EXPORTS

Mr Deputy Speaker,

We’re not going to have a secure economic future if Britain doesn’t earn its way in the world.

We need our businesses to export more, build more, invest more and manufacture more.

First, exports.

Our exports have grown each year and the OBR today forecast rising export growth in the future.

Our combined goods exports to Brazil, India and China have risen faster than those of our competitors.

But we’re starting from a low base and we’ve got many lost years to catch up.

Britain has to up its game – and today we do.

With Stephen Green, and now Ian Livingston, we’re expanding the reach and support UKTI offers British businesses.

But for many firms the truth is you can only win the contract if you are backed by competitive export finance.

For decades the British government has been the last port of call, when we should be backing British businesses wanting to sell abroad.

Today we fundamentally change that.

And we’re going to start with the finance we provide our exporters.

We will double the amount of lending available to £3 billion.

And I can announce that from today the interest rates we charge on that lending will be cut by a third.

Instead of having the least competitive export finance in Europe.

We will have the most competitive.

We will also reform Air Passenger Duty to end the crazy system where you pay less tax travelling to Hawaii than you do travelling to China or India.

It hits exports, puts off tourists and creates a great sense of injustice among our Caribbean and South Asian communities here in Britain.

From next year, all long haul flights will carry the same, lower, band B tax rate that you now pay to fly to the United States.

Private jets were not taxed at all under the previous government. Today they are, and I’m increasing the charge so they pay more.

And because we want all parts of our country to see better links with the markets of the future we’re going to provide start-up support for new routes from regional airports, like Liverpool, Leeds or indeed Inverness.

More support for businesses; competitive finance; cheaper global flights...

I want the message to go out that we are backing our exporters – so that wherever you are around the world you can’t fail to see: Made in Britain.

One key British export is the North Sea’s oil and gas.

We will take forward all recommendations of the Wood report. And we will review the whole tax regime to make sure it is fit for the purpose of extracting every drop of oil we can.

We will introduce now a new allowance for ultra high pressure, high temperature fields to support billions of pounds of investment, thousands of jobs and a significant proportion of our energy needs.

Even with these measures, the North Sea is a mature basin – and the OBR have today revised down the forecast tax receipts by a further £3 billion over the period.

The Scottish economy is doing well and jobs are being created.

But this is a reminder of how precarious the budget of an independent Scotland would be. These further downgrades in the tax receipts would leave independent Scots with a shortfall of £1,000 per person.

Britain is better together.

HOUSING

Mr Deputy Speaker, our country needs to export more – and it also needs to build more.

House building is up 23%. But that’s not enough.

That’s why we’re making further reforms to our planning system and offering half a billion pounds of finance to small house building firms.

It’s why we’re signing city deals across the country to get more built – with a new funding deal this week for Cambridge.

And it’s why we’re giving people a new Right to Build their own homes and providing £150 million of finance today to support that.

It’s why we’re funding regeneration of some of the urban housing estates that are in the worst condition, and we’re extending the current Support for Mortgage Interest Scheme to 2016.

And it’s why we’ve got Help to Buy.

We’re extending the Help to Buy equity loan scheme for the rest of the decade, so we get 120,000 new homes built.

In the South East where the pressure is greatest we’re going to build new homes in Barking Riverside, regenerate Brent Cross, and build the first new Garden City in almost a hundred years at Ebbsfleet.

We’re going to build 15,000 homes there, put in the infrastructure, set up the development corporation and make it happen.

I thank my HFs for Dartford and Gravesham for their tremendous support.

And we will be publishing a prospectus on the future of Garden Cities.

Taken all together, the housing policies I announce today will support over 200,000 new homes for families.

We’re getting Britain building.