Chris Leslie MP

Chris Leslie said the Government had been "very lethargic" in taking action help boost lending to small businesses. "It was clear in December before the Autumn Statement, as the Chancellor described it then, that Funding For Lending wasn... Continue to article

Chris Leslie said the latest public sector finance figures show the Chancellor needs to change the course of his economic plan. "It’s absolutely time we change course. That is the death of that particular plan. Even the IMF say come off ... Continue to article

Chris Leslie said the Government was using the conviction of Mick Philpott as an excuse to attack the welfare system. "We have to have a situation where welfare is continuously reformed. Especially given that society changes. My generati... Continue to article

Dominic Raab accepted that some non-working families would be worse off under the Government’s welfare reforms, but argued Labour’s opposition to the changes were “a mirage”. “Some of them will be because when we’re looking at things lik... Continue to article

Chris Leslie said the Government should take responsibility for the economy and argued the Chancellor was targeting the most vulnerable people in the UK. “Well I think that a lot of people who are affected by some of these changes, and b... Continue to article

Chris Leslie said Labour needed to offer a real alternative to George Osborne’s economic plans. “I think what we have to do is show that there is an alternative and I think that means not just sort of sitting back as George Osborne is sa... Continue to article

Chris Leslie said Labour introduced the motion calling for the introduction of a mansion tax in order to create a fairer tax system. “I think the reason we need to do something to improve the fairness of the tax system is because the Cha... Continue to article

Chris Leslie said there was "absolutely no debate" that spending cuts have had an impact on growth in the economy.  "Of course there are other factors. The Office for Budget Responsibility talk about some of the problems in the eurozone,... Continue to article

Chris Leslie said David Cameron needed to be "straight with people" about the effects of the Government's austerity programme. “This is a very embarrassing rebuke for the Prime Minister. It is, of course, deeply misleading to suggest tha... Continue to article

Chris Leslie criticised David Cameron for “trying to make a virtue out of obstinacy” rather than change the Government’s economic plan. “Ultimately this is a Prime Minister who just refuses to recognise the need to kick-start the economy... Continue to article

Chris Leslie condemned the Government’s Funding for Lending scheme and urged the Chancellor to "get serious" about the economy. “Of course the banks are repairing their balance sheets but it’s amazing that the one thing that rarely gets ... Continue to article

Chris Leslie said the Chancellor should have been ahead of the European Union in dealing with the bonus culture in the UK banking sector. “I think it all goes to show that even when you have major losses this bonus culture does seem to c... Continue to article

Chris Leslie said despite recent accountancy changes the deficit is going up and it is because of weak growth. "There is an awful lot of accountancy changes - smoke and mirrors - that people have been talking about. If you strip away som... Continue to article

Chris Leslie said the Government were trying to conceal the fact the deficit in the UK is rising. "You have to strip away the smoke and mirrors that have been brought  into those figures and when you take those out and look at the big pi... Continue to article

Chris Leslie said now was the time for the Lib Dems to make progress on their mansion tax policy. "Ultimately, what we need to do is have the Treasury, the Office for Budget Responsibility come forward with some proposals now on the deta... Continue to article