Public Expenditure (Hansard, 29 October 1987)

§ 8. Mr. Patchett
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the public spending planning total for 1987–88 and 1988–89.

§ 14. Ms. Ruddock
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the public spending planning total for 1987–88 and 1988–89.

§ Mr. Major
Following the decisions taken by the Cabinet this morning, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will be presenting his autumn statement to the House next Tuesday.

§ Mr. Patchett
If the Government's revenue is rising so fast, will the Minister explain why the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 cannot be implemented because of a lack of funds?

§ Mr. Major
The Act of 1986 was originally passed upon the premise that it would be brought into action over a period. A part of that Act was brought into operation earlier this year.

§ Ms. Ruddock
Does the Minister agree with the advice that the CBI gave recently, which was, and I want to quote accurately—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. Unfortunately the hon. Lady cannot do that.

§ Ms. Ruddock
The advice of the CBI was that, if business is to have the infrastructure that it needs to reduce its costs, cuts in public expenditure should be reversed. Does the Minister agree with that?

§ Mr. Major
With great respect to the hon. Lady, that is not the advice of the CBI. I suggest that she reads what the CBI had to say about the economy just a few days ago. It was very confident.

§ Mr. David Shaw
Will my right hon. Friend confirm —[HON. MEMBERS: "Reading".] I am not.
Will my right hon. Friend please confirm that the management of public expenditure has been one of the success stories of the Government and in no small measure has enabled the nation to create 1 million new jobs since 1983?

§ Mr. Major
I entirely agree with my hon. Friend.

§ Mr. Ian Taylor
Does my right hon. Friend agree that prudent control of public expenditure in recent years by the Government, and proper management of the Government debt, has led to the country being in a strong economic position? Will he confirm that he is able to give some help to the American President in his tackling of the American public sector borrowing requirement?

§ Mr. Major
I can certainly confirm that, first, strong control of public expenditure has been a significant feature of the Government's economic policy. The strength of our economy over recent years shows how wise that has been, and I think that that may be particularly so at present. As for the second part of the hon. Gentleman's question, I think that the American President can do without advice from me.

§ Mr. Holland
Will the Minister give an assurance that when he and the Chancellor are preparing the autumn statement they will consult their counterparts abroad? This is because, if President Reagan manages to cut the federal deficit by $23 billion next year, this will have a powerful deflationary effect on the world economy. It could reduce the United States rate of growth by 1993 by 10 per cent. below its trend rate and raise European unemployment to 24 million by that year. Why does the Chancellor not admit that the real budget needed is a budget to expand the European economy, and that himself, Chancellor Kohl and M. Chirac should be doing that, thereby increasing United States export trade and sustaining the dollar?

§ Mr. Major
I think I might usefully remind the hon. Gentleman that we have the fastest rate of growth in the industrialised world. He might just care to bear that in 442 mind. As for the remainder of his remarks, I am not entirely sure that that arises on the subject of public expenditure in this country.

§ Mr. McLoughlin
When the Chancellor publishes his statement, will he draw the attention of the House and the country to public expenditure levels in 1978 compared with those today, bearing in mind that that was the time of the Lib-Lab pact? Does my right hon. Friend agree that we are able to spend as much as we do on the public services because of the way in which the economy has been run by the Conservative Government?

§ Mr. Major
My hon. Friend makes a valuable point. In recent years there has been a very substantial increase in resources for the Health Service, the education service and law and order, and a substantial increase in capital spending compared with the substantial cuts into which the Labour Government led us between 1974 and 1979.