Finance Bill

New clause 13 and new schedule 5 make provision to ensure that individuals who wish to make use o...

I understand that the Minister is trying to introduce an element of fairness into the new arrange...

We have been engaged in a consultation process, which closed recently, and have engaged fully wit...

The Minister rightly says that on such policy matters, assessments are a normal part of Governmen...

During the assessment of the policy announced in the Budget, we considered all the various issues...

The Minister referred to the Budget and the documents published about this policy, but what was p...

On the question of social care, let me repeat the point that I just made: we will respond to the ...

Before the Minister fully leaves the point about how people might spend the lump sums, one concer...

There are two points to make. First, we believe that individuals should be able to make their own...

I thank the Minister for giving way once again. Opposition Members become concerned—well, I certa...

I agree that it is vital that we get the guidance right. I am sure the hon. Gentleman will unders...

I understand the point about the timing of the guidance, and I will discuss that in my speech. Th...

The hon. Lady, perfectly understandably, is seeking more information at this point. I do not thin...

I understand the need for a professional to offer guidance face to face and on a quality end-prod...

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s observation. Without getting too much into the details of what...

The Minister said that he is discussing this with the industry and other interested parties. I we...

The purpose of the reforms is to ensure that there is a savings and pensions environment that is ...

I recently met representatives of a major financial institution who rightly see the potential for...

My hon. Friend is trying to draw me into the details of what we will say about how the guidance w...

I will not try to draw the Minister into the details. He rightly refers to the instinct to give p...

I take that point in the spirit in which it was offered. I maintain that it is right that we give...

rose—

I will give way once more and then I should return to my speech.

The Minister will be aware that many people are glad that this Government have introduced greater...

The hon. Gentleman raises an interesting point. Indeed, I have just signed off a parliamentary an...

I always find terms like “shortly” confusing. Is “shortly” in the next few weeks, in the next the...

I used the word “shortly;” I could have said “in due course,” but I hope that my hon. Friend is m...

I want first to put something on the record. Earlier, the hon. Member for Redcar (Ian Swales) sug...

On that point, my hon. Friend, as usual, is making an eloquent, precise case. There is an issue n...

My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point. My understanding of the research is that, when...

On the question of guidance, the Pensions Minister’s comments about Lamborghinis were particularl...

If I did not know better, I would suspect my hon. Friend of having read my speech. I was just abo...

I am listening carefully and trying to understand. Is the hon. Lady suggesting that the Governmen...

It is important that Government use language consistently and do not inadvertently mislead people...

Before my hon. Friend moves off the important topic of guidance, I am sure she will agree that th...

Once again, my hon. Friend makes an important point and anticipates some of the things I want to ...

Perhaps this time I am not anticipating what my hon. Friend is about to say, as I think she is br...

Once again, my hon. Friend makes a valid and important point. He is correct that I was about to c...

I find this issue rather exciting, although clearly the House does not, given how empty the Chamb...

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that the other arm of the Government on this, the pensions Minis...

I think that the default position will be that an annuity is purchased, rather than a lump sum be...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that thoughtful response. I am not sure that the default position ...

The Minister, as ever, will provide clarity, and I will ensure that he has plenty of time to do s...

I thank the hon. Gentleman, who is speaking from his experience of the sector, for giving way aga...

The annuities market was not working effectively in a number of ways, but, in relation to the lum...

The hon. Gentleman is making a very good point about encouraging people to shop around, but is he...

I agree that we should not put all the eggs in one basket, but we certainly should not put none i...

I have some sympathy with what the hon. Gentleman is saying about the fact that these pensions pr...

I do not believe they are contradictory, because some people want to hand over that level of resp...

Let me quickly try to address some of the points that have been raised, many of which related to ...

Does not that illustrate the need for gathering and publishing the information, as proposed by ou...

I do not know whether the hon. Lady was present earlier—[Interruption.] I am pleased that she was...

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

New clause 10 takes us back to 2010 a...

Will the hon. Lady say what the allowance is today—is it £100,000 or has it gone up?

We are still at 2010; we will get to the present day in due course, but the hon. Gentleman seems ...

I am sure that my hon. Friend, like me, welcomes the Government’s conversion and the way in which...

We can only speculate on what on earth was going through the Chancellor’s mind when he slashed an...

This policy was part of a package that included a significant reduction in corporation tax rates,...

Once again, Conservative Members, and indeed the Minister, want to brush over this inconvenient p...

Will the hon. Lady rule out an increase in corporation tax under the next Labour Government, shou...

We are not discussing that.

My hon. Friend makes a fair point: that is not what we are discussing. However, I am interested t...

I hate to disappoint the hon. Lady, but I am not part of the Government. It is not for me, a Back...

The hon. Gentleman is obviously not able to rule in or rule out any slashing of the annual invest...

I am in favour of capital allowances. I had an engineering company, and we believed that the Gove...

That is very much the point that I was making and that we have made all along. We had a financial...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I will give way again, but I hope that it is in order for the Minister to confirm that the Tory p...

Our plans on the annual investment allowance are clear: this is a temporary increase until Decemb...

Order. As interesting as some Members might find the debate on corporation tax and the future pol...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for your sage guidance. I agree that the Minister appears to be ...

Strictly on the annual investment allowance, is my hon. Friend not absolutely on the button when ...

My hon. Friend raises an important point, and that is the first time we have heard a Government M...

The temporary nature of the investment allowance is clearly set out in a press release issued on ...

Well, it simply reinforces the impression—in fact, the reality—that the Government are perfectly ...

The hon. Lady is right—I should not roll my eyes; I should get up and engage in debate. We know a...

It is a little desperate to try to justify what is proven to have been a flawed decision-making p...

Does my hon. Friend agree that it seems odd to suggest that the chopping and changing was due to ...

As ever, my hon. Friend makes an insightful intervention and raises the key question. The Governm...

As I said, I fully support any funding that goes into capital allowances, but we have to remember...

I know the hon. Gentleman’s interest in this issue is sincere. The Treasury may or may not have b...

The hon. Lady is being very generous. Does she accept that if a company is not making a profit, i...

I think the hon. Gentleman is rather confused. The purpose of the allowance is to enable companie...

This new clause highlights two problems relating to its proposers and their party. The first is t...

Let me correct the hon. Gentleman. He seems not to have been paying attention to my final comment...

Let us be clear what we are talking about. Labour and the hon. Lady want to spend two hours of th...

rose—

Let me develop my point, and I shall give way again in a few moments.

It is important and i...

That argument is fine as far as it goes, but in the space of seven years, we went from the abolit...

The hon. Gentleman reinforces my point, which is that under Labour there were substantial reducti...

I am very pleased to be able to contribute to a debate whose purpose we seem to lose sight of fro...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will in a moment.

We may well see some element of discrimination in favour of smaller com...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will come to the hon. Gentleman, if he will just be patient.

Inherent in the problem is t...

I have enormous respect for the hon. Gentleman’s experience in this regard. He has spoken of the ...

I wish I had not given way, because when I do we always get into this tiresome point. The Governm...

As a businessman, I had an engineering company that required a lot of investment. We had to inves...

Will the hon. Gentleman touch on why he objects to the proposal of my hon. Friend the Member for ...

As I said to the shadow Minister, capital allowances are very close to my heart. I believe they a...

The hon. Gentleman is right to say people will make investment decisions on a range of issues, bu...

Absolutely: stability, confidence, cash, training programmes, and an economic strategy for the fu...

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s experience on this issue, and his campaigning, which lay at the...

My hon. Friend is right. We must remember that claiming a capital allowance on a profit is time-l...

It is a pleasure to respond to this debate, and in particular to follow my hon. Friend the Member...

The Minister is trying to set out the Government’s position, which he would assert is one of succ...

If the hon. Gentleman wants to debate that, I am happy to do so. We faced a crisis in the eurozon...

The Minister has just asserted that the economy is growing strongly, but I am surprised by that. ...

It is a little difficult to compare a period in the 1980s before the election of Margaret Thatche...

The Minister has said he has plans for low corporation tax, and fewer reliefs and allowances—I un...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for returning me to the subject matter before us, and no doub...

Would the Minister like corporation tax to come down below 20%, if possible? Is that ever envisag...

My hon. Friend raises an interesting point, which I could spend some time discussing. Some challe...

rose—

I hope that is not the case and I am delighted to give Labour’s Front Bencher an opportunity to p...

Once again, the Minister is trying to change the subject from the annual investment allowance to ...

That is the fourth opportunity the hon. Lady has had to provide some reassurance to businesses an...

I am interested in the Minister’s comments. Will he comment on the fact that corporation tax in t...

As always, the hon. Gentleman’s questions are interesting and could take me in a number of direct...

The Minister is quite right to point out that there have been dramatic fluctuations in these type...

The point I was making is that it was this Government who introduced a corporate tax road map in ...

The Minister seems to be completely obsessed with corporation tax. Whatever question is put to hi...

The hon. Lady does not seem to recognise that there is a link between the annual investment allow...

Let me return the Minister to the historical context. He keeps implying that a Labour Government ...

We saw the economy shrink by 7% in a year or so under the Labour Government. That is not a record...

rose—

I will give way one last time.

The Minister seems to imply that the worldwide downturn—the economic recession that was a consequ...

Let me summarise the hon. Gentleman’s position: when the economy grows under a Labour Government,...

It is absolutely clear that the Government have tied themselves in knots over the annual investme...

rose—

I give way to another fence-sitting Liberal Democrat.

I thank the hon. Lady for giving way, and she will be pleased to know that I will not sit on the ...

That flies in the face of the advice given by the EEF, the Chartered Institute of Taxation and th...

The hon. Lady says that her concern is that business will not know where it stands on the annual ...

I agree that business needs certainty about taxation to make investment decisions, and that is wh...

Does my hon. Friend want to reflect on the suggestion made earlier that it did not really matter ...

My hon. Friend makes an absolutely valid point. Businesses do not work in electoral cycles or ann...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Given that the Office for National Statistics has conf...

No, the hon. Gentleman may not take my advice. It is not the position of the Chair to advise hon....

Further to that point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Is there anything that you can do to stop t...

Order. The hon. Gentleman knows that that is not a point of order, nor could it be further to a p...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I made a point of order earlier today regarding a figu...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman—[Interruption.] Order. I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. T...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Could you advise me, please, with reference to the ina...

Order. I have already reminded the House that the content of Ministers’ speeches is not a matter ...

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Government new clause 2—Determina...

I will attempt to speak briefly to this long list of Government new clauses, new schedules and am...

I welcome this particular measure, because the very well known Buxton opera house is in my consti...

I am delighted to hear of the benefits that my hon. Friend’s constituency and the Buxton opera ho...

Circus is a performing art invented in the United Kingdom and it provides many children with thei...

Again, I am delighted to hear that. My hon. Friend lobbied us and made representations on behalf ...

It is important to support this area, but would the Exchequer Secretary like to comment on the Na...

The Government will respond formally to that, but I believe that well-designed, well-focused and ...

I thank the Minister for introducing the 60 or so proposals that the Government have tabled for c...

When the Minister is answering those questions, I wonder whether he will also say what impact the...

The right hon. Gentleman raises an important question. I hope that the Minister addresses it in h...

I am listening carefully to what the hon. Lady is saying. Does she agree that, although the cap a...

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. Again, it would be helpful if the Minister addresse...

The hon. Lady is making an important point: maximising exploration is crucial to future revenues....

That is an ambition that I believe the Chancellor has expressed himself. It is vital the Governme...

Does the hon. Lady join me in welcoming the fact that the arrangements in HMRC are to give specif...

I hope that will happen and that HMRC will have the resources available to it, as we know that it...

In the case of the film tax credits, the British Film Institute has a role in assessing whether t...

My hon. Friend raises a very important point. I have not specifically considered it, but it fits ...

Does the hon. Lady not think it right that we incentivise these renewables projects through contr...

We would always hope that the Government would behave rationally in respect of these matters. I a...

I welcome the chance to make a brief contribution to the debate on this group of amendments. It w...

I rise to speak against new clause 1 and the introduction of the bareboat chartering regime. I he...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. Given that the Government have so recently and so enthusi...

That is an extremely good point. It is not just the International Association of Drilling Contrac...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. Does he also recognise that there is a shortage of rigs? ...

Indeed; I recognise all those points, and the pressures that are being applied to finite and very...

On the point about making other jurisdictions more attractive, are the Government not actually he...

Indeed, and Malcolm Webb from Oil and Gas UK made a near-identical point when he said:

“It ...

I should like to speak to new clause 5 and new schedule 4 on the theatre tax relief and to set th...

I strongly support the hon. Lady’s thesis that it is essential to get the wording right. At the m...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. It is slightly unfortunate that the Government have brought ...

My hon. Friend has spoken about how the changes might apply to the National Theatre. Is she inten...

I am, because I know that my hon. Friend has a keen interest in that, as do people up and down th...

Will the hon. Lady be very clear: is she opposed to the cuts in the DCMS, and if so, would Labour...

I think it must be a matter of regret to everybody in the House that DCMS has taken 36% cuts. Of ...

I have a couple of questions for the Minister about the accelerated payment of tax and avoidance ...

We have had, unsurprisingly, a wide ranging debate. I shall try to respond to the points raised b...

That is a valid point to make, but having had the chartering regime in place in the North sea for...

On the question why now, it is worth pointing out that following a refocusing of the UK corporati...

I have a constituent who is on a ship that serves the North sea. He is the only member of the cre...

The hon. Gentleman raises a somewhat different point from the one that I am addressing, but if he...

Is the Exchequer Secretary any clearer than I am about whether the Labour party will reverse the ...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for another example of Labour opposing yet another measure that t...

Is it the Treasury’s intention, for the sake of simplicity and certainty, to ensure that the defi...

Order. It is not good for Members just to walk in and intervene, in fairness to those who have be...

I will do so, Mr Deputy Speaker, because my hon. Friend makes an interesting point. I have set ou...

Will the Minister give way?

A man who has been here all the time.

I have, indeed, been here all the time, Mr Deputy Speaker.

The hon. Member for Bishop Auckl...

The point is that the relief is designed to support the range of theatre productions across the U...

My hon. Friend is being very generous with his time. I am pleased that he has made the position c...

I have received a number of representations on the matter, but I have been clear as to why the Go...

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Third time.

I will keep my remarks brief, but I ...

Now that we have reached the final stages of consideration of the Finance Bill, may I join the Mi...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman is an investment fund manager who has done well out of t...

The hon. Gentleman is repeating something we have discussed over and over again. Does he not unde...

I am sure those investment fund managers have absolutely no interest in the abolition of SDRT in ...

I feel I must stand up for investment fund managers, not least because their business brings sign...

The hon. Gentleman represents very many of those investment fund managers. He is doing the job he...

The Conservative Government of the early 1970s recognised that there was a cost of living problem...

One would have thought that by now Ministers would have twigged that for all the talk of growth a...

The hon. Gentleman should at least acknowledge that we dropped the small business rate by at leas...

That is already on the record. Our view is that the proposed change in corporation tax from next ...

rose—

I will give way to the Minister if he will tell us what that investment allowance will fall back ...

It is hardly in the small print. It was in the announcement that was made when we extended and in...

We know the Minister’s game. He is again trying to scare firms and businesses with various sugges...

I will tell the hon. Gentleman what we can do: we can continue to reduce the deficit without incr...

Let the record show that the Conservative Minister did not rule out increasing VAT to above 20%. ...

Once again, it comes back to helping families with the cost of living. The Government cut Sure St...

That is my point. The Press Gallery is not bursting at the seams because the Government do not wa...

It is interesting that my hon. Friend has mentioned interest rates, because, one way or another, ...

Government Members and Ministers do not understand how important it is that we ensure that the re...

All I will say is thank God we have not had a Labour Government for the past four years, because ...

I do not know what evidence the hon. Lady has for that spurious assertion.

We will see what...

The hon. Gentleman says that it is important that the whole country benefits from the recovery, a...

rose—

Just to be helpful, there are three more speakers to come. The debate that is ping-ponging across...

You are completely right, Mr Deputy Speaker. We have had this debate going on throughout the day....

I am glad that I am looking more youthful and Conservative this afternoon, Mr Deputy Speaker.

Since 1944, there has been an end-of-year reconciliation under the PAYE system, because not all t...

I do appreciate that, but the Minister will also appreciate that trust in many institutions, whet...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

If the hon. Lady will excuse me, I will make some progress, as there are other Members who want t...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Mark Field), who...

The hon. Gentleman mentions business taxes. The shadow Minister was repeatedly pressed to say whe...

Of course I share the hon. Gentleman’s concern. I shared the concern that the very first act in t...

It is always a privilege to follow the hon. Member for Islwyn (Chris Evans). I want to focus on o...