Greg Hands, Member of Parliament for Chelsea and Fulham, attended the Chancellor’s annual Mansion House Speech.
On Wednesday, 10 June, hosted by the Lord Mayor of London, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, delivered his annual Mansion House Speech on the state of the British economy. Greg Hands attended in his new role as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and the Chancellor began his speech by drawing attention to the hard work his new Treasury team is making in their effort to move Britain from crisis to recovery, and ultimately towards responsibility and prosperity.
The Chancellor took the chance to announce the first sale of the Government’s remaining stake in the Royal Mail, as well as the sale of the Government’s stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which the Governor of the Bank of England confirmed to be in the public’s interest.
Mr Osborne also reminded his audience that David Cameron is the first Prime Minister since 1857 to have increased not only his party’s number of seats in the House of Commons but also its share of the popular vote, a clear rejection of those political parties who argued for more borrowing and more spending.
Greg Hands says, “The Chancellor is right to remind us of the woeful legacy that we inherited from the last Labour Government, when my predecessor received a note saying ‘I’m afraid there is no money.’ Since then, the British people have responded with a determination and readiness to confront the hard choices that we have had to make as part of our long-term economic plan. Mr Osborne reminded us that Britain has witnessed one of the most sustained reductions in the structural deficit of any major advanced economy in the world, with the highest employment rate in our history, and with economic growth forecast to be the fastest of any major advanced economy in the world.
“However, our newly-elected Conservative majority Government knows that the job is not yet done. We are taking very seriously the fact that we have a budget deficit at just shy of 5% of national income, with national debt standing at over 80% of GDP. Even though this is set to fall for the first time since the start of the century, the Government is not easing off, and last week we found further savings of £3 billion in government departments.”
Greg Hands looks forward to continuing to work hard as Chief Secretary to the Treasury in order to ensure that the Government’s long-term economic plan should succeed and provide a brighter and more secure future for Britain.