income inequality as at a lower level than we inherited from the party opposite. but, mr speaker, we don't want any child to grow up in poverty . and the best way to in poverty. and the best way to make sure that that happens is, is to ensure that they do not grow a workless household. grow up in a workless household.

and the and that is why the right strategy is to ensure that we provide as many children with the to grow with the opportunity to grow up with parents in work. and because of the actions of previous governments, several governments, hundred several thousand families in thousand more families are in that. >> e- e henry, thank you, mr speaken >>i speaken >> ihave speaken >> i have a question about apprenticeships. >> it is vital that individuals of any age can train and retrain for good local jobs . for good local jobs. >> further education and skills opportunities that are available. so will the prime minister work with me in my campaign to establish an apprenticeship hub in broxtowe for thank my honourable friend for thank my honourable friend for all his campaigning on this important issue. >> we've delivered over 9000 paid apprenticeships in his constituency . great local constituency. great local businesses, including some that i visited as chancellor. like her hair and beauty from memory. but while we continue to invest in apprenticeships, we know the party opposite now wants to halve that number. and that is the difference between us. whilst this on this side of the house, we want to give people a hand up or labour want to do is

keep them in their place through western. >> yeah. western. >> thank/eah. western. >> thank you. western. >> thank you mr speaker. >> thank you mr speaker. >> with 316 arrivals by small boat this week last week's supreme court ruling on rwanda has left this government's lack of a compassionate and functioning asylum system totally exposed , with refugees totally exposed, with refugees suffering as a result and chaos at our borders . so could suffering as a result and chaos at our borders. so could i ask the prime minister yes or no? >> does he now intend to disapply human rights laws in order to continue wasting time and money on this cruel and discredited gimmick? yes minister. >> mr speaker , i'm glad the >> mr speaker, i'm glad the honourable gentleman mentioned the small boats arrivals. i'm pleased to tell him that thanks to the actions of this government, the number of arrivals are down by over 33% so far this year. no thanks to the party opposite that has opposed each and every single measure we have taken to stop the boats. >> jason mccartney. >> jason mccartney. >> thank you, mr speaker. >> jason mccartney. >> thank you, mr speaker . whilst >> thank you, mr speaker. whilst the labour leadership at

kirklees council are looking to close colne valley leisure centre , hike up car parking centre, hike up car parking charges and being criticised by their auditors for the way in which they manage their resources . there has been lots resources. there has been lots of good news for my bit of yorkshire this week. £664 million of levelling up cash for huddersfield market and the penistone rail line upgrade and the west yorkshire investment zone focusing on the national health innovation campus at the university of huddersfield . will university of huddersfield. will the prime minister confirm avenue to invest in west yorkshire and come and see some of these fantastic prime minister . oh of these fantastic prime minister. oh well, mr of these fantastic prime minister . oh well, mr speaker, minister. oh well, mr speaker, what great news. >> what great news? i was delighted to hear that the third investment zone was announced in west yorkshire and indeed money for the penistone line, rail upgrade and regeneration funding

for huddersfield open market. the honourable friend is right though, while the labour run kirklees council is not investing closing things, investing in closing things, it's this conservative government backing government that is backing communities across the north of us. he's . not us. he's. not >> on monday, the government's chief scientific adviser, patrick vallance, told the covid inquiry that the now prime minister had not asked for advice regarding eat out to help out . but on advice regarding eat out to help out. but on the 9th of advice regarding eat out to help out . but on the 9th of march, out. but on the 9th of march, two years ago, the prime minister told this house that, and i quote, at all steps in the crisis , we have taken the advice crisis, we have taken the advice of our scientist advisers . of our scientist advisers. >> he was right, prime minister. >> he was right, prime minister. >> mr speaker , as he knows, >> mr speaker, as he knows, there is an ongoing statutory inquiry into covid. it's absolutely right that that process is followed. i look forward to providing my own evidence in the coming weeks and addressing all these questions. but it was the case that the government took advice from scientific advisers. and again , scientific advisers. and again, that's exactly what this inquiry will over. what

will go over. what >> mr speaker, since i recently shared my own experience of birth trauma in this chamber, i've been inundated with mums right ing to me from across the uk to share their stories. >> i received a concerning email last week from a staffordshire mother who'd like me to raise her concerns about royal stoke university hospital. she also experienced birth trauma and has been told that due to the time elapsed, they will not be able to investigate her concerns. it is not acceptable to me that my constituents are not having complaints investigated by my local hospital. so can i ask the prime minister to urgently meet with me to discuss this? and can i also ask him to include birth trauma in the refreshed update to the women's health strategy? we must do better to provide aftercare to all mothers in this well . well. >> well, can i thank my honourable friend for raising this important issue and for continuing to be a fantastic campaigner on birth trauma? i'm pleased that the first ever debate parliament on birth

debate in parliament on birth trauma was held recently. in october . it was powerful. it was october. it was powerful. it was moving , and it highlighted just moving, and it highlighted just what significant impact birth moving, and it highlighted just what canificant impact birth moving, and it highlighted just what can havet impact birth moving, and it highlighted just what can have on npact birth moving, and it highlighted just what can have on sonct birth moving, and it highlighted just what can have on so many:h trauma can have on so many women's lives. trauma can have on so many women's lives . the department of women's lives. the department of health are working with nhs england to make sure that we can improve maternity care and making that mental health making sure that mental health care is also improved to deal with this. and i will ensure that the health secretary meets the we the honourable friend so that we can ensure that we get this right for all the women who are depending right for all the women who are deeriing right for all the women who are deer speaker, the last 13 >> mr speaker, in the last 13 years, the six oil and gas licensing rounds by the tories have only 16 days worth have produced only 16 days worth of oil and gas for the uk. >> can the prime minister explain how doubling number explain how doubling the number of rounds will have of licensing rounds will have any impact on the insanely high energy bills? >> constituents facing? energy bills? >> if constituents facing? energy bills? >> if he)nstituents facing? energy bills? >> if he cared|ents facing? energy bills? >> if he cared about facing? energy bills? >> if he cared about energy g? >> if he cared about energy security , jobs or the security, jobs or the environment, he would surely be better matching the scottish government's £500 million investment in a just transition and providing a £400 rebate to bill payers . bill payers. >> prime minister mr speaker,

not £500 million. >> we are investing tens of billions of pounds in the energy transition, not least with things like carbon capture and storage, which the north sea can play storage, which the north sea can play a starring role in but is just completely wrong. in order to have energy security . it's to have energy security. it's right to exploit the resources that we have here at home. even the independent committee for climate change projects that we will still need oil and gas as we the transition. and in we make the transition. and in decades time. the question decades time. so the question from honourable lady is, are from the honourable lady is, are we better off getting that here at supporting scottish at home, supporting scottish jobs businesses or are we jobs and businesses or are we better putting that money in better off putting that money in the foreign dictators the hands of foreign dictators and shipping it here with 2 or 3 times the carbon emissions ? times the carbon emissions? >> thank you, mr speaker. today i'm hosting 14 ukrainian teenage children here in the house of commons whose parents have been and are fighting the russians in ukraine. six of them have been orphaned . they are up in the orphaned. they are up in the gallery , but they will also be gallery, but they will also be in the room from one till 230 this afternoon. so i know it's a busy and important day, but all

colleagues are welcome to drop by if they're able. so will the prime ministerjoin me in paying tribute to the parents of these children? this children? and take this opportunity to reiterate our steadfast the people steadfast support for the people of ukraine in their fight for their independence of ukraine in their fight for theirindependence their their independence, their freedom, and their nation's survival ? yeah. survival? yeah. >> well, i do join my honourable friend in paying tribute to the parents these children and parents of these children and many others, but also so to take the opportunity to say that whilst events in the middle east have dominating the have been dominating the headlines, i can my headlines, i can assure my honourable and honourable friend that we and our allies steadfast our our allies are steadfast in our resolve support ukraine for resolve to support ukraine for as as takes for them to as long as it takes for them to achieve victory. and that's why as long as it takes for them to ach foreign:ory. and that's why as long as it takes for them to ach foreign secretary:hat's why as long as it takes for them to ach foreign secretary visited hy the foreign secretary visited both kyiv and odesa last week , both kyiv and odesa last week, confirmed the uk's continued unwavering support for the ukraine. putin cannot hope to outlast the incredible resolve or spirit of the ukrainian people, and they should continue to have our support for as long as it takes. >> daniel zeichner a few weeks ago, the world cringed at the prime minister's fawning welcome for elon musk , and this week for elon musk, and this week

advertisers are fleeing, fleeing musk's platform after his latest vile outburst. >> so what exactly did the prime minister think he might learn from an unelected, super rich individual who had taken over a once successful organisation and plunged it into a death spiral ? plunged it into a death spiral? >> mr speaker, it is it is striking. it is striking from the honourable member , the the honourable member, the honourable member from cambridge of all places , of cambridge, of of all places, of cambridge, of all places , to absolutely not all places, to absolutely not understand the importance of technology sectors and companies to the growth of our economy. absolutely extraordinary . it absolutely extraordinary. it actually illustrates everything thatis actually illustrates everything that is wrong with labour's approach our economy . mr approach to our economy. mr speaken approach to our economy. mr speaker, rest of the speaker, what the rest of the world saw was the uk playing a lead in defining the regulations and approach to a technology thatis and approach to a technology that is going to transform how we live. it was a great example of the uk leading the way, an enormous tribute to our incredible entrepot workers and

businesses, many of which are being poorly by him being poorly represented by him and his constituents . thank you, sir. >> hey , it is red wednesday when >> hey, it is red wednesday when we remember millions of christians and others worldwide persecuted for their faith . persecuted for their faith. >> people like margaret attar , a >> people like margaret attar, a nurse, a lovely young mother of four, here today from nigeria who hid behind the altar as her church service was attacked . church service was attacked. >> about 100 were injured, 41 killed that day simply for being in church. >> margaret lost both legs and an eye and thousands more suffer. similarly, in nigeria for each year. so does the prime minister agree that the best way we could honour red wednesday today is to commit to quickly implementing the good words of the new international development white paper published yesterday to ensure uk development policies going forward are inclusive of those

marginalised for their religion or beliefs. >> prime minister can i thank my honourable friend, my honourable friend for her continuing dedication as my special envoy for this vital issue? >> red wednesday is an important moment to demonstrate our solidarity with christians and all those persecuted around the world for their religion or belief. and marking this event annually was just one of the recommendations in the bishops report. and i'm pleased that today we will light up cho buildings in the uk in red in support and i'm also pleased to say that we've taken forward all 22 recommendations in a way that we believe is making a real change for those persecuted for their religion or belief that completes prime minister's questions . questions. >> well , there we have it. the >> well, there we have it. the prime minister taking questions for around half an hour from mps coming up next, of course, the chancellor will be delivering his autumn statement. the chancellor will be up on his

feet in the next minute or two for what we expect is a tax cutting budget. >> yes , that's what we have >> yes, that's what we have heard up till now. >> we'll see if there are any rabbits to be pulled out of the hat. we're expecting it to last about between half an hour , 45 about between half an hour, 45 minutes, that sort of thing . and minutes, that sort of thing. and then, of course, we'll hear from then, of course, we'll hear from the chancellor, rachel the shadow chancellor, rachel reeves, the party. reeves, from the labour party. and after that, i believe and then after that, i believe jeremy will get to his jeremy hunt will then get to his feet to rebut some of that. >> and what jeremy hunt will be doing for most of the afternoon is rebutting or answering questions from the house. but what we'll be doing on this station we've heard from station after we've heard from the chancellor and the shadow chancellor is we'll be speaking to speaking to to experts, we'll be speaking to our and business our economics and business edhon our economics and business editor, liam halligan. we'll be speaking editor speaking to our political editor , christopher hope . and also, of , christopher hope. and also, of course, up and down the country to hear from businesses and individuals who'll be affected. >> broad ranging pmqs their keir starmer definitely focusing on the nhs are jeremy hunt has taken to his feet. >> mr speaker, i come today with

good news. >> it's my wife's birthday and unlike me, she's looking younger every year i turn to the statement . after a global statement. after a global pandemic and energy crisis, we have taken difficult decisions to put our economy back on track. we've supported families with rising bills, cut borrowing and halved inflation rather than and halved inflation rather than a recession. the economy has grown rather than falling, as predicted, real incomes have risen . our plan for the british risen. our plan for the british economy is working, but the work is not done . others proposed is not done. others proposed a more short term approach , but we more short term approach, but we have not made unaffordable pay offers to the unions. we have not stopped new oil and gas exploration and we have not increased borrowing by £28

billion a year. that would have that would have pushed inflation up just when we need to bring it down. instead, under this prime minister we take decisions for the long term in today's autumn statement for growth , our choice statement for growth, our choice is not big government or high spending and high tax because we know that leads to less growth, not more. instead we reduce debt, cut taxes and reward work . debt, cut taxes and reward work. we deliver world class education. then we build domestic , sustainable energy and domestic, sustainable energy and we back british business with 110 growth measures. don't worry, i'm not going to go through them all. but i will if you like . you like. >> but in summary, mr speaker , >> but in summary, mr speaker, they remove planning red tape, they remove planning red tape, they speed up access to the national grid.

>> they support entrepreneurs raising capital. they get behind our fastest growing industries. they unlock foreign direct investment. they boost productivity, they reform welfare . they level up welfare. they level up opportunity to every corner of the country, and they cut business taxes . yeah. the office business taxes. yeah. the office for budget responsibility say that the combined impact of these measures will raise business investment but get more people into work and reduce inflation next year and increase gdp . gdp. >> yeah. yeah. but conserve nafives >> yeah. yeah. but conserve natives also know that a dynamic economy depends on the energy and enterprise of people. >> more than any diktat or decisions by ministers. so today's measures do not just remove barriers to investment, they reward effort and work . and they reward effort and work. and i'll go through the measures in three parts. in the first, i'll use updated obr forecasts to show the progress we're making against the prime minister's economic priorities. the second

part sets out growth measures to back british business. finally, i conclude with measures to make work pay . work pay. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> before i start with the forecasts, i want to express my horror at the murderous attack on israeli citizens on october the 7th and the subsequent loss of life on both sides. i will remember for the rest of my life , as i know many other honourable members , will being honourable members, will being taken to auschwitz by a rabbi barry marcus and the remarkable holocaust education trust. but i'm deeply concerned about the rise of anti—semitism in our country. so i'm announcing up to £7 million over the next three years for organisations like the holocaust, education trust to tackle anti—semitism in schools and universities . i will also and universities. i will also repeat the £3 million uplift to the community security trust when it comes to anti semitism and all forms of racism. we must never allow the clock to be turned back . i now move on to

turned back. i now move on to the obrs economic and fiscal forecasts , and i thank richard forecasts, and i thank richard hughes and his team for their sterling work in preparing them . sterling work in preparing them. three of my right hand will friends the prime minister's five pledges at the start of the year were economic to halve inflation, grow the economy and reduce debt. today i can report to the house that we are delivering on all three. let's start with inflation in now. the shadow chancellor didn't mention it in her conference speech. my conference speech was before hers , so all she had to do was hers, so all she had to do was a bit of copying and pasting, which i've heard she's good . at which i've heard she's good. at but it speaks volumes that dunng but it speaks volumes that during the worst global inflation shock for a generation, it didn't even get a mention . well, if controlling mention. well, if controlling inflation isn't a priority for laboun inflation isn't a priority for labour, it is for us. when the

prime minister and i took office, inflation was 11.1. yet last week it fell to 4.6. we promised to halve inflation and we have halved it . yes, core we have halved it. yes, core inflation is now lower than in nearly half the economies in the eu and the obr say that headline inflation will fall to 2.8% by the end of 2024, before falling to the 2% target in 2025. i will not take risks with inflation in and the obr confirm that the measures i take today make inflation lower next year than it would otherwise have been . i it would otherwise have been. i thank the independent bank of england monetary policy committee for their crucial role in bringing inflation down, and we will continue to back them to do whatever it takes until the job is done . do whatever it takes until the job is done. but as we do, we will continue to support families in difficulty.

will continue to support families in difficulty . and families in difficulty. and today i add four further measures to help with the cost of living. firstly, for those on the lowest incomes, i understand the lowest incomes, i understand the concerns some have about the effect on work incentives of matching benefit increases to inflation. i know there's been some speculation that we would increase benefits next year by the lower october figure for inflation, but cost of living pressures remain at their most acute for the poorest families. so instead the government has decided to increase universal credit and other benefits from next april by 6.7, in line with september's inflation figure and average increase of £470 for 5.5 million households next year. vital support to those on the very lowest incomes from a compassionate conservative government . second, because rent government. second, because rent it can constitute more than half of the living costs of private renters those on the lowest

incomes . renters those on the lowest incomes. i've renters those on the lowest incomes . i've listened closely incomes. i've listened closely to many colleagues , as well as to many colleagues, as well as the institute for fiscal studies , the resolution foundation, citizens advice uk and the joseph rowntree foundation, who said that unfreezing the local housing allowance was an urgent priority for me. i will therefore increase the local housing allowance rate to the 30 percentile of local market rents. this will give 1.6 million households, an average of £800 of support next year . of £800 of support next year. third, although i'm going to increase duty on hand—rolling tobacco by an additional 10% above the tobacco duty escalator . i know that for many people going to the pub has become more expensive. i've listened closely to the persuasive arguments on alcohol duties from my honourable friend for murray and my right honourable friend for dumfriesshire, clydesdale and tweeddale fierce champions of the scotch whisky industry . i've the scotch whisky industry. i've also listened to defenders of

the great british pint such as my right honourable friends for the vale of glamorgan and buckingham in my own constituency to councillor jane austen, who is a big supporter of the jolly farmer pub in bramley , and indeed to the sun bramley, and indeed to the sun newspaper . so as well as newspaper. so as well as confirming our brexit pubs guarantee , which means the duty guarantee, which means the duty on a pint is always lower than in the shops. i have decided to freeze all alcohol duty until august 1st, next year. that means no increase in duty on been means no increase in duty on beer, cider , wine or spirits . beer, cider, wine or spirits. finally, pensioners the triple lock has helped lift 250,000 older people out of poverty since it was instituted by a conservative government in 2011. it's been a lifeline for many dunng it's been a lifeline for many during a period of high inflation. there have been reports that we would uprate it

by a lower amount to smooth out the effect of high public sector bonuses in july. the effect of high public sector bonuses in july . but that would bonuses in july. but that would have been particularly difficult for 1 million pensioners, whose for1 million pensioners, whose only income is from the state. so instead today we honour our commitment to the triple lock in full from april 24th, we will increase the full new state pension by 8.5% to £221.20 a week, worth up to £900 more a year. week, worth up to £900 more a year . this is one of the week, worth up to £900 more a year. this is one of the largest ever cash increases to the state pension , showing a conservative pension, showing a conservative government will always back our pensioners . yes including pensioners. yes including today's measures. our total commitment to easing cost of living pressures has risen to 104 billion. that includes paying 104 billion. that includes paying around half the cost of the average energy bill since last october and amounts now to an average of £3,700 per household . we are able to do

household. we are able to do that only because we reduce the deficit by 80% ahead of the pandemic , which the party pandemic, which the party opposite might reflect on. having opposed us every step of the way . next i turn to my right the way. next i turn to my right honourable friend the prime minister's pledge to reduce debt before i took difficult decisions in last year's autumn statement debt was predicted to rise to almost 100% of gdp by the end of the forecast. since then, the economy has outperformed expectations, and i have taken difficult decisions to reduce borrowing. as a result, headline debt is now predicted to be 94% of gdp by the end of the forecast . the obr the end of the forecast. the obr today forecast that underlying debt will be 91.6% of gdp next year and 92.7in 24.5. 93.2% in 2006 over seven. before declining in the final two years

of the forecast to 92.8% in 2008, 29. that is lower in every year compared to forecasts in the spring. we therefore meet our fiscal rule to have underlying debt falling as a percentage of gdp in the final year of the forecast with double the headroom compared to the obr's march forecast . and we obr's march forecast. and we will continue to have the second lowest government debt in the g7 lower than the united states. canada france, italy or japan . i canada france, italy orjapan. i turn to borrowing . the right turn to borrowing. the right honourable lady opposite said when it comes to borrowing, she will take it up to £28 billion a yeah will take it up to £28 billion a year. take it up, mr speaker . year. take it up, mr speaker. indeed, she has opposed every decision we have made to reduce our borrowing. but, mr speaker, this side of the house will bnng this side of the house will bring borrowing down because as the late lord lawson said. borrowing is just a deferred tax on future generations . now i on future generations. now i see. i see the leader of the

opposition shaking his head. in fact, in fact, we do have something in common. both he and i wanted to make a jeremy prime minister . i wanted to make a jeremy prime minister. for in i wanted to make a jeremy prime minister . for in in i wanted to make a jeremy prime minister. for in in fairness, his party and mine are probably equally relieved we failed. but whereas this, jeremy, is growing the economy , his jeremy would the economy, his jeremy would have crashed. it and the numbers . and i'd add . and add and the . and i'd add. and add and the numbers . and the numbers show numbers. and the numbers show the contrast according according to the obr, borrowing is lower this year and next. and on average across the forecast by 0.7 billion every year compared to the spring budget forecast, it falls from 4.5% of gdp in 23

4 to 3, 2.7. 2.3. 1.6% and 1.1% in 28. 29. that means we also meet our second fiscal rule that pubuc meet our second fiscal rule that public sector borrowing must be below 3% of gdp, not just by the final year, but in almost every year of the forecast . some of year of the forecast. some of this improvement is from higher tax receipts from a stronger economy. but we also maintain a disciplined approach to public spending . as i set out in the spending. as i set out in the spnng spending. as i set out in the spring budget, spending. as i set out in the spring budget , that resource spring budget, that resource spending will increase by 1% a year from 25 six. in real terms, and we are sustained the record 2020 increase in capital spending in cash terms until the end of the forecast with in this we will meet our nato commitment to spend 2% of gdp on defence critical at a time of global threats to the international order, most notably from putin's evil war in ukraine. we also

support a group of people to whom we owe our freedom. our brave veterans . as i will extend brave veterans. as i will extend national insurance relief for employers of eligible veterans for a further year and provide £10 million to support the veterans places, pathways and people programme. and i thank our excellent veterans minister for his championing of their cause. for his championing of their cause . we have shown that we are cause. we have shown that we are prepared to increase funding for vital public services with record numbers of police officers , doctors, nurses and officers, doctors, nurses and teachers . we are nearly doubling teachers. we are nearly doubling the numbers of doctors and nurses. we train . having given nurses. we train. having given the nhs its first ever long term workforce plan, as i promised to do a year ago, we're also tackling the biggest single preventable cause of mortality the nhs has to deal with by bringing forward plans for a smoke free generation . but smoke free generation. but alongside extra funding and support, we need to see reform. we need a more productive state,

not a bigger state. and that is why i want the public sector to increase productivity growth by at least half a percent. a year. the level at which the size of our state starts to reduce as a proportion of gdp. i've already announced plans to cap and reduce the size of the civil service to prepay pandemic levels. today i pay tribute to my friend , the former chief my friend, the former chief secretary of the treasury , the secretary of the treasury, the right honourable member for salisbury , who started our salisbury, who started our brilliant public sector productivity programme . it will productivity programme. it will now be pursued by his formidable successor, the right honourable member for sevenoaks, who has already been with me to meet police, fire and ambulance personnel to understand why bureaucracy is holding them back and through this vital work we will ensure that over time the growth in public spending is lower than the growth in the economy. whilst always protecting the services the pubuc protecting the services the public value. and i will also provide hmrc with the resources they need to ensure everyone pays the tax they owe , raising

pays the tax they owe, raising an additional £5 billion across the forecast period and my right hon. friend also promised to grow the economy since 2010, despite it inheriting what was then the worst recession since then the worst recession since the second world war. conservative administrations have provided presided over faster growth than many of our major competitors , including major competitors, including spain, italy and france. well, they don't like to hear this, but let me let . let me tell them but let me let. let me tell them the list. spain portugal, france, italy , netherlands, france, italy, netherlands, austria, germany , me, japan. austria, germany, me, japan. we've grown faster than all of them since 2010. but all those countries have faced a pandemic and an energy shock . and as and an energy shock. and as a result, last autumn, the obr forecast a recession in which the economy was forecast to shnnk the economy was forecast to shrink by 1.4. this year.

instead, it grew to, in fact, it's grown faster than the euro area revised numbers from the ons now say the economy is 1.8% larger than pre—pandemic . and larger than pre—pandemic. and looking ahead , the obr expects looking ahead, the obr expects the economy to grow by 0.6% this year and 0.7% next after that , year and 0.7% next after that, growth rises to 1.4% in 25. then 1.9. 2% and 1.7% in 28. if we want those numbers to be higher, we need higher productivity. the private sector is more productive in countries like the united states, germany and france because it invests more on average two percentage points more of gdp every year. the 110 measures i take today help close that gap by boosting business investment . by £20 billion investment. by £20 billion a yeah investment. by £20 billion a year. they do not involve borrowing more and ramping up

debt as some advocate. instead they unlock investment with supply side reforms that back british business in the following areas . first, skills , following areas. first, skills, no economy can prosper without investing in the potential of its people . despite strong its people. despite strong opposition . when we took opposition. when we took difficult decisions to reform our schools , england's 9 to 10 our schools, england's 9 to 10 year olds are now the fourth best readers in the world, and since 2015, our 15 to 16 year olds have risen seven places in the oecd rankings for maths, not least thanks to the efforts of the brilliant right honourable member for bognor regis and littlehampton . but 9 million littlehampton. but 9 million adults in england still have low bafic adults in england still have low basic literacy or numeracy skills. so last month the prime minister set out the new advanced british standard to ensure all school leavers reach minimum standards in maths and

english. and while the party opposite wants to reduce the number of apprentices as we want to increase them so following engagement with make uk and others, i'm announcing a further £50 million of funding over the next two years to pilot ways to increase the number of apprentices in engineering and other key key growth sectors where there are shortages . next where there are shortages. next planning it takes too long. there's 110 of these planning it takes too long. there's110 of these measures, so just be patient, folks . so just be patient, folks. i move on to planning . it takes move on to planning. it takes too long to approve infrastructure projects and business planning applications . business planning applications. many businesses say they will be willing to pay more if they knew their application would be approved faster. so from next yean approved faster. so from next year, working with the community secretary, i will reform the system to allow local authorities to recover the full costs of major business planning applications in return for being

required to meet guaranteed faster timelines if they fail , faster timelines if they fail, fees will be refunded. autumn statically, with the application being processed free of charge . being processed free of charge. a prompt service or your money back, just as would be the case in the private sector . back, just as would be the case in the private sector. now back, just as would be the case in the private sector . now many in the private sector. now many planning applications are for housebuilding . the leader of the housebuilding. the leader of the opposition told us he wanted to be a builder, not a blocker. it didn't last long, just a few months later, labour blocked reforms to the rules on nutrient neutrality. she shamelessly preventing 100,000 houses from being built . conservatives, on being built. conservatives, on the other hand , are the builders the other hand, are the builders with more homes being completed in 2122 than any single year of the last labour government . and the last labour government. and today we take further decisions today we take further decisions to unlock the building of more homes. we will invest £110 million over this year and next

to deliver high quality nutrient mitigation schemes, unlocking 40,000 homes. we'll invest £32 million to bust the planning backlog and develop fantastic new housing quarters in cambridge, london and leeds, which will lead to many thousands of additional dwellings , will allocate £450 dwellings, will allocate £450 million to the local authority housing fund to deliver 20,400 new homes and will consult on a new homes and will consult on a new permitted development right to allow any house to be converted into two flats, provided the exterior remains unaffected . it's also taking too unaffected. it's also taking too long for clean energy businesses to access the electricity grid . to access the electricity grid. so after talking to businesses such as national grid, octopus, energy and sse, we today publish our full response to the windsor review and connections action plan. these measures will cut grid access delays by 90% and offer up to £10,000 off electricity bills over ten

years. for those living closest to new transmission infrastructure. taking together these planning and grid reforms are estimated to accelerate around £90 billion of additional business investment over the next ten years. next foreign direct investment. i'm extremely grateful to lord harrington for his excellent report on how to increase foreign direct investment . we accept all his investment. we accept all his headune investment. we accept all his headline recommendations and in particular, we will put in place a concierge service for large international investors modelled on the best such services offered by our competitors and will increase funding for the office for investors to deliver it . i now turn to reforms to it. i now turn to reforms to pension funds that will increase the flow of capital going to our most promising growth companies in a way that also improves outcome for savers. i'll take forward my mansion house reforms

, starting with measures to consolidate the industry . by consolidate the industry. by 2030. the majority of workplace savers will have their pension pots managed in schemes over 30 billion, and by 2040 all local government pension funds will be invested in pools of £200 billion or more. i'll support the establishment of investment vehicles for pension funds to use, including through the lifts competition. a new growth fund run by the british business bank and opening the ppf as an investment vehicle for smaller pension schemes . investment vehicle for smaller pension schemes. i will investment vehicle for smaller pension schemes . i will also pension schemes. i will also consult it on giving savers a legal right to require a new employer to pay pension contributions into their existing pension pot if they choose meaning people can move to having one pension pot for life . these reforms could unlock life. these reforms could unlock an extra £75 billion of finance for high growth companies by 2030 and provide an extra £1,000

a year in retirement for an average earner saving from . 18. average earner saving from. 18. alongside this, i'm also proposing further capital market reforms to boost the attractiveness of our markets and make sure the uk remains one of the most attractive places to start , grow and list a company. start, grow and list a company. and as part of this , i will and as part of this, i will explore options for a natwest retail all share offer in the next 12 months. subject to market conditions and achieving value for money. it's time to get sid investing again . in get sid investing again. in next, i move on to measures to support our most innovative industries . as in the last industries. as in the last decade under conservatives, we have grown to become the third largest technology sector in the world, double the size of germany , three times the size of germany, three times the size of france and the biggest life science industry in europe, europe's third largest generator

of renewable electricity after germany and norway and the eighth largest manufacturer in the world. when it comes to tech, we know that i will be at the heart of any future growth. i want to make sure our universities science artists and start—ups can access the compute power they need. so building on the success of the supercomputing centres in edinburgh and bristol, i'll invest a further £500 million over the next two years to fund further innovation centres to help make us an ai powerhouse . help make us an ai powerhouse. our creative industries already support europe's largest film and tv sector. this year's all californian blockbuster barbie was filmed in the constituency of the honourable member for watford, where, of course, the sun always shines . i know that sun always shines. i know that even more could be invested in visual effects if we increase the generosity of the film and high end tv tax credits. so i'll

today launch a call for evidence on how to make that happen. british discovered vaccines and treatments has saved more lives across the world during the pandemic than those from any other country. and i'm incredibly proud of our life sciences industry . we to further sciences industry. we to further support research and development . i'm creating a new simplified r&d tax relief, combining the existing r&d expenditure credit and sme schemes. i'll also reduce the rate at which loss making companies are taxed within the merged scheme from 25% to 19% and lower the threshold for the additional support for r&d intensive loss making smes that i announced in the spring to 30, benefiting a further 5000 smes and because 2028 marks the centenary of the invention of penicillin by alexander fleming, i'm giving £5 million to imperial college and imperial college healthcare nhs trust to set up a fleming centre

to inspire the next generation of world changing innovations for our advanced manufacturing and green energy sectors. international investors say the biggest thing we could do is to announce a longer term strategy for their industries. so with the secretary of state for business and trade and energy security and net zero, i am today publishing those plans. i confirm that we will make available £4.5 billion of support sought over the five years to 2030 to attract investment into strategic manufacturing sectors . booths manufacturing sectors. booths that includes support of £2 billion for zero emission investments in the automotive sector , something that's been sector, something that's been warmly welcomed by nissan and toyota. £975 million for aerospace building on decades of success from firms like airbus and rolls—royce . and £520 and rolls—royce. and £520 million for life sciences to build on the strength of world

class british pharma companies like astra's , zeneca and gsk. like astra's, zeneca and gsk. we'll also provide £960 million for the new green industries growth accelerator focussed on offshore wind electricity networks, nuclear aukus and hydrogen . these targeted hydrogen. these targeted investments will ensure the uk remains competitive in sectors where we're already leaders and innovative in sectors where we're not yet and taken together across our fastest growing innovation sectors . as this innovation sectors. as this support will attract an estimated £2 billion of additional investment every year over the next decade . one of the over the next decade. one of the reasons we support our manufacturing and clean energy sectors is they help to level up growth across the united kingdom. so i now turn to further levelling up measures . further levelling up measures. in the spring i announced we deliver 12 new investment zones, 12 mini canary wharf's , where 12 mini canary wharf's, where government, industry and research institutes collaborate

across the uk. since then, the exchequer secretary, the honourable member for grantham and stamford has done outstanding work across government to bring this vision to fruition . following tenacious to fruition. following tenacious representations by the honourable member for innes mahon , without whom a mention mahon, without whom a mention would mean that no chancellor's speech was complete and representations from the unstoppable mayor of tees valley . i have today decided to extend the financial incentives for investment zones and the tax reliefs for freeports from five years to ten years. i will also set up £150 million investment opportunity fund to catalyse investment into the program. now on monday, i confirmed a new investment zone in west yorkshire. today having listened to representations from the west midlands sales , men in chief midlands sales, men in chief andy street, as well as the honourable member for mansfield and the honourable member for

bury north. i'm announcing three further investment zones focussed on advanced manufacture growing in the west midlands east midlands and greater manchester. together local partners expect expect these will help catalyse over . £3 will help catalyse over. £3 billion of private investment and 65,000 new jobs . and having and 65,000 new jobs. and having listened to the honourable member for wrexham and the honourable member for clwyd south, i can announce a second investment zone in wales in the fantastic region of wrexham and flintshire, which i will visit tomorrow . we are publishing tomorrow. we are publishing a new devolution deals with four areas, including hull and east yorkshire and offering devolved powers to even more county areas . one of those areas will be the leafiest and most charming county in the country, namely surrey, where of course the leader of the opposition grew

up. we don't get everything right . on on monday we saw the right. on on monday we saw the announcement of £1 billion of funding through round three of the levelling up fund, supporting projects following the campaigning efforts of the members for keighley, dewsbury, doncaster, scunthorpe and of course, mr speaker chorley yeah, yeah. course, mr speaker chorley yeah, yeah . i can also confirm that we yeah. i can also confirm that we will proceed with over £50 million of funding for high quality regeneration projects in communities such as bolsover, monmouthshire , warrington and monmouthshire, warrington and eden valley , all of which have eden valley, all of which have particularly effective local mps as their champions. and because and because we are proudly the conservative and unionist party , conservative and unionist party, i'm announcing £80 million for the new levelling up partnership in scotland. £500,000 to support the hay festival in wales and £3 million of additional funding to

support the successful tackling paramilitarism programme in northern ireland. >> yeah, yeah. yeah. yeah >> yeah, yeah. yeah. yeah >> next small business as i ran my own one for 14 years and i've always known that every big business was a small business. once the federation of small businesses say the biggest thing i could do to help their members is end the scourge of late payments. the procurement act we've passed means that the 30 day payment terms , which are day payment terms, which are already set for public sector contracts, will automatic apply throughout the sub contract supply chain. but from april 24th, i'll also introduce a condition that any company bidding for large government contracts sites should demonstrate they pay their own invoices within an average of 55 days, which will reduce progressively to 30 days. >> yeah , any small business will >> yeah, any small business will also tell you the biggest frustration they have is the tax you pay frustration they have is the tax you pay before making a penny of profit, not least business rates

i >> -- >> now, -_ >> now, the government has already taken on a third of properties out of rates completely through small business rates. relief we've frozen the tax rate for the last three years at a cost of £145 three years at a cost of £14.5 billion. we've removed downwards caps from transitional relief and for retail hospitality and leisure businesses, we've introduced a one year, 75% discount on business rates up to £110,000. and those measures have saved the average independent shop over £20,000. it's not possible to continue with temporary support measures forever , but whilst the standard forever, but whilst the standard multiplier, which applies to high value properties, will rise in line with inflation, i have today decided that we will freeze the small business multiplier for a further year and following extensive discussions with the fsb and many colleagues in this house, i've also decided to extend the

75% business rates discount for retail, hospitality and leisure for another year. this will save the average independent pub over £12,800 next year and at a cost of £4.3 billion is a large tax cut which recognises eases the role of pubs and high street shops in our communities. i thank the members for stockton, south barrow and furness and east devon for their tenacious campaign running on this issue . campaign running on this issue. and finally, mr speaker, i turn to the smallest of all businesses those run by the self—employed . these are the self—employed. these are the people who literally kept our country running during the pandemic . the plumbers who fixed pandemic. the plumbers who fixed our boilers in lockdowns, the delivery drivers who brought us our shopping, delivery drivers who brought us our shopping , the farmers who our shopping, the farmers who kept our kept food on our plates as part of our plans to grow the

economy . i want to reform and economy. i want to reform and simplify my taxes paid by the self—employed so today i'm announcing a major reform of one of those taxes . it's one most of those taxes. it's one most people haven't heard of , but people haven't heard of, but it's a big deal for those who have to pay it. class two national insurance is a flat rate. compulsory charge currently £3.45 a week, paid by self—employed people earning more than 12,570, which gives state pension entitlement today, after careful consideration and in recognition of the contribution made by self—employed people to our country, i can announce that we are abolishing class two national insurance altogether , national insurance altogether, saving the average self—employed person. £192 a year. access to entitlements and credits will be maintained in full and those who

choose to pay voluntarily will still be able to do so. but this change simplified lies and cuts tax for nearly 2 million self—employed people whilst protecting the interests of those on the lowest pay and because we value their work, i'm taking one further step for the self—employed , and they also self—employed, and they also play self—employed, and they also play class four national insurance at 9% on all earnings between 12,570 and 50,270. today ihave between 12,570 and 50,270. today i have decided to cut that tax by one percentage point to 8% from april . taken together with from april. taken together with the abolition of the compulsory class two charge, these reforms will save around 2 million self—employed people and average of £350 a year from april. mr speaken of £350 a year from april. mr speaker, we're backing small business by freezing their business by freezing their business rates, extending retail , hospitality and leisure relief, abolishing compulsory class two national insurance payments and reducing class four national insurance by one

percentage point in today's autumn. statement for growth . autumn. statement for growth. small businesses work so hard for us and a conservative government today is working hard for them. yeah i turn now to my final measure to back british business. yes, mr speaker , as business. yes, mr speaker, as i said, since 2010, we have seen the second highest growth in investment of any g7 country. however if we are to raise productivity , we need to productivity, we need to increase business investment further in 2021. my right honourable friend, the prime minister introduced the super deduction for large businesses to further stimulate business investment and this spring i introduced full expensing for three years. this means that for every million pounds a company invests, they get £250,000 off their tax bill in the very same year , the cbi make uk the bcc

year, the cbi make uk the bcc energy uk to and hundred other business leaders from companies including bt , openreach, siemens including bt, openreach, siemens and bosch , have said that making and bosch, have said that making this measure permanent would be the single most transformative, transformational thing i could do for business investment and growth . the centre for policy growth. the centre for policy studies say it would maximise business investment, boost productivity and deliver higher levels of gdp . but because it levels of gdp. but because it costs £11 billion a year, i made clear that i would only do so when it was affordable all well with inflation halved, borrowing down and debt falling. today i deliver on that promise. i will today. deliver on that promise. i will today . i will today make full today. i will today make full expensing permanent. that is the largest business tax cut in modern british history . it largest business tax cut in modern british history. it means we have not just the lowest headune we have not just the lowest headline corporation tax rate in the g7, but its most generous

capital allowances . the obr say capital allowances. the obr say this will increase annual investment by around £3 billion a year and a total of £14 billion over the forecast period. we know on this side of the house the way to back british business is not to borrow more or subsidise more, but to increase the incentive to invest. and we do that today by introducing one of the most generous tax reliefs anywhere in the world, a huge boost to british competitiveness in an autumn statement for growth skills planning, infrastructure reform , pension fund reform, reform, pension fund reform, support for innovation industries, levelling up, backing small businesses and full expensing under labour. the business investment was 9.3% of gdp in real terms. business investment was 9.3% of gdp in real terms . since 2010, gdp in real terms. since 2010, it's been 9.8% of gdp . but today it's been 9.8% of gdp. but today we go further because taken together, the overall impact of today's growth measures will be

today's growth measures will be to increase business investment in the uk economy by around £2,030 billion a year within the decade. nearly 1% of gdp at today's level, this is the biggest ever boost for business investment in modern times. a decisive step towards closing the productivity gap with other major economies . and the most major economies. and the most effective way we can raise wages and living standards for every family in the country. now, as well as backing business conservatives know you need to back the people all without whose efforts no business can succeed . succeed. >> and the entrepreneur taking risks. >> the builder working weekends, the nurse working nights and the jobseeker leaving benefits behind. i therefore conclude with three further supply side reforms designed to improve the incentives to work in a modern, dynamic economy . and i begin dynamic economy. and i begin with welfare, and i want to

start by thanking the outstanding work and pensions secretary for his help in developing these reforms. he builds on the work of my right honourable friend for chingford and woodford green, who introduced universal credit. those reforms helped reduce unemployment, which has fallen by over a million. but to their shame , the party opposite voted shame, the party opposite voted against them 30 times because , against them 30 times because, as they think compassion is about giving money, we think it's about giving opportunity. yes yeah. yeah but post—pandemic , we still have over 7 million adults of working age , excluding adults of working age, excluding students who are not working. despite 1 million vacancies in the economy . we many can and the economy. we many can and want to work, but our system makes that too hard . in the makes that too hard. in the spnng makes that too hard. in the spring budget, i announced 30 hours of free child care for working parents of 1 to 2 year olds that plan, still opposed by

the party opposite, starts rolling out in april. it will help tens of thousands of parents return to work without having to worry about damaging their career prospects. today we focus on helping those with sickness or disability and the long term unemployed. every year we sign off over 100,000 people onto benefits with no requirement to look for work because of sickness or disability . that waste of disability. that waste of potential is wrong economically and wrong morally . so with the and wrong morally. so with the secretary of state for work and pensions last week i announced our back to work plan. we will reform the fit note process so that treatments, rather than time off becomes the default . we time off becomes the default. we will reform the work capability assessment to reflect greater flexibility and availability of home working after the pandemic and we'll spend £1.3 billion over the next five years to help

nearly 700,000 people with health conditions find jobs over 180,000 more people will be helped through the universal support programme and nearly 500,000 more people will be offered treatment for mental health conditions and employment support over the forecast period, the obr judged these measures will more than halve the flow of people who are signed off work with no work search requirements . at the same search requirements. at the same time, we'll provide a further 1.3 billion of funding to offer extra help to the 300,000 people who've been unemployed for over a year without any sickness or disability . but we will ask for disability. but we will ask for something in return. if after 18 months of intensive support, job seekers have not found a job, we will roll out a programme requiring them to take part in mandatory work placement to increase their skills and improve their employable rmt. and if they choose not to engage

with the work search process for six months, we will close their case and stop their benefits taken together, taken together, taken together, taken together, take action together with the labour supply measures i announced in the spring, the obr say we will increase the number of people in work by around 200,000. at the end of the forecast period, permanently increasing the size of the economy . now i know that some on economy. now i know that some on the benches opposite would prefer to fill those vacancies in a different way. they hanker after a more liberal immigration regime or even dream of bringing back free movement . but but back free movement. but but conservatives say we should unlock the potential that we have right here at home and we do that with the biggest set of welfare reforms in in a decade . welfare reforms in in a decade. in today's autumn statement for growth. now now, mr speaker, if we are to incentivise work, we must also tackle low pay people

who get up early, put in the hours and work hard for their families, deserve to be paid fairly . since 2010, those on the fairly. since 2010, those on the minimum wage now the national living wage, have seen their hourly wage go up from £5.80 an hourly wage go up from £5.80 an hour to £10.42 an hour. that's a real terms increase of more than 20% because we've also doubled the threshold at which you pay tax or national insurance thereafter. tax income has gone up not by 20, but by 25. more than any other income group today. than any other income group today . may i confirm we'll go today. may i confirm we'll go further and accept the low pay commission recommended action to increase the national living wage by 9.8% to £11.44 an hour. thatis wage by 9.8% to £11.44 an hour. that is the largest ever cash increase in the national living wage worth up . to £1,800 for a wage worth up. to £1,800 for a full time worker. and since the

national living wage has been introduced, the proportion of people on low pay defined as earning less than two thirds of national median hourly income has halved. but at the new rate of £11.44 an hour, it delivers our manifesto commitment to eliminate low pay all together. yeah. yeah that means by next year someone working full time on the national living wage will see their real take home after tax pay. go up, not by 25, but by 33% compared to 2010. and thatis by 33% compared to 2010. and that is the difference. the party opposite tried to reduce poverty by tinkering with benefits and tax credits . they benefits and tax credits. they wanted to move people from just below the poverty line to just above it. but conservatives know the best way to tackle poverty is through work by reforming the welfare system, reducing workless households and tackling low pay. we have helped lift 1.7

million people out of absolute poverty since 2010 because a central part of our plan for growth is to make work pay . and growth is to make work pay. and so, mr speaker, to the final supply side measure in today's autumn statement for growth, because of the difficult decisions that we've taken in the last year , today's obr the last year, today's obr forecast shows that borrowing will be lower than forecast in the spring debt as a proportion of gdp will be lower than forecast in the spring. inflation will continue to fall and our fiscal headroom has doubled . i said i would cut doubled. i said i would cut taxes when we could, but only responsibly and only in a way that did not fuel inflation. the today confirm i can deliver a package which does that for businesses . i've today delivered businesses. i've today delivered the biggest business tax cut in modern british history with the

most competitive investment allowances of any large economy. for the self—employed , i've for the self—employed, i've simplified and reformed their taxes by abolishing the compulsory class to charge and cutting class four national insurance . but high employment insurance. but high employment taxes . on 27 million people taxes. on 27 million people working in the public and private sectors also disincentivise the hard work. we should be encouraged on top of income tax at 20. they pay 12% national insurance on earnings . national insurance on earnings. between 12,570 and 50,270. that is a 32% marginal tax rate . if is a 32% marginal tax rate. if we want people to get up early in the morning, if we want people to get up early in the morning , if we we want people to get up early in the morning, if we want them to work nights, if we want an economy where people go the extra mile and work hard, then we need to recognise that their hard work benefits us all. so today, mr speaker, i'm going to cut the main 12% rate of employee national insurance. if

i cut it by one percentage point to 11, that would be an extra £225 in the pockets of the average worker every year. but instead i'm going to go further and cut the main rate of employee national insurance by two percentage points from 12% to 10. that change will help 27 million people. it means someone on the average salary of £35,000 will save over . £450 for the will save over. £450 for the average nurse. it's a saving of £520 for the typical police officer, a saving of £630 every single year. and mr speaker, i would normally bring in a measure like this from the start of the new tax year in april, but instead tomorrow i'm introducing urgent legislation to bring it in from january the 6th so people can see so people

can see the benefit in their payslips at the start of the new year , the obr , the obr say year, the obr, the obr say reducing attacks on work means more people in work. and they say today's measures will just on national insurance will lead to the equivalent of 94,000 full time employees in our economy because lower tax means higher growth. and that is the difference between this side and that one. in 13 years, labour raised taxes in every single budget, but conservatives cut taxes when we responsibly can. and today we do just that. we cut taxes to help bigger businesses invest, but we cut taxes to help smaller businesses grow. we cut taxes for the self—employed who keep our country running. and from january, we cut taxes for 27 million working people whose

hard work drives our economy forward. mr speaker, the best universities is the cleverest scientists, the smartest entrepreneurs have given us europe's most innovative economy . but we can be the most prosperous too, in the face of global challenges, we've halved inflation and reduced our debt and grown our economy as a country, we are sticking to a plan that's working. and this autumn statement for growth will attract £20 billion additional business investment a year in the next decade, bringing tens of thousands of people into work and support our fastest growing industries in a package. which leaves borrowing lower debt lower, and keeps inflation falling. we are delivering the biggest business tax cut in modern british history , the modern british history, the largest ever cut to employee and self—employed national insurance and the biggest package of tax cuts to be implemented since the 19805. cuts to be implemented since the 1980s. an autumn statement for a

country that has turned a corner , an autumn statement for growth , which i commend to the . house , which i commend to the. house i. i know , i know. i. i know, i know. >> call the shadow chancellor of the exchequer. rachel reeves thank you, mr speaker. >> today the chancellor has lifted the lid on 13 years of economic failure. we were told that this was to be an autumn statement for growth, but the economy is now forecast to be £40 billion smaller by 2027 than the chancellor said back in march . march. >> growth revised down next yean >> growth revised down next year, the year after that and the year after that too. the chancellor claims that the economy has turned a corner. yet the truth is that under the conservatives , growth has hit conservatives, growth has hit a dead end. what has been laid

bare today is the full scale of the damage that this government has done to our economy over 13 years and nothing that has been announced today will remotely compensate mortgages , rising compensate mortgages, rising taxes , eating into wages in taxes, eating into wages in inflation high, with prices still going up in the shops , still going up in the shops, pubuc still going up in the shops, public services on their knees and too many families struggling to make ends meet as the sun begins to set on this divided out of touch, weak government, the only conclusion that the british people will reach is this after 13 years of conservatives , the economy is conservatives, the economy is simply not working. and despite all the promises today, working people are still worse off. yeah mr speaker, the centrepiece of today's autumn statement is the cut in the headline rate of

national insurance . now, mr national insurance. now, mr speaken national insurance. now, mr speaker, i'm an old. i'm old enough to remember when the prime minister wanted to put up national insurance as recently as january last year, he said, and i quote , we must go ahead and i quote, we must go ahead with the increase in the health and care levy. it is progressive in that the burden falls most on those who can most afford it utter nonsense. it was a tax on working people and we opposed it for that very reason. yet again, the prime minister has left arguing against himself in response to last year's autumn statement , i warned that the statement, i warned that the government was pickpocketing working people through stealth taxes.i working people through stealth taxes. i have long argued that taxes. i have long argued that taxes on working people are too high. indeed, i said in my conference speech that i want them to be lower from their failure to uprate income tax or national insurance bands to forcing councils to raise

council tax. the conservatives have pushed the costs of their failure onto others. but the british people will not be taken for fools . they know that what for fools. they know that what has been announced today owes more to the cynicism of a party desperate to cling on to power than the real priorities of this high tax. low growth conservative government . so conservative government. so i think that we can forgive taxpayers for not celebrating sting when they see the truth behind today's announcements going into this statement, the government had already put in place tax increases worth the equivalent of a 10% increase in national insurance . so today's national insurance. so today's to be cut will not remotely compensate for the tax increases already put in place by this conservative government . the conservative government. the fact is that taxes will be higher at the next election than they were at the last. this is they were at the last. this is the legacy of the conservatives

and that, mr speaker, is their record here. mr speaker, the chancellor and prime minister have spent the last two weeks marching their mps up a hill only to march them down again on inheritance tax. now, let's not forget that when they realised that they had money to spend , that they had money to spend, i've had your chirping all the way through . way through. >> either go and get yourself that cup of tea or be quiet. rachel reeves when they realise that they had money to spend this government's first instinct was a tax cut for millionaires , was a tax cut for millionaires, but in the end even they realised that they couldn't get away with it. >> in the middle of a cost of living crisis. so can the chancellor tell the house today is cutting inheritance tax a decision delayed or a decision abandoned in this autumn? statement for growth is now the 11th conservative economic growth plan from the fifth prime minister the seventh chancellor and the ninth business secretary

. and what do those numbers what do those numbers add up to ? do those numbers add up to? according to the most recent gdp data , a big fat zero. that's data, a big fat zero. that's zero growth in the most recent data in the third quarter of this year . data in the third quarter of this year. now, the chancellor mentioned some countries that we are outperforming in growth, but i couldn't help notice that he failed to mention any of the many advanced economies that have grown faster than the uk over the last 13 years of this low growth conservative government. the uk languishes in the bottom third of oecd countries when it comes to growth. there are 27 oecd economy trees that have grown faster than us in the 13 years since 2010, including the us, australia , canada, sweden, australia, canada, sweden, slovenia . and 22 others in fact, slovenia. and 22 others in fact, over the next two years, no fewer than 177 economies are

forecast by the imf to grow faster than. >> sorry, don't bother me, mr speaken >> it bothers me . >> it bothers me. >> it bothers me. >> i'm not being funny. i expect the same courtesies to the shadow shapps the exchequer. those who wish to not give that courtesy . please go and find courtesy. please go and find something else to do. because my constituents are interested in yours. aren't rachel reeves . yours. aren't rachel reeves. >> and next year , mr speaker, we >> and next year, mr speaker, we are forecast to be the slowest growing economy in the whole of the g7 when it comes to economic growth under the tories. we are more world following than world beating and let's look at how their record on growth compares to labour's record on growth under the conservative gives gdp growth has averaged 1.5% per yeah growth has averaged 1.5% per year. but with labour it grew an average of 2% a year. in the 13 years that we were last in office, it's had the economy continue to grow at the rate it did with labour, it would now be

£150 billion bigger. so what is this government's economic record is lower growth and higher borrowing , with debt more higher borrowing, with debt more than doubling now at almost 100% of gdp. this is a product of their failures over 13 years. a tory government that has failed on growth, failed on debt , on growth, failed on debt, failed on levelling up and failed on levelling up and failed on levelling up and failed on the cost of living too . and now they expect the british people to believe that when they say they are going to turn it all around when it is them, that is the problem and not the solution . yeah mr not the solution. yeah mr speakeh not the solution. yeah mr speaker, if we are going to grow the economy, we must get more people into work . let me be people into work. let me be clear. people who can work should work . that's why we've should work. that's why we've long argued and that's why we've long argued and that's why we've long argued and that's why we've long argued that the work capability assessment needs replacing , because right now it replacing, because right now it is discouraged people from seeking work . but there's a seeking work. but there's a wider problem that yet again,

this government is failing to face up to britain is the only country in the g7 where the employment rate still has not returned to pre—pandemic levels , returned to pre—pandemic levels, with the increase in the number of people out of the workforce due to long term health issues costing the taxpayer a staggering . £15.7 billion staggering. £15.7 billion a yeah staggering. £15.7 billion a year. nhs waiting lists have swelled to 7.8 million, an additional half a million since the prime minister said he was going to cut them. and 2.6 million people are out of work due to long term sickness . a due to long term sickness. a healthy nation is critical to a healthy nation is critical to a healthy economy. hear, hear. that's why labour has pledged to cut hospital waiting lists. investing an additional one point billion £1.1 billion a year to deliver 2 million more appointments. scans and operations. it will be funded by abolishing the non—dom tax status and replacing it with a

modern scheme for people who are genuinely living in the uk for short periods. but once again, we see that this policy has been vetoed by the prime minister mr speakeh vetoed by the prime minister mr speaker, the best way to get people back to work is to get our nhs working. but the reality is you can never trust the tories with our nhs . now the tories with our nhs. now the chancellor has made a great fanfare about public sector efficiency and value for money. this is from a government that has blown £140 million on a discredited rwanda scheme and yet are not able to send a single asylum seeker their £7.2 billion money lost on fraud dunng billion money lost on fraud during the pandemic. all those cheques signed up by the former chancellor, the current prime minister for £87 billion on ppe. that's been written off. hs2 costs £57 billion with not a single piece of track going

north of birmingham. no one can trust the tories with taxpayers money. yes and it says it all that after 13 years of tory government there are still nearly 12,000 nhs computers running on outdated software that's vulnerable to cyber attacks . ten years ago, when he attacks. ten years ago, when he was health secretary, the now chancellor promised a paperless nhs by 2018. yet today , in 2023, nhs by 2018. yet today, in 2023, 26, nhs trusts are still using fax machines . yes. now why on fax machines. yes. now why on earth should people who expect audience deteriorating public services under this conservative government trust them to fix it when his six years as health secretary makes him one of the biggest architect of failure here? yeah. if you put your hands into people's pockets and take money out of them and they don't see visible improvements in the services that they

receive, they get very angry indeed. not my words. the chancellor's words. two years ago . and i agree with him. the ago. and i agree with him. the tories have had 13 years to improve public services and they have failed . mr speaker, this is have failed. mr speaker, this is too little and too late . i do too little and too late. i do want to welcome the chancellor's announcement today of additional funding to tackle anti—semitism and islamophobia to keep our communities safe, as well as the additional money for the holocaust, education trust. there is no place for hate in our society , and i know that our society, and i know that across the house we will work together to eliminate it . mr together to eliminate it. mr speaker , the chancellor calls speaker, the chancellor calls this an autumn statement for growth, but it is labour who has led the agenda on growth and today we see the conservatives have released their own poor cover version of what we have already announced. the chancellor today is talking

about unlocking capital by reforming pensions , but labour reforming pensions, but labour would go further , encouraging would go further, encouraging investment into british start up firms and scale up firms and introducing measures to ensure the consolidation of pension funds so that our pension system gets better returns for savers and for the uk economy . on and for the uk economy. on planning the conservatives are following labour's lead on providing money off bills for communities that host grid infrastructure and speeding up planning decisions . what's taken planning decisions. what's taken them so long? yes, labour will get britain building again with a once in a generation set of reforms to accelerate the building of our country's national infrastructure and to build housing too. we will fast track battery factories , our track battery factories, our life sciences and 5g technology to grow our economy and provide good jobs in every part of our country . and we welcome the fact country. and we welcome the fact that the chancellor has announced that he will make full expensing permanent. another thing that we have been calling

for, but that doesn't make up for, but that doesn't make up for the years of uncertainty that businesses have faced with taxes going up and down like a yo—yo with small and medium businesses whose place such a pivotal role in growing our economy left exposed to the tories economic volatility . we tories economic volatility. we labour's partnership with business will get our economy firing on all cylinders . that's firing on all cylinders. that's why this week we established a new british infrastructure council with key investors in the uk economy focussed on unlocking private investment by addressing the delivery challenges businesses face when investing in britain through labour's new national wealth fund. we will work alongside the private sector to back the growth of british industry so that we can make the crucial transition to a zero carbon economy and for every pound of pubuc economy and for every pound of public investment we will leverage in three times as much private investment whilst also getting a return to taxpayers.

labour's plan will boost our economy, get debt falling and make working people better off here now, mr speaker, if you listen to the benches opposite , listen to the benches opposite, you would believe that the cost of living crisis was behind us. but inflation is still double. the bank of england's target rate. i know the importance of low and stable inflation from my time as an economist at the bank of england , and now it is of of england, and now it is of course, welcome that the chancellor has accepted this year's recommendations from the low pay commission that we set up on the minimum wage. but the reality is of the concern his record that average wages for working people have been held back under this government, real average weekly wages have increased by just 3% in 13 years compared to a 27% increase under the last labour government, worth an additional £120 more every week for someone going out to work every day. and today, mr

speaker , is equal pay day. so it speaker, is equal pay day. so it is also important to recognise that the living standards of working women have also been held back by a gender pay gap that i am determined to close now the chancellor and the prime minister say that the cost of living crisis is dealt with now. everything might look a little bit better. 10,000ft up in your helicopter . but down here on helicopter. but down here on planet earth , but down here on planet earth, but down here on planet earth, but down here on planet earth, but down here on planet earth , people are planet earth, people are approaching christmas and the year ahead with worry and trepidation. the cost of living crisis has hit us harder because tory mismanagement has left us so exposed . 11 million uk so exposed. 11 million uk households do not have enough savings to cover three weeks of living expenses if they needed it working families have been skating on thin ice for too long and as their resilience has been eroded , so has our national eroded, so has our national economies . let's not forget it

economies. let's not forget it was this government that oversaw the closure of our critical gas storage facilities which left our country more exposed to the huge fluctuations in international energy markets. while the former prime minister. that's for prime ministers, ago cut energy efficiency programs , cut energy efficiency programs, leading to higher bills for home owners and just last year, we saw the true cost of the conservative gives when their kamikaze budget crashed the economy leading to market turmoil, pensions puts in peril and a spike in interest rates. 1.6 million families will see their mortgage deals end this yeah their mortgage deals end this year. those remortgaging since july have seen their payments rocket by an average of £220 a month and next year, 1.5 million families will face a similar fate. the conservatives economic recklessness has inflicted a

tory mortgage penalty on families across the country in wellingborough , families with a wellingborough, families with a mortgage will be expected to find an additional £190 every single month in richmond, north yorkshire. home owners face £200 more a month on their mortgage and in the chancellor's own constituency . but maybe not for constituency. but maybe not for long. families with a mortgage will see an average increase of £420 a month. because of this conservative government's economic failure to and with increased costs for landlords and the chancellor knows something about that as well . something about that as well. renters are paying a high price, too. the truth is , mr speaker, too. the truth is, mr speaker, working people just do not have this sort of money lying around. but this is what we've come to after 13 years of conservative government and this is the record upon which people will judge the conservative natives at the next election . this tory at the next election. this tory economic recklessness is not a thing of the past. the

economic recklessness is not a thing of the past . the british thing of the past. the british people are still paying the price and we say never again . price and we say never again. last week labour put forward an amendment to the king's speech to put our fiscal lock into law . to put our fiscal lock into law. it would prevent a repeat of last year's economic horror show. and yet the tories voted against it . show. and yet the tories voted against it. it is clear that today labour is the party of economic and fiscal responsibility and what have the conservatives learnt ? conservatives learnt? >> the conservatives have learnt that absolutely nothing . that absolutely nothing. >> mr speaker, the country is crying out for change. a decaying government can change its personnel , decaying government can change its personnel, but decaying government can change its personnel , but they have its personnel, but they have failed to change the direction of our country. in 13 years. we have had seven chancellors who wouldn't run a business like this. you can't run a country like it either . and the prime like it either. and the prime minister can't even promise that

this chancellor will be in place at the next election . we've all at the next election. we've all heard the reports . when they heard the reports. when they first came together, it was the fairy tale marriage . but one fairy tale marriage. but one year on the relationship has hit the rocks. the pair have grown apart with rumours running rife that the prime minister already has his eyes on someone else. but whoever this prime minister picks as the chancellor , the picks as the chancellor, the truth is this. britain is and will be worse off under the conservatives as they have held back growth. they have crashed our economy increased debt, trashed our public services, left businesses out in the cold and made life harder for working people . our country cannot people. our country cannot afford five more years of the conservatives mr speaker, the ravens are leaving the tower when even saatchi and saatchi are saying the tories are not working and the questions that people will be asking at the

next election and after today's autumn statement are simple . do autumn statement are simple. do me and my family feel better off? after 13 years of conservative government to our schools, our hospitals , our schools, our hospitals, our police? do they work better ? and police? do they work better? and after 13 years of conservative government, no. in fact , it does government, no. in fact, it does anything in britain work better today than when the conservative came into office? 13 years ago ? came into office? 13 years ago? we all know that working people are worse off under the conservative gives with growth down mortgages up prices up. taxes up. debt up and mr speakeh taxes up. debt up and mr speaker, their time is up . it taxes up. debt up and mr speaker, their time is up. it is time for change. a changed labor party to lead britain and to make working people better off in chancellor of the exchequer . in chancellor of the exchequer. >> thank you, mr speaker. madam deputy speaker. indeed, and i'm

afraid the shadow chancellor has shown once again that labour has nothing credible to say on the economy . she tells the papers economy. she tells the papers this morning that she will accept these measures, as you would expect from a copy and paste. shadow chancellor and can i can i say in all, in all sincerity that i particularly welcome her conversion to supporting full expensing, which she actually voted against in this house that is copying and pasting in the national interest. and we welcome it on this side of the house. she she compared growth rates under labour and the conservatives, but she carefully omitted one fact labour inherited a golden legacy from the conservatives and then proceeded to trash the economy before handing it over. and when it comes to when it comes to growth, when it comes

to growth, she didn't like it when i reminded her that we have grown faster under the conservatives than any other major european economy and she says that she is now converted to conservative supply side reforms on welfare. so i look forward to her voting with us on the lobbies on those . but her the lobbies on those. but her main policies are not supply side . it is a main policies are not supply side. it is a demand side main policies are not supply side . it is a demand side boost side. it is a demand side boost to growth. >> well, there we have it. the chancellor responding to the shadow chancellor's response to the chancellor. we're going to duck out of the commons at this moment and get to the nuts and bolts of what this means for you at home. i'm delighted to be joined here in the studio by our indefatigable economics and business editor liam halligan liam to two big tax cuts here. one for business and one for workers for a government that was saying we weeks ago tax cuts would be irresponsive able even impossible .

impossible. >> there's certainly been a change of heart here. as you say, the business tax cuts is very significant . it on a very significant. it on a permanent basis , though permanent basis, though nothing's ever permanent in politics or at least until someone changes the law. again, businesses are going to be able to offset 25% of the cost of any investment or approved investments that they make in factory plant technological upgrades. and so on against their corporation tax bill that will be a major incentive for firms to invest. what i would say that's going to benefit big firms more than small firms, because small firms often don't have , as we say, they don't have have, as we say, they don't have the balance sheet to invest. they raise funding , they can't raise the funding, they haven't the spare cash they haven't got the spare cash to . but still lot of to invest. but still a lot of people in business will massively welcome that . at the massively welcome that. at the same time, there's going to be a cut national insurance. the cut in national insurance. the base rate of national insurance from 12 to 10. that's quite a major change. why has the chancellor gone for national insurance? he's gone from national insurance because

national insurance because national insurance because national insurance is cheaper because pension is don't pay national insurance . if you cut national insurance. if you cut the basic rate of income tax by two percentage points, it will cost you the thick end of £15 billion. this will cost less. but he still gets roughly the same headline. what does it mean for people at home? well, if you're lucky enough to be earning 35 grand a year, which is above the national average wage, the national average wage is more like 32,500 pounds. if you're earning 35 grand year , you're earning 35 grand a year, that's worth £450 in your pocket and in a little extra flourish . and in a little extra flourish. rather than waiting for a finance bill to kick in. in the new tax year in april 2024, the chancellor's you know, we all know that you spend christmas and then the credit card bills start hitting the mat in january . well, this will apply from january . see . well, this will apply from january. see this lower . well, this will apply from january . see this lower rates of january. see this lower rates of national insurance for employees . and there was another little kicker on national insurance . kicker on national insurance. it's the type of national insurance that the self—employed pay insurance that the self—employed pay that's also going to come

down from 9 to 8. >> yes . now, of course, it is >> yes. now, of course, it is the job of the shadow chancellor, rachel reeves , to chancellor, rachel reeves, to stick the boot in and criticise, of course. but did she make a good point when she said that this cut in national insurance , this cut in national insurance, this cut in national insurance, this rabbit out of the hat, this to cut that you talk about won't be enough to compensate for other tax increases that have come before , not least those tax come before, not least those tax thresholds . thresholds. >> well, i think rachel reeves is not to be underestimated. i mean, experience with her mean, in my experience with her talking her over many years, talking to her over many years, you know, she has a very analytical mind . and she was analytical mind. and she was certainly thinking on her feet there. the convention will be there. the convention will be there will have been some notice of the main measures in a budget or an autumn statement for manchester or his manchester's opposition. but she won't have had long to think that through. but broadly speaking, she's right. i mean, look, the tax burden here is still going up, even though down, down a little bit . bit. >> i've got some numbers here from the down, a little bit from

march. >> but each year it still goes up. >> so the numbers from the obr, the are the official numbers are accompanying are that the accompanying this are that the tax burden is down by 0.7% compared to what it would have beenin compared to what it would have been in march. but as you were saying, it's still going up. it's still going up each year, just up by less than it was going go up that point. going to go up to that point. >> who are the winners and losers here? >> rachel is correct. >> so, rachel reeves is correct. the of tax thresholds, the freezing of tax thresholds, the that you're going the fact that you're going to start paying tax at £12,570 until 2028, even though wages and inflation go up, the fact that the top rate threshold is going to stay where it is, we've got the uk tax burden here on the screen. it is at 70 year high. that will continue you. the winners are mainly people, i would say , on lower incomes would say, on lower incomes because that in that sense this is progressive by the chancellor because that cut in national insurance will be a higher share of their overall return than people on higher wages. the winners also we haven't

mentioned are people on benefits , not to denigrate a lot of lower income and vulnerable in schools and families in our country, but the benefit upgrade is going to be by 6.7, which is the september inflation number, rather than the lower october inflation number. >> even more generous for pensions up by 8.5. >> indeed . indeed. and that is >> indeed. indeed. and that is the triple lock . that's because the triple lock. that's because that was the rate of earnings . that was the rate of earnings. the triple lock is either 2.5% or or or inflation or earnings. the higher of those. and so, jeremy hunt , the higher of those. and so, jeremy hunt, in something that will really annoy a lot of people in your respective generations , guys, you know, yet generations, guys, you know, yet again pensioners, even though there's a lot less pensioner poverty than there was in this country, we are getting a big inflow in busting up. >> is this potentially balanced , >> is this potentially balanced, though, national though, by the national insurance cut so people in work national insurance is cut from 12 to 10. people who've retired from work, they get their pensions going up. both groups are somehow satisfied by this

autumn statement. >> yeah, this is a very political will statement. i think a lot of there's a lot here for a lot of people to be pleased with, not least on the right of the conservatives. >> we haven't even mentioned pubs haven't mentioned we >> we haven't mentioned pubs, we haven't freeze on haven't mentioned the freeze on alcohol duty. we haven't mentioned an extension in those free investment zones. free ports and investment zones. those we're going 5 those and liam, we're going 5 to 10 years. >> are going get all of >> we are going to get to all of those after after these those stories after after these messages , my goodness, messages because, my goodness, there is lots to dig into , as there is lots to dig into, as liam was saying, not just on tax, not just on pensions , but tax, not just on pensions, but also on pubs. all the analysis right here on gb news, who's with you up from for the next well for the rest of the afternoon on as well. stick with us here on good afternoon britain .

>> good afternoon. it is 2:00. the chancellor has revealed the government's spending plans. jeremy hunt says he aims to back business reward workers and get britain going . britain going. >> he's also announced a boost for pensioners , a freeze on for pensioners, a freeze on alcohol duty and more funding for public services , as well as for public services, as well as a multi—billion pound investment in businesses. >> our choice is not big government, high spending and high tax because we know that leads to less growth, not more . leads to less growth, not more. instead, we reduce debt, cut

taxes and reward work . taxes and reward work. >> but we've also heard from labouh >> but we've also heard from labour, the shadow chancellor was scathing about jeremy hunt's plan as after 13 years of conservatives , the economy is conservatives, the economy is simply not working. >> and despite all the promises today, working people are still worse off. we'll have all the details, reaction and analysis throughout the show, as well as heanng throughout the show, as well as hearing from businesses and individuals right across the united kingdom. >> yes, we'll find out what it means to you now , also, a tragic means to you now, also, a tragic story away from the autumn statement . statement. >> tributes have been paid to four teenagers whose bodies were discovered in a car off a road in wales . as the mother of one in wales. as the mother of one of the victims says it's just like a nightmare. i can't wake up from. but we'll bring you the updates on that story, too. >> yes, we .

>> yes, we. will yes . and we want to hear from yes. and we want to hear from you. what do you make of what jeremy hunt had to say and also what rachel reeves reeves had to say on the other side of the house? you happy the house? are you happy with the government's spending plans? are you proposed tax you happy with the proposed tax cuts? tax cuts ? what cuts? the planned tax cuts? what else was there that you . else was in there that you. that's well, that that you think was good, bad, ugly , irrelevant. was good, bad, ugly, irrelevant. let us know. has the chancellor convinced you that your finances will get better? >> yes. email as you surely >> yes. the email as you surely know by now, is gbviews@gbnews.com. and we'll be getting to some of those through the program as well as talking to our roster of experts. all of that to come after your morning headunes that to come after your morning headlines as. >> hello. very good afternoon to you. it's 2:02 hour. and armstrong here in the gb newsroom, the state pension is going up. business taxes are coming down, benefits will be boosted the national

boosted and the national insurance slashed to 10. just some the measures announced some of the measures announced in chancellor's autumn statement. >> autumn statement sharm el sheikh . jeremy >> autumn statement sharm el sheikh .jeremy hunt >> autumn statement sharm el sheikh . jeremy hunt struck an sheikh. jeremy hunt struck an optimistic tone, saying britain's economy had defied the doom and gloom of some predictions. >> the biggest change comes in january, national insurance january, when national insurance is saving is cut from 12 to 10, saving those on average earnings £450 per year. with the self—employed enjoying similar benefits. the triple lock will be kept taking the state pension up by 8.5% to more than £220 per week. benefits will also get a boost, up benefits will also get a boost, ”p by benefits will also get a boost, up by 6.7% next year. and there will be help for low income households struggling to afford rent . rent. >> our choice is not out. big government, high spending and high tax because we know that leads to less growth, not more . leads to less growth, not more. so instead, we reduce debt, cut taxes and reward work . taxes and reward work. >> however, shadow chancellor

rachel reeves said growth has hit a dead end and cuts to taxes will leave people worse off. >> the 30 years of conservatives , the economy is simply not working. and despite all the promises today, working people are still worse off. well, earlier at a heated prime minister's questions, the labour leader questioned the progress of the government's five new pledges, asking rishi sunak if he'd forgotten about the nhs . he'd forgotten about the nhs. >> sir keir starmer said while the prime minister talks about tax cuts more than double the population of wales are on an nhs waiting list in england , nhs waiting list in england, just weeks after becoming prime minister, we injected record funding into the nhs and in social care. >> we also unveiled the first ever long term workforce plan in the nhs. 75 year history. but i'm pleased he mentioned the five pledges because, as he knows , three of are knows, three of them are economic and on a day which we will focus on the economy, i'm pleased report that we have pleased to report that we have indeed inflation. no indeed halved inflation. no thanks to the party opposite . we

thanks to the party opposite. we have indeed grown the economy and we indeed reduced debt . and we have indeed reduced debt. that's a conservative government delivering for this country. starmer again . starmer again. >> well, the reason he ignored the nhs not only in his new pledges but just now, is because 7.8 million people are currently on the waiting list. that's half a million more than when he pledged to bring them down nearly a year ago . the prime nearly a year ago. the prime minister just claimed that this is all about economic growth. so let me ask him if a labourer or a care worker is forced to wait a care worker is forced to wait a year for an operation, how are they meant to help grow the economy . for men have been given economy. for men have been given life sentences with minimum terms of between 41 and 47 years for the murder of a woman in liverpool. >> 28 year old ashley dale was killed when james witham forced his way into her home and opened fire with a machine gun. he and co—defendant joseph pearce. now barry and shaun zeiss, were

found guilty of murder and conspiracy to murder. ms dale's partner , a spokesperson for partner, a spokesperson for ashley's family , said they will ashley's family, said they will never be able to forgive , never be able to forgive, although nothing can make this nightmare end. >> we can now rest assured, knowing these evil monsters will pay knowing these evil monsters will pay for what they have done to ashley and our family. and they, too, have ruined their own lives and their families lives. ashley had her whole life ahead of her and was in her prime, a career dnven and was in her prime, a career driven young woman whose life had been cut short for such a senseless act . but there really senseless act. but there really are no words . are no words. >> the foreign secretary, david cameron, says the truce between israel and hamas is a crucial step towards releasing hostages and providing humanitarian relief in gaza . the two sides relief in gaza. the two sides have agreed a four day pause, which is due to start in the next 24 hours. 50 hostages held by the terror group will be freed in exchange for 150 palestinian held in israeli

jails. every additional ten hostages subsequently released will extend the pause by a day . will extend the pause by a day. the hometown of four teenage boys who died in north wales has cancelled tonight's switching on of the christmas lights. out of respect for the families. jevon hirst harvey, owen, wilf fitchett and hugo morris had set off on a camping trip in the snowdonia area. their bodies were recovered yesterday after a car was found overturned and partially submerged in water. nonh partially submerged in water. north wales police is investigating how the car left the road. the force says it appears to have been a tragic accident . we're live across the accident. we're live across the uk on tv, on digital radio. if you want this on your smart speakeh you want this on your smart speaker, say play gb news. that's it for the moment. i'll be with more later . be back with more later. >> well, there's only really one place to start this hour. the chancellor has revealed the government's spending plans , government's spending plans, saying his autumn statement will

boost the uk economy. >> and joining us in the gb news studio is the gb news economics and business editor liam halligan . liam, we have heard halligan. liam, we have heard two huge tax cutting headline measures . everyone at home will measures. everyone at home will know what they are. the cut to business investment making that exemption permanent, but also national insurance. i want to talk to you about other things, however, in the budget. what were the other little bits and bobs that might affect people at home? >> it's a pretty meaty statement that we've got here. the national was national minimum wage was increased. it was increased from 1042 an hour to 1144, an hour . 1042 an hour to 1144, an hour. and also it was extended . so it and also it was extended. so it now applies to 21 and 22 year olds and not just people who are 23 years and older. that is quite interesting. trying to give the younger generation something a reason to vote conservative, if you like . the conservative, if you like. the pension triple lock was confirmed, so pension , basic confirmed, so pension, basic state pension is going to go up 8.5% from april 2024. that's

worth about £900 a year for recipients of the basic state pension. we had the development of a strategic manufacturing fund , something that the fund, something that the chancellor has been working on with business secretary kemi badenoch . the government has badenoch. the government has announced £4.5 billion of government investment by 2035, focussed on automotive , focussed on automotive, aerospace, clean energy , life aerospace, clean energy, life sciences. you'll know that in america joe biden's got what he calls his inflation reduction act. tens of billions of dollars going into various green technologies there. this is the uk's response. we're not going to become subsidy junkies . in to become subsidy junkies. in the words of various ministers, but we are going to try and provide some kind of incentive for big ticket investment here in the uk . in the uk. >> subsidy junkie. i like that. then you've got the extension of the zones and the the investment zones and the freeports, chancellor freeports, which the chancellor announced back in march. >> there are going to be new investment zones in the west midlands , the east midlands and

midlands, the east midlands and greater manchester and the tax breaks that are available in those investment zones and freeports going to be freeports are going to be extended five years ten extended from five years to ten years. to honest with you, years. to be honest with you, i didn't that were only didn't know that there were only 4 years. yes so was 4 or 5 years. yes so that was quite interesting . business quite interesting. business rates, is a major bugbear rates, this is a major bugbear for lots of business owners. you pay for lots of business owners. you pay business rates not just before you've made any profit. as the chancellor said, you pay business rates before you've taken revenue in at all taken any revenue in at all because they are a tax on the rateable value of your business premises. the chancellor is going to freeze the small business rate multiplier for another year and this is really going to help businesses like pubs, businesses and in particular he's particular service sector. he's extending the retail and hospital reliefs and no business rates for retail and hospitality for another year. that's a kind of lockdown measure. that's been extended in terms of other things that are going on, we've talked about the benefits upgrade, working age benefits. they're up 6.7% from next april, which is higher than was thought they could have been raised by.

indeed, because it's tradition that you raise benefits by the september inflation number. but because the september inflation number was very high at 6.7% and the october 1st was much lower at was speculation at 4.6, there was speculation some of it coming from the leader of the opposition's office. we must say that the chancellor may use that lower october inflation number of 4.6. he didn't. he stuck with a 6.7. that means for around 5 million low income households , that's low income households, that's worth about £470 a year. to them, those benefit upgrades, that's separate from the state pension. these are working age benefits . benefits. >> so it's people on benefits as well as pensioners as well as people in work on average. now, all getting above inflation pay rises . rises. >> and i wonder i'll have to look at the fine print, where the cuts are, where the cuts in spending are. as you and i were discussing earlier , tom, the tax discussing earlier, tom, the tax burden is going up, but it's going up by less than it would have done. have we stuck with the measures in march to that

point? >> he did talk about public sector productivity, perhaps some slashing of government departments was there. we hear about that a lot from the conservatives, whether we see it actually happen is another thing. >> what you sometimes do as chancellor is you. you bank on future productivity improvements. you bank on efficiencies , you bank often on, efficiencies, you bank often on, you know , lowering tax evasion. you know, lowering tax evasion. so you get more money in and then you spend those gains before you've even made them . before you've even made them. i'm sure there's a little bit of that going on here. >> he said he said nought point 5% increases on productivity, year on year in the civil service, which matched what goes on in the private sector . do you on in the private sector. do you think that's achievable? >> it's going difficult >> it's going to be difficult when got many civil when you've got so many civil servants, working from servants, frankly, working from home, refusing to come in. i mean, we hear about deals being done to convince civil servants to come in on tuesdays, wednesdays and thursdays. >> that spells an acronym. >> that spells an acronym. >> yeah, that spells acronym >> yeah, that spells an acronym in good days , you used

in the good old days, you used to your employer told to do what your employer told you real world, you in the in the real world, the 4/5 of us who work in the private don't have private sector often don't have those , as well as those choices, as well as the sort mass of pensions and sort of mass of pensions and benefits that come from public sector work work. but, you know, i do think it will be difficult to make those productivity gains in the public sector. but we live i think another live in hope. i think another interesting from those interesting thing is from those tax burden numbers, tom, which we discussing, the tax we were discussing, the tax burden up . you remember burden is going up. you remember at party conference, at tory party conference when i chaired an event with liz truss and her growth commission, you had members of her growth commission , some of them still sitting mps saying that there is a group of 50 to 60 mp5 saying that there is a group of 50 to 60 mps who support a lot of her proposals. they don't want her to come back as party leader, but they support her kind of low tax pro growth agenda, an agenda which we must say, albeit with the office for budget responsibilities blessing jeremy hunt has just copied and pasted himself off, to use a

phrase that he fired at rachel reeves several times. but at that growth commission event in manchester, at the tory party conference, various mps said publicly that there were 50 or 60 tory mps who would not vote for the autumn statement if it increased the tax burden. now if the government can't get its finance bill through the house of commons, that's that's a confidence issue. so will they fall ? will they make good on fall? will they make good on that commitment? will the awkward squad of mps on the tory right say we're not going to vote for this? >> perhaps even more important vote for this? >> pwhat s even more important vote for this? >> pwhat the en more important vote for this? >> pwhat the overall; important vote for this? >> pwhat the overall tax portant vote for this? >> pwhat the overall tax burden than what the overall tax burden is, where lies and where is, is where it lies and where it . who it affect it falls. who does it affect now? it's difficult to say exactly how the tax burden is spread across the public, but who's paying proportionately the most tax are lower income people 7 most tax are lower income people ? has their tax burden gone down or are they being trapped in

higher tax rates? >> well, i agree with you. what really happens to people at home, really matters home, what really matters to people is how their tax people at home is how their tax burden . but i put burden is influenced. but i put it to that matters it to you that what matters politically the right of politically is if the right of the tory party is going to give the tory party is going to give the chancellor a break and the benefit or if benefit of the doubt or if there's going to be a campaign of, you know, sabotage and we don't like this, this this package of measures. and i think that's why they've put the tax cuts so front and centre with the business rates tax cut, with the business rates tax cut, with the full expensing tax cut and describing this, of course, as the biggest, as the biggest as the biggest, as the biggest as the biggest, as the biggest as the biggest tax cut for business in half a century, and with national insurance. but i think emily is onto something. it is true that if you lower the starting rate of national insurance , then that is going to insurance, then that is going to disproportionately benefit lower income workers because more of their wages, if you like, are at that lower level. and so that will benefit them . and, you will benefit them. and, you know, it will be very, very

difficult for labour to oppose this. rachel reeves did point out that only recently chancellor sunak raised national insurance in order to pay for more nhs spending and now they're lowering national insurance 18 months later. well liam, keep poring over the treasury documents, the obr documents. >> to find all of those >> we want to find all of those nuggets of information and we'll be back with you throughout the programme. get programme. but let's get some political reaction now and turn to political editor, to our political editor, christopher westminster. christopher hope in westminster. christopher, what is the reaction from those crucial tory backbenchers . backbenchers. >> well, they're getting up to speak right now in the house of commons, but we do know that the government is pretty pleased with it. i've had a text here from a very senior person close to rishi sunak telling wanted me to rishi sunak telling wanted me to tell you for gb news that they view as they have controlled inflation in control spending taxes. that's spending and cut taxes. that's certainly the government's position. and this 2% cut this new pay rise for 27,000,000 new year pay rise for 27,000,000 million of us through the cuts in national insurance is something they want to try and

trump it. no question labour are pointing out that as liam was alluding to just then, that tax is up to a post—war high is going up to a post—war high as a proportion of gdp, 37.7. and of course this idea of fiscal drag, tom, you know all about that, don't you? they've they've kept these these bands that we pay income tax at the same level therefore same level and therefore inflation has pulled more of us into them. well 4 million more people are paying income tax at 20% by 28, 29, 3 million more are paying the higher rate of £0.40, so the point is, while they are giving us a tax, a big pay they are giving us a tax, a big pay boost, i suppose if i could describe it as that with a tax cut in january, that we are paying cut in january, that we are paying more of us are paying more income tax and that's that's that's labour are more income tax and that's that'storat's labour are more income tax and that's that'sto highlight.labour are more income tax and that's that'sto highlight. so our are more income tax and that's that'sto highlight. so but are more income tax and that's that'sto highlight. so but there keen to highlight. so but there was a definitely guttural roar was a definitely a guttural roar for position in the press for my position in the press gallery above the, the tory benches , the labour benches benches, the labour benches looking back at the tory benches when that 2% cut in national insurance was raised. insurance was was raised. otherwise quite a naughty

otherwise it was quite a naughty autumn statement aimed really at business and growth. but the retail offer is this 2% cut in nics . nics. >> christopher jeremy nics. >> christopherjeremy hunt said this is an autumn statement for a country that has turned a corner. was this statement not enough for the party to turn a corner? crucially >> well, we'll see later on, won't we? jeremy hunt is talking to the 1922 committee of tory mps . normally that's quite a mps. normally that's quite a cakewalk for him. people will want to support him on this big day and we'll wait and see how the polls play out and whether the polls play out and whether the voters want to give this party the benefit of the doubt. the voters want to give this pmean,e benefit of the doubt. the voters want to give this pmean, figuresit of the doubt. the voters want to give this pmean, figures burieda doubt. the voters want to give this pmean, figures buried inioubt. the voters want to give this pmean, figures buried in thet. i mean, figures buried in the obr do suggest that inflation is falling, but is falling at a at a less steep rate because of the measures taken in today's autumn statement. and that's because we're expecting a general election within the next 12 months. so they need to be doing something on tax cuts, going into that period. they can't just there and wait for just sit there and wait for inflation to fall further. they're to do measures they're trying to do measures

around idea. around that to boost the idea. they saying if they justify that by saying if we get more people into the workplace, for workplace, that is better for the for growth. the economy, better for growth. so it might mean that inflation is for bit longer is stays higher for a bit longer , but in it will mean that , but in fact it will mean that it's to cut it. so that's it's easier to cut it. so that's music playing. >> christopher as you're joined by, i believe the delights of a man, a stop brexit protester by the name of steve bray. it sounds like we might do you think we should? we can carry on with this with with chris. i wonder if the noise isn't too much. i can hear you clearly. you can hear me clearly. just in a very short sentence. chris, do you think this means that an election is now more likely before summer or after the before the summer or after the summer ? summer? >> well, i'm always gone along on this. i think it'll be after the summer. i think it'll be when they are looking at growth next inflation falling and next year. inflation falling and they want it to go in next next autumn. it doesn't help any party. no party wants to send its out to its staff and volunteers out to go to go and try and campaign dunng go to go and try and campaign during the winter when it's dark. think they want to

dark. but i think they want to go as long as they can to get dark. but i think they want to go asfrom as they can to get dark. but i think they want to go asfrom the they can to get dark. but i think they want to go asfrom the concerns:o get dark. but i think they want to go asfrom the concerns about away from the concerns about trussonomics and the record of the trust, the truss administration, lived and administration, short lived and i'll give you, chris, as you ably battle the background music there, we will leave you there and hopefully it will get a bit quieter green because quieter on college green because this show is all about, you know, westminster, what know, why westminster, why what happens matters happens in westminster matters to up and down the country. >> so let's see how people are feeling up and down country. feeling up and down the country. we're reporter we're joined by our reporter tony glasgow, jeff tony mcguire in glasgow, jeff moody, market in moody, at a christmas market in exeter and sophie reaper at coffee fix in stockport. so let's to them now. who should let's go to them now. who should we talk to first? let's talk to sophie reaper. sophie can you tell us what the reaction is, where you are ? where you are? >> absolutely . well, that was >> absolutely. well, that was a jam packed autumn statement, wasn't it? and one of the big things that jeremy hunt focussed on was the support they're going to be providing for families dunng to be providing for families during that of living during that cost of living crisis . and that's of the crisis. and that's one of the things been hearing things we've been hearing stockport about stockport today talking about with local people and local families is exactly what they're

hoping the support the government will be providing for them will be. so to talk a little that, we're little bit about that, and we're joined nicole, who joined now by nicole, who is a working mum in the local area. nicole in that autumn statement, we heard from the chancellor that they're going to be increasing universal credit that they're going to be cutting national insurance on national insurance and on the face it, all that sounds face of it, all of that sounds great. in real terms, are great. but in real terms, are they enough help they doing enough to help families ? not today's needs . families? not in today's needs. we're talking about an increase in april next year based on september's inflation rates . so september's inflation rates. so that's six months from now when people need that help through christmas and through some of the most difficult times. so no, for me, they need to actually make that change today in line with the inflation as it is now. i know you're also you're self—employed , you have your own self—employed, you have your own business. there was a lot of talk the statement as well talk in the statement as well about they're to be about what they're going to be doing people , doing for self—employed people, including cutting, abolishing, i should two, national should say, class two, national insurance but you think insurance. yes. but do you think that the government is now going to enough for those

to be doing enough for those people who are self—employed and not really? i think there needs to be more focus on grants to help those self—employed and for people in start up stages who are needing extra support for things like universal credit, getting rid of this cap to stop people from benefiting from some kind of income while they're actually getting their business up and running. there was something i do want talk something i do want to talk about one the big about because one of the big things that's of things that's come out of today's is they're today's statement is they're wanting people back into today's statement is they're wantirand people back into today's statement is they're wantirand there'sople back into today's statement is they're wantirand there's ayle back into today's statement is they're wantirand there's a huge ck into work. and there's a huge population of people that want to get back into work , that to get back into work, that can't get back into work and thatis can't get back into work and that is the parents because we are stuck in this archaic time of monday to friday, 9 to 5, where we've got parents paying for somebody else to take their children to school, pick them up, only seeing up, and they're only seeing their when they put their children when they put them bed. this increasing them to bed. this is increasing people's it is people's anxiety and it is actually leading burnout as actually leading to burnout as well . and they're basically actually leading to burnout as well . lfor they're basically actually leading to burnout as well . lfor somebody sically actually leading to burnout as well . lfor somebody else .y actually leading to burnout as well . lfor somebody else to paying for somebody else to raise if we can raise their children. if we can actually put flexible working into place , we can improve our into place, we can improve our

families lives. into place, we can improve our families lives . we can families lives. we can look after our children and we can actually help lower anxiety and improve sleep and mental health. therefore we can actually improve productivity and performance. 28% of parents have left the workplace after going back in, after having a baby. that's of some research that i've done this year. if anybody wants to read more, they can find report on nicole find that report on nicole ratcliffe, , thank you so ratcliffe, .co.uk, thank you so much for your time this afternoon nicole. saying afternoon. nicole. anyone saying that people in this country that the people in this country are paying attention to are not paying attention to what's in westminster what's going on in westminster clearly need have a word with clearly need to have a word with nicole so informed nicole. she's so well informed and it just goes to show that people not just stockport, people not just in stockport, but country are so but all over the country are so interested in what has been said today in the autumn statement. >> it really, really does matter. sophie reaper, thank you so much for bringing us that from let's cross from stockport. let's cross across to exeter now where jeff moody , you're at a christmas moody, you're at a christmas market. what's the mood on the ground there? >> i, i am. i've been sampling several of the wares at the christmas market. it's all going

very well. and i've been asking stall holders and shoppers what they how the last year has been and also what they thought of the autumn statement. let's try one now, sir, what do you think of the autumn statement ? yes. of the autumn statement? yes. right. let's quickly move on. here's holder that has here's a stall holder that has got a few opinions about the autumn statement . oh, hello autumn statement. oh, hello to you, justin. from south you, justin. you're from south devon farm , written up devon chilli farm, written up there so that i can see there nicely so that i can see it. business? yeah, it's . it. how's business? yeah, it's. it's been really good the last yeah >> there's a lot of investment going into the chilli farms. it changed hands recently and so, you we're having watch you know, we're having to watch the on the pounds all the pennies on the pounds all the pennies on the pounds all the a growing business, the pennies on the pounds all the sort a growing business, the pennies on the pounds all the sort ofa growing business, the pennies on the pounds all the sort of things ng business, the pennies on the pounds all the sort of things ng blyou ss, what sort of things were you looking in the looking out for in the chancellor's statement today? >> what did you want to see? i think the benefit we're going to see is the reduction in the national insurance, which our employees will be paying. >> so that's going to be a relief for them because the purse is always tight, isn't it? and so that'll keep our our employees happy . employees happy. >> so that'll make the staff a lot happier. it won't really

affect se, would it? but affect you per se, would it? but it will certainly affect the mood staff. well, mood amongst your staff. well, certainly, there's certainly, yeah. i mean, there's been a of increases in been a lot of increases in materials and for glass and jars , which we use a lot of obviously in the chilli farmers, we grow and produce our own produce. so hopefully once we get into the nitty gritty of the detail of it, well, hopefully we'll see some benefit and there'll be some support for small businesses. the chancellor is saying the economy is now back track. we've been back on track. we've been talking about end of the talking about the end of the cost living crisis some cost of living crisis for some time . things certainly time. things are certainly getting better for they say. are you finding that there is growth in our business, but as i say, as we've had a bit of injection with the new owners and we need to look in detail at our numbers and see whether that's due to that or i think people are holding back still a little bit. you know, i mean, we're fortunate that we're in a major tourist sort of track down to the south coast in the south, hams devon. so is we're hams in devon. so that is we're quite in that. quite fortunate in that. >> still we need keep an

>> but still we need to keep an eye and, and make sure eye on it and, and make sure that we're playing numbers that we're playing the numbers right are you finding that >> and are you finding that because selling a luxury because you're selling a luxury product , are because you're selling a luxury product, are you finding that people are back on their people are cutting back on their luxuries, that is always a concern . concern. >> and we have to look at bringing new products to the market so that there's still an interest and excitement . yeah, interest and excitement. yeah, we might feel we can add a premium to price as we're, premium to the price as we're, you a good you know, we're a good established in our trade you know, we're a good es'ourished in our trade you know, we're a good es'our field, in our trade you know, we're a good es'our field, but in our trade you know, we're a good es'our field, but you've r trade you know, we're a good es'our field, but you've gotide you know, we're a good es'our field, but you've got to in our field, but you've got to be competitive. so we have to be careful. >> justin, thank you very much indeed. well, i'm going be indeed. well, i'm going to be here the couple of here for the next couple of hours. happen to be in hours. so if you happen to be in exeter opinion on exeter and have an opinion on the statement, come the chancellor's statement, come down . down and find me. >> from exeter to >> all right. and from exeter to glasgow, tony mcguire is there for us. can you give me a taste of the reaction there ? of the reaction there? >> yes, good afternoon. unfortunately i haven't been sampling the mulled wine in the mince pies. instead, i've been here in glasgow trying to work out how much of this autumn statement is impacted by devolution and what that means for the scottish budget . and for for the scottish budget. and for

weeks i've been taking a weeks now i've been taking a real close look. today at the property market and how today's autumn statement affects both renters. first time buyers and of course . buy to let owners as of course. buy to let owners as well. and one of the main concerns really is about the idea of a lot of these place names and locations that were spoken about today and not much of a mention north of the border. so to help me work out through this mess, i've got john o'malley, who is ceo of pacitti jones, the wonderful estate agent and solicitors that right across scotland. john, thank you for joining me to tell me an forjoining me to tell me an idea we're taking a little bit more time, i think, to work out how much of these rent proposals are effective up in scotland. but let's talk about some of these new home proposals. we've heard 110 million this year for the high nutrient mitigate schemes which will clean up the water and of course, thousands of homes around the country. but

mentioned in cambridge, specifically in leeds . does this specifically in leeds. does this give you an idea, even though no mentions of scotland, that the government is understanding this housing crisis that we have just now? >> i'm not entirely sure that they are. >> the housing crisis has been going on for quite a while and there hasn't been enough money or enough effort from politicians either side of the border to actually address it properly. the public need new homes. they need an awful lot of them, partly to money buy new developments. it needs to be planning, needs to be put through quicker through an awful lot quicker and partly legislation to allow people to do conversions or convert unused real estate into residential property is needed andifs residential property is needed and it's needed desperately . and it's needed desperately. >> now, we did hear one kind of interest in comment which got an unusual noise from the house of commons today, and that was that some houses will be allowed to convert into two flats as long as the facade stays the same. does that express that out the box, thinking that you're kind of hoping to see more of? >> absolutely. i think things like very helpful .

like that are very helpful. >> i think need to go a lot >> i think we need to go a lot further. we're was stood here further. we're i was stood here outside byres road, of the outside byres road, one of the main glasgow , and you main roads in glasgow, and you can empty shops across can see two empty shops across the from need to the road from us. we need to have more outside the box thinking what can be done with these? isn't demand these? there isn't demand for these? there isn't demand for the retail property the old types of retail property that used to be, but there that there used to be, but there is a massive demand from is a massive demand for new from new homes and conversions. that's what we should be looking at doing. >> you heard it here. and >> well, you heard it here. and of course, one of the big kind of course, one of the big kind of messer outers of today's statement was first time buyers. but we'll be back but don't worry, we'll be back a little later this afternoon to talk a lot more about them. >> to seeing it, tony >> forward to seeing it, tony maguire in glasgow and indeed , maguire in glasgow and indeed, jeff moody at your christmas market in exeter and sophie reapeh market in exeter and sophie reaper, thank so for reaper, thank you so much for bringing all of that reaction bringing us all of that reaction from around the country. let's get more now in the get more reaction now in the studio. i'm delighted to be joined by shaun bailey, a member of the house of lords. now, of course, michael walker from the left news website novara left wing news website novara media and liam halligan is still

in the studio with us as well. we're going to be discussing all of what's to come with our panel after we get a little round up of the news with oh, no, hang on. we're not going we're not going to use. but we have a fantastic panel coming up for some reaction, live analysis of that autumn statement and also of shadow chancellor rachel reeves response . reeves response. >> reeves response. >> who are you with? she was quite , wasn't she? but quite scathing, wasn't she? but did jeremy hunt do it you? did jeremy hunt do it for you? we'll find out . we'll be going we'll find out. we'll be going to news very quickly. but to the news very quickly. but liam, will you just give us your biggest biggest moment in biggest the biggest moment in that statement? what was that autumn statement? what was the biggest moment is the big the biggest moment is obviously shaun obviously the arrival of shaun bailey studio looking bailey into the studio looking very dapper. >> i think the big i think the big i think the biggest moment was the £0.02 cut in on national insurance. i think that will be seen as there's going to be headunes seen as there's going to be headlines of you know, jeremy hunt has santa handing out baubles that he may or may not be able to afford. and also, of

course, full expensing, making that permanent, not that anything is permanent in politics, but allowing businesses to offset part of the cost of their investments against their corporation tax bill. as i said, that's more of a big business bauble , if you a big business bauble, if you like, because small businesses often don't have quite interesting. the don't have the ability to finance those investments. >> it was quite interesting rachel reeves saying it was her idea and then jeremy hunt saying that she copied and pasted it. yeah, there was a little jibe there back and forth. hard to know what to believe , you know, know what to believe, you know, very difficult to know. >> not known for his jokes. >> he's not known for his jokes. >> he's not known for his jokes. >> jeremy hunt so he had a decent joke making fun the decent joke making fun of the shadow chancellor. >> decent but >> he had a decent joke, but only joke. only one joke. >> he certainly rung >> but he certainly rang rung that out as much as he that lemon out as much as he possibly he squeezed that possibly could. he squeezed that lemon. much more on this lemon. well much more on this after now we can go our after now we can go to our headunes after now we can go to our headlines for the other news around the country. >> go aaron armstrong .

>> let's go to aaron armstrong. >> let's go to aaron armstrong. >> very good afternoon to you. it's 231. we will start with the autumn statement. the chancellor has announced a 2% cut to national insurance , which he national insurance, which he says will benefit 27 million people. >> some statement sharm el sheikh . sheikh. >> well, national insurance and the rate will be cut from 12 to 10% from january, which will be worth £450 for those who earn £35,000 with similar savings for the self—employed . the the self—employed. the chancellor also unveiled an 8.5 increase to the state pension , a increase to the state pension, a permanent tax break for businesses and a 6.7% boost to benefits . although he pledged to benefits. although he pledged to end welfare for those refusing to seek work, the minimum wage will go up by more than a pound per hour from april, and housing allowance will also increase for renters , although millions of renters, although millions of people rigorous people will face more rigorous entitlement . entitlement testing. >> i'm going to go further and cut the main rate of employee national insurance by two percentage points from . 12% to percentage points from. 12% to 10. that change will help 27

million people. it means someone on the average salary of £35,000 will save over . £450 for the will save over. £450 for the average nurse , it's a saving of average nurse, it's a saving of £520 for the typical police officer , a saving of £630 every officer, a saving of £630 every single year . officer, a saving of £630 every single year. the labour leader disputed the progress of the government's five new pledges, though at a heated prime minister's questions asking rishi sunak if he'd forgotten about the nhs , sir keir starmer about the nhs, sir keir starmer said, well, the prime minister talks about tax cuts more than double the population wales double the population of wales are lists. are on waiting lists. >> england , four men have >> in england, four men have been given life sentences with minimum terms of between 41 and 47 years for the murder of women in liverpool. 28 year old ashley dale was killed when james witham forced his way into her home and opened fire with a machine gun. he and co—defendant joseph pearce, nalbari and sean zeiss were found guilty of

murder and conspiracy to murder. ms dale's partner. we'll have more news at the top of the next hour or there's more on our website. now gbnews.com. for exclusive limited edition and rare gold coins that are always newsworthy. >> rosalind gold proudly sponsors the gb news financial report . quick look at the report. quick look at the markets today. >> the pound buys you $1.2481 ,1.1475. the price of gold. £1,602.84 per ounce. the ftse 100 is at 7478 points. >> rosalind gold proudly sponsors the gb news financial report

sunday mornings from 930 on gb news . news. >> welcome back. we're joined now by the conservative peer and former london mayoral candidate, lord shaun bailey and broadcast journalist and author michael walker. let's get your reaction to the statement. first of all, michael walker, this was a bit of a rabble rousing statement. we're going to have cheaper alcohol taxes are being cut. what's not to love? >> i would probably call it rearranging deck chairs on the titanic. i mean, you've got a government which is overseeing an economy terrible, an economy which is terrible, which ordinary which feels terrible to ordinary people. big story

people. i think the big story this actually going to this winter is actually going to be another nhs crisis. >> one rishi >> obviously, one of rishi sunaks original was sunaks big original missions was to nhs waiting lists. to reduce nhs waiting lists. >> achieved now >> he hasn't achieved that. now he's new missions. i'm he's got five new missions. i'm not what those are. i'm not not sure what those are. i'm not sure anyone the public has sure anyone in the public has remembered but remembered them either. but i think the big problem for the conservatives fundamentally conservatives is fundamentally that a mess. that the economy is a mess. pubuc that the economy is a mess. public services a mess. public services are a mess. people know that. people can feel that. people can see that. and hear or one p there is and to hear or one p there is not going to make a huge difference to how people vote. so seems like a kind so this seems to me like a kind of desperate last minute attempt to have a complete to try and not have a complete blow—out the next election. blow—out at the next election. maybe people who maybe there are a few people who will you've messed will say you've messed everything up, but that £0.02 on my insurance that my national insurance that changes bailey i think the acts >> lord bailey i think the acts of desperation . of desperation. >> i think all of these budgets and stuff do smack of desperation have desperation because you have an election win. election to win. >> but let's be very clear. this is politic. this is about the next election. and it's next general election. and it's really interesting when the chancellor pointed out to rachel reeves, remember it was you who destroyed in the destroyed the economy in the first true. first place. that's not true. and that's important? yes, and why that's important? yes, because ended, had and why that's important? yes, be

be> they give it their >> they give it to their landlord. problem, landlord. that's a big problem, but enters your economy. >> had a point, though, >> she had a point, though, didn't she? rachel reeves, the shadow chancellor when she pointed tax burden pointed out that the tax burden has increased it has increased first and it remains higher for despite this to cut in national insurance, there's no doubt that she's correct. >> and i've said all along we should have been lowering that tax burden. but also she tax burden. but also what she

has she signed up has to remember, she signed up for the thing that helped grow the was all the tax burden, which was all the tax burden, which was all the under lockdown and the measures under lockdown and labour board with labour were fully on board with all those. so she can't act all of those. so she can't act like she would have done something different because when she said, she was asked, she said, let's go do it. and the go ahead and do it. and the pubuc go ahead and do it. and the public these public are aware of these things. so it's all about what does like? and does it feel like? and yes, there it is there is a feeling that it is tough that's a fact, tough and that's a fact, particularly people particularly for people at the lower but about lower end. but it's about people's memory and the people's memory and if the chancellor statement chancellor in his next statement can good feeling, can add to this good feeling, he may able to help the party move. >> it's interesting, sean, you talk about the similarity between parties, between the two parties, because i full expensing, this i think on full expensing, this idea investment i think on full expensing, this idea be investment i think on full expensing, this idea be taxed investment i think on full expensing, this idea be taxed . investment i think on full expensing, this idea be taxed . that'sstment i think on full expensing, this idea be taxed . that's been|t won't be taxed. that's been agreed between the two parties. and be very interested to and i'll be very interested to see the labour does see what the labour party does on insurance cut. on this national insurance cut. i think they'd probably support it be honest. be it to be honest. that would be the thing to do on the political thing to do on many issues. you can't put a cigarette them. cigarette paper between them. indeed, under the age indeed, if you're under the age of you'll never able of 12, you'll never be able to put paper between put a cigarette paper between these parties because these two parties because they're of they're both in favour of banning ever having banning you from ever having cigarettes. walker cigarettes. michael walker are these to similar ? these two parties to similar? >> yes, i think so. i mean,

there was a recent economist sort of leader, coined the sort of leader, which coined the name heath's and there was name ms heath's and there was a very freaky cartoon image where they'd rachel reeves face they'd merged rachel reeves face with that of jeremy hunt. and i do i mean, do think we're seeing, i mean, small conservatism from both small c conservatism from both parties comes the economy. >> and you'd want to way >> and you'd want to take us way to the left. i'm a corbyn. to the far left. i'm a corbyn. i'm a bog standard. >> i'm a bog standard social democrat. mind slightly democrat. i don't mind slightly higher that we can have higher taxes so that we can have a welfare system . a european style welfare system. no, i genuinely am a socialist. i'm not. i'm not. so i'm. i'm the centrist among novara media. i'm a bog standard social democrat. i mean, i think one thing that's interesting to note here is got david cameron here is you've got david cameron back front bench. you've back on the front bench. you've got jeremy giving got jeremy hunt giving this speech obviously, chancellor speech, obviously, as chancellor who shaker who was a big mover and shaker in that of the conservative in that era of the conservative party. and i think we're party. and i think what we're seeing now actually, you seeing now is actually, you know, the failure of that era, because becomes because whoever becomes chancellor now, you are in a somewhat position. somewhat difficult position. interest it's interest rates are high. it's not cheap borrow it not as cheap to borrow as it used to be. growth is somewhat low. at the same time, we low. but at the same time, we have crumbling infrastructure . have crumbling infrastructure. anyone walking around the

country can see that much country can see that not much works. you're waiting a very long a doctor . and long time to see a doctor. and those by the way, those hospitals, by the way, are crumbling. there's a real problem sort capital problem with sort of capital investment in hospitals. and i think what you're seeing is where, osborne where, as george osborne said, what doing fixing what they were doing was fixing the was the roof while the sun was shining. they were doing the precise interest precise opposite interest rates were have were low. they could have borrowed in borrowed cheaply, invested in our did our infrastructure. they did the opposite. got opposite. now we've got crumbling infrastructure and interest rates are high. so hindsight lots of hindsight is 2020 and lots of people the time and i people said at the time and i and i back to the point and i go back to the point that lots people the lots of people said to the labour government at the time, look how much you're spending. >> george osborne >> you put george osborne in that but real that position. but the real thing thing we can thing is the one thing we can agree similar agree on. there are very similar and a tough situation. and we are in a tough situation. and leads me to ask and that leads me to ask a question on what can labour actually keep actually afford. they keep talking about public services. they cannot come back to the pubuc they cannot come back to the public pay public for any more money to pay for what are public for any more money to pay for going what are public for any more money to pay for going to what are public for any more money to pay for going to do? what are they going to do? >> of the big policies >> well, one of the big policies we're going come back to we're going to come back to shaun and michael walker shaun bailey and michael walker very the very quickly, but one of the policies to out policies we want to find out what the meant for a beer what the budget meant for a beer drinkers and spirits, wine, all the rest all of the more the rest of it, all of the more fun christmas, perhaps.

fun sides of christmas, perhaps. >> the chief >> let's join the chief executive. it's getting up to christmas, let's christmas, isn't it? yeah. let's join of the join the chief executive of the beer association in emma beer and pub association in emma mcclarkin, i'm sure say mcclarkin, who i'm sure will say beeris mcclarkin, who i'm sure will say beer is just for christmas, beer is not just for christmas, but we be talking to emma but we will be talking to emma mcclarkin for example, alcohol duty has been frozen for the next year. emma mcclarkin that must be a positive move in this autumn statement . autumn statement. >> well on the whole it was a positive statement by the chancellor in recognising the contribution that the beer and pub sector make to our communities up and down the country and absolutely freezing that beer duty and keeping a pint affordable for all is definitely a positive as is the absolutely critical headroom that we need through the business rates relief extension, particularly though in order to help us absorb the new living wage increases that we've seen today. >> but hopefully, as a package, it will keep our pubs open and will keep our customers coming in, see the reports and the

statistics are well upsetting for those people in this country who like going to the pub many, many pubs closing every month in this country is a bit of a change on business rates and a freeze on alcohol duty , enough freeze on alcohol duty, enough to keep our pub trade going . to keep our pub trade going. >> well , only to keep our pub trade going. >> well, only time will tell. >> well, only time will tell. >> well, only time will tell. >> we would have liked to have seen a little bit more support in terms of the multiplier actually being frozen on business rates as well. however we are not churlish. we want to see the support going for the sector and the recognition is worth a lot. but as you say, you know, there are thousands of pubs closing at the fastest rate that we've seen even during the pandemic we need to keep pandemic and we need to keep a critical eye on the future of the beer and the pub sector in order to make sure that they can keep adding not only the economic value to those local communities, also that communities, but also that crucial, social value too. >> now, % coui'se, we too. >> now, course, we did get >> now, of course, we did get some small measures on business rates, something that will help many, many pubs across the

country to a to a degree, but the labour party for three years now has been promising to aboush now has been promising to abolish business rates altogether. now they haven't quite spelled out what they'd replace. business rates with. they they'd introduce they would say they'd introduce something . but that something else. but is that something else. but is that something bold action something that more bold action on rates, something that perhaps the beer and pub industry association is leaning more towards as well? >> we really needed to hear from the government today . we heard the government today. we heard earlier this week from the labour party their reinforced commitment to completely reforming business rates altogether and that is very appealing to business right now in all shapes and form, but absolutely in the beer and pub sector too. so we're hearing now that we're extending that business rates relief hugely valuable to us in terms of this critical moment of growth and recovery and that's where we want to be. we want to be growing economy. we need to growing this economy. we need to see parties see all political parties committing to supporting the great pub and our great great british pub and our great british there's so much british brewers. there's so much that very much for that we can give very much for

your time. >> emma mcclarkin there, who is the chief executive of the beer and association on quite a and pub association on quite a good title there. good job that one. yeah. thank you very much for emma. let's bring for your time, emma. let's bring in liam halligan, who's been crunching the numbers and the detail is all over the detail and is all over the autumn statement . tell us, emma, autumn statement. tell us, emma, i know that i might be doing my onune i know that i might be doing my online shopping. >> i'm dear. >> i'm yes, dear. >>— >> i'm yes, dear. >> i'm yes, dear. >> i'm guessing you're crunching the numbers for us. a pubs are they a good test of where we are as an economy? >> i think they are. i mean, there's, you know, post lockdown. think number 10 gets lockdown. i think number 10 gets it that people really missed being together in their community as it's also clear that for several years now, even before lockdown , we've been before lockdown, we've been losing lots and lots of pubs and pubs are often vital parts of local communities. pubs are often vital parts of local communities . so he's local communities. so he's extended the relief on business rates for hospitality and retailing . a lot of pubs, you retailing. a lot of pubs, you know, that's 20 grand off their tax bill roughly a year. a lot of them will like that. and by freezing alcohol duty, he's also

showing that somebody who comes across , let's be generous, as across, let's be generous, as somewhat robotic , he has got somewhat robotic, he has got a sense of humour and he does understand some of the more fun things in life. so a lot of people welcome this. it does feel like a pre—christmas statement. it'll be ho ho hunt, i think is going to be if i was a tabloid editor, they can have that for free. it does feel as if this is a pre christmas statement. he's got the nick the national insurance reduction coming in for the early january just when the credit card bills start hitting the mat and before that we can all enjoy a pint knowing that it's not going to be duty added to it. that will probably take about £0.03 off the cost of what a pint would have been . not £0.03 cheaper, have been. not £0.03 cheaper, but the £0.03 increase won't happen. >> i was going to say that's the sign of someone who was doing their christmas shopping, not crunching . crunching the numbers. >> obsessed with what's >> we too obsessed with what's going on our you know, going on in our pubs. you know, not to the pub, do they? >> i'm a big believer in going to i mean, i'm i'm in

to the pub. i mean, i'm i'm in favour of reducing in general vat. i think on the social economy. so i think it is odd that you sort of pay less vat when you're buying stuff in a supermarket you're supermarket than when you're going out because obviously going out because obviously going a thing going out is a is a good thing that creates connections that creates social connections for are for people. lots of people are lonely society. so lonely in our society. so i think the idea of making it cheaper to go out is a good thing. mean, to back to my thing. i mean, to go back to my big bugbear, think what would big bugbear, i think what would make in cities make many people in major cities spend more hospitality and spend more on hospitality and going be if their going out would be if their rent was lower. and was a little bit lower. and i think actually that one think actually that is one difference labour think actually that is one differyand labour think actually that is one differyand the labour think actually that is one differyand the tories. labour think actually that is one differyand the tories. i'mabour party and the tories. i'm somewhat labour, party and the tories. i'm somehat labour, party and the tories. i'm somi think labour, party and the tories. i'm somi think they labour, party and the tories. i'm somi think they would labour, party and the tories. i'm somi think they would build)ur, but i think they would build more houses. >> so the labour party has a big rhetoric when rhetoric on this, but when you look policy, a few look at their policy, it's a few new they're not saying new towns and they're not saying where towns would where those towns would be if they get in, there would be an almighty their back almighty battle on their back benches in terms of where they're do they're going to do this building the conservative building in the conservative party talks small housing. party talks small on housing. but gove's announcement, party talks small on housing. but we gove's announcement, party talks small on housing. but we gove�*little ouncement, party talks small on housing. but we gove�*little bit|cement, party talks small on housing. but we gove�*little bit more nt, which we heard a little bit more from hunt now, is huge from jeremy hunt now, is a huge hundreds of new hundreds of thousands of new homes cambridge, and homes in cambridge, in leeds and in east london. these, these huge using development

corporation in the same way the labour party say they corporation in the same way the labourdo rty say they corporation in the same way the labourdo rtywith say they corporation in the same way the labourdo rtywith theiry they corporation in the same way the labourdo rtywith their new ey corporation in the same way the labourdo rtywith their new towns would do it with their new towns policy there is policy. i wonder if there is actually much difference actually that much difference on policy. in policy. huge difference in rhetoric , but potentially not on policy. >> here's the thing. this reminds of sadiq khan talking reminds me of sadiq khan talking about rent controls. it means nothing you details. nothing until you give details. sadiq talked about rent sadiq khan has talked about rent controls but can't controls forever, but he can't ask the government for them because know what because he doesn't know what type. saying because the type. he's saying it because the words but not words sound good, but he's not delivering he knows delivering it because he knows he it. and delivering it because he knows he a it. and delivering it because he knows he a key it. and delivering it because he knows he a key thing. it. and delivering it because he knows he a key thing. andlnd delivering it because he knows he a key thing. and why this that's a key thing. and why this budget? i think, will work, why this work this autumn statement will work is given a cut is because they've given a cut in which affects people on in ni, which affects people on better who have income . better who have lower income. they've lifting up they've talked about lifting up people who are on benefits to the higher level because they could have a 4, but they could have did a 4, but they stuck with what level stuck with what high level they've triple they've kept pensioners triple lock because pensioners lock going on because pensioners are who are the ones who don't, who cannot their income cannot change their income regardless else goes on regardless of what else goes on in the point is, the in the world. the point is, the biggest scandal the western biggest scandal in the western world working poor . and world is the working poor. and if can do anything if you can do anything to support those people, that's something be proud something that you can be proud of. last thing that of. and the last thing that they've that's really they've done that's really important, they've done that's really impsouth—east of this country,

the south—east of this country, is the idea that you'll get more support rent and support with your rent and anybody about these anybody who talks about these measures, give measures, who doesn't give details, particularly if the labour be labour party shouldn't be listened to, because it's easy to things, you listened to, because it's easy to to things, you listened to, because it's easy to to explain things, you listened to, because it's easy to to explain how1gs you listened to, because it's easy to to explain how you'reu listened to, because it's easy to to explain how you're going have to explain how you're going to for them. have to explain how you're going to lotsor them. about have to explain how you're going to lots or them. about getting >> lots of stuff about getting back course, but back to work, of course, but let's hear from a british business. joining us now is chief officer at chief operating officer at incomes training. they trained 700 2000 700 apprentices and over 2000 workers courses and workers in skilled courses and electronics. type thing electronics. the type of thing i'm to i'm sure rishi sunak wants to see more of. thank you for joining us. tell me your reaction. will this autumn statement help you ? statement help you? >> yeah, i think there's a lot of positives to come from today, not only for us as a business to continue growing for our employees, but also for apprentices and the wider manufacturing sector with a lot of significant investment levels going forward . going forward. >> ed what was it specifically with regard to the statement? did we hear some detail with regard to apprentices? did we hear detail with regard to potentially young people going into the workplace ? yes

into the workplace? yes >> yeah, i think it started before actually the autumn statement in the prime minister's questions. first this morning, the alluded to an apprentice education secretary, which we're really for this apprentices need that back in and should be continued to see the way forward giving our younger generations the invaluable in work experience and training getting a more rounded education experience from employers right through to their training providers. but then going forward into the statement , it was the increase statement, it was the increase in wages for apprentice is that we see as a major part getting the youngsters to see that perhaps not going for a job role in retail or fast food, but seeing what what they can get for future prospects out of an apprenticeship and then going forward into increasing the numbers of apprentices with the extra 50 million over the next two years looking at specific growth areas specifically as being engineering , manufacturing. >> thank you very much indeed

for your time, becky philips, chief operating officer at in comms training, they train apprentices and over 20 to 20,000, 2000 workers in electronics and the like. so some positive, positive response. >> i did think it was interesting how rishi sunak really got into his stride when he was talking about tech prime minister's questions earlier. michael to ask michael walker, i want to ask you this interesting sort you about this interesting sort of 13 year embracement of the tory party now, jeremy hunt talking about changes since 2010 when boris johnson was prime minister. he talk about his new government getting into power from 2019. that was sort of the new year zero. now, the conservative party is almost embracing this 13 year thing. and jeremy hunt at the start of his statement, spoke about all the european economies the uk has grown faster than since 2010, including spain , portugal, 2010, including spain, portugal, france, italy, germany . i think france, italy, germany. i think a lot of people might not think that the uk necessarily has grown faster than all of these european economies over the last 13 years. >> potentially reason >> well, potentially the reason they that because >> well, potentially the reason theythings that because

>> well, potentially the reason theythings they that because >> well, potentially the reason theythings they that care:ause the things they really care about going particularly about aren't going particularly well. at public well. so if you look at public services, you look the services, if you look at the infrastructure country services, if you look at the infre if ructure country services, if you look at the infreif you jre country services, if you look at the infreif you look country services, if you look at the infreif you look at country services, if you look at the infreif you look at people'sy services, if you look at the infreif you look at people's pay and if you look at people's pay packets. so one thing we learned today that the still today is that the obr still think going to be think that this is going to be the fall in living the biggest fall in living standards if standards since the 1950s. if you at across the you look at the across the parliament obviously the parliament now, obviously the pandemic to do pandemic had something to do with that. can't blame the with that. we can't blame the pandemic conservative pandemic on the conservative party, that party, but i do think that that decade austerity before the decade of austerity before the pandemic hit really put us in a bad in terms of why bad position in in terms of why they're now embracing the last 13 it was 13 years. i mean, maybe it was some deal if david some kind of deal if david cameron would only back cameron would only come back if they stopped trashing him. every every minister's every every prime minister's question, every every prime minister's quesmatters. that matters. >> that's measure >> really. that's how we measure our life. and i think our quality of life. and i think lots of people have got a bit frustrated with the government talking whole. talking about gdp as a whole. but that actually means but whether that actually means that more that the individual has more money in their pocket, i'm not so not a fan of the gdp >> i'm not a fan of the gdp measure because it does it says nothing to your social goings on how you feel safe how you feel. do you feel safe in your community? can pay in your community? can you pay your whole your rent? you know, the whole country richer. you may country could be richer. you may not. so i'm a little bit more in favour of things that look at how in household.

how it looks in a household. what's per household what's the gdp per household would a much better measure, what's the gdp per household woujust a much better measure, what's the gdp per household woujust a m|backetter measure, what's the gdp per household woujust a m|back oner measure, what's the gdp per household woujust a m|back on something but just to go back on something that about the that i said earlier about the apprenticeship levy, this is one area the government do area the government could do better the last better in because for the last ten i do that ten years now, i do believe that it's inflexible budget. it's been an inflexible budget. it's budget that smaller it's been a budget that smaller businesses couldn't get businesses couldn't really get their and if their hands on. and if it's if it's to be it's it needs to be restructured. and if that was done with the extra money that was offered, then something really powerful could happen. but the government need to but the government do need to have ambition it. have more ambition for it. well shaun michael shaun bailey michael walker, thank so much for talking us thank you so much for talking us through issues. through those big issues. >> liam >> let's cross now and liam halligan , what's going halligan and liam, what's going to to after we to come back to liam after we after went to next after we went to the next one? because of course, because liam, of course, has been the whole been with us through the whole programme, but thank you to, to liam. plenty shopping liam. got plenty of shopping done tell. can tell done. i can tell. i can tell you're working because you're really working because i know you're being nerdy, you're really working because i knoyput you're being nerdy, you're really working because i knoyput yglassesing nerdy, you're really working because i knoyput yglasses on. nerdy, you're really working because i knoyput yglasses on. that's you put your glasses on. that's how spending is how we know you're spending is up its covid cross. to up for its covid cross. now to martin daubney , who has caused martin daubney, who has caused coming next. martin what's on coming up next. martin what's on your show? >> we started with >> well, we started the day with the tax burden since the highest tax burden since world war ii. >> we finished the day with >> and we finished the day with the since >> and we finished the day with

the war since >> and we finished the day with the war ii, since >> and we finished the day with the war ii, which since >> and we finished the day with the war ii, which begsnce >> and we finished the day with the war ii, which begs the world war ii, which begs the question, jeremy question, was jeremy hunts autumn statement just a load of unseasonably hot air for now? >> also, there have been winners unseasonably hot air for now? >> .course,ere have been winners unseasonably hot air for now? >> .course, pensioners en winners unseasonably hot air for now? >> .course, pensioners and'inners unseasonably hot air for now? >> .course, pensioners and also 's , of course, pensioners and also surprise hinckley rachel reeves style budget because a boost for the jobless makes you wonder was it a very tory autumn saying we'll be grilling politicians , we'll be grilling politicians, economists to ordinary economists and speak to ordinary people for what they made of today's announcement. >> there we go. >> there we go. >> gets straight to the >> he gets straight to the point, he? martin dumas point, doesn't he? martin dumas absolutely show. lots absolutely fantastic show. lots of questions. yes. tax of big questions. yes. tax burden same . really? burden stays the same. really? yes. so there you go . yes. so there you go. >> marginally down on where it would have been, although up on where it is. i think that makes sense . my goodness, what a busy sense. my goodness, what a busy show. to take a small show. you've got to take a small win of. see tomorrow

>> good afternoon. welcome to the show. i'm martin daubney. it's 3:00 loads coming up on today's show, of course, it's an autumn statement special. we started the day with the highest taxes since world war ii, and we've ended the day with the highest taxes since world war ii. who were the winners? who were the losers? well, for starters, the national insurance rate 2, which will rate was cut by 2, which will benefit 27 million of you. but what does that mean for the pound and the pence in your pocket? next up, pensioners . pocket? next up, pensioners. great news for pensioners, pensioners were winners today. an extra £900 a year to the full state basic pension and mercifully that triple lock was

safeguarded . and next up