Michael Fallon makes first appearance in Parliament since his humiliating resignation to vow to speak ‘more freely’ about defence spending
Ex-Defence Secretary spoke in the Commons three weeks after he left Cabinet over his inappropriate sexual behaviour
SIR MICHAEL Fallon made his first appearance in Parliament since his humiliating resignation from the Cabinet to vow to speak “more freely” about defence spending.
The former Defence Secretary spoke in the Commons on the Budget debate three weeks after he admitted his past behaviour had “fallen below the high standards” he asked of troops he presided over.
He was one of the most senior ministers caught in a wave of allegations of improper behaviour around Westminster.
Sir Michael admitted putting his hand on the knee of radio presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer some years ago.
Days after his resignation it emerged that journalist Jane Merrick contacted Downing Street hours before his abrupt departure claiming that he had lunged at her and tried to kiss her on the lips in 2003.
The Sun also revealed he was forced to quit after Cabinet colleague Andrea Leadsom accused him of lewd sexual comments.
Flanked by plenty of Tory colleagues he received a small cheer when he was called to speak in the Chamber, but said he would keep his comments focused on the Budget, and not his own situation.
He used his speech to criticise Labour's economic policies and call for reform of the national insurance system this afternoon.
The 65-year-old opened by pledging to "find an early opportunity to speak out on the right level of defence spending to meet the threats that our country faces, and to do so more freely than the constraints of government allowed".
Sir Michael also said more people should have a stake in the economy, citing a three-million fall in the number of shareholders since Margaret Thatcher left office.
Attacking the opposition, Sir Michael laid into shadow chancellor John McDonnell for refusing to say how much it would cost to service the borrowing needed to fund Labour's infrastructure plans.
He told MPs: "It is indeed extraordinary that we still have no answers from the frontbench opposite on the amount of additional borrowing they would undergo, or indeed 24 hours later, on the amount of additional interest they are prepared to rack up.
"These are legitimate questions. This isn't trite journalism - a shadow chancellor should be able to tell this House exactly what more he would be spending, and why."
By Matt Dathan, political correspondent
SIR Michael Fallon also spoke in the House of Commons about giving a major tax cut to Britain's lowest paid workers.
The former Defence Secretary urged Philip Hammond to raise the threshold at which workers have to start paying National Insurance Contributions (NICS).
He said it was wrong that those earning over the £8,164 starting threshold for paying NICs but less than £11,000 had missed out on years of tax cuts for higher earners.
Sir Michael, who quit the Cabinet in disgrace during the Westminster sleaze scandal earlier this month, called on Mr Hammond to “look at that again” to make sure the lowest paid Brits aren’t dragged in to paying more tax.
Speaking in the Budget debate in the Commons yesterday, he said: "A full-time worker on the national living wage pays almost as much in national insurance as in income tax," he said.
"Those working part-time, for example 25 hours a week, earning between £8,000 and £11,000, they miss out as we increase the thresholds, and I hope my honourable friends will look at that again."
He also called for more employee ownership of firms to boost productivity, which has stalled economic growth, and suggested offering a tax break for companies that offer free shares to employees.
Bemoaning the fall of shareholder capitalism, Sir Michael noted that the number of people owning shares had plummeted by three million since 1990.
He said in the Commons: "Employee-owned companies are more productive, they are more profitable, and isn't higher productivity, isn't that the golden fleece for which my right honourable friends keep searching?
"We need not just one John Lewis Partnership, we need a thousand John Lewis Partnerships across our economy."
He added: "Let us incentivise our companies with a lower tax rate to offer free shares to all of their employees."
