Finance Bill

My right hon. Friend has mentioned Labour, and the 13 years of disastrous Labour rule. Is it not<...

I thank my hon. Friend for those observations, which I am sure the House has duly noted.

Le...

The Financial Secretary uses the example of someone who works through a company, and compares tha...

There are other considerations that the hon. Gentleman should focus on when he looks at individua...

My right hon. Friend refers to the importance of working out different tax models and how they af...

My hon. and learned Friend is entirely right. As I have said, we are the party of bringing down c...

Last week the Institute for Public Policy Research published an influential report on some of the...

The Government’s record on income equality is extremely strong. The hon. Gentleman may be aware t...

I was asking about geographical inequalities.

We are a party and Government who recognise that all parts of our economy are equally important i...

In my constituency, the backbone of business is small and medium-sized businesses. Does my right ...

My hon. Friend raises an important point on business rates, which are very important as one of th...

My right hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Does he share my concern that the shadow Chan...

As usual, my right hon. Friend makes some very insightful observations. I have no news, I am afra...

It might well be that the shadow Chancellor is trying to cause insurrection outside the Chamber, ...

That is a fair observation—[Interruption.] That is a fair comment from my hon. Friend—[Interrupti...

Order. Even if hon. Members are making a noise in support of the Minister, which I rather think t...

Thank you for that ruling, Madam Deputy Speaker; I am pleased that you will be able to hear me fr...

Rather than proving that Conservative Members are able to count people on Benches—which at times ...

I think the hon. Lady will have heard my—[Interruption.] The shadow Chancellor has arrived: the t...

Is it not deeply regrettable that clauses in the previous Finance Bill that would have cracked do...

My right hon. Friend makes an extremely pertinent observation, as usual. We wanted this 650-page ...

Notwithstanding that the shadow Chancellor has now been shamed into taking time out of his insurr...

My hon. Friend makes an important observation and the House will draw its own conclusions.

Will the Minister give way again?

I will give way again to my hon. Friend—why not?

Does my right hon. Friend agree that we have actually received more income since cutting corporat...

My hon. Friend is entirely right. The amount of onshore corporation tax that we took in the last ...

The Minister just prayed in aid the new penalties for the enablers of tax avoidance, which I welc...

I believe that that is due to an element of convention, but I am happy to speak to the hon. Gentl...

While the Opposition squeal about tax evasion, does my right hon. Friend agree that it is the Con...

My hon. Friend is right. Some Opposition Members claimed in last week’s debate that HMRC does not...

At a time when our public finances are still challenged due to the Labour party’s economic misman...

My hon. Friend is right, which reminds us of the overall purpose of raising tax and ensuring that...

My right hon. Friend refers to the taxation and regulation of business, but once we are in the ha...

My hon. Friend is entirely right. That is why the Government have been clear through our tax plan...

On that point, will my right hon. Friend re-emphasise the fact that the tax gaps for large and sm...

My hon. Friend is correct. The tax gap currently stands at 6.5% for all taxes, which is lower tha...

I thank my right hon. Friend for his announcements about Making Tax Digital and for pointing out ...

My hon. Friend is entirely right. We do put small businesses first, which is precisely why we lis...

Although the delay in Making Tax Digital gives breathing space for very small firms, those firms ...

The hon. Lady may be aware that in the consultation we received the message from businesses that ...

Does my hon. Friend remember that in 2010, when the digitisation of VAT was introduced, more than...

My hon. and learned Friend is absolutely right. In my meetings with the Federation of Small Busin...

I, too, welcome the fact that the Government have listened to many small businesses not just on t...

My hon. Friend is a doughty champion of small businesses in Northern Ireland, and I value the com...

It is a pleasure to address the 1922 committee today.

The House considered the Ways and Mea...

I am listening carefully to the hon. Gentleman. He should be careful of complaining about scrutin...

I saw a few tumbleweeds on the Government Benches last week. If there is a shiver looking for a s...

The shadow Minister says last night was an outrage. Does he agree with his friends and acolytes i...

My hon. Friend the Member for Bolsover (Mr Skinner) is a hero.

I would make exactly the same point as my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies). How...

Conservative Members acquiesced in their droves, and it is a shame—it is absolutely shocking—that...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

In a moment.

Last week, we witnessed the Brexit Secretary, also known as Britain’s Brexit b...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I wonder whether you could help the hon. Gentleman, as...

Order. I could not quite hear the right hon. Gentleman’s point of order, but I am guessing what I...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Your judgment is wonderful, as ever, on these matters.

Wha...

Will the hon. Gentleman confirm that when a Minister brings a statutory instrument to the House, ...

It depends on the nature of the order, so let us move on.

I come to the future economic cre...

I am a bit perplexed by the hon. Gentleman’s comments about non-doms, because those of us with lo...

I am afraid the hon. Gentleman’s memory is wrong about that, as are the memories of some Minister...

On U-turns and our national debt, will the hon. Gentleman clarify whether it is still Labour poli...

I do not mind Government Members making up their policies on the hoof, but they should have respe...

I return to the £100 billion costing of university fees, where the hon. Gentleman seemed to be un...

Far be it from me to give advice, but the hon. Lady should go to a dictionary to find out the dif...

Order. The hon. Gentleman has important questions to answer.

Thank you, once again, Madam Deputy Speaker.

In the Financial Secretary’s enthusiasm to exp...

The hon. Gentleman has been asked twice whether or not it is still the Labour party’s policy to c...

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave earlier.

It is not for us to provide answers for the Government; it is for the Government to provide answe...

My hon. Friend is an experienced Member and he has hit the nail on the head.

Our party’s policy was clearly stated in our manifesto—it was to abolish all tuition fees. That i...

They make it up as they go along.

May I jog the Financial Secretary’s memory? He forgot to ...

Order. Questions have been asked of the hon. Gentleman and I would like to hear the answers. I ca...

While I am on the subject, since the Financial Secretary stood up around 25 minutes ago, £4 milli...

No, I have given way a significant number of times already.

In the context of higher unempl...

I felt for the shadow Minister’s being asked to speak in this debate after many hours of toiling ...

The Leader of the Opposition’s precise words were:

“I will deal with it.”

Those were ...

My hon. Friend is much tougher than I am and has made it clear that the Leader of the Opposition ...

Had the Treasury team shown the House some respect by publishing the Bill and the explanatory not...

We think that this is a debate about the Finance Bill, and about how much money we raise and how ...

Given that Conservative MPs want to spend a considerable amount of time on this matter—indeed, th...

I am very grateful for that clarification. I think that we can rest our case. It seems very clear...

I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way. He is making an extremely powerful speech. It is rel...

Let us move on. Let me summarise the situation by saying that what we have learned today is that ...

My right hon. Friend is being a bit unkind to the Labour Opposition, because they have given us s...

I have written and spoken about that in other contexts. I fear that I might be straying a bit far...

One matter that is in the Finance Bill is in relation to tax avoidance and tax evasion. Does my r...

I do remember that. We also have the respective abilities in Government, and we see that this Gov...

Given that the only numbers in the Conservative manifesto were the page numbers, does the right h...

No, I do not share that view and I do not think that was a very effective point. There was quite ...

My right hon. Friend is talking about practical application, rather than merely theory. When Pres...

That is quite right. And they will all contribute to our tax revenues and not to the French tax r...

If we want to improve productivity, why do we not stop the Department for Work and Pensions closu...

The idea is to provide a better-quality service, applying modern technology and techniques to ser...

The right hon. Gentleman was waxing lyrical about corporation tax earlier. Of course, private fin...

The hon. Lady is very brave to mention PFI because that was a failed experiment by the Labour Gov...

rose—

I will give her another go.

I welcome the right hon. Gentleman’s concerns about PFI. I would like to hear him talk about Priv...

I did not avoid the question at all. I pointed out that most PFI contracts were signed under the ...

rose—

Oh, if she really wants to intervene again, she may.

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way again. I am pleased to hear his concerns. I note ...

I have no evidence that makes me believe they will not pay their fair share of tax. I am sure tha...

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the debate on behalf of the Scottish National party...

Order. The hon. Lady will, I hope, be aware that the amendment was not selected, so it should not...

I thank you for that, Madam Deputy Speaker. I just wanted to briefly mention that we did table th...

Is the hon. Lady aware that there was also a sharp upward spike in inflation in Germany and the U...

It frankly does not matter what the inflation figures there were. What matters is that people her...

Would it not be better for this Government, instead of allocating spending into the next Parliame...

I agree with my colleague. Given the uncertainty that businesses are facing and their concerns, n...

I have asked some questions about this. My hon. Friend will be aware that organisations such as t...

I thank my colleague for that intervention, and I note that the Minister is paying attention.

I think it is the case that that statutory instrument has been laid today, but in the event that ...

I very much appreciate the Minister taking that action. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Gla...

The hon. Lady says that we have to protect the income of hard-working households, yet although th...

I do not think that the hon. Gentleman read the programme for government very well—he might want ...

I call Mr Mark Harper.

3.43 pm

I am very grateful to be called to speak by you, Madam Deputy Speaker, particularly since we work...

Obviously this has very little to do with the Finance Bill, but for the sake of completeness, the...

I was not casting aspersions. I was simply reminding everybody that the Scottish nationalists—tha...

I think that my right hon. Friend is being too generous to the Scottish nationalists. They are no...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention. By the way, Madam Deputy Speaker, I did no...

I want to take up the right hon. Gentleman’s challenge. I am sure that he is proud that the previ...

I am very pleased that the measures in this Bill, which Opposition Front Benchers seem so unwilli...

How does the right hon. Gentleman think that the estimate of £1.6 billion to be raised by increas...

Again, I am sure that the Financial Secretary will correct me if I am wrong, but the Treasury’s e...

The right hon. Gentleman is right that the Government have tried to take measures to tackle multi...

The hon. Gentleman has put his finger on an important point. There are measures that we can take ...

rose—

rose—

I will give way to the hon. Gentleman again.

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for—

I am sorry; I meant to give way to the hon. Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting).

Age before beauty.

Imagine lacking both!

The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to say that we need more...

First, I am clearly not going to get in the way of the sophisticated political alliance between t...

My right hon. Friend is making a sound case, but would it not be right to suggest that it is even...

I agree with my hon. Friend. Indeed, that is why the Financial Secretary to the Treasury set out ...

rose—

I shall give way to a fellow chartered accountant.

I declare an interest: I am a practising chartered accountant, when I have the time. My right hon...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point, and he is exactly right. This was one area in which the d...

indicated dissent.

It is no good the shadow Minister shaking her head. The fact is that that is exactly what has hap...

Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that that has been shown to be true not only in the case of ...

I am always grateful to have excellent suggestions from colleagues in Northern Ireland. It is wor...

To help my right hon. Friend, let me say that there is a good reason and a bad reason why product...

My right hon. Friend makes a very good point. I agree with him that the response to what he said ...

Fifty per cent.

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. Half of young people in Greece are unemployed, and that...

Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that an important issue in respect of connectivity and airpo...

The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point. It would be helpful if we reduced the level of air pa...

I understand my right hon. Friend’s explanation, but perhaps the point the hon. Member for East A...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. I accept that this is an area that is difficult to model,...

There is a particularly strong case where aviation is concerned—a number of airlines, such as eas...

My hon. Friend has made that point powerfully and I see that it has landed with the Financial Sec...

rose—

Let me make a little more progress, then of course I will give way.

I would like to make tw...

I am grateful for the opportunity to make my maiden speech in what has already been a lively and ...

It gives me huge pleasure to follow such an assured and impassioned maiden speech by the new hon....

The Cunard building.

Yes; the three graces. Let me give the hon. Gentleman a piece of advice: never put lists in speec...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Braintree (James Cleverly), with whom I agree enti...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Dundee East (Stewart Hosie). Thank you, Madam Depu...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Moray (Douglas Ross) on a wonderful maiden speech. He paints a...

The hon. Lady’s point about VAT and the arrangements that may or may not pertain when we leave th...

I thank the Minister for that point, but obviously the Bill is about Making Tax Digital and the i...

This second Finance Bill of the year brings forward measures that the House did not have time for...

It is a great pleasure to follow the two excellent maiden speeches of the hon. Member for Moray (...

Does my hon. Friend share my concern that in today’s announcement by the Home Office of a 1% rise...

I absolutely agree. That is not the way to treat the public finances, and it is not the way to tr...

I, too, congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Moray (Douglas Ross) on his fantastic expositi...

There should be a relationship between risk and reward, should there not? It is a delicate balanc...

I was about to come to that. The rise in taxation on dividend says something about how we treat t...

What is my hon. Friend’s view of the fact that many economists, notably the American economist Ty...

That is a very good and broad point, and I could talk for a long time about it—[Hon. Members: “Go...

Is not the problem that young people do not have enough money to save, rather than not enough dif...

As I have said, part of the problem is related to housing. However, the Government have made huge...

I hope that the hon. Gentleman feels that in the course of his comparatively brief contribution h...

I rise to welcome the Finance Bill and to recognise the success of this Government’s financial po...

I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman has seen the Finance Secretary’s announcement today abou...

I welcome that intervention. Considering how long I have been sitting here, I will read it after ...

I was fascinated by the discussion of student loans in the opening speeches, and it is pertinent ...

On the question of car-crash interviews, the Prime Minister has no room for comment following the...

The hon. Lady makes a valiant attempt to gloss over a £100 billion black hole in her party’s cost...

Does my hon. Friend agree it is undoubtedly the case that millions of young people were left in n...

My right hon. Friend makes a powerful point—she is completely correct. It is exactly my recollect...

rose—

I will let the hon. Lady have another go.

I will make it as clear as our manifesto made it during the election campaign. We said that there...

I hope the hon. Lady’s valiance and valour will be justly rewarded by the Leader of the Oppositio...

Being young at heart, my hon. Friend subscribes to NME, so will he re-emphasise the exact words o...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Leader of the Opposition’s words were, “I will sort it.” ...

rose—

Order. Before we proceed, I suggest that a little focus on the contents of the Finance Bill might...

If the hon. Gentleman wants to decide that election pledges were made from any sort of wording th...

At least the third go was the best of the three, but we have covered that matter and, as you righ...

The Bill is an excellent bit of work by Treasury Ministers and officials. It is easy for politici...

It is a pleasure to speak in the finance debate today on an important set of measures that will t...

Does my hon. Friend agree that, at a time where there is uncertainty in the business community, n...

My right hon. Friend makes exactly the point I have been advancing: not only is the approach the ...

Does my hon. Friend agree that every time Labour has tried tax, borrow, spend, they have left gov...

I could not agree more with my right hon. and learned Friend.

The evidence I have tried to ...

My hon. Friend is making some extremely good points, but the one thing he has not mentioned, whic...

I quite agree. Productivity is the great challenge for us. Part of making sure we are a productiv...

I know you have just taken the Chair, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I am afraid that we have not have he...

If everything is going so swimmingly for this Government and they have achieved so much, why on e...

We will be having a debate about that tomorrow, I believe. The fact is that we had a £150 billion...

I am reflecting on what my hon. Friend said about allowances. Is he arguing for allowances to be ...

There is an uprating coming into place to allow the floor to increase from £1 million in due cour...

There have been a number of excellent and informed speeches today by Conservative Members and I a...

As I said earlier, median household disposable income has not increased; in fact, it is lower tha...

This is about keeping more of the money that people earn in their pockets, rather than it going i...

As the hon. Gentleman is so concerned about working poverty and children in working households in...