James Murray MP: speeches

Speeches

• 9 Dec 2025 · Economic Growth: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  Growth is the No. 1 mission of this Government, and we are committed to unlocking growth in every corner of this country. We have committed £2.7 billion per year to supporting sustainable farming, £2.3 billion of transport funding for places beyond city regions through the local transport grant, and more than £1.9 billion for gigabit broadband and 4G connectivity. That funding will help to tackle key blockers to growth in rural areas, unlocking the opportunities and benefits of growth for people right across the UK.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Economic Growth: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  I welcome the hon. Gentleman drawing attention to the importance of productivity in the UK economy and our prospects for growth. As we know, the Office for Budget Responsibility reviewed the productivity impact of the previous Government’s record in office and found that the decisions they had taken over those 14 years meant that we had a £16 billion revenue hit to the public finances in the target year of the scorecard. We know that means that productivity has been downgraded as a result of decisions taken by the previous Government, but that gives us an opportunity—an opportunity to not be held back by the failures of the previous Government and to exceed those forecasts in future.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Economic Growth: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend and many of his neighbouring MPs are excellent advocates for Cornwall and for the benefits that Cornwall can bring to growth, both in the region and right across the country. I know that, in the Budget, the Chancellor was keen to support investment in future industries in Cornwall. For the local council to deliver that, we will work closely with it to make sure that money is well spent. The key thing for us is to ensure that we enable people in Cornwall to be part of the economic growth mission of this Government.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Economic Growth: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  I think the hon. Gentleman is referring to the changes we announced in the Budget in relation to electric vehicles and their contribution towards public finances. If people drive electric vehicles, wherever in the country they drive them, they benefit from investment in roads and maintenance alongside those of us who drive petrol cars, so it is important to ensure that we make the tax system fit for the future. This is a decision that people have talked about for many years. The hon. Gentleman’s party ducked it, alongside many other difficult decisions, but we are taking them head-on to ensure that we are fit and stable for the future.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Forth Valley: Industry · Hansard source

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  Education and skills policy, including the funding and operation of colleges, is fully devolved to the Scottish Government. That means that it is for Scottish Ministers to decide how to support Forth Valley college with the overall settlement. As my hon. Friend will know, the spending review provided the Scottish Government with their largest settlement in real terms since devolution in 1998, and the Budget provided an additional £820 million to Scotland through the Barnett formula. In the months ahead we will be campaigning to ensure that decisions about how to invest that funding in Scotland’s future will be taken by Anas Sarwar and a Scottish Labour Government.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Forth Valley: Industry · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member is happy to criticise tax decisions taken by this Government, but where does he think the largest spending review settlement since devolution began came from? Where does he think the £820 million announced at the autumn Budget came from? He needs to support the tax decisions we take if he wants the investment to go into Scotland.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Forth Valley: Industry · Hansard source

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  As my hon. Friend will know, last year the Government signed a £100 million Falkirk and Grangemouth growth deal with the Scottish Government. At the Budget this year, we further recognised Grangemouth’s centuries of history as a key UK industrial site by announcing additional investment of up to £14.5 million to support industrial projects that can create jobs. Alongside that, the National Wealth Fund is ready to invest £200 million alongside the private sector to help unlock Grangemouth’s full potential and secure our clean energy future.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Support for NHS Patients · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his question. Like him, I will always be grateful to the incredible NHS staff who got me back fighting strong after I was diagnosed with a neuromuscular condition in my 20s. People across the country have stories like ours because we all depend on the NHS, and that is why it is such a priority for us as a Government to invest in our health service to get it back on its feet and build an NHS that is fit for the future.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Support for NHS Patients · Hansard source

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  The spending review 2025 provided record investment in the NHS, including the largest ever health capital budget. That investment has enabled a reduction in waiting lists of 230,000, with an extra 5.2 million NHS appointments. At autumn Budget 2025, the Chancellor protected NHS investment by allowing it to retain and reinvest efficiency savings in 2028-29, as well as making available up-front funding to abolish NHS England: a move that will unlock £1 billion in savings by the end of the Parliament, which can instead be used to support frontline care.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Support for NHS Patients · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member is right to point to the fact that people showing up in hospital can often reflect other social issues, whether homelessness, child poverty or other challenges. As a Government, we take tackling homelessness—by which I mean temporary accommodation and rough sleeping—incredibly seriously and we will publish a homelessness strategy shortly.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Support for NHS Patients · Hansard source

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  As the hon. Gentleman will know, the coalition Government, of which his party was a part, slashed capital investment in our health service. We have restored capital investment in our health service, which is critical to getting it back on its feet. If he is requesting greater investment in the NHS, I hope that he will change his mind, correct the record and support the tax changes that we have made in order to make that possible.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Support for NHS Patients · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right to point to the role that pubs play at the heart of local communities—I assume that the pubs and GP surgeries in his example are separate. As my hon. Friend the Exchequer Secretary set out earlier, we are in a situation where the temporary pandemic business rates relief is coming to an end and the new revaluation, which is post pandemic, comes into effect. In that context, we are supporting the high street, including pubs, with permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure, as well as a support package that means most properties seeing increases will see them capped next year at 15% or less, or £800 for the smallest properties.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government recently published “English indices of deprivation 2025”, which included the supplementary report on how deprivation manifests in rural areas. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that the Government will further consider those assessments of deprivation, as well as other inputs, when deciding funding models for local areas.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The child poverty strategy published last week sets out the steps that we are taking to support families now, as well as the building blocks that we are putting in place for the long term. We will lift 550,000 children out of poverty by removing the two-child limit and through other measures, including the expansion of free school meals.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  We have a proud history of manufacturing in this country, including in my hon. Friend’s constituency, and we will capitalise on that history as we drive our future growth. The UK is a leader in bus manufacturing, and the Government are committed to supporting the sector, including through the Department for Transport’s UK bus manufacturing expert panel. As a Government, we want to back British buses, unlike the SNP.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I can be clear that we are committed to the OBR’s independence as a forecaster and to the core role it plays within our fiscal framework. The Chancellor has also been clear, however, that forecasts are not our destiny. We will not let Britain be held back by the failures of the previous Government. At the Budget, the OBR revised upward its growth estimate for this year, and we are determined to exceed forecasts again.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The National Wealth Fund is at the forefront of public investment, investing in early-stage companies and projects to support innovation, boost jobs and create growth. It will work closely and collaboratively with other public financial institutions such as the British Business Bank, Innovate UK and UK Research and Innovation to support innovative companies across the UK.

• 9 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  About 300,000 young workers are expected to benefit from the national minimum wage increases in April 2026. The Low Pay Commission was given a remit to develop its preferred path and pace for the equalisation of the 18-to-20 national minimum wage and the national living wage. The 18-to-20 national minimum wage rate from April 2026 makes steps towards that commitment.

• 3 Dec 2025 · OBR: Resignation of Chair · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to point out the importance of trust, and not just in the economy but in the public finances. In the Government’s view, the OBR’s role is a critical part of that trust. It is because of that role that the OBR plays in our robust and transparent fiscal framework that we take the premature release of this information so seriously and are following up the matters it raises so urgently.

• 3 Dec 2025 · OBR: Resignation of Chair · Hansard source

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  The Chancellor set out at the Budget how important it is to increase our headroom. We have increased it to £21.7 billion, which is critical to reducing the cost of borrowing and protecting us against future shocks. The Chancellor also announced that the OBR’s spring forecast will not include an assessment of the Government’s performance against the fiscal rules, and the Government will not respond to it with fiscal policy; but the OBR will produce a forecast in spring, as expected.

• 3 Dec 2025 · OBR: Resignation of Chair · Hansard source

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  As will be clear, I agree with the right hon. Gentleman’s remarks about Richard Hughes’s contribution to public service. However, I disagree that the premature publication of the forecast last Wednesday was a narrow matter. The report showed that it was about not simply a single error, but more systemic issues, which it highlighted, so I disagree with the characterisation of that as narrow. The right hon. Gentleman referred to some of Professor Miles’s comments at the Treasury Committee. Professor Miles confirmed that the £4 billion headroom identified in the forecast on 31 October was not inconsistent with the sentiment that this is a very challenging fiscal position. The right hon. Gentleman also asked about the OBR’s letter, the nature of its being published and what it speaks about for the future. As I said earlier, the publication of the OBR letter was agreed to by the Chancellor due to the unique nature of this Budget and the context of the OBR’s productivity review, as it said itself, while acknowledging that it would not become usual practice, due to the importance of preserving a private space for discussion.

• 3 Dec 2025 · OBR: Resignation of Chair · Hansard source

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  I want to be clear about what the OBR is required to do and what the Chancellor announced last week in the Budget. The OBR is required to produce two forecasts a year, and the Chancellor will commission a second forecast in due course. As she announced in the Budget, however, that forecast will not include an assessment of the Government’s performance against the fiscal rules, and the Government will not respond with fiscal policy.

• 3 Dec 2025 · OBR: Resignation of Chair · Hansard source

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  The Government take this matter very seriously indeed and will move urgently to take forward that recommendation of the report, working with the National Cyber Security Centre. Cyber-security is an important matter for the OBR, and indeed for all Government Departments and bodies all year round, but the forecast is especially market sensitive, so it is particularly important to ensure that it is not published prematurely. That is why we take so seriously what happened last week, what seems to have happened in the spring, and what may even have happened at previous fiscal events.

• 3 Dec 2025 · OBR: Resignation of Chair · Hansard source

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  I very much agree with the sentiment of my hon. Friend’s question. The OBR is a vital part of our fiscal framework—indeed, as I mentioned earlier, one of the first acts we took on entering government was to strengthen its role to ensure that it could never be sidelined. It is precisely because we see the OBR as holding such an important place in our fiscal framework that it is important that we maintain its integrity and trust. My hon. Friend asks what further steps the OBR will take. We will work with the National Cyber Security Centre and the OBR to take forward the recommendation that a forensic examination of potential premature access at previous fiscal events is carried out. Let me add that there is no evidence of hostile cyber-activity, but the OBR report’s findings indicated access at previous fiscal events. That is a very serious matter that we will investigate.

• 3 Dec 2025 · OBR: Resignation of Chair · Hansard source

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  As the hon. Lady will know, the process is now under way for an external recruitment of a new chair of the OBR. The normal process will be followed in terms of the Chancellor making the appointment and the Treasury Committee being involved. The hon. Lady mentions that I have confirmed the leak inquiry today; I have confirmed it again today, but I mentioned it in my remarks to the House yesterday.