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GROANS FROM CROWD Order. | :00:22. | :00:29. | |
This government is clear that the broad shoulders of this United | :00:30. | :00:43. | |
Kingdom are 100% behind the oil and gas industry and the thousands of | :00:44. | :00:50. | |
families it supports. We have announced a wide-ranging fiscal | :00:51. | :00:56. | |
package. That was further expanded at the summer budget, to drive | :00:57. | :01:02. | |
investment. Oil and gas UK have highlighted that headline tax rates | :01:03. | :01:09. | |
of 50% or 67.5% for those companies being PRT are no longer sustainable, | :01:10. | :01:13. | |
as the UK CS enters a ever more mature phase, and the oil price | :01:14. | :01:19. | |
remains low offer longer, this needs to be reflected by changing | :01:20. | :01:21. | |
circumstances and be permanently reduced, will the government listen | :01:22. | :01:23. | |
to the industry, what fiscal support will they bring forward. In this she | :01:24. | :01:32. | |
is budget. In the driving investment paper, the government recognised the | :01:33. | :01:36. | |
need overtime to change the fiscal strategy, and that is why the scale | :01:37. | :01:40. | |
of what my right honourable friend was as it was at one point ?1.3 | :01:41. | :01:47. | |
billion, the recent delays, the headline tax reductions took effect | :01:48. | :01:51. | |
on the 1st of January this year. Can I just echo those points, the North | :01:52. | :01:56. | |
Sea oil and gas industry is facing very serious challenges, working | :01:57. | :01:59. | |
together with the industry and with the oil and gas authority, the | :02:00. | :02:03. | |
Treasury can help overcome these problems. Can I urge to be included | :02:04. | :02:09. | |
in the budget, tax cutting initiatives and support that build | :02:10. | :02:12. | |
on last year 's measures, and will help attract investment to this and | :02:13. | :02:17. | |
will ease the worries of many very worried people at this time. My | :02:18. | :02:23. | |
right honourable friend, intervening in this way, highlights that there | :02:24. | :02:26. | |
are so many jobs supported by the sector which are in England and in | :02:27. | :02:29. | |
Scotland, I commend the work that he has been doing with the new Anglian | :02:30. | :02:35. | |
supporting companies that have found themselves in difficulties, working | :02:36. | :02:42. | |
on skills, and I will assure him that we will continue working hard | :02:43. | :02:45. | |
with individual companies to see what can be done to support this | :02:46. | :02:53. | |
vital sector. In North Tyneside, oh GN has shed all of its 2000 jobs. | :02:54. | :02:59. | |
The company has been in touch with the government to ask the help. -- | :03:00. | :03:08. | |
OGN. It has heard nothing about the development of wind farms and help | :03:09. | :03:12. | |
that can be given. Will the Minister say whether there is going to be any | :03:13. | :03:16. | |
help? Will you meet with myself and representatives for the jobs? I | :03:17. | :03:20. | |
thank the honourable lady, I would be very happy to meet with her and | :03:21. | :03:24. | |
with that company to see what proposal they would put forward. | :03:25. | :03:30. | |
There is an application for shale gas exploration in my constituency | :03:31. | :03:33. | |
which may result in many millions of pounds in community benefits. Does | :03:34. | :03:37. | |
the Minister agree that those community benefits should go to | :03:38. | :03:41. | |
those communities most affected by developments? My right honourable | :03:42. | :03:47. | |
friend the Chancellor has said that the shale wealth fund could deliver | :03:48. | :03:53. | |
up to ?1 billion of benefits, this is in addition to the industry | :03:54. | :03:56. | |
scheme itself, my honourable friend is entirely right that it is | :03:57. | :04:00. | |
important that community see the benefits and have the reassurance of | :04:01. | :04:04. | |
additionality. Doctor Roberta Blackman Woods. With your permission | :04:05. | :04:10. | |
I would like to answer this question together with question number 12, my | :04:11. | :04:14. | |
responsibility as Chancellor is for jobs, livelihoods and living | :04:15. | :04:17. | |
standards, it is clear to me that a UK exit from the EU would be a long, | :04:18. | :04:21. | |
costly and messy divorce, that would hurt all of those things. We have | :04:22. | :04:26. | |
already seen sterling fall and HSBC yesterday predicted a further 15 to | :04:27. | :04:31. | |
20% slump in the event of a vote to leave, the finance ministers, | :04:32. | :04:36. | |
central-bank governors, concluded at the weekend that British exit would | :04:37. | :04:39. | |
cause an economic shock, not just of UK but Europe and the world, what's | :04:40. | :04:45. | |
people are asking for in this referendum is a serious, sober and | :04:46. | :04:47. | |
principled assessment from the government setting out the facts, I | :04:48. | :04:51. | |
can announce today that the Treasury will publish before the 23rd of June | :04:52. | :04:55. | |
combines analysis of membership of a reformed EU, and the alternative, | :04:56. | :05:00. | |
which will include the long-term economic costs and benefits of EU | :05:01. | :05:04. | |
membership and the risks associated with an exit. Given that up to | :05:05. | :05:13. | |
140,000 jobs in the North East region export rely upon membership | :05:14. | :05:16. | |
of the European Union, does the Chancellor agree with me and the | :05:17. | :05:20. | |
majority of the Northeast of commerce members who say that an | :05:21. | :05:25. | |
exit from the would be extremely damaging for north-east economic | :05:26. | :05:32. | |
growth, and regeneration. I do agree with both the honourable member and | :05:33. | :05:35. | |
the businesses in the north-east, of course, the north-east has thrived | :05:36. | :05:40. | |
by a attracting big inward investment into car manufacturing | :05:41. | :05:44. | |
and train manufacturing, most recently, at Newton Aycliffe, one of | :05:45. | :05:48. | |
the things that those who are advocating exit from the year must | :05:49. | :05:52. | |
answer is, what is the alternative arrangement, what is the alternative | :05:53. | :05:56. | |
arrangement for a large car factory in the north-east of England, could | :05:57. | :06:00. | |
it export cars into mainland Europe without tariffs? It is not obvious | :06:01. | :06:04. | |
that you can do that without paying towards the EU budget, and accepting | :06:05. | :06:10. | |
free movement of people. Will the UK steel industry have a brighter | :06:11. | :06:15. | |
future if we remain in the EU or if we leave the EU? I believe that the | :06:16. | :06:20. | |
best way to help the UK steel industry is to take action at home, | :06:21. | :06:24. | |
and through being part of a large economic bloc, in other words, the | :06:25. | :06:28. | |
European Union, raise concerns with Chinese steel dumping, and frankly, | :06:29. | :06:32. | |
our voice will be amplified as part of the EU when we make that argument | :06:33. | :06:37. | |
with China, then if we were just making that argument alone. In the | :06:38. | :06:42. | |
event of a no vote, the government has committed itself to triggering | :06:43. | :06:47. | |
article 50 straightaway. I cannot see the point of that, why doesn't | :06:48. | :06:54. | |
the government give some time between the no vote and the | :06:55. | :06:59. | |
triggering of article 52 unable a discussion to take place with | :07:00. | :07:01. | |
counterparties, and see the extent to which good faith can be | :07:02. | :07:06. | |
established with the countries of the European Union. It seems | :07:07. | :07:10. | |
illogical to restrict ourselves in that way. It is not illogical that | :07:11. | :07:17. | |
if the country votes to leave, then we leave the European Union. That is | :07:18. | :07:21. | |
the choice for all of the people of the country. The only available | :07:22. | :07:26. | |
mechanism is the triggering of article 50, that puts a two-year | :07:27. | :07:29. | |
time-limit, of course we would try to negotiate in good faith, and | :07:30. | :07:34. | |
extension can be achieved, but only with the consent of 27 other | :07:35. | :07:39. | |
nations, people must be aware, there will not be to referendums, this is | :07:40. | :07:43. | |
decision day on the 23rd of June, people need to choose, voting to | :07:44. | :07:48. | |
remain in the EU is the best outcome for the economic and national | :07:49. | :07:53. | |
security. Isn't it extraordinary that the Chancellor asked the G20 to | :07:54. | :07:58. | |
make that statement and he made the request to them in order that they | :07:59. | :08:02. | |
could tee up this element of Project fear. The idea that the US Treasury | :08:03. | :08:08. | |
Secretary, the head of the IMF, indeed, the central bank governor of | :08:09. | :08:13. | |
China dances to a British tune, I'm afraid, is a bit fanciful. The | :08:14. | :08:18. | |
central-bank governors, and the finance ministers of the G20 are | :08:19. | :08:24. | |
saying what frankly every major independent economic institution is | :08:25. | :08:28. | |
saying, which is that a British exit would both cause an immediate | :08:29. | :08:33. | |
economic shock, and have longer economic costs. Frankly, many of the | :08:34. | :08:38. | |
people advocating exit, I totally understand why they want to do that, | :08:39. | :08:43. | |
but they accent that there is a short-term and long-term economic | :08:44. | :08:46. | |
cost, intensely, and I think that we should have that on the table, that | :08:47. | :08:50. | |
is what the Treasury will produce this analysis. Despite the recent | :08:51. | :08:57. | |
gulag debacle, does that Chancellor agree that the UK membership of the | :08:58. | :08:59. | |
European Union should make it easier to clamp down on immoral tax | :09:00. | :09:03. | |
avoidance by multinational companies? I know that Russia today | :09:04. | :09:12. | |
is the favourite channel of the Labour leadership... LAUGHTER | :09:13. | :09:20. | |
These are Treasury questions(!) what we are raising at the European | :09:21. | :09:23. | |
Union, and this is another example of where being part of a bigger club | :09:24. | :09:28. | |
helps, is precisely trying to get a pan-European agreement to country by | :09:29. | :09:35. | |
country public reporting so that we can see what multinational companies | :09:36. | :09:37. | |
are paying in different countries. -- Russia Today. Our ability to | :09:38. | :09:41. | |
achieve that is amplified by being part of the EU. Jacob Rees Mogg. In | :09:42. | :09:49. | |
my right honourable friend 's rather apocalyptic view of the European | :09:50. | :09:52. | |
Union, if that is correct, was it not both either irresponsible or | :09:53. | :09:58. | |
inaccurate of the priming astir to say that he ruled nothing out prior | :09:59. | :10:01. | |
to the completion of the most unsatisfactory renegotiation. -- | :10:02. | :10:08. | |
friend's. We have secured a renegotiation which I think | :10:09. | :10:10. | |
addresses the principal British concerns about our membership of the | :10:11. | :10:15. | |
European Union. Now we can advocate membership of the reform EU, we will | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
be stronger, safer and better off in the European Union. Between 2007 and | :10:21. | :10:26. | |
2013, over 8000 businesses in the North West were able to start access | :10:27. | :10:32. | |
to EU funding, we welcome the Chancellor's comments this morning | :10:33. | :10:34. | |
about the analysis that he will put forward before the 23rd of June, | :10:35. | :10:37. | |
will that include specific detail on the impact of leaving BA you on the | :10:38. | :10:44. | |
economy to the Northwest? I am happy to take on board her request for | :10:45. | :10:48. | |
more information about what the impact of exit would have on the | :10:49. | :10:52. | |
north-west of England. I am a north-west MP. -- leaving the EU. I | :10:53. | :10:58. | |
know that there is a lot of businesses which have access to the | :10:59. | :11:01. | |
free trade single market, largest market in the world, all of the | :11:02. | :11:04. | |
alternatives on offer, whether you go for Norway, Switzerland, Canada, | :11:05. | :11:08. | |
the WTO, all of these different approaches, and of course, those who | :11:09. | :11:12. | |
advocate withdrawal have not been able to set along one, all of them | :11:13. | :11:16. | |
involve some kind of barrier to entry, or, you have to pay into the | :11:17. | :11:21. | |
EU budget, as Norway does, and accept free movement of people, | :11:22. | :11:24. | |
which is one of their complaints about membership. Examining the | :11:25. | :11:27. | |
alternatives which we will do in the coming days will throw a spotlight | :11:28. | :11:29. | |
on the choice facing the country. Should the British people decide to | :11:30. | :11:40. | |
vote to leave on June 23, what arguments would you deploy on June | :11:41. | :11:46. | |
24 two attract those investors wishing to invest in Europe, what | :11:47. | :11:52. | |
arguments in favour of the UK rather than other countries in Europe? I | :11:53. | :11:58. | |
will always fight and this Government will always fight for the | :11:59. | :12:01. | |
best interests for the United Kingdom and we will do whatever we | :12:02. | :12:05. | |
can in response to the verdict of the people. But the recommendation | :12:06. | :12:09. | |
of the British Government and my recommendation is we are better off | :12:10. | :12:15. | |
in the reformed EU. The point I make is this, of course we will have to | :12:16. | :12:19. | |
handle the situation if the British people choose to exit and I would | :12:20. | :12:23. | |
always stress we are a great country to invest in but I think that | :12:24. | :12:29. | |
argument we are weaker if we are not in the EU. We must attend to the | :12:30. | :12:35. | |
questions and in a timely way because this is desperately slow. We | :12:36. | :12:39. | |
can do desperate -- better than that, one would hope. Would there | :12:40. | :12:46. | |
not be a double whammy? The risk of depreciation leading to high | :12:47. | :12:50. | |
inflation and interest rates. And any motion exporters will benefit | :12:51. | :12:55. | |
from a cheaper pound is more than offset by additional tariff barriers | :12:56. | :12:59. | |
those firms will encounter worldwide. I think the honourable | :13:00. | :13:06. | |
gentleman, the former Shadow Chancellor, is right to point to | :13:07. | :13:10. | |
both the immediate economic shock which I think it's generally | :13:11. | :13:14. | |
accepted. Even those advocating withdrawal for honourable reasons | :13:15. | :13:18. | |
would accept there is an immediate economic dislocation, and longer | :13:19. | :13:23. | |
term costs. But if you say the Bretton to make this leap in the | :13:24. | :13:28. | |
dark, what is the Trinity? -- to Britain. How do you assure the | :13:29. | :13:32. | |
company fracture in the North East of England they will have no | :13:33. | :13:38. | |
tariffs? These are the questions for this big national debate. Those who | :13:39. | :13:44. | |
wish to state in the European Union say we are an insignificant and | :13:45. | :13:48. | |
small economy but on the other hand, if we leave the European Union, it | :13:49. | :13:53. | |
would cause an economic meltdown around the world. They both cannot | :13:54. | :13:59. | |
be true, Chancellor. Our argument is that we will be stronger, better off | :14:00. | :14:06. | |
inside a European Union. That is the sort of positive choices we face as | :14:07. | :14:10. | |
a country and I do not think this is the right time. I do not think we | :14:11. | :14:15. | |
should leave the EU but even those who contemplate it should think | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
about this. With the economic situation the world faces, with the | :14:21. | :14:25. | |
geopolitical situation in Europe with Putin on our doorstep and the | :14:26. | :14:29. | |
crisis in the Middle East, is this the right moment to leave? My strong | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
advice and the advice of the British Cabinet and British Government is we | :14:35. | :14:38. | |
remain in this reformed EU. The Scottish First Minister Nicola | :14:39. | :14:43. | |
Sturgeon was in London yesterday but making the case for the UK to remain | :14:44. | :14:52. | |
in the EU. It supports 300,000 jobs in Scotland and 3 million in the UK. | :14:53. | :14:57. | |
Can I ask the Chancellor to agree that in terms of EU membership, | :14:58. | :15:00. | |
trade deals will be easier to agree as a block, harmonised regulation | :15:01. | :15:06. | |
helps businesses to export and notwithstanding there are always | :15:07. | :15:09. | |
improvements to be made, being a member of the EU edifice consumers | :15:10. | :15:17. | |
as well? -- benefits. Scotland benefits from both being part of the | :15:18. | :15:22. | |
United Kingdom and part of the European Union. And he is right to | :15:23. | :15:26. | |
highlight the fact EU agreements on things like air travel and mobile | :15:27. | :15:29. | |
phone chargers have reduced costs for consumers. It is also the case a | :15:30. | :15:35. | |
depreciation in Stirling leads to increased inflation. In terms of | :15:36. | :15:43. | |
free trade, free movement which we think is a boom and the projections | :15:44. | :15:49. | |
in terms of the environment, social interaction and employment rights. | :15:50. | :15:54. | |
These are substantial achievements of the European Union. To be | :15:55. | :15:59. | |
celebrated and not renounced. That is the positive case we are making. | :16:00. | :16:03. | |
Can I ask the Chancellor and the Prime Minister to make a positive | :16:04. | :16:09. | |
case because the inner campaign does not have a 20 point lead to squander | :16:10. | :16:18. | |
with a negative campaign. I am making the positive case we would be | :16:19. | :16:22. | |
stronger, safer and better. Those are positive outcomes. And there | :16:23. | :16:28. | |
are? Over the alternatives and we do not know what the leap in the dark | :16:29. | :16:31. | |
would entail and that is reasonable to point out. I want to do this in a | :16:32. | :16:37. | |
positive way and that is a healthy debate. I take the Ronald Reagan | :16:38. | :16:43. | |
11th Commandment, I will not speak ill of a Conservative! Mr Speaker... | :16:44. | :16:53. | |
The national living wage will mean a full-time minimum wage and it will | :16:54. | :17:01. | |
earn over ?4000 more by 2020 in monetary terms, a rise of more than | :17:02. | :17:04. | |
34% due to the ripple effects on those on higher incomes up to 6 | :17:05. | :17:09. | |
million workers will benefit, the national living wage will drive | :17:10. | :17:14. | |
productivity, make sure work pays. Progressive and fair and I am proud | :17:15. | :17:18. | |
it is being introduced by a Conservative government. I thank him | :17:19. | :17:23. | |
for his response. I am delighted the national living wage comes into | :17:24. | :17:27. | |
force from April the 1st Southampton has a number of low paid workers | :17:28. | :17:34. | |
which this policy addresses. What assurances can he make to my | :17:35. | :17:38. | |
constituents their jobs will be protected as a consequence of this | :17:39. | :17:41. | |
wage rise and a stronger local economy? The assurance I can give is | :17:42. | :17:49. | |
alongside the national living wage, we have cut taxes for businesses so | :17:50. | :17:54. | |
they have more money to invest in their workforce. We have introduced | :17:55. | :17:58. | |
and increased the employment alone is helping small businesses | :17:59. | :18:02. | |
especially in used that at the same time as announcing the national | :18:03. | :18:07. | |
living wage. And we are making big investments in the Southampton | :18:08. | :18:10. | |
economy so this is a great place to grow business and employee people, | :18:11. | :18:15. | |
all helping this hard-working people. Wage growth matters. Surely | :18:16. | :18:20. | |
it is the bottom line of your payslip that counts. That is why he | :18:21. | :18:26. | |
is wrong to say this is progressive when the Resolution Foundation finds | :18:27. | :18:29. | |
over the next Parliament, those in the top half of the income | :18:30. | :18:33. | |
distribution will benefit more than those at the bottom. How can the | :18:34. | :18:38. | |
Chancellor say what he has done will help those with the least? I think | :18:39. | :18:44. | |
she seems to be opposing the national living wage. I think it is | :18:45. | :18:50. | |
a progressive policy and it was based on work by the Resolution | :18:51. | :18:54. | |
Foundation. If you want a regressive policy, how about increasing the | :18:55. | :18:59. | |
basing great -- basic rate of income tax? That is what the Labour Party | :19:00. | :19:03. | |
is proposing in Scotland, the first sign of what an economic policy | :19:04. | :19:07. | |
would look like under this New Labour leadership. How could an | :19:08. | :19:11. | |
increase in the basic rate of income tax hitting people earning over | :19:12. | :19:15. | |
?11,000 be remotely progressive or fair? Most businesses as well as | :19:16. | :19:22. | |
workers in my constituency warmly welcomed the introduction of the | :19:23. | :19:26. | |
national living wage and the increased spending power it | :19:27. | :19:30. | |
delivers. Will the Chancer and his team heavily monitored the | :19:31. | :19:33. | |
implementation to see if any unintended consequences happen | :19:34. | :19:38. | |
particularly where margins are small set of bombing, social care and | :19:39. | :19:44. | |
hospitality? -- Chancellor. Of course we will monitor the impact of | :19:45. | :19:49. | |
our policies on the economy, especially sectors in the social | :19:50. | :19:55. | |
care sector, that is one reason why alongside introducing the national | :19:56. | :19:58. | |
living wage, we have introduced a new council tax supplement. The | :19:59. | :20:04. | |
analysis when we announced this is while in theory 60,000 jobs could be | :20:05. | :20:08. | |
lost in the future, that might otherwise not have been created, or | :20:09. | :20:16. | |
the policies we will see creating over 1 million jobs so the overall | :20:17. | :20:20. | |
effect is an increase of employment. How can the Treasury ensure | :20:21. | :20:25. | |
employers do not reduce the hours of work to employees? Many of those in | :20:26. | :20:33. | |
receipt of low incomes. What I would say is many different employer | :20:34. | :20:39. | |
organisations and businesses have welcomed the national living wage | :20:40. | :20:43. | |
will stop and many studies suggest having a higher ceiling, a higher | :20:44. | :20:49. | |
law on wages drives up productivity which is one of the Great British | :20:50. | :20:58. | |
economic challenges. Number four. As part of our long-term economic | :20:59. | :21:04. | |
plan, the government's Charter for budget responsibility was approved | :21:05. | :21:10. | |
by Parliament on October 15 2015. It sets a path to this country's | :21:11. | :21:15. | |
long-term financial help to deliver a surplus and unlike other parties | :21:16. | :21:19. | |
in this House, we will be strong and consistent in our support for the | :21:20. | :21:23. | |
charter. The budget is on much the 16th. | :21:24. | :21:27. | |
I am grateful to my honourable friend. In 2010, but budget deficit | :21:28. | :21:33. | |
was 11.1% of GDP and this year will be down to third at 3.9% which is a | :21:34. | :21:38. | |
remarkable achievement given the economic headwinds outside the UK. | :21:39. | :21:43. | |
Could he tell the House what discussions he is having with other | :21:44. | :21:49. | |
parties, in particular the shadow frontbench, in order to reduce the | :21:50. | :21:54. | |
deficit? I thank my honourable friend for his | :21:55. | :21:59. | |
support. I have had noes to discussions so far. Or any | :22:00. | :22:02. | |
submissions from the frontbench opposite. -- no discussions. I have | :22:03. | :22:09. | |
had as a mission from Ed Balls's, head of policy who said of the | :22:10. | :22:15. | |
Shadow Chancellor's changing position, this kind of chaos less | :22:16. | :22:21. | |
than a month into the job is the kind of low ease and significant | :22:22. | :22:24. | |
political figures struggle to recover from. I agree that we need | :22:25. | :22:33. | |
to reduce the debt and the deficit but with interest rates at record | :22:34. | :22:39. | |
lows, and with the IMF forecasting investment in public and private | :22:40. | :22:46. | |
investment will fall in the league table, should we not take advantage | :22:47. | :22:52. | |
of low interest rates to in best in the creaky infrastructure, airport | :22:53. | :22:55. | |
capacity and road and rail and flood defences? -- to invest. And I | :22:56. | :23:01. | |
welcome her support for deficit, -- reduction and it is good to have her | :23:02. | :23:06. | |
back but I remind her in the last Parliament, she voted against | :23:07. | :23:09. | |
virtually every single measure of deficit reduction this Government | :23:10. | :23:14. | |
took. In terms of investment, we have a big programme of | :23:15. | :23:19. | |
infrastructure investment, 100 billion over this Parliament, | :23:20. | :23:22. | |
including transport infrastructure and other measures to help her | :23:23. | :23:24. | |
constituents and those across the country. As the IMF has been | :23:25. | :23:29. | |
mentioned, would the Minister agree the statement last week we have | :23:30. | :23:34. | |
delivered robust growth, record employment, is it never could | :23:35. | :23:40. | |
reduction in the fiscal deficit and increased financial sector | :23:41. | :23:44. | |
resilience is to be welcomed? I wonder if there is more to calm. -- | :23:45. | :23:53. | |
two, now. I thank my honourable friend for that supplementary and | :23:54. | :23:59. | |
the IMF have been clear in their endorsement of the charter for | :24:00. | :24:04. | |
budget responsibility. I say for example the transparency of the new | :24:05. | :24:08. | |
rule with a focus on headline balances and simple and well defined | :24:09. | :24:13. | |
escape clause is welcome. It commends the appropriate level of | :24:14. | :24:18. | |
flexibility in the charter. In terms of external advice taken on by the | :24:19. | :24:23. | |
party opposite, I am quite clear and it would appear from this morning's | :24:24. | :24:29. | |
session Labour MPs are extremely helpful. Sit down, a terrible waste | :24:30. | :24:35. | |
of time, long wounded, boring and unnecessary! -- long-winded. In the | :24:36. | :24:44. | |
debates at the time of the charter, I am many others warned the | :24:45. | :24:47. | |
Chancellor of the potential impact of global adverse headwinds. The | :24:48. | :24:53. | |
Chancellor responded by posting and I quote, of having an economic plan | :24:54. | :24:57. | |
that actually produces better results than forecast. Since then, | :24:58. | :25:03. | |
we have seen business investment falling, his export target receding | :25:04. | :25:07. | |
into the distance, trade deficit widened, manufacturing and | :25:08. | :25:11. | |
construction and the recession, the productivity gap the biggest in a | :25:12. | :25:14. | |
generation and last week the Chancellor tells us the economy is | :25:15. | :25:19. | |
smaller than we thought. Can I say if his economic plan is now | :25:20. | :25:25. | |
producing worse results than forecast, imposing more stealth | :25:26. | :25:29. | |
taxes and cuts in the budget will only make matters worse! We need a? | :25:30. | :25:37. | |
! Order. I said what I said because ministers responsible for answering | :25:38. | :25:41. | |
for government policy and not that of the opposition and people who ask | :25:42. | :25:45. | |
questions, from the front and backbench, pithy replies! Can I | :25:46. | :25:51. | |
thank the Shadow Chancellor for that question. The forecasts at the | :25:52. | :25:56. | |
moment still showed the UK performing extremely well with very | :25:57. | :25:58. | |
strong rates of the Chancellor was right to say over | :25:59. | :26:09. | |
the weekend we may need to undertake further reductions in spending with | :26:10. | :26:13. | |
us this country can only afford what it can afford. He said, I am | :26:14. | :26:18. | |
determined in this uncertain time we have economic security. That is what | :26:19. | :26:23. | |
people rely on. But I am equally clear it would be a fundamental | :26:24. | :26:27. | |
disaster for this country to pursue the policies he has been promoting | :26:28. | :26:31. | |
in the six months he has been Shadow Chancellor. | :26:32. | :26:35. | |
Can we address one of the domestic threats to the economy, this week, | :26:36. | :26:40. | |
the former governor of the Bank of England has warned that bankers have | :26:41. | :26:43. | |
not learned the lessons from 2008, and without reform, the financial | :26:44. | :26:51. | |
system and another crisis is certain. Will the Chancellor take | :26:52. | :26:54. | |
responsible do for the domestic responsibilities within the economy | :26:55. | :26:57. | |
that have built up under his watch, will he withdraw his proposals to | :26:58. | :27:01. | |
water down the regulatory receiving for senior bankers? -- regulatory | :27:02. | :27:07. | |
regime. Can I remind the Shadow Chancellor that over the last five | :27:08. | :27:11. | |
and a half years, it has been this government, that has been fixing the | :27:12. | :27:16. | |
problems in our banking system, and that the poor regulation, the | :27:17. | :27:19. | |
tripartite regime that we inherited from the government deviously, it is | :27:20. | :27:23. | |
us taking action. In terms of economic policy, I have to look | :27:24. | :27:28. | |
around at the Labour Party, and see what kind of reactions there are. | :27:29. | :27:34. | |
Sits down, sit down, this is about government policy, progress is | :27:35. | :27:38. | |
slower than at previous Treasury questions, please do try to stick to | :27:39. | :27:42. | |
government policy upon which briefly you can and should speak. Hugh | :27:43. | :27:50. | |
Merryman. Question five. Mr Speaker, the government wants to make | :27:51. | :27:53. | |
homeownership a reality for as many people as possible, that is why we | :27:54. | :27:57. | |
are building 400,000 new homes with extended help to buy, I can tell the | :27:58. | :28:01. | |
house that the new help to buy ice launched one year ago at the budget | :28:02. | :28:04. | |
and has been used by almost a third of a million families for saving for | :28:05. | :28:09. | |
the first time. -- ISA. That is confirmation that as a Conservative | :28:10. | :28:12. | |
government, we are on the side of the working family and home | :28:13. | :28:15. | |
ownership. 82% of buyers are using help to buy, they would not have | :28:16. | :28:18. | |
been able to buy their home without that skin, would my right honourable | :28:19. | :28:23. | |
friend agree with me that it is the Conservatives helping hard-working | :28:24. | :28:26. | |
people realise the dream of home ownership, is he aware of | :28:27. | :28:28. | |
alternative economic policies and the risks they pose to families in | :28:29. | :28:36. | |
my constituency? My honourable friend is absolutely right, 130,000 | :28:37. | :28:41. | |
people have made use of the help to buy schemes, helping people in his | :28:42. | :28:44. | |
constituency and elsewhere ago on the housing ladder, at the same time | :28:45. | :28:47. | |
we are seeking to increase supply, by building more homes that people | :28:48. | :28:51. | |
can buy, it is worth noting that first-time buyers were down under | :28:52. | :28:56. | |
50%, over 50%, over the last Labour government, 60% with us. Mr Speaker, | :28:57. | :29:02. | |
the Chancellor makes great claims for policy but in inner London, in | :29:03. | :29:06. | |
my constituency, it is a crisis, I met with the head of the CCG, we | :29:07. | :29:11. | |
have a crisis in GP recruitment, hospital doctor appointments, even | :29:12. | :29:15. | |
highly paid doctors cannot afford to get on the housing ladder, in my | :29:16. | :29:20. | |
constituency, which is causing a crisis in public services, what is | :29:21. | :29:21. | |
he going to do about that? We are doing two things about that, | :29:22. | :29:28. | |
building more homes in London than were ever built under the last | :29:29. | :29:31. | |
Labour government, and we have just introduced help to buy London so | :29:32. | :29:35. | |
that we help Londoners specifically deal with the very high cost of | :29:36. | :29:43. | |
houses in the capital. After six years as Chancellor, that he | :29:44. | :29:49. | |
confirmed, from 2010 to 2015, whether home ownership was up or | :29:50. | :29:56. | |
down? When I first became Chancellor, we were in the aftermath | :29:57. | :29:58. | |
of a collapse in the housing market, so it took a couple of years to get | :29:59. | :30:01. | |
the house-building going again, I can tell you that the house-building | :30:02. | :30:06. | |
stats are up, and the number of first-time buyers has risen by 60% | :30:07. | :30:11. | |
since I was Chancellor, down by 50% under the last Labour government. | :30:12. | :30:18. | |
There you have it, we know from the English housing survey that there | :30:19. | :30:24. | |
were 201,000 fewer households owning a home in 2015 than five years ago, | :30:25. | :30:28. | |
compare to a million increase under Labour. By 2025, nine out of ten | :30:29. | :30:35. | |
Britons under 35 on modest incomes in Britain will not be able to | :30:36. | :30:39. | |
afford a home, renting in the private sector is soaring, the | :30:40. | :30:43. | |
housing benefit bill is now likely to be 350 million more than he | :30:44. | :30:48. | |
forecast last year. Isn't it true, Mr Speaker, that his record on | :30:49. | :30:52. | |
housing investment is one of failure, with British families now | :30:53. | :30:56. | |
literally paying the price? Housing stats are higher than when I became | :30:57. | :31:01. | |
Chancellor but what people need above all as homeowners or people | :31:02. | :31:06. | |
building houses is economic security, and that is what this | :31:07. | :31:10. | |
government is seeking to deliver. Frankly, the fact that the Labour | :31:11. | :31:13. | |
Party is now getting its advice from Yanis Varoufakis, and the | :31:14. | :31:16. | |
revolutionary Marxist broadcaster Paul Mason does not suggest me that | :31:17. | :31:21. | |
they have got an answer to economic security, presumably they chose | :31:22. | :31:25. | |
those two because Chairman Mao was dead and Mickey Mouse was | :31:26. | :31:33. | |
Tax treaties provide protection for UK citizens from discriminatory tax | :31:34. | :31:40. | |
in other countries, we have one of the largest treaty networks, with | :31:41. | :31:44. | |
over 220 in force, HMRC cannot intervene where a taxpayer is in | :31:45. | :31:49. | |
dispute with a foreign entity on domestic issues, but where a treaty | :31:50. | :31:54. | |
may not apply, and is not apply properly, they can request HMRC to | :31:55. | :31:58. | |
raise the issue with the other revenue authority. My constituent, | :31:59. | :32:03. | |
David Duncan, currently being pursued by the meat and assistance | :32:04. | :32:06. | |
in the recovery of debt for a tax payment related to a time when he | :32:07. | :32:10. | |
was residing in Germany. He was working in South Korea. He had been | :32:11. | :32:18. | |
-- assured by his employer... This is a story, not a question, taking | :32:19. | :32:22. | |
far too long, one sentence: what is it?! Will the Minister advise what | :32:23. | :32:28. | |
help is available to my constituent, in terms of resolving this issue | :32:29. | :32:32. | |
between Germany and South Korea, thank you. In Minister! It depends | :32:33. | :32:39. | |
upon the nature of the dispute, if the honourable gentleman wishes to | :32:40. | :32:43. | |
write for me -- to me, I will get back to him. Alistair Carmichael. | :32:44. | :32:51. | |
Damian Hinds. The 2% duty cut in the March budget, 2015, continue to | :32:52. | :32:54. | |
support 259,000 people across the sector, including Highland park, in | :32:55. | :32:59. | |
the honourable gentleman's constituency. I thank the Minister | :33:00. | :33:03. | |
for that answer, last year, you may recall that the cuts in alcohol | :33:04. | :33:10. | |
duties would lead to a reduction of ?180 million in revenue, but in | :33:11. | :33:14. | |
fact, since April, through to January of this year, we have seen | :33:15. | :33:19. | |
?190 million increase in revenues, will he therefore look carefully at | :33:20. | :33:25. | |
the request from the Scotch whiskey industry this year for a further 2% | :33:26. | :33:32. | |
cut in duties? I know how much the sector values the cut in the duties, | :33:33. | :33:37. | |
the first since 1996, it is great to see the industry in good health with | :33:38. | :33:41. | |
a number of distilleries growing strongly and exports in other parts | :33:42. | :33:45. | |
of the world, I have received representations from the SWI, of | :33:46. | :33:49. | |
course among others in relation to the budget. Spirits, Andrew | :33:50. | :33:55. | |
Griffiths. Any change reduction in spirit duty will impact on the | :33:56. | :33:58. | |
market and other drinks such as beer! This is the government, this | :33:59. | :34:09. | |
Chancellor scrapped Labour's hated Bill yesterday, and cut it three | :34:10. | :34:14. | |
times, cut beer duty three times, more revenue for the Treasury, more | :34:15. | :34:18. | |
beer sales, and saving hundreds of pubs, will he continue that | :34:19. | :34:23. | |
supported the future? Mr Speaker, my honourable friend speaks in exactly | :34:24. | :34:29. | |
the right spirits(!)... BOOING Use the representative Burton, the | :34:30. | :34:34. | |
of beer, and nobody has done more to advocate for that particular | :34:35. | :34:38. | |
industry, that important industry, the budget is on March 16, my right | :34:39. | :34:44. | |
honourable friend makes any and all changes to duty at that such a | :34:45. | :34:49. | |
school event. Scotch whiskey is the biggest main contributor to UK trade | :34:50. | :34:53. | |
and goods, without it, the trade deficit would have been 11% larger, | :34:54. | :35:00. | |
manufacture across, including in my constituency, have experience of | :35:01. | :35:03. | |
exporting, they know that the domestic rates of tax have an impact | :35:04. | :35:06. | |
on the attitude of international markets. What consideration has the | :35:07. | :35:10. | |
Chancellor given to industry called to reduce the Excise in the upcoming | :35:11. | :35:16. | |
budget? My right honourable friend is always very alive to | :35:17. | :35:18. | |
representations from the Scotch whiskey industry, that product | :35:19. | :35:23. | |
accounts for 25% of UK food and drink exports, Japan has been a | :35:24. | :35:28. | |
strong market again for the sector. Others have not worked out so well, | :35:29. | :35:32. | |
but we always continue to listen to what that important sector has to | :35:33. | :35:39. | |
say. The employment level stands at 31.4 million, this represents more | :35:40. | :35:44. | |
people in work in the UK than ever before. Over the past year, | :35:45. | :35:50. | |
employment growth has been driven by full-time workers, and by high and | :35:51. | :35:54. | |
medium skilled occupations. This demonstrates we are now moving into | :35:55. | :35:58. | |
the next phase of our recovery, with high-quality employment, helping to | :35:59. | :36:02. | |
boost productivity, and raise living standards across the country. The | :36:03. | :36:07. | |
number of people in my constituency relying upon the other web benefits | :36:08. | :36:10. | |
in Cheltenham has fallen by 70% since 2010. Does he agree with me | :36:11. | :36:16. | |
that continuing to invest in GCHQ is key to safeguarding that progress, | :36:17. | :36:20. | |
as it supports the high-value cyber jobs in the state and crucially in | :36:21. | :36:27. | |
the civilian sector? The Chancellor announced at the spending review | :36:28. | :36:32. | |
that we would be investing in cyber, quite a lot more, and Cheltenham | :36:33. | :36:35. | |
would be seeing those benefits. Quite right to praise the employment | :36:36. | :36:40. | |
picture and performance in Cheltenham, it has seen more than | :36:41. | :36:45. | |
4000 people get into work, as well as 3000 fewer people in | :36:46. | :36:49. | |
unemployment. Across the UK as a whole, the OBE forecast an increase | :36:50. | :36:53. | |
of employment of 1.1 million, over the course of the parliament. | :36:54. | :36:59. | |
Christians against poverty have found that 72% of people who are | :37:00. | :37:04. | |
often working and on payment meters will behind on council tax and other | :37:05. | :37:08. | |
bills, what assessment has been made of the impact of this type of tariff | :37:09. | :37:15. | |
on household debt? We monitor household debt on an ongoing basis, | :37:16. | :37:20. | |
and if she has some specific cases that she would like to show me, I am | :37:21. | :37:25. | |
sure we can look at those and pass those onto DWP and others. I do have | :37:26. | :37:29. | |
to say that overall, the point picture remains extremely strong. We | :37:30. | :37:34. | |
have unemployment rate of 74.1%, and since the first quarter, UK | :37:35. | :37:38. | |
employment rate has grown more than in any other G-7 country. What more | :37:39. | :37:46. | |
support than the Chancellor given terms of pension to the | :37:47. | :37:49. | |
self-employed, given recent trends suggest that in five years' time, | :37:50. | :37:52. | |
4.7 million people will be self-employed and will not benefit | :37:53. | :38:00. | |
from further involvement. That is an interesting point, and in terms of | :38:01. | :38:05. | |
helping the self-employed, that is one of the key priorities of this | :38:06. | :38:09. | |
government, and we will have to see what is in the budget on March 16. | :38:10. | :38:16. | |
Is the Minister aware that I, like many members here, represent a | :38:17. | :38:20. | |
university town, and the University is one of the best employers and the | :38:21. | :38:24. | |
biggest employers in my constituency, universities up and | :38:25. | :38:27. | |
down the country are terrified that if we left the EU, the amount of | :38:28. | :38:32. | |
grant, we get most money for research, any country in Britain, | :38:33. | :38:36. | |
full research, and research collaboration, our universities | :38:37. | :38:39. | |
would be destroyed by leaving the EU. I join the honourable gentleman | :38:40. | :38:46. | |
in campaigning for the UK to remain a member of the EU, and that is the | :38:47. | :38:50. | |
right thing for us to do, both for the public finances overall and for | :38:51. | :38:57. | |
the future of the UK economy. As the 220 communique made their over the | :38:58. | :39:01. | |
weekend. It may also have an impact on university sector, which I'm sure | :39:02. | :39:04. | |
will be one of the questions that will feature in the forthcoming | :39:05. | :39:09. | |
debate leading into the referendum. Lawrence Robinson Battenberg | :39:10. | :39:16. | |
Robertson. Question number nine. Equitable Life payment scheme has | :39:17. | :39:21. | |
now successfully traced and paid 90% of eligible policyholders. Payments | :39:22. | :39:25. | |
will continue for the life of these annuities. -- Laurence Robertson. | :39:26. | :39:31. | |
Laurence Robertson. I thank the Minister for that response but given | :39:32. | :39:38. | |
because of regulatory failure many policyholders lost out, that should | :39:39. | :39:41. | |
be overseen by government, any government, not just this | :39:42. | :39:45. | |
government, isn't it fair that those policyholders should receive | :39:46. | :39:48. | |
compensation and if they do not, how can any invest in the future have | :39:49. | :39:51. | |
any confidence in the regulatory system which is put in place. Of | :39:52. | :39:56. | |
course, this Chancellor has done more than anyone else to tackle the | :39:57. | :40:01. | |
regulatory failure of the 1990s with regards to Equitable Life, for | :40:02. | :40:05. | |
example, with profits in your attention will receive full | :40:06. | :40:09. | |
compensation for the life of the annuity, and pre-1992 NU attends | :40:10. | :40:12. | |
will receive excavation payments of up to ?10,000, and ?775 million has | :40:13. | :40:20. | |
been paid out tax-free to others despite the constraint public | :40:21. | :40:27. | |
finances. -- annuitants. Those on pension benefit got a doubling. What | :40:28. | :40:34. | |
about the ?1.5 billion that has been delivered by the government, has it | :40:35. | :40:38. | |
been handed over? I regularly update Parliament in terms of those precise | :40:39. | :40:41. | |
figures, and so far, we are at almost ?1 billion, the payments in | :40:42. | :40:47. | |
terms of the new attends will continue for the lives of those | :40:48. | :40:57. | |
annuitants. -- annuitants. The government is cutting taxes to | :40:58. | :40:59. | |
encourage small businesses to grow, corporation tax will fall to 19% in | :41:00. | :41:04. | |
2017, 18% 2020, the lowest energy 20, employed allowance will rise by | :41:05. | :41:10. | |
15% this April, giving a 3000 discount on the national insurance | :41:11. | :41:13. | |
contributions, and the seed enterprise investment scheme will be | :41:14. | :41:17. | |
investing in early-stage companies, helping more than 2900 companies | :41:18. | :41:23. | |
raise over ?250 million. Does them and is to agree, that impressive | :41:24. | :41:26. | |
package for small business will equip them to benefit from the | :41:27. | :41:29. | |
ascension of the single market, as negotiated by the Prime Minister, | :41:30. | :41:33. | |
including energy and services, and that is even more of an emphatic | :41:34. | :41:37. | |
case to remain in the European Union? What I would say demand for | :41:38. | :41:40. | |
friend: -- what I would say to my honourable | :41:41. | :41:47. | |
friend, there is more than 100,000 firms employing fewer than 50 | :41:48. | :41:52. | |
people, exporting goods to the European Union, we want to assist | :41:53. | :41:56. | |
them, access to the single market is important to them and to those | :41:57. | :41:59. | |
businesses and the 800,000 people they employ. | :42:00. | :42:03. | |
Plans to move toward quarterly online tax reporting are proving to | :42:04. | :42:08. | |
be deeply unpopular with small businesses. Can the Chancellor | :42:09. | :42:11. | |
confirmed the impacts on administration costs? | :42:12. | :42:20. | |
Overall, the government is clear HMRC's target is to reduce the | :42:21. | :42:28. | |
burden on businesses by ?400 million by the end of this Parliament and | :42:29. | :42:32. | |
moving towards a digital taxation system can help businesses reduce | :42:33. | :42:38. | |
costs. We are consulting on the details but I want to make it | :42:39. | :42:42. | |
absolutely clear there will be no quarterly tax returns. This has been | :42:43. | :42:54. | |
wrongly reported in some cases. The government has committed to | :42:55. | :43:01. | |
raise the personal allowance to ?12,500 and the higher rate | :43:02. | :43:05. | |
threshold to ?50,000 by the end of this Parliament. At the summer | :43:06. | :43:08. | |
budget, the gunman took the first steps by increasing the personal | :43:09. | :43:12. | |
allowance to ?11,000 and raising the higher rate threshold to ?43,000 in | :43:13. | :43:18. | |
2016-17, less people will pay tax after these charges and 570,000 will | :43:19. | :43:23. | |
be taken out of income tax altogether. Does the Chancellor | :43:24. | :43:29. | |
agree it is better to encourage saving by increasing the tax limit | :43:30. | :43:35. | |
on pensions rather than reducing it, especially when savings struggle to | :43:36. | :43:40. | |
get decent returns? As a government, we want to encourage more saving. We | :43:41. | :43:46. | |
have taken steps for reforming our tax system so pensions become more | :43:47. | :43:50. | |
attractive, but we also need to ensure the cost of pension tax | :43:51. | :43:54. | |
relief is targeted in the right direction. | :43:55. | :44:02. | |
Number 14, please. Mr Speaker, on productivity, the blood has product | :44:03. | :44:07. | |
-- has published its plan, fixing the foundations. The plan outlines | :44:08. | :44:12. | |
the steps to encourage further investment in the drivers of | :44:13. | :44:17. | |
productivity growth including science, education, skills and | :44:18. | :44:21. | |
infrastructure. It also sets out the way the government promotes a | :44:22. | :44:25. | |
dynamic economy through reforming planning laws, boosting competition | :44:26. | :44:32. | |
and creating a Northern powerhouse. According to the latest figures from | :44:33. | :44:42. | |
the ONS, UK productivity measured by output 18 percentage points below | :44:43. | :44:45. | |
the average for the rest of the G-7 economies. The widest gap since | :44:46. | :44:51. | |
records began. Which is productivity deteriorating under this Chancellor? | :44:52. | :44:58. | |
I do not accept that, we do except productivity is a problem. But | :44:59. | :45:04. | |
productivity output per hour is 0.7% higher than its precrisis peak. I do | :45:05. | :45:10. | |
improving at the moment. We do need to do more which is why we have laid | :45:11. | :45:15. | |
out a national productivity plan with a set of key targets and areas | :45:16. | :45:23. | |
like research of infrastructure, and infrastructure Commission, cutting | :45:24. | :45:25. | |
corporation tax and a lot more besides. | :45:26. | :45:31. | |
Topical questions, Kirsten Oswald. Number one, Mr Speaker. The purpose | :45:32. | :45:40. | |
of the Treasury is to ensure the productivity and stability of the | :45:41. | :45:43. | |
economy. Did he have a chance to read the | :45:44. | :45:49. | |
Audit Office report on financial services miss selling and is it a | :45:50. | :45:52. | |
missed opportunity to deliver a financial advice sector protecting | :45:53. | :45:57. | |
small sale investors when things go wrong as they did with a number of | :45:58. | :46:03. | |
issues for my constituents. We have tried to increase consumer | :46:04. | :46:06. | |
protection by increasing the powerful detection agency and | :46:07. | :46:11. | |
providing greater financial advice to individuals like the money advice | :46:12. | :46:16. | |
service and pension wise but if she has specific further ideas, I would | :46:17. | :46:21. | |
be happy to look at them. With the government making some of | :46:22. | :46:25. | |
the biggest investments in road and rail in history, is my right | :46:26. | :46:29. | |
honourable friend aware of any alternative investment policies and | :46:30. | :46:33. | |
the impact it would have on economic security, in particular the Southern | :46:34. | :46:38. | |
powerhouse? She is right to draw attention to the big investment in | :46:39. | :46:42. | |
our nation's infrastructure, especially transport, with the | :46:43. | :46:46. | |
biggest rail programme since the Victorian age and biggest road | :46:47. | :46:51. | |
programme since the 1970s. She has seen that in her area. Having an | :46:52. | :46:56. | |
economic policy destroying confidence in the British economy | :46:57. | :47:00. | |
would mean no investment. The OECD have estimated tax havens | :47:01. | :47:09. | |
cost developing countries three times the global aid budgets. Does | :47:10. | :47:13. | |
the Chancellor share my frustration that the UK overseas territories | :47:14. | :47:17. | |
have ignored the pleas of the Prime Minister to introduce beneficial | :47:18. | :47:21. | |
ownership registers? What more can be done to end the secrecy and lack | :47:22. | :47:25. | |
of action? It is the case the UK is leading the | :47:26. | :47:30. | |
way in terms of a public register of beneficial ownership. Other | :47:31. | :47:35. | |
countries including the overseas territories have not committed to | :47:36. | :47:39. | |
that and we engage with them. We do believe they should follow in the | :47:40. | :47:42. | |
direction we have as other country should do. | :47:43. | :47:48. | |
Tackling the deficit should rightly be a priority for the country. Can | :47:49. | :47:52. | |
my right honourable friend say what steps he is taking to ensure | :47:53. | :47:57. | |
everybody pays that their share in meeting the objectives? | :47:58. | :48:02. | |
He is absolutely right that we want to make sure this is done fairly and | :48:03. | :48:05. | |
under this Government, the richest pay a higher proportion of income | :48:06. | :48:07. | |
tax than under the last Labour government. The numbers have come | :48:08. | :48:13. | |
out this morning which for the first time showed the income tax data for | :48:14. | :48:19. | |
the year 2013-14 when the 50p rate was reduced to 45p, which shows | :48:20. | :48:28. | |
there was an ?8 billion increase in revenues and additional rate | :48:29. | :48:30. | |
taxpayers. Which defies the predictions made by the Labour Party | :48:31. | :48:37. | |
at the time. It shows what we have is lower competitive taxes paid by | :48:38. | :48:41. | |
everybody. Figures from the PCS union showed | :48:42. | :48:48. | |
2,000 HMRC staff in Scotland face redundancy including 150 experienced | :48:49. | :48:53. | |
and dedicated people in Inverness. At the same time, the overtime bill | :48:54. | :48:59. | |
is around ?6 million per month. Can the Chancellor explain to my | :49:00. | :49:02. | |
constituents how this makes any sense at all? HMRC are engaged in | :49:03. | :49:10. | |
changes to focus on 13 regional centres across the UK. The same | :49:11. | :49:16. | |
proportion of the workforce will continue to be in Scotland, as is | :49:17. | :49:20. | |
the case now. A larger percentage than the population of Scotland. | :49:21. | :49:26. | |
What we look to do with HMRC is to improve efficiency. We do believe | :49:27. | :49:31. | |
regional centres will enable it to achieve more for less. It already | :49:32. | :49:35. | |
gets more money in and a better rate of return than ever before. | :49:36. | :49:42. | |
Around 40,000 people in my constituency had benefited from the | :49:43. | :49:44. | |
rise in the personal allowance since 2010, can he confirm the government | :49:45. | :49:49. | |
will continue to help hard-working people keep all of the money they | :49:50. | :49:52. | |
earn? That is what this Government was | :49:53. | :49:56. | |
elected to deliver and we have manifesto commitments to deliver not | :49:57. | :50:00. | |
just a ?50,000 threshold for the higher rate but a ?12,500 personal | :50:01. | :50:05. | |
allowance so more people can see the benefit of either paying no tax or | :50:06. | :50:12. | |
less tax if they are better paid. Can the chance lack advise when he | :50:13. | :50:18. | |
will publish the proposals for the distribution and calculation of the | :50:19. | :50:21. | |
apprenticeship Levi to devolved nations and whether the nations have | :50:22. | :50:26. | |
agreed to its -- levy. We are working to get those big O Shea she | :50:27. | :50:31. | |
was right and they are complex because of the single levy rate. We | :50:32. | :50:35. | |
are having good discussions with the Scottish government and with the | :50:36. | :50:40. | |
fiscal charter, we can work together for the benefits of the United | :50:41. | :50:44. | |
Kingdom. I welcome the fact my constituents | :50:45. | :50:47. | |
have been given more control over their finances thanks to changes | :50:48. | :50:51. | |
implemented by the government. Can the Minister advise what steps will | :50:52. | :50:55. | |
be taken to ensure regulation the small High Street financial advisers | :50:56. | :50:58. | |
and insurance brokers is both there and proportion at giving the | :50:59. | :51:03. | |
important services they provide? -- there. Can I thank him for raising | :51:04. | :51:09. | |
this point? We have launched the financial advice market review the | :51:10. | :51:12. | |
report around the time of the budget. We will make financial | :51:13. | :51:18. | |
advice more affordable and available. And we will get the right | :51:19. | :51:24. | |
regulatory balance for small firms. With reports include points the | :51:25. | :51:27. | |
basis that the delays, will he be visit his decision to write the | :51:28. | :51:35. | |
French and option and return with fallback options? We are working | :51:36. | :51:39. | |
with the French government and the signs are they are committed to this | :51:40. | :51:44. | |
project. I think this is a very good example of how the UK working with | :51:45. | :51:49. | |
friends and attracting investment from Asia is getting a new | :51:50. | :51:54. | |
generation of nuclear power under way -- brands. That was promised for | :51:55. | :51:57. | |
more than 20 years and has not happened and will now take place in | :51:58. | :52:01. | |
Somerset. Proud to have been part of a | :52:02. | :52:04. | |
government which introduced the national living wage but I wonder if | :52:05. | :52:09. | |
he has looked at the British Retail Consortium report, retail Twenty20, | :52:10. | :52:15. | |
which talks about that and the impact of internet shopping? I did | :52:16. | :52:22. | |
see that report yesterday and I think we have to accept in this | :52:23. | :52:26. | |
House the retail industry faces an enormous amount of change especially | :52:27. | :52:29. | |
because of what is happening on the in the net and the way people have | :52:30. | :52:32. | |
been shopping online. One of the biggest changes we can make is to | :52:33. | :52:38. | |
allow stores to open on a Sunday which is the biggest single day for | :52:39. | :52:42. | |
internet shopping. We cannot at the same time say we want to protect our | :52:43. | :52:48. | |
High Street and say they cannot open on one day of the week when the | :52:49. | :52:51. | |
internet is open 24 hours a day. We will vote on that next week. The | :52:52. | :52:59. | |
statement referred to the UK seeking a multilateral agreement on making | :53:00. | :53:04. | |
tax paid by companies publicly available. Can he say what measures | :53:05. | :53:10. | |
he will take to achieve that and on what timetable? And will he admit | :53:11. | :53:14. | |
his Google Tech still was not a great success and accept the Public | :53:15. | :53:19. | |
Accounts Committee call for full transparency? The Public Accounts | :53:20. | :53:25. | |
Committee have investigated deals and they welcome to so again. They | :53:26. | :53:30. | |
gave the HMRC a clean bill of health on its approach. We are introducing | :53:31. | :53:35. | |
the country by country reporting, regulations came into force last | :53:36. | :53:38. | |
week. They only happen because this Prime Minister put it on the agenda | :53:39. | :53:43. | |
in this country and internationally and I have been calling both for the | :53:44. | :53:49. | |
EU and at the due 24 that be an international agreement so we know | :53:50. | :53:52. | |
what companies pay in different jurisdictions rather than just | :53:53. | :54:00. | |
reading reports. -- and at the G20. The local economy in my constituency | :54:01. | :54:04. | |
comprises thousands of small businesses, can he offer | :54:05. | :54:06. | |
encouragement to the Federation of Small Businesses which is pressing | :54:07. | :54:10. | |
for tax amplification to reduce the burden of tax administration on | :54:11. | :54:19. | |
small businesses? What I would say is one of the areas I do think we | :54:20. | :54:26. | |
can make progress on is in terms of the digitalisation of the tax system | :54:27. | :54:31. | |
which can help a lot businesses. And the office of tax and publication | :54:32. | :54:34. | |
has been strengthened, looking forward to seeing a couple of | :54:35. | :54:39. | |
reports over the next days in terms of what we can do to help small | :54:40. | :54:47. | |
businesses in particular. When services have been removed from | :54:48. | :54:51. | |
local authority control and centralised in England, they had | :54:52. | :54:56. | |
been granted the right to claim VAT. Does the Chancellor not accept that | :54:57. | :55:00. | |
the refusal to grant that rate the Police Scotland, leaving them as the | :55:01. | :55:05. | |
only UK force that pays VAT, just looks vindictive? To be fair, it was | :55:06. | :55:13. | |
made perfectly clear what the position was in terms of reclaiming | :55:14. | :55:19. | |
VAT. When the decision was made by the Scottish government to go down | :55:20. | :55:23. | |
this course. The UK government is simply pursuing a policy that we | :55:24. | :55:30. | |
always said we would pursue. The Chancellor will be aware debates | :55:31. | :55:34. | |
have been held and questions in the House regarding serious allegations | :55:35. | :55:37. | |
of collusion between banks to deliberately undervalued assets | :55:38. | :55:41. | |
overseas. Has my right honourable friend considered the current | :55:42. | :55:46. | |
regulations and whether there needs to be a broader remit for the SFO | :55:47. | :55:51. | |
and other organisations to investigate the serious and growing | :55:52. | :55:58. | |
number of allegations? I am aware of the points he is raising in | :55:59. | :56:02. | |
Westminster Hall. And I am very keen in our system that we have a tough | :56:03. | :56:09. | |
set of rules in terms of conduct in the banking system. And I would | :56:10. | :56:12. | |
welcome the opportunity to meet with him and to discuss these specific | :56:13. | :56:17. | |
allegations in more detail. If the Chancellor believes that | :56:18. | :56:23. | |
strong steel sector is fundamental to a strong Northern powerhouse, | :56:24. | :56:27. | |
what steps is he taking the level the playing field for the steel | :56:28. | :56:31. | |
industry, the foundation of our manufacturing and defence industries | :56:32. | :56:34. | |
so we can have a prosperous future to match a prosperous past? | :56:35. | :56:38. | |
Of course, the steel industry faces a big challenge at the moment, and | :56:39. | :56:44. | |
that is true in many other countries in the world, as the price of steel | :56:45. | :56:48. | |
has collapsed, we have taken a number of steps to ensure a level | :56:49. | :56:52. | |
playing Friel that piece speaks of, taking them out of the energy | :56:53. | :56:56. | |
levies, proposing additional costs on them, making sure that local | :56:57. | :57:02. | |
areas that have had redundancies get the support they need. -- level | :57:03. | :57:06. | |
playing field that he speaks of. Making sure that we are buying | :57:07. | :57:09. | |
British Steel and taking into account the social impact of the | :57:10. | :57:13. | |
steel purchases in making value for money assessments. Full, as I have | :57:14. | :57:16. | |
said in reply to an earlier question, working through partners | :57:17. | :57:20. | |
in the you to make it clear that we do not and cannot support Chinese | :57:21. | :57:23. | |
steel dumping and we need to take action against it. My right | :57:24. | :57:28. | |
honourable friend the Chancellor is well aware of the widespread and | :57:29. | :57:31. | |
cross-party support for a children's specialist accident and trauma | :57:32. | :57:35. | |
department at Southampton General Hospital, can I urge him to give | :57:36. | :57:39. | |
careful consideration to what is being put together by clinicians, I | :57:40. | :57:42. | |
know they have sent to him, they are looking for support from a match | :57:43. | :57:48. | |
funding bid. I am aware of the case being made, a very strong case, in | :57:49. | :57:52. | |
my view, for the children's facilities at the Southampton | :57:53. | :57:57. | |
hospital, the case advanced by her and other colleagues of mine | :57:58. | :58:00. | |
including notably the member for Winchester that has boosted | :58:01. | :58:03. | |
alongside her, it is something we are looking closely at and I will | :58:04. | :58:07. | |
make an announcement into course. If I can follow the member in raising | :58:08. | :58:15. | |
the key on the apprenticeship levy, the devolved governments are moving | :58:16. | :58:19. | |
towards elections, we need to know as soon as possible, and will there | :58:20. | :58:22. | |
be a Barnett Formula consequential on the back of it as well? Our | :58:23. | :58:28. | |
intention is to use the principles of the Barnett Formula, to make sure | :58:29. | :58:32. | |
that the devolved administration not just in Scotland but in Northern | :58:33. | :58:35. | |
Ireland get the resources they need. We would urge them to spend those | :58:36. | :58:39. | |
resources on training, ultimately it is a matter for them and the people | :58:40. | :58:47. | |
they are accountable to. Given the importance of family investment in | :58:48. | :58:49. | |
start-up business, particularly science and technology business are | :58:50. | :58:55. | |
often a leap of faith is required, will the Chancellor consider lifting | :58:56. | :58:57. | |
the restrictions on family investment in the EE ISN SCIS | :58:58. | :59:02. | |
scheme, so that mother and father can invest alongside everybody else | :59:03. | :59:06. | |
on the same terms. I'm happy to take that as a budget representation, I'm | :59:07. | :59:12. | |
sure that he will say that if it ends up on budget day, he will see. | :59:13. | :59:22. | |
-- EIS and SCIS. They are schemes that have been enormously | :59:23. | :59:24. | |
successful, we need to make sure that they are tight enough, rather | :59:25. | :59:28. | |
than used as a vehicle for tax avoidance, we have the balance right | :59:29. | :59:32. | |
so far, but I'm aware of good positive proposals that people have | :59:33. | :59:36. | |
put forward to improve it. Mr Skinner? Not at the moment, no? | :59:37. | :59:44. | |
No... Fair enough. Helen Goodman. The Chancellor chose to give a path | :59:45. | :59:48. | |
to his desire to Sunday trading liberalisation, I would like to ask | :59:49. | :59:51. | |
him if he is aware of the study produced yesterday, which showed | :59:52. | :59:58. | |
that all that there will be is a switch of activity from small shops | :59:59. | :00:01. | |
to big shops, meaning a loss of thousands of jobs. The honourable | :00:02. | :00:06. | |
member the Litchfield says that he has already done that question, as I | :00:07. | :00:11. | |
have often had cause to observe, repetition is not a novel | :00:12. | :00:13. | |
phenomenon! LAUGHTER To repeat myself... I do not think I | :00:14. | :00:21. | |
agree with the honourable lady. It has been the case that when we have | :00:22. | :00:26. | |
extended opening hours, we have not seen a displacement of jobs, we have | :00:27. | :00:31. | |
seen an increase, that is the response from the retail industry. | :00:32. | :00:35. | |
These arrangements exist in Scotland and many European countries and the | :00:36. | :00:40. | |
US. Many which are countries with strong Christian faiths. I do not | :00:41. | :00:46. | |
think there is a contradiction and we worry about our high street, and | :00:47. | :00:51. | |
then do not allow high street stores to open on the day when you have the | :00:52. | :00:54. | |
biggest Internet shopping taking place of all. It is one of the | :00:55. | :00:57. | |
answer to helping the high street, not the only one, but it is an | :00:58. | :01:04. | |
important one. North and North East Lincolnshire councils are currently | :01:05. | :01:06. | |
preparing detailed regeneration plans. Can the Chancellor assure me | :01:07. | :01:11. | |
that he will give serious consideration to these, so that my | :01:12. | :01:15. | |
constituents can gain maximum benefit from the northern powerhouse | :01:16. | :01:22. | |
initiative. We will give careful consideration, as I always do, to | :01:23. | :01:26. | |
the proposals that he comes forward with, to support North Lincolnshire | :01:27. | :01:29. | |
and his own constituency. And of course, we have been able to make | :01:30. | :01:33. | |
investments in new roads, and make the tolls on the Humber Bridge, | :01:34. | :01:37. | |
enterprise ends, any new ideas he has got I would love to see them! | :01:38. | :01:45. | |
Happy Saint Davids Day to you. The Chancellor often talks about | :01:46. | :01:50. | |
repairing the roof when the sun is shining, amassing $810 billion in an | :01:51. | :01:54. | |
oil fund when the sun shone, in Scotland, how much did the broad | :01:55. | :01:58. | |
shoulders of the UK say for moments like this to help the north-east of | :01:59. | :02:03. | |
Scotland, is the figure indeed zero! We are providing support to | :02:04. | :02:07. | |
Scotland, support that is entrenched in the fiscal framework that we have | :02:08. | :02:13. | |
agreed with the government. He cannot duck his responsibilities, he | :02:14. | :02:16. | |
wanted Scotland to be independent on the 24th of March, this month. And | :02:17. | :02:21. | |
if we had gone ahead with that, if the Scottish people had voted for | :02:22. | :02:24. | |
it, there would have been a fiscal catastrophe in Scotland, because oil | :02:25. | :02:30. | |
revenues have fallen by over 90%. We had a question from an earlier | :02:31. | :02:33. | |
Scottish nationalist... Order, order... It is a very unseemly | :02:34. | :02:38. | |
mystic elation from the honourable gentleman... I remind him of his | :02:39. | :02:46. | |
status in this house, as the chair of a select committee! He is an | :02:47. | :02:50. | |
aspiring statesman, and he must conduct himself accordingly. -- | :02:51. | :03:00. | |
gesticulation. In response to an earlier question about productivity, | :03:01. | :03:02. | |
the right honourable member mentioned the drivers of growth | :03:03. | :03:05. | |
being investment in science and technology, does he, like me, | :03:06. | :03:10. | |
welcomed the government commitment to train 17 and a half thousand more | :03:11. | :03:15. | |
teachers in stem, and also, does he think that there is no time to waste | :03:16. | :03:20. | |
in recruiting those teachers. -- 17,000 500. -- in STEM. This is one | :03:21. | :03:27. | |
of the big national challenges, to get more children studying STEM and | :03:28. | :03:34. | |
the key is to get more STEM teachers and we need more girls studying STEM | :03:35. | :03:41. | |
as well. Schools have the tools to recruit teachers themselves. We must | :03:42. | :03:47. | |
move on, demand invariably exceeds supply, nobody is keen to facilitate | :03:48. | :03:48. | |
questions | :03:49. | :03:49. |