Finance Bill

I share the concerns that many have raised about driving, the cost of living, and the challenges ...

I am grateful to the Government for moving on this issue, as will be many motorists across the co...

I shall certainly confirm that. It is testament to the repeated action that this Government have ...

Does my hon. Friend agree that this reduction in fuel duty is vital not only for motorists but fo...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. She is not only in fine fettle, as she is standing without crutc...

I, too, welcome the decision. This Government are certainly on the side of rural motorists. Will ...

I am pleased to confirm that. I am glad to hear my hon. Friend’s welcome for the scheme on behalf...

Like other Members, I welcome the Government’s U-turn on petrol tax—another U-turn on the omnisha...

I shall say two things in response to that. First, as a result of all the actions that this Gover...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the Opposition’s support for a cut in VAT is rather a misnomer, be...

My hon. Friend is an ardent voice on behalf of small businesses in his constituency and elsewhere...

This morning, my hon. Friend and I were together on the train pressing the case for investment in...

This morning, I was indeed speaking in my constituency capacity about my wish that our regional e...

I, too, congratulate the Government on this decision, not least because it saves me from making a...

The hon. Gentleman has given me the perfect opportunity to note that, regrettably, the official O...

On Second Reading, we were given to understand that the fuel duty rise was essential to the Gover...

Does my hon. Friend have any idea how much the U-turns have cost collectively so far?

I understand that it is in the region of £725 million. That is quite a large hole in what was pre...

Because the Government have made savings in other areas, the Budget is still balanced. The hon. L...

It is clear from the pattern of fuel duty rises under the last Government that such things were n...

The hon. Lady has a touching faith in the previous Government’s ability to stick to a course. Doe...

We have very different views about how to stimulate and boost the economy. The Government have ru...

Has my hon. Friend noticed that oil and petrol prices have dropped by 28% over the past three mon...

My hon. Friend makes an important point. When the raw product goes up in price, the pump price go...

Does my hon. Friend recognise that the Government have chosen not to do a U-turn on the granny ta...

Indeed, and a lot of people would be glad to see the Government make U-turns in other areas, and ...

Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the biggest problems last week was that we were not told wh...

That is a very important point. We had a semi-answer from the Government saying that savings had ...

Has the hon. Lady not read the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecasts or the reports identi...

If the Economic Secretary is so clear that there is money to be used, I once again have to press ...

My hon. Friend rightly identifies the fact that the Government have found additional money all of...

It could, and there could also have been significant investment in the building of affordable hou...

Fiscal responsibility is clearly an overriding priority, but does the hon. Lady agree with Presid...

National debt is sometimes essential. After all, I seem to recall that it was very much higher at...

My hon. Friend is making a very good point. We have heard one of the comments of the new Presiden...

I do not dissent from my hon. Friend’s view. The new President’s general intention is indeed to b...

Does my hon. Friend agree that we had growth in the British economy at the time of the general el...

rose—

Order. In replying to that intervention, I hope the hon. Lady returns to the subject of the debat...

I do not want to dissociate those things—they are linked in lots of ways. Initially, we were told...

I am happy to speak in the debate on new clause 1, which was moved by the Economic Secretary on b...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

No, I will not give way. The hon. Lady spoke for a very long time, as she often does, and I will ...

I remember a case reported in the papers some while ago. A gentleman in Wales was arrested by cus...

I confirm both.

Biofuel is produced from waste vegetable oil and collected locally. This ha...

It is a pleasure to speak on this important issue. Notwithstanding the fact that few Opposition M...

The hon. Lady is making heavy weather over who should take the credit and whose idea it was. Is i...

I welcome the fact that it will make a difference for constituents, but once again, unfortunately...

One question that has never been answered is why the fuel duty decision was not taken in the Budg...

Indeed; my hon. Friend makes a good point. The way in which the decision was announced, and the a...

I am delighted that the hon. Lady has given way. I wonder whether she could bring her speech to a...

I acknowledge that the hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon), to whom the hon. Gentleman is refe...

I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak, and I support the Government’s new clause. I huge...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for making those points. If those discussions were going on for that l...

In the Westminster Hall debate, which the hon. Lady mentioned, the Economic Secretary did not giv...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I apologise, but I cannot, as I have to allow time for the Minister to respond.

There are s...

With just a few minutes remaining, I would like to respond to a few points—in some detail, if I m...

I beg to move amendment 1, page 2, line 6, leave out paragraph (c).

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 2, page 2, line 7, leav...

The amendment deals with an unfair situation that I mentioned earlier. People who are already ear...

My hon. Friend may be interested to learn something that I myself learnt from a television progra...

Order. I must inform the hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) that only one Member should be st...

I was not sure whether the fuel duty debate or the intervention from my hon. Friend the Member fo...

Did not the Budget also raise the personal allowance for income tax by a record amount, thus cutt...

I hear what the hon. Gentleman says, but many people will be about £511 a year worse off. Many, p...

Does the hon. Lady not welcome the fact that 2 million will be taken out of tax altogether, and t...

The problem is that the Government are giving with one hand and taking away with another. Accordi...

Not only have the Government cut the rate of tax at the top—admittedly there is a welcome relief ...

That is absolutely true. As I said earlier, that is exactly what happens to those who cannot work...

Should they not go further than that? Should we not deal with the amendment to existing legislati...

My hon. Friend has made a good point. We will have an opportunity to discuss that subject in more...

rose—

Perhaps the hon. Gentleman would like to comment on that in his intervention.

Am I right in thinking that the impact of amendment 1 would be to take away the 45p rate and leav...

I am a relative newcomer to this place, and I sometimes find its procedures and conventions bemus...

rose—

I will give way to the hon. Gentleman, if he would like to answer that point.

I read the impact statement and the detailed IFS discussion of the so-called “uncertainty”. Its p...

I will answer that point in more detail later. I am a little disappointed, however, as I thought ...

What does my hon. Friend think about the fact that in Committee a Conservative MP, the hon. Membe...

I do not wish to return to the lengthy debate that took place in Committee, but we did at various...

Was my hon. Friend as surprised as I was when the Government refused to release the tax details o...

Again, I do not want to focus on such issues at this time. I am sure that Government Front Benche...

Is it a coincidence that the tax cut to the rich costs £3 billion, which is exactly the same as t...

My hon. Friend makes a very valid point. That must be purely coincidental, because surely no Gove...

It is a pleasure to follow the shadow Minister, who has set out such a partial view from the Labo...

There are other explanations for the increased tax take during the period in question. One was th...

I absolutely agree. The 1980s were a time of great economic expansion; a great time of liberalisi...

Proponents of the Laffer curve, which is what the hon. Gentleman is talking about, often say that...

As I said, I think the Laffer curve is an interesting principle, but I prefer empirical curves an...

Does my hon. Friend think that cutting the rate to 40p or even 35p might have raised even more mo...

My hon. Friend tempts me, as ever. He knows that my view is that one should reduce the rate and c...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the major problem we have at the moment is that it is socially...

I agree. There has been a climate in which it is somehow acceptable to avoid taxation and I made ...

The hon. Gentleman and I had some good discussions in Committee—I would not call them enjoyable, ...

I think it is fair to say that we are not cutting taxes yet, because the change would not come th...

I ask the hon. Gentleman to correct the impression he gave. The age-related tax allowance does no...

The age-related tax allowances only kick in to benefit those pensioners who have a substantial in...

When the hon. Gentleman says that there are no cash losers, does that mean that pensioners will n...

That is my understanding, yes. Pensioners will not lose out, there will be no cash losers and no ...

I would be more prepared to take that from the hon. Gentleman if I had not sat through Finance Bi...

I was not there at those times, I did not sit through those Bills and I cannot comment. I am only...

“No cash losers”: I must say that I think that those are the most disingenuous words that I have ...

Is it not a fact that 4.4 million pensioners will lose roughly £83 a year from next year, and tha...

Order. “Disingenuous” is not a word that we should use. I know that it is meant to be an appropri...

I apologise to you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and to the hon. Member for Dover, if that is unparliamenta...

Order. In fairness, Mr Gardiner, you said that you did not think that the hon. Member for Dover (...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I absolutely recognise the figures that my hon. Friend the Member f...

Hear, hear!

From a more-than-sedentary, almost recumbent position, he says, “Hear, hear! Let’s go to 20%!” Do...

I do indeed think that there is a point at which revenue would drop off, if rates got low, and th...

Well, there we are: the Great British public are being treated to an experiment. “We want to test...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way once again. Sadly, I am not Her Majesty’s Gove...

I am sure that it is only a matter of time. In so far as the hon. Gentleman seeks to speak for hi...

Does he?

I do not want to see dissent break out on the Government Benches. No fighting amongst yourselves,...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. He is a courteous and jolly fellow. Let me help him by...

The hon. Gentleman has already said once in the debate that he does not believe the Treasury’s fi...

Did my hon. Friend spot the illogicality in the position of the hon. Member for Dover (Charlie El...

My hon. Friend, yet again, makes an excellent point. There is an implicit acceptance that people ...

Yes, we do understand, and I in particular understand because my constituency is one of the most ...

The hon. Gentleman talks about the way in which wages have broadly stagnated. We are now seeing w...

Order. I know the hon. Gentleman is painting the big picture, but we need to come back to the rel...

I accept your ruling, of course, Mr Deputy Speaker, and you are right. We have strayed wide of th...

I welcome this debate because the decisions that we take on tax rates are critical. We have had a...

The hon. Gentleman is very kind to give way. Does he agree with hitting pensioners hard with the ...

About a quarter of my constituents are pensioners, but I have received only three or four e-mails...

I am surprised to hear that only three or four of the hon. Gentleman’s constituents have contacte...

I am not sure that that is a massive loss of income. The most recent issue we debated was the 3p ...

It is a pleasure to contribute to the debate. It has been very interesting listening to the debat...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr (Jonathan Edwards). I ...

The hon. Gentleman recognises that we cannot please everybody, but does he agree that cutting tax...

I am sure that people who benefit from a tax cut will be pleased and those who lose out from a ta...

The hon. Gentleman talks about the over-65s, saying that this is all very fair and things will ba...

I am grateful for the intervention, and of course understand that pensioners living off their sav...

The hon. Gentleman is speaking as though his party had always supported the abolition of the 50p ...

I guess it is not for me to explain the right hon. Gentleman’s comments. He was clearly misinform...

I do not want to broaden the debate too much, but I say at the outset that we should get back to ...

I agree with the hon. Lady, but does she note that we are not taking people out of national insur...

It is interesting that the hon. Gentleman has managed to conflate tax and national insurance; per...

I totally agree with my hon. Friend. Ten thousand pounds a year equates to £833 a month, and it i...

Absolutely. If we have a duty in this House, it is constantly to remind ourselves of what life is...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this debate in suppo...

I should, in the interests of probity, place on record the fact that my wife works for Age Scotla...

Would my hon. Friend care to speculate on how many of the 14,000 millionaires who will be super-b...

I suspect the best and fastest way to answer my hon. Friend’s question would be to attend the nex...

I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way and am enjoying his wanderings throu...

I always give way to the hon. Gentleman, who knows more about age than anyone in the House. He ne...

The measure was introduced earlier, I believe by Winston Churchill; indeed, an hon. Member asked ...

I cannot believe the hon. Gentleman’s hearing is going. I began by saying that a cash freeze is a...

The Government’s wonderful policies are very successfully bringing down inflation; there has been...

With an intervention like that, it will not be long before the hon. Gentleman is sitting on the F...

rose—

Order. We do not need to worry about Take That and radios for today. I think that the circus has ...

I am most grateful, Mr Deputy Speaker.

Would my hon. Friend care to reflect that we have just heard from the hon. Member for North East ...

My hon. Friend is correct. This is not a time for celebration, as the cost of living continues to...

Did my hon. Friend notice the inconsistency of the Liberal Democrats on this matter? In January, ...

I often think that the Business Secretary would make an excellent contestant on “Strictly Come Da...

The policy on the higher tax rate is, in effect, an endorsement of tax avoidance, which worries m...

A lot of the people my hon. Friend is describing are actually in work, and the Government seem to...

Indeed, people who are working and who are, or were, paying tax stand to lose considerable amount...

I suggest that those people are also putting their money into the Conservative party, whose large...

That may well be the case.

What we need to do is to find ways to invest in our economy that...

I have listened to a good deal of what the hon. Lady has said during our debates, and I have been...

As I think the hon. Gentleman knows fairly well, the increase in inequality began far earlier tha...

It is a real pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Edinburgh East (Sheila Gilmore), who made suc...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Of course I will.

Is it bold and tough to rob the pensioners of £3 billion and give the millionaires a £3 billion t...

The pensioners are not being robbed. The pensioners have been extraordinarily well looked after b...

rose—

I give way to my socialist friend.

Does the hon. Gentleman really believe our society is enhanced by these pop stars and Premiership...

It has to be said that I am not the world’s greatest expert on pop stars and footballers, but non...

Order. We are drifting away from the topic under discussion—and as somebody who follows cricket a...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, but the reduction of tax is what encourages them to be here and why...

I am pretty sure, Mr Deputy Speaker, that the England cricket team is very good and the England f...

But my concern was about Somerset county cricket club. Football teams such as Manchester United d...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that there is a moral obligation on people to pay taxes, as well as...

No, I do not. I do not believe that taxation is a matter of morality. I believe the law is a matt...

I know the hon. Gentleman lives in a rarefied world, but does he not understand the anger felt no...

It is very important, once again, to differentiate between avoidance and evasion. If we have pass...

Does the hon. Gentleman get it? Does he not understand the anger of even middle-income earners, w...

rose—

I give way to my hon. Friend.

Order. It is worth answering that one first.

I am getting so many interventions, and I am always happy to take them all; all comers are welcom...

Does that not make the point? If there was this anger, thousands of people would not queue in lin...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right and he has hit the nail on the head.

The hon. Gentlemen have got it quite wrong. The tribal nature of football is that people idolise ...

The hon. Gentleman is wrong on that last point; I recognise that there is a need for taxation, th...

rose—

I give way to another supporter of the golden age.

I intervened just too early, because he mentioned Margaret Thatcher—another issue. Is there anywh...

This argument is not a moral one. We are not the House of Bishops. I am all in favour of the Lord...

I remember the noble Lord Lawson’s time as Chancellor and the real reason we boomed in that time ...

Without going anything other than briefly through a history of sterling in the 1980s, I seem to r...

I must confess that I was rather enjoying the sporting analogies and wondering, if the rules were...

I am grateful to the hon. Lady—

Order. We are in danger of moving off the topic. We are discussing personal allowances and we nee...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. One always feels ashamed not to answer a question directly, so I ap...

Not enough.

In 1979, when the hon. Gentleman had a real socialist Government, that figure was about 8%. One c...

I thank my hon. Friend for being so generous in giving way. If one could possibly take the politi...

I agree with my hon. Friend. I believe that there are studies that show that that rate would be 3...

Will the hon. Gentleman enlighten the House on what personal tax allowances he would put in place...

It would be an impertinence for someone who entered the House in only the past two years to aspir...

He’s behind you.

Oh, he is behind me. My hon. Friend the Member for Amber Valley said that the effect of the amend...

I have listened carefully to the hon. Gentleman, but I am not sure that he realises that a large ...

I am always grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s thoughtful interventions, but one of the greatest m...

My hon. Friend talked about the recycling of money through the system. In May 2010, nine out of 1...

I am in entire agreement with my hon. Friend. We want to get people out of the tax and benefits s...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

It will be an honour to give way.

9.30 pm

The problem with the hon. Gentleman’s argument is that, even if the tax threshold is raised towar...

Mr Deputy Speaker, you will rule me out of order if I argue that raising the minimum wage would b...

Surely the biggest disincentive to less well-off people earning or trying to get work—many are tr...

There are enormously exciting benefit changes coming through and I look forward to speaking on th...

The hon. Gentleman talks about the deficit. Things are getting worse, rather than better, because...

We have already discussed this. By and large people pay the taxes that they are supposed to pay, ...

We have had an interesting debate that has addressed what are perhaps two of the most controversi...

One part of HMRC’s gaming for this actually did not look at how much extra money would come in as...

HMRC’s analysis, which is a good piece of work, showed through two different mechanisms that the ...

The Minister has said it: the amount raised from the increase in tax declined because the economy...

I strongly disagree, but before I turn to tax avoidance let us remember that between one third an...

Can the Minister tell me two premiership footballers who have left the country because of this ta...

No I cannot, but I know that, for example, the Arsenal manager remarked that the 50p rate put him...

Generally, when changes are made and we want to assess their impact, we carry out properly indepe...

The hon. Lady asks what research we have. I am holding it in my hand: the document produced by HM...

If Labour Members felt that the 50p rate was so good, why did they introduce it as only a tempora...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to make that point. As I asked earlier, why did they wait 13 y...

If it is such a sensible, logical and scientifically researched conclusion that reducing the tax ...

I do not know whether the great British public have reached that conclusion. Perhaps some of them...

I am grateful to the Minister and Ipswich Town supporter for giving way. Does he agree with the g...

To be fair, that is not what my hon. Friend said, although I did not agree with everything that h...

rose—

Before I do that, I give way to my hon. Friend.

I am a Government Back Bencher who is not massively enthusiastic about the reduction in the top r...

My hon. Friend makes an important point. If we are talking about unfairness in the tax system as ...

It has been mentioned a hundred times tonight that no one will lose out in cash terms. Will there...

Nobody will lose out in cash terms; that is the point.

Age-related allowances are complex a...

It is good to have plenty of time to wind up for the Opposition. We will press for a vote on amen...

I beg to move amendment 24, page 5, line 4, leave out clause 8.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 25, page 134, line 2, l...

It is a pleasure to open the debate on these important amendments. I intend to pursue a theme tha...

Does the hon. Lady agree that child benefit as we have traditionally understood it has had one gr...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for making that point. It is important to understand that the fact tha...

Does the hon. Lady agree that it is unfair to expect a family in my constituency where the parent...

Well, there were some robust exchanges on that issue in previous debates. If the hon. Gentleman f...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the hon. Member for Burnley (Gordon Birtwistle) is mistaken? We ar...

I thank my right hon. Friend for that intervention, which explains the history extremely well. Th...

Of course my hon. Friend is absolutely right about the unfairness of this proposal. We hear state...

Again, my hon. Friend makes a valid point, and I shall deal with it in detail in a moment or two....

Is my hon. Friend saying that if a person’s income fluctuates during the year, but they do not kn...

Yes, my hon. Friend has got the situation exactly right; that is the problem as it has been descr...

rose—

Order. As hon. Members can see, a number of Members are standing and wish to contribute in what i...

I must confess that I support the principle behind the clause but share many of the concerns expr...

My hon. Friend talks about the practicalities of the system, but is he aware that there is no pra...

There will be by next January, because they will not qualify for it.

The broader issue is t...

One reason for not taking up the proposal is that one group in society which is most likely to be...

I accept that, but we are looking for a simple system—[Interruption.] No, the issue at stake is t...

Normally, one begins a speech by saying what a pleasure it is to speak, but it is not a pleasure ...

Does the hon. Lady agree that many couples with no children object hugely to their taxation going...

As I explained to her hon. Friend, I do not think it strikes a good balance because the children ...

I say gently to the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Helen Goodman) that it is incumbent on her p...

To go back to the point made by the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Helen Goodman), there are mo...

My hon. Friend makes an important and astute point, which is that the Rolls-Royce minds at the Tr...

rose—

I will have to bring the Back-Bench speeches to an end at 19 minutes past, so there are three min...

I strongly support the brilliant speeches of my hon. Friends the Members for Kilmarnock and Loudo...

Clause 8 introduces a new income tax charge that will be used to withdraw child benefit from a cl...

What conceivable political point is there in a Conservative Government attacking 1 million of our...

Speaking as a Conservative, I consider that all the British people are our people.

By raisi...

If my hon. Friend is going to consider the efficacy of different policies, will the Treasury unde...

My hon. Friend and other hon. Members have made the case for a cap on the number of children rece...

In the very short time available, I want to say that we will press amendment 24 to a Division, al...