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Hello and welcome to BBC Parliament's live coverage from the | :00:00. | :00:12. | |
House of Commons. The Foreign Secretary will make a statement to | :00:13. | :00:16. | |
the House on Libya following his visit to Tripoli to support the new | :00:17. | :00:20. | |
UN backed national unity Government. After that the Conservative and main | :00:21. | :00:27. | |
will have ten minutes to look at her farming bill. Then there is the Bank | :00:28. | :00:33. | |
of England and financial services bill. The legislation brings the | :00:34. | :00:38. | |
Bank of England into the remit of the National Audit Office. Join me | :00:39. | :00:44. | |
for a round-up of the day in both Houses of Parliament at 11 o'clock | :00:45. | :00:49. | |
tonight. First, questions to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and his | :00:50. | :00:50. | |
team of ministers. Order, order. Questions to the | :00:51. | :01:16. | |
Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Government is committed to providing | :01:17. | :01:19. | |
data on active National Insurance numbers used by people from other EU | :01:20. | :01:24. | |
countries. HMRC was compiling this information and is looking into | :01:25. | :01:32. | |
reconciling the main source of integration data. National insurance | :01:33. | :01:37. | |
numbers will be published as part of the ONS publication and it is up to | :01:38. | :01:42. | |
their independent statistics authority to when they will make | :01:43. | :01:49. | |
this public. I have been asking them for these figures. The British | :01:50. | :01:55. | |
people have a right to know such facts, particularly in the context | :01:56. | :02:01. | |
of the UK EU Referendum Bill debate. Can I have assurances that we will | :02:02. | :02:06. | |
know how many foreign nationals have National Insurance numbers from | :02:07. | :02:09. | |
other EU countries before the referendum on June 23? It does | :02:10. | :02:17. | |
require HMRC to combine and match multiple HMRC DWP data sets. It does | :02:18. | :02:26. | |
take some time. The intention is to publish alongside the ONS analysis | :02:27. | :02:34. | |
and I know they have planned to publish a note on this migration | :02:35. | :02:38. | |
matter in incorporating the latest available migration data and to | :02:39. | :02:43. | |
explain whale -- why the datasets are shown different trends. What | :02:44. | :02:47. | |
about the 3.3 million people, one in ten of the existing workforce who | :02:48. | :02:52. | |
pay their National Insurance and tax and their jobs linked to UK exports | :02:53. | :02:57. | |
into the European Union? He agreed that those leave campaigners should | :02:58. | :03:02. | |
just cross their fingers and dismiss reality and that all of us on all | :03:03. | :03:06. | |
sides of this house have a duty to spell out the facts that leaving the | :03:07. | :03:10. | |
European Union will put real jobs at real risk. The honourable gentleman | :03:11. | :03:17. | |
will be aware of the Treasury analysis published yesterday that | :03:18. | :03:21. | |
shows the consequences were we to leave the European Union and the | :03:22. | :03:26. | |
various models that it involves. A permanent reduction to our GDP | :03:27. | :03:31. | |
compared to what it would be, damage to productivity growth, that would | :03:32. | :03:35. | |
be significant. I think the honourable gentleman is right to | :03:36. | :03:39. | |
highlight that point. Will the Government welcome this opportunity | :03:40. | :03:43. | |
to bring forward actual data without the need to project forward 14 years | :03:44. | :03:49. | |
using techniques which are proven inaccurate every six months? As I | :03:50. | :03:58. | |
said, HMRC have gone through that data. They will provide that to the | :03:59. | :04:04. | |
ONS. It is for the ONS to decide the timing. I drew the House's attention | :04:05. | :04:11. | |
to what they said. Returning to the Treasury analysis, it is the case | :04:12. | :04:14. | |
that it is comparing one scenario with their scenarios and of the | :04:15. | :04:20. | |
three possible scenarios set out if we leave the European Union, all of | :04:21. | :04:25. | |
them leave this country poorer than we would otherwise be. The impact of | :04:26. | :04:31. | |
the EU membership on jobs is significant. Could the Minister | :04:32. | :04:35. | |
passed my congratulations to the officials who have done a useful | :04:36. | :04:42. | |
analysis yesterday? On page 65 there is a regional breakdown which | :04:43. | :04:47. | |
suggests that 100,000 jobs in the north-east are dependent on EU | :04:48. | :04:50. | |
exports. I had previously thought the figure should be 140,000. Could | :04:51. | :04:57. | |
he revise it up? I will take on board that representation. There is | :04:58. | :05:06. | |
the large Nissan plant that provides significant numbers of jobs. The | :05:07. | :05:10. | |
argument made in the Treasury analysis is that we benefit from an | :05:11. | :05:14. | |
open economy. If we leave the single market we become a less open | :05:15. | :05:19. | |
economy. That will have a cost to the British people in terms of their | :05:20. | :05:25. | |
living standards. Disgracefully dodgy documents published by the | :05:26. | :05:31. | |
Treasury yesterday which frankly is worthy of the children's programme | :05:32. | :05:37. | |
Jackanory, the immigration figures suggest there will be 3 million | :05:38. | :05:41. | |
immigrants to this country by 2030, placing my honourable friend in | :05:42. | :05:46. | |
clear breach of the Conservative manifesto commitment to reduce | :05:47. | :05:49. | |
immigration to tens of thousands per year. What is his response to that | :05:50. | :05:57. | |
accusation? The numbers are based on the ONS production that was used at | :05:58. | :06:04. | |
the last budget. No account is taken of the achievements of the | :06:05. | :06:08. | |
renegotiation the Prime Minister achieved. In terms of the Treasury | :06:09. | :06:14. | |
analysis, a large number of independent economic commentators | :06:15. | :06:19. | |
have argued that it is broadly in the right direction. I would say to | :06:20. | :06:23. | |
my honourable friend to advocate that we leave the European Union, | :06:24. | :06:28. | |
for them to come forward with their own analysis setting out exactly | :06:29. | :06:33. | |
what model they should follow and what the economic consequences of | :06:34. | :06:42. | |
that would be. We are both building more houses and helping young | :06:43. | :06:48. | |
families for those homes. 400 new houses -- 400,000 new homes are | :06:49. | :06:52. | |
being built and starter homes for first-time buyers. I launched the | :06:53. | :06:56. | |
new lifetime icer said people know of longer have to choose between | :06:57. | :07:00. | |
saving for a home and saving for their retirement. We support the | :07:01. | :07:06. | |
aspirations of people to buy their own home and pass their home on to | :07:07. | :07:12. | |
their children. Following the promises of an extra 90 million from | :07:13. | :07:19. | |
the Treasury to help make it a reality, what other means is he | :07:20. | :07:27. | |
using to encourage house-building for first-time buyers? We are | :07:28. | :07:31. | |
supporting the community she ably represented in parliament and we are | :07:32. | :07:34. | |
able to provide money for the upgrade of the M40 junction and | :07:35. | :07:41. | |
school to go with the new homes being built in Bicester. It comes as | :07:42. | :07:45. | |
a sweep where we are investing in new starter homes, investing in | :07:46. | :07:51. | |
shared equity products the people. Our help to buy ISA has been helped | :07:52. | :07:55. | |
by hundreds of thousands of people and it will help young people. All | :07:56. | :07:59. | |
things we are doing to make sure this is a homeowning democracy. | :08:00. | :08:04. | |
There was a problem because the OBE are say about lifetime ISA's that | :08:05. | :08:10. | |
they will increase house prices because they will increase demand | :08:11. | :08:16. | |
with relatively restricted supply. Is he confident that his measures to | :08:17. | :08:20. | |
increase the supply of housing will mean the OBE are is able to revise | :08:21. | :08:27. | |
that analysis? I agree. It is vital we don't just tell people afford | :08:28. | :08:31. | |
homes, particularly young first-time buyers, but we build more homes. | :08:32. | :08:35. | |
That is the plan we set out in the Spending Review. A big priority was | :08:36. | :08:41. | |
the billions we are going to be spending on building homes. Much | :08:42. | :08:44. | |
more than was spent in the last Labour Government. How is having net | :08:45. | :08:52. | |
migration of additional 3 million people going to help first-time | :08:53. | :08:59. | |
buyers find a home? We have the products to help first-time buyers | :09:00. | :09:03. | |
in this country afford housing but I make this observation on migration. | :09:04. | :09:06. | |
You cannot have access to the single market without accepting free | :09:07. | :09:11. | |
movement of people. It is absolutely clear principle that has made very | :09:12. | :09:18. | |
clear to this country by Germany and France and is internationally | :09:19. | :09:21. | |
accepted. If you want access to the single market, you have to accept | :09:22. | :09:28. | |
free movement of people. Will the Chancellor confirmed that the number | :09:29. | :09:33. | |
of under 35 is who own the own home has fallen by a fifth since he came | :09:34. | :09:43. | |
into office? And that -- first-time buyers are up 57%. In the last | :09:44. | :09:52. | |
Government, they fell by 50%. Perhaps the Chancellor will be | :09:53. | :09:55. | |
heaven for the first time that under 35s would have -- who own their | :09:56. | :10:04. | |
homes has fallen. The number of affordable homes available to buy | :10:05. | :10:08. | |
has halved since 2010. Private rental prices rose 26% in the year | :10:09. | :10:13. | |
to February with incomes failing to keep pace. In September the | :10:14. | :10:18. | |
Government spoke of a national crusade to get 1 million homes built | :10:19. | :10:23. | |
by 2020. In November this was more than halved. Shelter says the policy | :10:24. | :10:36. | |
takes away homes that people can afford. Because of the housing | :10:37. | :10:42. | |
crisis with young people aspiring to own a home of the hardest hit. The | :10:43. | :10:49. | |
number first-time buyers is up by 57% under this Government. I made | :10:50. | :10:53. | |
this observation which is you can't have a strong and successful housing | :10:54. | :10:57. | |
market and people getting on the housing ladder unless you have a | :10:58. | :11:02. | |
strong successful economy. If we followed the prescription of the | :11:03. | :11:05. | |
Labour front bunch where you nationalise half of the economy and | :11:06. | :11:11. | |
impose punitive tax rates, there will be anyone being able to afford | :11:12. | :11:15. | |
any home the country. Is another case that the lifetime ISA could | :11:16. | :11:21. | |
raise a deposit of up to ?50,000 and lower rates a deposit for a terraced | :11:22. | :11:28. | |
home in Norwich for ?120,000? The lifetime ISA will be a very popular | :11:29. | :11:33. | |
and successful new saving products precisely because it doesn't require | :11:34. | :11:38. | |
people to choose between saving for a home and saving for their | :11:39. | :11:40. | |
retirement. They are able to do both. We are looking at ways that | :11:41. | :11:46. | |
people can draw on their savings during their lifetime for particular | :11:47. | :11:50. | |
emergencies or when they need bits of money like they do in the US with | :11:51. | :11:56. | |
the 401 scheme. The lifetime ISA is going to be a radically new saving | :11:57. | :12:00. | |
products and does what we need to do in this country which is build a | :12:01. | :12:02. | |
savings culture. Mr Speaker, productivity in the UK | :12:03. | :12:11. | |
has been weak since the financial crisis. As it has been in all | :12:12. | :12:18. | |
developed countries, the government published its productivity plan | :12:19. | :12:24. | |
fixing the foundations last year. We announced additional reductions | :12:25. | :12:27. | |
corporation tax and business rates and gave the green light to | :12:28. | :12:31. | |
infrastructure projects like cross rail two and high speed three. The | :12:32. | :12:39. | |
SNP has argued the UK economy is in dire need of investment, the | :12:40. | :12:44. | |
Chancellor though despite the productivity plan seems to persevere | :12:45. | :12:48. | |
with policies that stifle productivity. Will the government | :12:49. | :12:53. | |
tell me which policies they have enacted that will encourage an | :12:54. | :12:58. | |
increase in productivity? She is right in saying there is an issue in | :12:59. | :13:04. | |
relation to productivity, but there is an issue across all major | :13:05. | :13:08. | |
economies, last year productivity growth was about 1%, which compares | :13:09. | :13:16. | |
with 0.9% in the G7. For specific measures, we have established the | :13:17. | :13:21. | |
national infrastructure commission, protected science funding and | :13:22. | :13:25. | |
introduced a housing and planning bill, announced the apprenticeship | :13:26. | :13:31. | |
levy that is coming in at ?100 billion infrastructure programme | :13:32. | :13:36. | |
over the course of this Parliament. By being a member of the EU this | :13:37. | :13:43. | |
country benefits from cross fertilisation with good ideas, the | :13:44. | :13:51. | |
supply chain, FDI at 15% and we also benefit from the single market in | :13:52. | :13:56. | |
terms of trade and all of that... Order. Very wide with the question. | :13:57. | :14:00. | |
I have great respect for the honourable gentleman, it has nothing | :14:01. | :14:04. | |
to do with the question on the paper, to which the Chief Secretary | :14:05. | :14:11. | |
will not reply. The minister cannot hide behind all the advanced | :14:12. | :14:17. | |
economies, we are performing worst than most, particularly France. | :14:18. | :14:22. | |
Isn't it the lack of skills of our workers and lack of good education | :14:23. | :14:31. | |
and will the Chancellor's silly policy on forced academisation help | :14:32. | :14:37. | |
or hinder? We recognise there is an issue with productivity, that is why | :14:38. | :14:42. | |
we published the productivity plan. In 2014 the UK was the fastest | :14:43. | :14:47. | |
growing major economy. Last year we were in second place, this year we | :14:48. | :14:54. | |
are projected to grow well. This country is doing well. The Chief | :14:55. | :15:04. | |
Secretary agree that ?540 billion invested by foreign businesses is | :15:05. | :15:09. | |
vital and if we left the EU the uncertainty would put that | :15:10. | :15:14. | |
investment in jeopardy. I agree with my honourable friend, leaving the E. | :15:15. | :15:20. | |
Would damage UK productivity. It would prevent, has the prevent to | :15:21. | :15:23. | |
deny access or make more difficult the access to markets and | :15:24. | :15:27. | |
investment. And it is worth noting that the UK is the No 1 EU | :15:28. | :15:34. | |
destination for foreign direct investment, 28% of all investment in | :15:35. | :15:40. | |
the EU and a large part is due to being an EU member. Five years in | :15:41. | :15:47. | |
office until we had a productivity plan and what do we see, | :15:48. | :15:55. | |
productivity was 18% below the G7. One sector which are needs help is | :15:56. | :16:01. | |
the steel industry. It needs more capital investment to be more | :16:02. | :16:05. | |
competitive. How much will the Government invest in steel in the | :16:06. | :16:09. | |
next 12 months to improve productivity and save British jobs? | :16:10. | :16:17. | |
Well, in terms of productivity, he mentioned the 18% figure, I refer to | :16:18. | :16:22. | |
an answer where I said there has been an issue in the UK and that | :16:23. | :16:28. | |
figure was 17% in the 90s. In terms of steel, what the action that we | :16:29. | :16:33. | |
have taken on steel, we have secured state aid to compensate for energy | :16:34. | :16:38. | |
costs and secured flexibility of emissions regulations and made the | :16:39. | :16:43. | |
procurement rules can allow social factors and we tackle unfair trading | :16:44. | :16:49. | |
practices. The Government has been very active on steel. Question No 4. | :16:50. | :16:57. | |
I would like to answer this we with questions five, seven and 12. The | :16:58. | :17:01. | |
Government is leading the fight against tax evasion and it was | :17:02. | :17:06. | |
Britain that first demanded that multinationals publish where they | :17:07. | :17:10. | |
pay tax country by country. This has now been taken up at a European | :17:11. | :17:15. | |
level, multinationals selling into Europe will be required to report | :17:16. | :17:21. | |
the taxpay they and Britain has allies to agree to share information | :17:22. | :17:25. | |
on the beneficial ownership of companies and we are now seeking | :17:26. | :17:29. | |
international leadership on a blacklist of tax havens with | :17:30. | :17:34. | |
punitive actions against those on that list. We want the rest of the | :17:35. | :17:38. | |
world to follow our example, where we lead others should follow. Thank | :17:39. | :17:47. | |
you. Conservative MEPs have voted six times on instruction from the | :17:48. | :17:53. | |
Treasury to block measures against tax avoidance. What action will the | :17:54. | :18:02. | |
Chancellor take to get all crown dependency to publish ownership? At | :18:03. | :18:08. | |
a European level, we have now got agreement to make sure that | :18:09. | :18:12. | |
multinational, or getting agreement that multinationals should disclose | :18:13. | :18:18. | |
where they pay tax, including in ultralow jurisdictions. We have | :18:19. | :18:24. | |
agreed with our European allies that we will exchange information. For | :18:25. | :18:30. | |
public registries, we are one of the few countries in the world that has | :18:31. | :18:36. | |
committed to a public register. But we want all jurisdictions, all the | :18:37. | :18:39. | |
other advanced economies to follow our lead. Last month I tabled a | :18:40. | :18:48. | |
question about the tax gaps as a result of individuals using overseas | :18:49. | :18:53. | |
territories, all seven questions were grouped into one answer, which | :18:54. | :18:57. | |
said we have no idea. Now the Government has been shamed into | :18:58. | :19:05. | |
action, will it rectify the situation where it has no idea how | :19:06. | :19:10. | |
much is lost and wouldn't a public register help? We publish more | :19:11. | :19:15. | |
detail on the tax gap than any government before us and we have | :19:16. | :19:21. | |
shown that the gap is at its lowest in our history and we have collected | :19:22. | :19:25. | |
?26 billion more than was collected by Labour in extra come plyians. Tax | :19:26. | :19:34. | |
havens are a symptom of a wider problem that the wrong #1r578s are | :19:35. | :19:38. | |
at the heart of the -- values at the heart of our financial system. There | :19:39. | :19:44. | |
is too great a disconnection between the real economy and our society. | :19:45. | :19:49. | |
Eight years on from the crisis, what is the Chancellor assessment of how | :19:50. | :19:53. | |
much has changed for the better? That is a perfectly reasonable | :19:54. | :19:57. | |
question and well put. A huge amount has changed and there is much | :19:58. | :20:02. | |
tougher regulation, we have got better regulators and banks are more | :20:03. | :20:06. | |
on the case of bad action in their areas. But it is true that more | :20:07. | :20:11. | |
needs to be done to create a proper culture in the banking system, where | :20:12. | :20:15. | |
they treat customers fairly and seek to do the right thing. That is | :20:16. | :20:20. | |
happening and of course the banks that do it will get rewarded from | :20:21. | :20:25. | |
their customer Mires. But the industry is like other professions | :20:26. | :20:28. | |
seeking to improve its standards of conduct. The Chancellor will be | :20:29. | :20:35. | |
aware that the reporting requirements for private companies | :20:36. | :20:39. | |
are less stringent than those for publicly listed companies and while | :20:40. | :20:42. | |
the register of beneficial ownership is an improvement, we need to know | :20:43. | :20:46. | |
not just who owns a particular company, but how much tax they are | :20:47. | :20:51. | |
actually avoiding. So if a company gets away with not publishing | :20:52. | :20:54. | |
income, turn over or profit, that won't do. What steps will he take | :20:55. | :21:00. | |
with our over seas territory tos to ensure this is rectified? All | :21:01. | :21:05. | |
companies have to pay their correct taxes and we have taken action to | :21:06. | :21:10. | |
ensure that. But the country by country reporting is designed so | :21:11. | :21:14. | |
that people can see with multinational businesses where | :21:15. | :21:19. | |
they're paying tax. Recent information sharing agreement which | :21:20. | :21:23. | |
the Chancellor referred to, could be a significant step in the fight | :21:24. | :21:26. | |
against tax evasion and I support him. The public are right to be | :21:27. | :21:32. | |
upset when business don't pay their fair share. Evasion needs to be | :21:33. | :21:38. | |
regular rowsly pursued. But doesn't the Chancellor agree when that is | :21:39. | :21:42. | |
caused by tax avoidance, it is the job of Government to simplify the | :21:43. | :21:52. | |
tax code and close the loopholes. I broadly a agree, I welcome the | :21:53. | :21:59. | |
welcome he gives to agreement with other countries on beneficial | :22:00. | :22:04. | |
ownership. Hopefully that will set an example. On tax avoidance, it is | :22:05. | :22:08. | |
the responsibility of the House of Commons and the Government to try | :22:09. | :22:13. | |
and make sure that tax code and the tax law is simple and does what it | :22:14. | :22:19. | |
is intended, but of course we are in a constant race against highly paid | :22:20. | :22:25. | |
accountancy firms who design contrived systems to avoid tax and | :22:26. | :22:29. | |
avoid the intention of Parliament. I have made this point, there has been | :22:30. | :22:34. | |
a significant development, where the Supreme Court takes into account the | :22:35. | :22:38. | |
intention of Parliament as well as the letter of the law and I think | :22:39. | :22:44. | |
that is right. Because it is sometimes an arms race when it comes | :22:45. | :22:49. | |
to tax code and Parliament should be taken into account the wishes of | :22:50. | :22:52. | |
Parliament should be taken into account by the courts. Can I | :22:53. | :22:55. | |
congratulate my honourable friend on the agreement he has reached, isn't | :22:56. | :23:01. | |
it right HMRC employs 26,000 investigators who work to stop tax | :23:02. | :23:09. | |
evasion and they have brought more than ?2 billion from off shore tax | :23:10. | :23:14. | |
avoiders. Isn't it right and would my honourable friend agree, that we | :23:15. | :23:21. | |
can congratulate HMRC for doing the good job they're doing and thank | :23:22. | :23:25. | |
them for their work and anyone who criticises them is just plain wrong. | :23:26. | :23:29. | |
My honourable friend is right I think to highlight the good work | :23:30. | :23:35. | |
that HMRC do it is never popular being a tax collector. But I think | :23:36. | :23:42. | |
they're doing a good job and we are putting more resources in so they | :23:43. | :23:46. | |
can target wealthy individuals who are evading tax, but we do have | :23:47. | :23:50. | |
26,000 people employed by the Government to make sure that people | :23:51. | :23:57. | |
comply with the tax laws. I congratulate the work of the | :23:58. | :24:01. | |
Chancellor, but does he recognise that a low tax economy will attract | :24:02. | :24:06. | |
wealthy people from all over the world to invest and create jobs and | :24:07. | :24:11. | |
pay more tax and the they draw more tax in the end? I agree, that is | :24:12. | :24:21. | |
what we Conservatives believe in. That is the right approach and we | :24:22. | :24:27. | |
have reduced corporation tax and income tax and of course when we cut | :24:28. | :24:33. | |
the top rate of tax we collected more income. Thank you. With the tax | :24:34. | :24:48. | |
gap... With the tax gap now at its lowest level on record, does the | :24:49. | :24:52. | |
Chancellor agree this Government has done more to ensure the taxes that | :24:53. | :24:59. | |
ar owe rd paid than the last Labour government achieved? My honourable | :25:00. | :25:03. | |
friend, who is an excellent member of Parliament in the west of | :25:04. | :25:11. | |
England, well what... My honourable friend is right, of course you get | :25:12. | :25:13. | |
these suggestions from the Labour Party about what we should do to the | :25:14. | :25:18. | |
tax, they were in office for 13 years and they had Treasury | :25:19. | :25:22. | |
ministers answering questions for 13 years, not a single one of these | :25:23. | :25:26. | |
things happened when they were in charge and no one believes if they | :25:27. | :25:32. | |
were back in charge they would be tough and take action. Can we bring | :25:33. | :25:39. | |
it back to today, in the Panama revelations about the behaviour of | :25:40. | :25:42. | |
offshore companies the Chancellor could not fail to notice key role | :25:43. | :25:50. | |
played in many deals by UK head quartered banks and intermediaries. | :25:51. | :25:58. | |
HSBC created more off shore companies through Mossack Fonseca | :25:59. | :26:02. | |
than any other bank. Will he support the new clause tabled by the Labour | :26:03. | :26:08. | |
Party to the Bank of England bill, requiring British institutions to | :26:09. | :26:12. | |
record the true owners of any companies or trusts whom they work | :26:13. | :26:17. | |
for, and will he welcome the proposals by my honourable friend | :26:18. | :26:20. | |
for a register of the beneficial owners of property in the UK, to | :26:21. | :26:25. | |
tackle money laundering, often linked to tax evasion? Well, first, | :26:26. | :26:33. | |
can I say we are introducing a beneficial register of the | :26:34. | :26:36. | |
beneficial ownership of companies and trusts that need to pay tax. And | :26:37. | :26:42. | |
of course, therefore, banks must comply. And we will introduce a new | :26:43. | :26:48. | |
criminal offence for the facilitating tax evasion. And so | :26:49. | :26:53. | |
that will apply to the corporate sector as well. So there is a new | :26:54. | :26:58. | |
criminal offence to facilitate tax evasion and the criminal offence | :26:59. | :27:03. | |
that says ignorance is no defence when you have been found to be | :27:04. | :27:06. | |
evading taxes. Tax havens can lead to loss of | :27:07. | :27:23. | |
revenue. Can I ask the Chancellor, given the relevant -- revelations, | :27:24. | :27:29. | |
has the Treasury carried out a new assessment to look at the scale and | :27:30. | :27:38. | |
size of the revenue lost to the UK? There are already a large number of | :27:39. | :27:46. | |
ongoing investigations which may well lead to prosecutions in respect | :27:47. | :27:53. | |
of Panama. The revenue and the Government already had data on this. | :27:54. | :27:59. | |
If there is additional information is available in the Panama papers | :28:00. | :28:06. | |
and despite requests the media have not handed this information to us | :28:07. | :28:09. | |
yet, if there is additional information we will act on it. I | :28:10. | :28:14. | |
asked the Chancellor to go much further? They are the biggest firm | :28:15. | :28:25. | |
in Panama. There will be many others in different countries. The scale | :28:26. | :28:29. | |
and scope of this is likely to be astronomical. I think the Chancellor | :28:30. | :28:35. | |
and the Government need to go further. We need to have a much | :28:36. | :28:38. | |
clearer understanding of the scale of this. Can I ask him to make all | :28:39. | :28:44. | |
the representations he came to the Panama authorities and other | :28:45. | :28:50. | |
jurisdictions where other similar activities are taking place? | :28:51. | :28:54. | |
Representations are not going to be enough. That is why we want | :28:55. | :28:59. | |
international agreement to a blacklist where jurisdictions go on | :29:00. | :29:04. | |
that blacklist if they don't comply with the norms we are establishing | :29:05. | :29:09. | |
on transparency and once they are on the blacklist, they are subject to | :29:10. | :29:16. | |
penalties, punitive action, sanctions so that it is clear that | :29:17. | :29:20. | |
they can't carry on in the way they have been doing business. If the | :29:21. | :29:24. | |
whole world comes around that and there was welcome support for the | :29:25. | :29:32. | |
concept, if we get that blacklist and that punitive action, we will | :29:33. | :29:40. | |
help solve this problem. With your permission I would like to answer | :29:41. | :29:44. | |
this question along with question number 13. Corporation tax cuts have | :29:45. | :29:47. | |
been an essential part of the economics travesty. -- strategy. | :29:48. | :29:56. | |
Further cuts to the main rate announced our budget to 17% in 2020 | :29:57. | :30:00. | |
will benefit over 1 million companies large and small, low | :30:01. | :30:05. | |
corporation tax will support UK companies to invest and grow and | :30:06. | :30:10. | |
create jobs as they do so. One of the justifications for the | :30:11. | :30:13. | |
corporation tax cut was businesses would pass on that tax cut to the | :30:14. | :30:19. | |
increase in the living rage -- wage. Now they tend to pocket the tax cut | :30:20. | :30:24. | |
and squeeze the conditions, what steps is the Government taking to | :30:25. | :30:28. | |
monitor that? The cuts in corporation tax will result in | :30:29. | :30:33. | |
greater investment in this country, productivity growth is what will | :30:34. | :30:38. | |
drive a higher living standards. Let us remember it is this Government | :30:39. | :30:42. | |
that has brought in the national living wage and it is seeing very | :30:43. | :30:45. | |
large numbers of people seeing increase their wages and salaries. | :30:46. | :30:52. | |
Due to changes in personal independence changes, disabilities | :30:53. | :30:57. | |
are set to lose ?1 billion as the same time as corporation taxes being | :30:58. | :31:04. | |
cut. Is he comfortable with Pareto lose -- with prioritising big | :31:05. | :31:09. | |
business over disabled people? Let me make this point to the House and | :31:10. | :31:13. | |
to the honourable gentleman. The way this country is going to be | :31:14. | :31:17. | |
prosperous and can afford public services and afford support for the | :31:18. | :31:20. | |
most vulnerable is by a strong growing economy. Competitive | :31:21. | :31:24. | |
business taxes help us have that strong growing economy. Is my right | :31:25. | :31:32. | |
honourable friend aware that the Federation of Small Businesses has | :31:33. | :31:35. | |
said the decision to further low corporation tax to 70% is an | :31:36. | :31:39. | |
important statement of intent and will provide a boost to firms. Will | :31:40. | :31:44. | |
it further underpin the enterprising economy that we need? I agree with | :31:45. | :31:50. | |
my honourable friend and he is right to highlight the Commons. Reductions | :31:51. | :31:54. | |
in corporation tax will help small businesses and large businesses and | :31:55. | :31:58. | |
help drive a competitive and dynamic economy. Can he agree that it is | :31:59. | :32:04. | |
easy to trot out phrases like tax cuts that companies but it is vital | :32:05. | :32:08. | |
we have low corporation tax to attract investment in this country | :32:09. | :32:13. | |
and ensure we have jobs there and that the Chancellor has repetitively | :32:14. | :32:16. | |
encouraged companies to pass on tax cuts to workers where they should | :32:17. | :32:21. | |
go. He is absolutely right to highlight that point. All taxes are | :32:22. | :32:27. | |
ultimately paid by people in the end. Business taxes which discourage | :32:28. | :32:32. | |
investment discourages the economic growth we need in this country and | :32:33. | :32:36. | |
that growth is what this Government is determined to deliver. A general | :32:37. | :32:46. | |
anti-avoidance rule was considered by an independent study group. The | :32:47. | :32:51. | |
group of men -- the group recommended an anti-abuse will | :32:52. | :32:56. | |
because they felt strongly it would strengthen and comp at existing | :32:57. | :33:02. | |
tools available to HMRC. The Government introduced the wall in | :33:03. | :33:06. | |
2013 striking the right balance between protection against avoidance | :33:07. | :33:11. | |
and certainty for taxpayers. I thank the Minister but one way to put an | :33:12. | :33:16. | |
end to aggressive tax avoidance is through a general principle, | :33:17. | :33:21. | |
principle not a rule. There is a difference. You can find a way | :33:22. | :33:25. | |
around a rule but a principle isn't an easy matter to do that. Will the | :33:26. | :33:29. | |
Government back up their public statements about tackling aggressive | :33:30. | :33:33. | |
tax avoidance and legislate for a general principle of tax avoidance? | :33:34. | :33:38. | |
I will remind the honourable gentleman that the last Labour | :33:39. | :33:42. | |
Government balked at this issue and declined a general anti-abuse roll | :33:43. | :33:46. | |
or an anti-abuse principle because of fears and cert -- uncertainty. | :33:47. | :33:53. | |
Alongside the introduction of the anti-abuse rule we brought in | :33:54. | :33:56. | |
measures to deal with accelerated payments, measures to deal with | :33:57. | :34:02. | |
promoters, we have closed 40 tax loopholes and announced 25 in this | :34:03. | :34:06. | |
Parliament already. It is worth pointing out that avoidance is | :34:07. | :34:14. | |
coming down. We announced at the budget and extensive package for the | :34:15. | :34:18. | |
south-west that covers both rail and road. A new marine hub enterprise | :34:19. | :34:23. | |
zone in Cornwall, a ?4.5 million boost for ultrafast broadband across | :34:24. | :34:28. | |
the region and a 900 million devolution deal with the West of | :34:29. | :34:31. | |
England. The South West will also benefit from income tax cuts and | :34:32. | :34:34. | |
business rate reductions announced on the budget. One item that went | :34:35. | :34:40. | |
largely unnoticed in the budget was the ?90 million for community land | :34:41. | :34:45. | |
trust in the south-west to mitigate the impact on second home ownership. | :34:46. | :34:49. | |
How will that money be allocated and will he work with me and fellow | :34:50. | :34:54. | |
Conservative MPs in the south-west to ensure that money is put aside | :34:55. | :34:58. | |
for people to purchase plots and help working people get on? He is | :34:59. | :35:04. | |
right that we will be releasing 90 million for community led housing in | :35:05. | :35:07. | |
the south-west and I look forward to discussing with him how we might | :35:08. | :35:12. | |
best do that. We are introducing a new right to build and reforms to | :35:13. | :35:17. | |
planning which will also boost the custom build sector in Cornwall and | :35:18. | :35:23. | |
beyond. What my right honourable friend agree with me that the past | :35:24. | :35:27. | |
Labour Government under funded infrastructure projects in the | :35:28. | :35:31. | |
south-west resulting in lower productivity from this region and | :35:32. | :35:34. | |
hence less of a contribution to the national economy then we should have | :35:35. | :35:38. | |
had? It is this Government which is turning this around with its huge | :35:39. | :35:43. | |
?7.6 billion commitment to infrastructure and connectivity. He | :35:44. | :35:50. | |
has two focus on what this Government is doing. I welcome the | :35:51. | :35:56. | |
opportunity to say something about what this Government is doing in | :35:57. | :35:59. | |
relation to infrastructure in the south-west. We have 35 projects in | :36:00. | :36:03. | |
the infrastructure pipeline in south-west with a value of billion. | :36:04. | :36:11. | |
We announced improvements to exodus and David station, | :36:12. | :36:15. | |
Weston-Super-Mare, community housing and also a fund for more roads and | :36:16. | :36:20. | |
better roads in their south-west as well. We are continuing our support | :36:21. | :36:31. | |
the solar keeping the small-scale feed in tariffs open beyond January | :36:32. | :36:35. | |
20 16th setting tariffs on a path to help transition the industry to a | :36:36. | :36:42. | |
sustainable subsidy for the future. Given the EU's reformed action plan | :36:43. | :36:47. | |
will give Government discretion in applying rates of VAT including on | :36:48. | :36:54. | |
solar power, will he today confirm categorically to solar installation | :36:55. | :36:57. | |
at the UK has officially and permanently dropped the proposal to | :36:58. | :37:03. | |
hike seven of VAT to 20%? The reduced rate of VAT remains in place | :37:04. | :37:08. | |
on all 11 of the 11 categories in which it was in place on | :37:09. | :37:11. | |
energy-saving materials before. Following a decision by the European | :37:12. | :37:16. | |
Court we have been consulting with parties on this issue and given the | :37:17. | :37:20. | |
complexities, we are still considering those responses. Will he | :37:21. | :37:28. | |
agree that about 90% or more of the solar energy available in Britain | :37:29. | :37:32. | |
has been put in place under this Government and does he agree with me | :37:33. | :37:36. | |
that for us to have intermittent renewable power used as a steady | :37:37. | :37:41. | |
caseload, the investment the Government is supporting in that we | :37:42. | :37:49. | |
technology is key? He is right on multiple counts. Solar has been a | :37:50. | :37:59. | |
British success story. He is also correct that the development of | :38:00. | :38:03. | |
battery technology is incredibly important for the future development | :38:04. | :38:05. | |
of this technology here and elsewhere. I welcome the | :38:06. | :38:13. | |
environmental audit committee's report that found that membership of | :38:14. | :38:17. | |
the European Union has been overwhelmingly positive for the UK's | :38:18. | :38:21. | |
environment. He will be aware our committee is conducting an enquiry | :38:22. | :38:27. | |
into the Treasury's approach to sustainable environment and can he | :38:28. | :38:33. | |
encouraged -- encourage the chance to look at the approach to solar | :38:34. | :38:39. | |
power offshore wind, waste and recycling policies? I look forward | :38:40. | :38:44. | |
to reading her committee's report. The Treasury takes a balanced | :38:45. | :38:47. | |
approach making sure we stay on target to meet our commitments and | :38:48. | :38:52. | |
we are on target to meet our commitment of 15% renewable energy | :38:53. | :38:57. | |
by 2020 but we must do so in a golf -- in a cost effective way and make | :38:58. | :39:02. | |
sure the substance can only be paid for by taxpayers. When the minister | :39:03. | :39:06. | |
join me in congratulating the UK solar power industry for being one | :39:07. | :39:10. | |
of the top ten in the world? Larger than Australia and smaller than | :39:11. | :39:12. | |
Spain despite a rather less advantageous climate? Under labour | :39:13. | :39:23. | |
we had the highest dependency on fossil fuels in the G8 and the | :39:24. | :39:26. | |
lowest contribution from renewable energy of a net -- of any major | :39:27. | :39:32. | |
country. The deportment -- the deployment of solar power has been a | :39:33. | :39:37. | |
great success story. One of the big things that this Government can do | :39:38. | :39:41. | |
to help solar is when it comes to storage not to double charge when it | :39:42. | :39:51. | |
is getting a put back into the grid. A stroke of a pen would make a huge | :39:52. | :40:01. | |
difference. Bit tariffs are designed to make sure there is a reasonable | :40:02. | :40:04. | |
and appropriate return that goes to investors. They have to be adjusted | :40:05. | :40:10. | |
periodically. One of the great parts of the success stories of solar is | :40:11. | :40:13. | |
the costs have come down by two thirds since 2010. According to the | :40:14. | :40:21. | |
solar trade association, the Government will be spending 1% of | :40:22. | :40:26. | |
new expenditure under the levy control frameworks supporting solar | :40:27. | :40:30. | |
power yet mainstream analysts expect solar power to dominate future | :40:31. | :40:35. | |
energy supply. With this in mind will the Chancellor promised to do | :40:36. | :40:39. | |
much more to ensure that Britain becomes a market leader in this | :40:40. | :40:43. | |
industry or do week let China take the lead yet again? Britain does | :40:44. | :40:50. | |
have a leadership position in this industry but we need a balance. We | :40:51. | :40:54. | |
need a portfolio of energy sources and we need to recognise the | :40:55. | :40:57. | |
importance of baseload power. That is why they -- the development in | :40:58. | :41:09. | |
new nuclear is also important. The Government fully supports expanding | :41:10. | :41:12. | |
the UK's trade relationship with Iran. The Treasury is actively | :41:13. | :41:17. | |
liaising with UK banks and industry bodies to understand concerns and | :41:18. | :41:20. | |
help re-establish financial channels between the UK and Iran. Despite the | :41:21. | :41:28. | |
improvements relations between the British and Iranian governments | :41:29. | :41:31. | |
coming UK businesses still face significant barriers to complete a | :41:32. | :41:36. | |
legitimate banking transactions for trade purposes. But the minister | :41:37. | :41:40. | |
look at what more can be done to help facilitate financial | :41:41. | :41:43. | |
transactions between the UK and Iranian banks so that UK economy can | :41:44. | :41:46. | |
benefit from this new market? It is challenging in terms of the | :41:47. | :41:59. | |
payment channels because of payment channels, because the US still has | :42:00. | :42:03. | |
sanctions in place. We have been speaking to banks and liaising with | :42:04. | :42:10. | |
the US authorities to push for clarity for UK banks, some banks | :42:11. | :42:15. | |
have a more extensive US business than others and it might be worth | :42:16. | :42:22. | |
companies in her constituency and elsewhere to consider switching | :42:23. | :42:26. | |
banks with less exposure in the United States. Given the | :42:27. | :42:31. | |
opportunities for British businesses in Iran as a result of relaxation of | :42:32. | :42:37. | |
sanctions, could the Treasury have a word with our friends the Americans | :42:38. | :42:44. | |
to make sure that they don't use their banking regulations to seek to | :42:45. | :42:49. | |
prevent some of the commercial deals which may flow to British companies | :42:50. | :42:53. | |
as a result of the relaxation of sanctions? My honourable friend is | :42:54. | :42:59. | |
right to highlight one of the key issues here and I can assure him | :43:00. | :43:04. | |
that we are working at all levels in terms of discussions with the US | :43:05. | :43:10. | |
authorities in terms of how we can ensure that British companies | :43:11. | :43:16. | |
selling to Iran are able to put that money into UK bank accounts. | :43:17. | :43:29. | |
Question 14. It is export week and I can announce that UK export fms has | :43:30. | :43:35. | |
provided over ?15 billion of support to exporters since 2010 and UK TI | :43:36. | :43:42. | |
has more than doubled the number of businesses it helps to over 54,000. | :43:43. | :43:48. | |
The UK industrial production and manufacturing output suffered falls | :43:49. | :43:53. | |
in February and remained well below the levels of 2008 and the ONS | :43:54. | :44:04. | |
reported that house prices in London had reached 524,000. Out of reach to | :44:05. | :44:11. | |
all but those on six figure salaries or those who benefitted from | :44:12. | :44:17. | |
inheritance. One of my constituents is going to see the Britain and the | :44:18. | :44:25. | |
economy rebalanced to the north of England like was promised? I would | :44:26. | :44:30. | |
like to encourage the honourable lady to seek an adjournment debate | :44:31. | :44:35. | |
to elaborate on her question. She will welcome the fact and her | :44:36. | :44:42. | |
constituency will welcome that employment in the north-west is at | :44:43. | :44:47. | |
the highest level on record and over 89,000 businesses in the north-west | :44:48. | :44:53. | |
will not be paying business rates and that 360,000 in the north-west | :44:54. | :44:59. | |
will benefit from the living wage. Thank you, British exports to China | :45:00. | :45:06. | |
have more than doubled since 2010, led by manufacturing, will the | :45:07. | :45:12. | |
minister congratulate those businesses and encourage others to | :45:13. | :45:16. | |
follow their lead? It is wonderful to hear during export week about the | :45:17. | :45:23. | |
work Eck porting -- exporting. It is a priority of the government to | :45:24. | :45:29. | |
continues to encourage more firms to export and we aim to have another | :45:30. | :45:33. | |
100,000 businesses export over the life of this Parliament. The current | :45:34. | :45:39. | |
account deficit is at a post war high of more than 35% of GDP. 44% of | :45:40. | :45:46. | |
our exports go to EU, it took Canada seven years to negotiate a free | :45:47. | :45:51. | |
trade agreement with the EU, would the minister agree that the last | :45:52. | :45:54. | |
thing that exporters need and the last thing that the one in ten jobs | :45:55. | :45:59. | |
that depends on exports to the EU need is the uncertainty that this | :46:00. | :46:06. | |
referendum is bringing and that Brexit would bring? Last time I | :46:07. | :46:10. | |
looked I thought it was Labour policy to have this referendum. But | :46:11. | :46:15. | |
I do agree with the honourable lady it is important that she and others | :46:16. | :46:19. | |
get out the message of the importance to exports and | :46:20. | :46:23. | |
manufacturing of the UK's membership of the single market and I shall be | :46:24. | :46:28. | |
voting in the same way as her on 23rd June. Topical questions. | :46:29. | :46:36. | |
Question No 1. The core purpose is to ensure stability and prosperity | :46:37. | :46:48. | |
of the economy. The inno have ative claims organisation has received a | :46:49. | :46:53. | |
gold investor in people award and began in a bedroom a few years ago | :46:54. | :46:59. | |
and now employs 300 people, would my honourable friend agree that not | :47:00. | :47:04. | |
only is Taunton Dean an excellent place to do business, but the whole | :47:05. | :47:09. | |
of the wider South West thanks to the infrastructure and connectivity | :47:10. | :47:12. | |
injection this Government is giving it? Well, let me join her in | :47:13. | :47:20. | |
congratulating the group on this award and I'm glad they're being | :47:21. | :47:24. | |
recognised. She is right that Taunton and the whole of South West | :47:25. | :47:28. | |
is a great place to do business. We are investing huge sums in the roads | :47:29. | :47:32. | |
and railways, broad band and housing. Without her I don't think | :47:33. | :47:37. | |
we would be having the upgrade of the roads and there is a lesson when | :47:38. | :47:42. | |
the South West votes blue, the voice of the South West is heard in | :47:43. | :47:53. | |
Parliament. Isn't just over tax that people are concerned about the | :47:54. | :47:57. | |
behaviour of the superrich. Will the Chancellor welcome the action taken | :47:58. | :48:03. | |
by shareholders at BP against excessive pay awards. The chief | :48:04. | :48:15. | |
executives pay at FTSE 100 companies has risen to 150 time that of | :48:16. | :48:22. | |
employees. Will he tackle the renumeration bracket where an old | :48:23. | :48:28. | |
boys network seems to operate and will he support the widening of | :48:29. | :48:35. | |
shareholder and employee representation on committees? It is | :48:36. | :48:41. | |
right that companies and the shareholders who own them think | :48:42. | :48:46. | |
about their pay policy, act responsibly and don't pay excessive | :48:47. | :48:50. | |
amounts to chief executives who don't deserve it. It is this | :48:51. | :48:54. | |
government that introduced those shareholders votes. They didn't | :48:55. | :48:58. | |
exist under previous Labour governments. So I'm glad that | :48:59. | :49:02. | |
shareholders are using the opportunity we have given them. I | :49:03. | :49:06. | |
don't think if what he is hinting at we should put trade unions on | :49:07. | :49:10. | |
company boards, but I do agree that we should make sure that | :49:11. | :49:13. | |
shareholders use all the tools available to them. Would the | :49:14. | :49:18. | |
Chancellor update the House on discussions we has had for a city | :49:19. | :49:27. | |
deal for Swansea bay and what he can do to help jobs in south west Wales. | :49:28. | :49:36. | |
First, we are now in conversation with Swansea about what we can do | :49:37. | :49:41. | |
for the city deal and we are aware we need to help the steel workers in | :49:42. | :49:49. | |
Port Talbot and we are working to sell the site and helping those who | :49:50. | :49:55. | |
have been made redundant and we are looking at the Tidal Bay scheme and | :49:56. | :49:59. | |
whether we can make that fly as well. Announcements by the House of | :50:00. | :50:08. | |
Commons library shows that cumulatively 86% of savings between | :50:09. | :50:12. | |
2010 and 20 will have come from women's pockets. What has the | :50:13. | :50:20. | |
Chancellor got against women? The analysis from the House of Commons | :50:21. | :50:25. | |
library is fundamentally flawed. First of all it assumes that every | :50:26. | :50:30. | |
pound of government borrowing benefits people. And it also doesn't | :50:31. | :50:37. | |
highlight the fact that it is higher rate taxpaying women like myself who | :50:38. | :50:41. | |
have had their child benefit ended, who form the largest part of that. | :50:42. | :50:48. | |
Is she arguing that her party want to reinstate child benefit for | :50:49. | :50:56. | |
higher late taxpayers? Last year I held a business breakfast where, the | :50:57. | :51:00. | |
level of business rate was the biggest issue. My constituents are | :51:01. | :51:04. | |
delighted with the Chancellor's doubling of small business rate | :51:05. | :51:08. | |
relief. Could my honourable friend said what else the Government can do | :51:09. | :51:13. | |
to support small businesses to ensure they invest for growth? Small | :51:14. | :51:18. | |
businesses are fundamental to the economy and to job creation. That is | :51:19. | :51:23. | |
why we had such a big package to help ease the burden of business | :51:24. | :51:27. | |
rates and reduced corporation tax, which is paid by small companies in | :51:28. | :51:36. | |
profit and it is the case that we have increased the investment amount | :51:37. | :51:40. | |
and to help them with the brd of national living wage, we have | :51:41. | :51:43. | |
increased the employment allowance to employ four people on the the | :51:44. | :51:49. | |
national living wage and pay no national insurance. The papers | :51:50. | :51:55. | |
unearthed revelations, with the relationship between tax and | :51:56. | :52:01. | |
landownership. What steps is the government taking to ensure | :52:02. | :52:06. | |
transparency of landownership across the UK? This Government is bringing | :52:07. | :52:12. | |
in a register so we will know the beneficial ownership of people who | :52:13. | :52:17. | |
hold property or structures of old property in the country. That is | :52:18. | :52:21. | |
something we have not had before and we are making progress. At the | :52:22. | :52:25. | |
budget the Chancellor outlined measures to bring in around ?12 | :52:26. | :52:34. | |
billion from measures against tax avoidance, from the measures since, | :52:35. | :52:38. | |
what more does he expect to bring in? The OBR assesses and puts on the | :52:39. | :52:46. | |
score card the estimated revenue we will raise, it is around and extra | :52:47. | :52:51. | |
billion a year from the measures in the budget and in last year's budget | :52:52. | :52:57. | |
we had ?5 billion worth of measures to raise money from clamping down on | :52:58. | :53:05. | |
aggressive tax avoidance. But the fight continues. Following reports | :53:06. | :53:13. | |
in this morning's daily mail that energy firms overcharged customers, | :53:14. | :53:18. | |
does the Chancellor agree that Treasury cuts for building new | :53:19. | :53:24. | |
renewable energy was another bad idea? Well, as we covered, the | :53:25. | :53:33. | |
tariff system which is in place to encourage renewable energy has to | :53:34. | :53:39. | |
deliver a balanced portfolio of energy. We encourage firms to pass | :53:40. | :53:50. | |
on price cuts to customers. All 31 local firms who reached the final of | :53:51. | :53:55. | |
the small business award will benefit from the corporation tax cut | :53:56. | :53:59. | |
and will the Government support small businesses across the country. | :54:00. | :54:06. | |
I join my honourable friend who is a voice for that area and | :54:07. | :54:09. | |
congratulating the businesses in the area. We are helping them with | :54:10. | :54:13. | |
improvements to roads and infrastructure in the area. | :54:14. | :54:19. | |
Ministers will have heard concerns of small businesses about the | :54:20. | :54:24. | |
changes to quarterly tax returns, what are they doing that this is in | :54:25. | :54:33. | |
place to monitor that and ensure it does not become burdensome to small | :54:34. | :54:38. | |
businesses. Let me be clear that we are not talking about quarterly tax | :54:39. | :54:42. | |
returns, this is about reporting and not about doing a full return and | :54:43. | :54:46. | |
the purpose of the changes is to reduce the burden on businesses. | :54:47. | :54:50. | |
This will start to be introduced in 2018, I hope that we will be setting | :54:51. | :54:54. | |
out fourth information about the plans in the coming weeks. But the | :54:55. | :54:58. | |
intention is to ensure that we reduce the tax gap, but also help | :54:59. | :55:02. | |
businesses comply with the tax system. I would like to thank the | :55:03. | :55:11. | |
Chancellor for their good humour in dealing with with me. I will move a | :55:12. | :55:17. | |
new clause to the Bank of England Bill. Will the government accept now | :55:18. | :55:24. | |
clause 9? It is right that betake action against money laundering and | :55:25. | :55:28. | |
that needs to be done internationally. We should focus our | :55:29. | :55:33. | |
resources and the force of law where the risks are greatest. I have been | :55:34. | :55:37. | |
concerned that the banks are at risk of going too far and being | :55:38. | :55:46. | |
disproportion Nate. And I have written to the chief executives of | :55:47. | :55:52. | |
banks, but my honourable friend has worked with us and tabled an | :55:53. | :55:56. | |
amendment and we are happy to accept that amendment, because we are | :55:57. | :56:05. | |
trying to achieve the same goal. The Public Accounts Committee report | :56:06. | :56:10. | |
highlight of the ?16 billion of the tax gap that is tax fraud, the money | :56:11. | :56:15. | |
brought into the Treasury for that stayed static at 3% of total tax | :56:16. | :56:20. | |
liabilities. Does he think that there is more to be done here and | :56:21. | :56:26. | |
given the 35 individuals being investigated would increase to 100 | :56:27. | :56:30. | |
by 2020, does that demonstrate there is a combap of opportunity that the | :56:31. | :56:32. | |
Chancellor has missed? We are taking strong action on tax | :56:33. | :56:46. | |
evasion is. There is 90 investigations in terms of offshore | :56:47. | :56:52. | |
tax evasion ongoing the moment. We announced last summer and additional | :56:53. | :56:55. | |
?800 million going into HMRC to support the activity that they are | :56:56. | :57:02. | |
undertaking. We are getting access to the common reporting standard and | :57:03. | :57:06. | |
registers of beneficial interest much more information that we can | :57:07. | :57:16. | |
take on. Many have gone out of the Chamber and there is a lack of | :57:17. | :57:24. | |
stamina. I welcome the funding consultation and I want as the | :57:25. | :57:27. | |
Chancellor when taking into account the figures for the growth in people | :57:28. | :57:31. | |
numbers will he be taking into account the actual numbers for the | :57:32. | :57:34. | |
new school year is not the previous school year to ensure we have a | :57:35. | :57:40. | |
truly fair formula? The National funding formula will look at | :57:41. | :57:44. | |
historical unfairness. School budgets will be set on the pupil | :57:45. | :57:51. | |
sensors giving schools the certainty they need. The consultation also | :57:52. | :57:56. | |
proposes to include a new factor to recognise in year growth targeting | :57:57. | :57:59. | |
funding to schools with significant increases in pupil numbers. Nobody | :58:00. | :58:05. | |
has accused me of lack of stamina yet but am I right and accurate in | :58:06. | :58:14. | |
my assessment that Labour funds can only -- can only be used for | :58:15. | :58:19. | |
charitable purposes and not to Government departments? I think the | :58:20. | :58:23. | |
question is in relation about the air ambulance Northern Ireland. We | :58:24. | :58:28. | |
are working with both the charity and the Northern Ireland executive | :58:29. | :58:32. | |
in terms of how the funds are delivered. They will be going to the | :58:33. | :58:39. | |
air ambulance charity and I know he welcomed this. In his document | :58:40. | :58:45. | |
published yesterday, the Chancellor pose the question, is a national | :58:46. | :58:48. | |
security best served by retreating from the world? I hope he's not | :58:49. | :58:53. | |
foolish to suggest that those that wish the UK to leave the EU was to | :58:54. | :58:57. | |
retreat from the world because the truth is far from that. We want the | :58:58. | :59:03. | |
UK to break free from the shackles of the EU and its superstate and | :59:04. | :59:07. | |
embrace the exciting world out there which befits the world's fifth | :59:08. | :59:13. | |
largest economy, a nuclear power and a permanent member of the United | :59:14. | :59:18. | |
Nations Security Council. I respect his views and we are having a | :59:19. | :59:23. | |
referendum and his boat and my vote count equally. Our membership of the | :59:24. | :59:29. | |
European Union does enhance our national-security and that is a | :59:30. | :59:33. | |
point made by the Secretary General of Nato last week. I would observe | :59:34. | :59:38. | |
that not a single one of this country's allies or friends abroad | :59:39. | :59:41. | |
are recommending that we leave the EU. A number of people sleeping | :59:42. | :59:51. | |
rough on our streets -- the number of people sleeping rough on our | :59:52. | :59:55. | |
streets has doubled. It is a shocking indictment on society as a | :59:56. | :00:02. | |
whole. Will the Chancellor now step in and intervene in the shambles | :00:03. | :00:07. | |
that is the Housing Bill and make sure that the support for homeless | :00:08. | :00:12. | |
people in terms of hostels and specialist accommodation is | :00:13. | :00:17. | |
protected? We in the budget provided over ?100 million extra to help with | :00:18. | :00:23. | |
the problem of homelessness and the problem of rough sleeping and we | :00:24. | :00:29. | |
have provided money for the second stage as they believe hostels to | :00:30. | :00:31. | |
make sure they have secure accommodation to go to. I am happy | :00:32. | :00:36. | |
to listen to further representations or ideas he and any other member | :00:37. | :00:44. | |
has. The Treasury can't even get its forecasts on growth and the deficit | :00:45. | :00:50. | |
correct the next year. Doesn't the Chancellor realise that instructing | :00:51. | :00:54. | |
his officials to produce a report based on thoroughly tendentious | :00:55. | :00:59. | |
figures about what might or might not happen in the event of Grexit, | :01:00. | :01:05. | |
simply belittles the reputation of the Treasury for economic competence | :01:06. | :01:10. | |
and forecasting? Why doesn't he give us his vision compared to our vision | :01:11. | :01:15. | |
of a free people in a free parliament 's controlling our own | :01:16. | :01:18. | |
borders and leading the world towards free trade? Are positive | :01:19. | :01:25. | |
vision is that by being part of a reformed EU we can raise living | :01:26. | :01:30. | |
standards, create more jobs, make sure that consumers have access to | :01:31. | :01:36. | |
lower prices. We have set out a range of possibilities for the | :01:37. | :01:39. | |
alternative that might happen if Britain leads the EU. All of that | :01:40. | :01:42. | |
will make Britain permanently poorer but I would say that if he wants to | :01:43. | :01:50. | |
produce their own plan, their own analysis, be my guest. Bass with the | :01:51. | :01:57. | |
financial Secretary to the Treasury confirmed details obtained by Crown | :01:58. | :02:00. | |
dependencies and overseas territories shepherd the UK will not | :02:01. | :02:05. | |
be passed onto any tax jurisdictions. There is a real | :02:06. | :02:09. | |
chance the UK would be complicit in tax evasion. Will the Chancellor | :02:10. | :02:12. | |
review this to make sure taxes paid where it is due? It is the case that | :02:13. | :02:20. | |
the Crown dependencies and David -- overseas dependencies are ensuring | :02:21. | :02:26. | |
they have got beneficial interests. It is also the case that the UK's -- | :02:27. | :02:35. | |
the UK is cooperating with the bid jurisdictions. Public registers | :02:36. | :02:39. | |
should be the norm but before we get that point we will look at the | :02:40. | :02:43. | |
opportunities for those central registers and that information will | :02:44. | :02:52. | |
be shared to jurisdictions. I remember when the charger establish | :02:53. | :02:58. | |
the OBE are. I cannot think what could have changed. The dossier is | :02:59. | :03:10. | |
looking to breaking the manifesto. The competitions of his new policy | :03:11. | :03:15. | |
on mass migration in areas such as school places, housing, health and | :03:16. | :03:19. | |
transport are not explicit in the document. Why is that? We're having | :03:20. | :03:25. | |
a referendum and people will take different views on the prospects for | :03:26. | :03:29. | |
the UK going forward. The public want facts and information. We have | :03:30. | :03:34. | |
set out in the analysis produced by the Treasury what we think the | :03:35. | :03:38. | |
likely impact on the economy will be. That analysis has been supported | :03:39. | :03:42. | |
now by the London School of economics. It is giving a similar | :03:43. | :03:47. | |
message to the message given by the Bank of England about the economic | :03:48. | :03:52. | |
shock that will come if we leave and you have bodies like the | :03:53. | :03:54. | |
International Monetary Fund and others saying a similar thing. In | :03:55. | :03:58. | |
terms of the weight of evidence and the weight of opinion, it is clear | :03:59. | :04:02. | |
there have been economic prices if we left the EU. Some would regard | :04:03. | :04:06. | |
that as a price worth paying which is a respectable argument but not | :04:07. | :04:14. | |
one I agree with. We must now move on. Statement the Secretary of State | :04:15. | :04:20. | |
for Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Secretary Philip Hammond. With | :04:21. | :04:27. | |
permission I would like to update the House on the current situation | :04:28. | :04:31. | |
in Libya and what the Government is | :04:32. | :04:32. |