Finance (No. 2) Bill

Will the Financial Secretary give way?

I will make a little more progress and then I will happily give way.

Before setting out the...

When?

Members should be paying more attention. Earlier today the Leader of the House updated right hon....

We are always here to help.

It is good to hear that Opposition Front Benchers are here to help.

To return to the matter...

Will the Financial Secretary confirm that the Office for Budget Responsibility report that accomp...

I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman was in the House earlier, but the International Monetary...

In the interests of this potentially more consensual period in the run-up to Prorogation, as we t...

The Chancellor was clear at the time and in our statements about the Budget and subsequent decisi...

This is the Finance Bill!

Well, there are measures in the Bill that are immediately and openly about revenue raising, and w...

Recent studies have shown that the youngest people in our society who are working, those aged 22 ...

I have just talked about some of the things we are doing. Some of these long-term trends need to ...

Cancer Research UK ambassadors like my constituent Sue Spencer have helped to highlight the fact ...

The hon. and learned Lady tempts me to talk about a subject from a previous portfolio that is ver...

Does the Minister not accept that all the studies conducted so far indicate that this will presen...

On the latter point, I looked at this matter in detail recently. On what would be required of peo...

I fully accept the need to tackle the tax gap, but if the advantages for the very smallest busine...

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor has already announced that businesses with a turnover below t...

Plausibility ran through every sentence in the Minister’s speech. Plausibility ran riot, but plau...

The hon. Gentleman is making some interesting points, but I hope he will forgive me for saying th...

If that is what the hon. Gentleman sees, I suggest that he needs to take off his rose-tinted spec...

I would love this to be a low-tax economy, but is the hon. Gentleman aware that tax as a percenta...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for bringing that to my attention. Let me put it like this: i...

It is very kind of the hon. Gentleman to give way again. As he has brought up the NHS, I feel tha...

I draw the hon. Gentleman’s attention to waiting lists in England, where an estimated 3.8 million...

Does my hon. Friend think it is remotely credible for a Tory MP on the eve of a general election ...

My hon. Friend is completely right about that. If Conservative Members want to send me their mani...

I accept what the hon. Gentleman has said about the difficulties that the NHS is facing. However,...

I referred earlier to the money—£70 billion, I believe—that the Government have given away to cor...

In that spirit, does the hon. Gentleman welcome the additional £20 million to £25 million a year ...

Of course I welcome that figure, but the hon. Lady has to ask herself whether businesses should h...

Given that larger stores weathered the recession much better than many small businesses, would th...

If that suggestion came from the Government side, I would say that I would listen to the represen...

I am sorry, but I rise to defend HMRC. What the shadow Minister just said is the most outrageous ...

That attempt at plausibility has gone amiss yet again. The reality is that we are constantly cont...

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that the Bill comes from a Government who have significantly incre...

A million people in employment are on zero-hours contracts. Millions of people are in insecure wo...

The hon. Gentleman is being generous in giving way. Does he understand that his pledge further to...

I do not know which speech the hon. Gentleman has been listening to, but I did not refer to raisi...

You did!

No, I did not. I was asked earlier how I would pay for the changes, and I indicated that I would ...

Can the hon. Gentleman tell us how much Labour would borrow under his plan?

Certainly less than you. In short, this Bill is another Conservative broken promise, and I urge t...

It is a pleasure to speak on this nice, brief and moderate Bill. I suspect the Bill that finally ...

My hon. Friend is making a cogent argument, but does he not welcome the targeted nature of the fu...

I welcome more funding to help children to be healthy and more funding for sports. I especially w...

Just to clarify, one reason why the levy is on producers is because we want to drive the reformul...

I agree that changing what people consume without their knowing it, and without their having to c...

I appreciate the point the hon. Gentleman is making and I have a lot of sympathy with his wider p...

I agree with the hon. Lady about that. The products we should probably be targeting are those peo...

Does my hon. Friend accept that the provisions will give rise to a public debate, and therefore t...

Having a broader debate to raise people’s understanding that a diet cola is much healthier that a...

My hon. Friend is slightly glossing over the problems for businesses. Many of them will be paying...

Yes, and I was coming to that point about the smaller businesses. I suspect that businesses that ...

Does the hon. Gentleman acknowledge that this may be meant to do away with errors and give busine...

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that we have to think about how to do the annual adjustments—they...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the cut in corporation tax from 19% to 17% in 2020 is only going t...

I absolutely agree: it is important that we continue to send the signal that Britain is a great p...

Can the hon. Gentleman explain why Germany, which has a much higher headline rate of corporation ...

I think I would have had to have attended several of the hon. Gentleman’s lectures to understand ...

In his consideration, will my hon. Friend, like me, bear in mind the fact that the closest and mo...

Yes, and Ireland has found that that corporation tax rate has been successful in helping to attra...

I hope my hon. Friend will join me in sharing the sentiments of our hon. Friend the Member for Fa...

I agree with those sentiments. If we are going to get into a debate about the German economic mod...

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that there will be great disappointment in Northern Ireland that b...

I do agree: it is regrettable that the inability to form an Executive means that it looks like a ...

The hon. Gentleman quite rightly mentions tax avoidance. Does he accept that although there are m...

I was nearly finished, but the hon. Gentleman invites me into a debate on the tax gap. I do not h...

My hon. Friend is making a very good speech about the changing nature of the economy, particularl...

Yes, I happily welcome that review. That has become an emerging issue that we need to tackle. It ...

I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from “That” to the end of the Question and add:

“t...

I just want to point out that, under the Scotland Act 2016, we are devolving benefits worth £2.8 ...

I am sure that the Scottish people will be delighted to hear that the hon. Lady thinks that someh...

The hon. Gentleman quotes the OBR, which was one of the few forecasters that was responsible enou...

I think the hon. Gentleman has been on record attacking the OBR for its forecasts. If he has not,...

The point I was trying to make was that we have had incredibly wrong forecasts from all these ill...

I do not want foolish speculation; nor do I want rose-tinted spectacles or ostrich heads in sand....

It is a pleasure to be called to speak in support of this Finance Bill. As a whole, it is a Bill ...

I am glad to hear that the hon. Gentleman supports the sugar tax. Does he agree, though, that the...

It is true that the Health Committee—myself included—has called for additional measures, but the ...

My hon. Friend is making an important point about the fact that there is a higher growth in obesi...

Indeed. I strongly believe that the measures outlined in the Bill go some way to tackling that si...

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point about the freedom for better labelling after we leave the...

That is a very good point. A point has also been made about the flexibility to include informatio...

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech based on his personal knowledge and work as a medica...

I will indeed. I will come on to the positive impact that the potential introduction of the levy ...

Does my hon. Friend agree that this is an example of measuring success in terms not of the revenu...

My hon. Friend makes a good point. This is about how people live their lives in the foods and dri...

As a consultant paediatrician I have seen and treated a number of children with obesity and seen ...

Yes. The levy is a bold and brave move, but it is only a small part of the efforts we need to mak...

I want to follow the hon. Member for Vale of Clwyd (Dr Davies) in addressing my remarks to part 3...

That is because Labour always inherits a wonderful financial situation from the Conservatives and...

Yes, of course that is the hon. Gentleman’s belief. However, if we go back in history, I seem to ...

I am inordinately fond of the hon. Gentleman, but we have heard this—“24 hours to save the NHS”—s...

The hon. Gentleman may be reading from one of those notes that the Whips have been passing around...

I am happy to comment on a couple of things. First, the provision is designed slightly differentl...

I am grateful to the Minister. Obviously, we cannot cite Mexico as evidence in favour of the poli...

It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Steve McCabe) and to ...

rose—

I give way to another hon. Gentleman for whom it is fine to eat lots of sugar.

Indeed, I had a fine East Lothian Easter egg. Does the hon. Gentleman accept that the difficulty ...

There is indeed an advertising industry, but we live in a free country and people ought to be abl...

I want to give my hon. Friend a degree of reassurance. A new measure in the regime advanced as pa...

Absolutely. That is an important part of the reforms, but there has perhaps been a tone—more from...

May we just have clarity on this? I did not say that. The hon. Gentleman brought it to my attenti...

I look forward to reading the characteristically accurate transcript Hansard will have for us tom...

In that context, how does the hon. Gentleman explain a national debt of close to £2 trillion?

I would explain the national debt of approaching £2 trillion because of the place where we starte...

I am loth to give the hon. Gentleman further exposure, but if that strategy was as successful as ...

It has succeeded. We have the fastest growing economy in the G7. For all the stuff we heard a yea...

I may be falling into my own trap, but I remember listening to the hon. Gentleman’s speeches in t...

I do apologise for a lack of humility. I shall try to do better in that regard. I am, however, fl...

Is not one of the fundamental reasons why the economy is in safe hands with those of us on the Co...

My hon. Friend comes from Somerset and her parents are constituents of mine. For both those reaso...

If the long-term economic plan was such a wonderful strategy, why did the former Chancellor and t...

Targets are based on forecasts and forecasts have variables within them that even the wonderful, ...

I cannot let the hon. Gentleman continue with his analysis of the previous Chancellor’s single pl...

I do not agree with that analysis. My analysis is that the austerity allowed for a looser monetar...

I shall support the amendment, although that does not prevent me from believing that there are ma...

The hon. Gentleman is presenting a marvellous argument for people to vote Conservative. He is pre...

I was very careful to say that I was not anticipating who would actually be in government. I was ...

The hon. Gentleman is making an interesting speech and I welcome the consensual tone that he has ...

I accept what the Minister says, but the extra investment from the productivity fund that is goin...

I am listening with interest to some of the hon. Gentleman’s points. Does he agree that one of th...

I am happy to agree with that point. The weakness of the euro is that across Europe it has locked...

Does the hon. Gentleman share my concern that the difficulty with doing this through charges is t...

I could not agree more, and I look forward to the hon. Gentleman taking that up in the 1922 commi...

It is a joy to follow my Treasury Committee colleague, the hon. Member for East Lothian (George K...

My hon. Friend’s speech is an absolute treat because it is a much better version of the speech th...

My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. This is a chicken and egg situation. If people with ideas ...

I want to talk about quite a few things. I might have given a somewhat different speech had there...

Does the hon. Lady accept, in the spirit of this part of her speech, that the introduction of the...

I absolutely agree that things such as the national living wage—it is not a living wage, however;...

So much has already been said in this debate that I am going to attempt to be short and, I hope, ...

There is no magic money tree.

Indeed. I hesitate to rely on my A-level economics, but companies employ people who pay taxes, an...

indicated assent.

I am glad to see that the hon. Gentleman agrees with me.

One of the most important things a...

I am pleased to speak in support of this Finance Bill on a day when the general election has been...

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Of course it is the Conservative party that has inc...

I could not agree more. That is the point that I want to make. It is a principle of basic economi...

Does this Bill not raise taxes on insurance, and on this, that and the other thing? Is the hon. L...

I completely agree. I am not saying no tax rises at all. I am saying that tax rises have to be pr...

They are paying for the health service.

Yes, but let us see what history has shown. When Gordon Brown increased the higher rate of tax, t...

From the discovery of Australia to the invention of the cat’s eye, the history of Yorkshire’s peo...

There is much to welcome in this Finance Bill and I am very pleased to be taking part in this fas...

Where are they?

Indeed. Where are they, to speak up for themselves?

Having made a strong case with my Conse...

It is a pleasure to close today’s debate on the Finance (No. 2) Bill, even if other events have p...

With the leave of the House, I will close today’s debate, and it is a pleasure to do so. It has b...

Order. It is a little impolite to make so much noise that the House cannot hear the Minister. Whi...

What could be more exciting and important to talk about? I wonder.

I reiterate that the Gov...