Summary

  • MPs spent a final day debating George Osborne's Budget, and the Chancellor opened the debate.

  • Questions for ministers from the Department of Health.

  • Peers continued consideration of the Housing and Planning Bill at committee stage.

  • MPs on the Home Affairs Committee questioned Theresa May.

  1. Clarke: Other budgets have been more controversialpublished at 14:28 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Budget debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Former Conservative Chancellor Ken Clarke congratulates George Osborne on "bringing back the tradition of a Chancellor speaking on the last day of the Budget debate" - Mr Clarke was the last chancellor to do this.

    "It has had the effect of enlivening the debate," but he says it is "not unusual for a Budget to be controversial".

    This isn't even "the worst" controversy he has seen. The 1981 budget with Geoffrey Howe "was extremely controversial, where passions ran far higher and far more seriously" while Nigel Lawson's Budget speech was suspended when he tried to cut taxes on higher earners.

    He adds that there has been "no alternative economic policy or strategy of any kind on offer" from other parties.

    Rather ruefully he adds he is sure his party will "make up" for that lack of challenge in its own way.

    Former Conservative Chancellor Ken Clarke
  2. Petition on the meningitis B vaccinepublished at 14:23 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Health and Petitions Committee

    The Petitions Committee, working jointly with the Health Committee, is taking evidence from healthcare experts on the the subject of the meningitis B vaccine, after an e-petition calling for it to be offered to all children was signed by 823,341 people.

    The e-petition calls on the UK government to extend the provision of the meningitis B vaccine to all children.

    The Petitions Committee will schedule a debate in Parliament on this petition, once it has finished its investigations.

  3. McDonnell: Time for Osborne to gopublished at 14:19 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Budget debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Concluding his remarks John McDonnell says the Budget is "built around short term political tactics" and "not economics".

    "They used to say a week is a long time in politics but under this Chancellor, a weekend counts as the length of a long-term economic plan."

    The "incompetent economics have blown up in the Chancellor's face", he says, and "for the sake of the country it's time for him to go".

  4. 'No certainty' on future welfare cutspublished at 14:09 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Budget debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    John McDonnell complains "there is still no certainty about future welfare cuts".

    "Within minutes" of yesterday's assurance there would be "no cuts to welfare in this parliament", the Treasury "were briefing against" the new Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb that there were "no planned cuts".

    There is "complete confusion, chaos on chaos" and "no-one now believes the mealy mouthed assurances". 

    There is still a "£4.4bn hole in the Budget" from the u-turn on PIPs, and there have been "no solutions announced today".

  5. Who's there?published at 14:08 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

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  6. 'Discriminatory budget'published at 14:05 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Budget debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    John McDonnell says analysis of "overall cuts and tax and benefits" shows that it is "actually the poorest decile that are paying the most".

    The two groups "hit hardest are young women with children and older women in care with responsibilities".

    He adds that "80% of cuts falling on women, that is a discriminatory budget".

  7. IDS treatment 'despicable'published at 14:04 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Budget debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    John McDonnell calls George Osborne's treatment of Iain Duncan Smith "one of the most despicable acts we've witnessed in  political history".

    Mr McDonnell accuses Mr Osborne of "sending out his large team of spin doctors to try and lay the blame [for the PIP cuts] on the former work and pensions secretary".

    This was a "disgraceful act of betrayal of one of his own colleagues to save his skin and his own votes".

    The SNPs Pete Wishart intervenes to complain Mr McDonnell has been "taken in by the crocodile tears over concern for disabled".

    "This has nothing to do with new found concern for disabled and is all about Euro civil war in the Tory party," he argues.

    John McDonnell does not reply and moves on.

  8. Tribute?published at 13:54 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

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  9. McDonnell thanks cross party opponents of PIPpublished at 13:53 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Budget debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Shadow chancellor John McDonnell thanks "MPs from across the House who have forced this rethink" on PIPs.

    He says the government U-turn will "end the worry of thousands of disabled people who have been suffering in the past week".

  10. Heated scenespublished at 13:50 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

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  11. 'Withdraw support for terrorists'published at 13:50 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Budget debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Conservative MP James Cartlidge intervenes to question John McDonnell's "fitness for office".

    "On a day of a terrorist attack" he asks Mr McDonnell to "withdraw his previous support for terrorist organisations that have attacked this country".

    John McDonnell replies that "to bring that into the debate at this time at a politcial point at this stage is unacceptable" and points out he has criticised the terrorist attacks in Belgium.

    Speaker John Bercow is forced to intervene to say "attempts to shout the shadow chancellor down" were "unacceptable".

    Conservation PM James Cartlidge
  12. McDonnell attacks Chancellorpublished at 13:44 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Budget debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Shadow chancellor John McDonnell says he is glad the Chancellor has turned up.

    He says that the behaviour of Chancellor over the past days "calls into question his fitness for the office he now holds" and his fitness for any leading office in government.

    "What we've seen is not the actions of a chancellor, a senior government minister, but the grubby incompetent manipulations of a political chancer," he says.

    He says that PIP are the payments that for many disabled people make life worth living, and have some normality in their lives.

    "The chancellor was willing to cut away this vital support," he says.

    "Do not tell us we're all in this together."

  13. 'One nation, compassionate' budgetpublished at 13:43 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Budget debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Closing his speech George Osborne says Labour is threat to the UK.

    This is a Budget for small business, an "enterprise Budget" and a "one nation Budget" that devolves power, and supports our children’s future.

    He pointedly concludes is is a "compassionate budget" - countering claims levelled against the government in Iain Duncan Smith's resignation letter.

  14. Labour unconvinced about future cutspublished at 13:37 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Budget debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Labour are still suspicious of the wording of new Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb's claim there were "no plans for future cuts to welfare in this parliament". 

    Labour MP Wes Streeting asks Mr Osborne to "rule out further cuts".

    George Osborne replies the position is exactly as Mr Crabb set out.

  15. Chancellor: we have reformed pensionspublished at 13:35 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Budget debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    George Osborne says the government made substantial savings from pensioners welfare to the tune of "half a trillion pounds".

    The government has legislated for savings of £12bn and will now "focus on implementing those", he says.

    He complains some people claim the government is not "taking enough from pensioners" while at the same time fighting the increased pension age restrictions on pension tax relief.

    "There have been savings from pensioners," he argues, but this has not stopped the government giving pensioners a decent state pension. 

    "I am not going to take that away from them," he says.

  16. Osborne on welfare cappublished at 13:32 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Budget debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    George Osborne says the welfare cap was judged by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

    The government has to meet it, "or explain to Parliament why it won’t", he says.

    He finds it incredible that Labour objects to this, he says. 

    He continues: "It never existed under Labour", where there were no controls on welfare spending, and no transparency, which led to "welfare costs soaring by 60% and taking this country to the brink of bankruptcy".

  17. MP reports on Sports Direct bosspublished at 13:27 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Point of Order

    Earlier, Business, Innovation and Skills Committee Chairman Iain Wright rose to make a point of order - about businessman Mike Ashley and "reports of Victorian working practices" at Sports Direct.

    The Labour MP told the House that the committee sought to take evidence from Mike Ashley on the treatment of workers at his company. 

    This comes after Mr Ashley confirmed he will not give evidence in Parliament about how his workers are treated and branded the committee as "a joke".

    Mr Ashley responded after being summoned to appear in Parliament and warned he could be held in contempt.

    Commons Speaker John Bercow responded by saying all committees are free to decide whom to invite to give oral evidence and if the invitation is refused, the committee may decide to make an order for the attendance of a witness. 

    In this case, Mr Bercow says the committee have been following the rules so far, therefore they can now go ahead and make an order for Mike Ashley to attend the committee to give evidence. 

    Iain Wright
  18. Reeves and Cooper question Osbornepublished at 13:25 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Budget debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Former work and pensions secretary Yvette Cooper points out that George Osborne is "the first chancellor in 20 years" to open a debate like this (see our entry at 11.14am) because he is the first to "have to abandon such a big part" of his Budget. 

    She asks if he thinks Iain Duncan Smith was “deluded” when he criticised the Budget in his resignation.

    George Osborne says the deficit rose from £76bn to £154bn when Cooper was a Treasury minister and asks her to "apologise and say she made a mistake". A mistake he has been "cleaning up for the last six years".

    Rachel Reeves, the Labour former shadow work and pensions secretary, says Stephen Crabb said yesterday there were “no plans for further welfare cuts". She calls on Mr Osborne to rule out further cuts "for the sake of disabled people".

    Mr Osborne says Mr Crabb has clearly set out the government’s position. "There are no plans for further welfare cuts" beyond the substantial ones announced and the government will instead focus on implementing those.

  19. Who's standing?published at 13:23 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

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  20. Farron calls on Osborne to resignpublished at 13:19 Greenwich Mean Time 22 March 2016

    Budget debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron says the "only thing more damaging to the economy than [Mr Osborne] remaining as Chancellor" is leaving the EU, which would damage the economy.

    He says the damage done to Mr Osborne's reputation now means the EU referendum "will be on [Mr Osborne] and not on the future of our role on Europe". He calls on Mr Osborne to "act in the national interest and resign", helping the government win the EU referendum.

    George Osborne says that is a debate for another day.