In Parliament

Harriett Baldwin welcomes the Budget as a Budget that makes work pay and is good for business.

Following Opposition calls for an inquiry into media reporting of proposals in the Budget before it was made, Harriett Baldwin points out that it is relatively easy to speculate on many aspects of the Budget.

Harriett Baldwin asks the Leader of the House of Commons whether he will submit evidence to the McKay Commission which will examine the consequences of devolution for the House of Commons and the voting rights of MPs from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on issues that only affect England (the West Lothian question).

Harriett Baldwin challenges the Shadow Chancellor to commit to reinstating the 50p tax rate.

Harriett Baldwin applauds the 70% increase in the number of job vacancies in West Worcestershire and the 22% increase in the West Midlands as a whole and calls for a Parliamentary debate on the excellent role played by jobcentres.

Harriett Baldwin asks the Secretary of State for International Development for an update on how UK aid is helping with malnutrition in Ethiopia and other parts of the world.

Speaking in a debate on work experience, Harriett Baldwin raises her concerns about confusion in the media about the Work Experience programme which is a voluntary one for people under 24. She welcomes the fact that valuable work experience, previously only available to those whose parents could afford to subsidise them, is now open to young people on jobseeker’s allowance.

Harriett Baldwin backs changes to the working tax credit which will remove the situation where a single parent loses benefits if they do more than 16 hours work.

Following the Prime Minister’s statement on last week’s European Council, which focused on measures needed to address the crisis in Europe, Harriett Baldwin backed the PM’s stance in putting the national interest first.