The Treasury Select Committee is about more than just Brexit
2 min read
Never has experience and open-mindedness been more important – that is why I should be Treasury Select Committee chair, writes Mark Garnier
The Treasury Committee’s new chair will have very little time to get their feet under their desk. With just a few short weeks before the UK undertakes its biggest economic challenge for decades, the committee that informs parliament on all matters fiscal and economic must be working as efficiently as ever. Never has experience been more important.
With six years’ membership of this committee, two years on the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, 19 months as a trade minister, and 27 years as an investment banker and investment manager, studying the needs of the economy, business, and financial markets, I believe I have the most extensive and broadest experience of all the candidates running for this important position.
Refreshing Parliament’s knowledge of the risks and rewards of both a hard and soft Brexit is vital. Testing the new chancellor’s proposed Brexit budget against evidence provided by those who rely on our government to get things right is crucial. Holding the government to account against its promises as we emerge post Brexit is a central principle of an informed democracy.
But the Treasury Select Committee is about more than just Brexit. I want to carry forward Nicky Morgan’s work on women in financial services as we conduct future inquiries. I want to make sure consumers are getting the protection we fought for on the Banking Commission and in the work that led to the 2012 Financial Services and Markets Act. And I want to make sure that the UK is positioning itself for, and seizing, all the opportunities that the post Brexit era will present.
The Treasury Committee needs a chair who will present the widest experience, who is open minded to opportunities, and who understands the wide economic, fiscal and regulatory issues. If elected, I will vigorously embrace the role.
Mark Garnier is Conservative MP for Wyre Forest
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