Lord Whitty (Lab)

My Lords, my noble friend Lord Hunt gave an eloquent introduction to this debate as to why we should support the Government’s political aims. I am a well-known Labour Party hack and I tend to vote for the Government on most occasions, but I have to admit that, in the early months of this Government, I had my doubts from time to time as to whether I totally shared what I thought were the political aims of this Government; for example, when we had the winter fuel payment crisis, the national insurance increases, and the tax on farmers, which has been one of the Treasury’s favourite things to do for years, although previous Ministers had resisted. However, I think the new Government under Andy Burnham have given us a new sense of purpose and direction. In general, I support the way in which they are going, but I would like some clear indication from my noble friend Lord Collins at the end of the debate that I am right so to do. I would like to have some commitments reaffirmed, in particular on net zero, because there has been some sniping, not just from the Opposition, various business interests, the petrostates and the United States, but from some within the Labour movement and others who would normally be supporting the Government. We must reiterate those objectives and our path to net zero must continue. That does not mean that there are not some compromises on the way, but the sense of direction and momentum need to continue and, if anything, be substantially enhanced. I think compromises along the lines that were advocated in the FT yesterday, on North Sea gas, might be sensible. But they should not stop the pace of switch to clean energy for the rest of this country. There are other priorities I would like to see emphasised more, and the way in which we are going to do them to be clearer, in particular on housing. The numbers involved in housing have been reiterated recently by Angela Rayner and I welcome that recommitment, but there are some serious problems in the delivery of those houses; I am interested particularly in the amount of social housing that will be produced. The industry suffers from a double problem of an oligopoly among the developers and housebuilders, which constrains the choices that local authorities and others have on housebuilding and the pace at which it can be delivered, and a lack of adequate skills in the construction sector. We need to have a clear commitment to address both those problems. We have just had a debate on employment, in which I and others emphasised the need for employment to be a serious priority for this Government, and how the coming Budget in six weeks’ time needs to be clear that employment, the quality of employment and the pace at which we can deliver jobs to the majority of our people need to be part of our economic policy. There is a lot of debate about the fiscal rules. Rules are constraints and standards; they are not objectives. Objectives of economic policy and economic growth need to increase and develop the employment of the people of this country and the quality of employment which is available to them and their successors. If the Government can reiterate their commitment on these fronts, I will continue in my support for as long as I am able.