Finance (No. 2) Bill

Given the recent terrorist attacks in this country and the fact that senior officers say that mor...

As the hon. Gentleman will know, we made sufficient provision for policing prior to the Budget. W...

The Financial Secretary is making a powerful argument. It is important to protect funding for the...

As my hon. Friend will know, we brought in a variety of measures in 2015 that changed the basis o...

White van man and white van woman will rest easier if the Government successfully bring in all mo...

I think that the right hon. Lady is referring to an amendment of the law resolution. The previous...

Is not the important point about the bank levy that we are trying to get a fair contribution paid...

My hon. Friend is entirely right, which is why we have generally moved away from a levy on the ca...

To follow on from my previous intervention, will my right hon. Friend confirm that the amount of ...

My hon. Friend is entirely right. A number of measures have driven the improved tax take from ban...

The mention of banks gets me going because all the Financial Secretary’s good words sit ill with ...

The hon. Gentleman raises an important issue, but these will be matters for the Royal Bank of Sco...

I am interested to hear the Minister’s confidence about the money he will be taking through the b...

It is interesting that the hon. Gentleman mentions the amount that was required to bail out the b...

Does my right hon. Friend agree that since the bank levy was introduced, the risk of bank failure...

Yes, my hon. Friend is entirely right. We have made huge progress in making sure that the banks a...

The Minister is being very generous in allowing interventions. I was concerned by the response he...

I am gratified by the hon. Lady’s confidence in Ministers making commercial judgments in respect ...

I am grateful to the Minister for giving way to me a second time. May I just remind him of the Co...

At the heart of the hon. Gentleman’s point rests the notion, which I agree with, that we expect t...

The Financial Secretary says that it is a record low tax gap, but it does not take account of the...

I am afraid I have to dissent from that view. The simple fact is that the International Monetary ...

On the subject of tax avoidance, the Minister will know of my support for the Government’s willin...

As the hon. Lady will know, a number of the measures coming out of the OECD’s base erosion and pr...

I was not particularly pleased with the answer that the Minister gave to the right hon. Member fo...

We did not have an amendment of the law resolution on the previous Finance Bill, so we are carryi...

It is a shame that the Chief Secretary to the Treasury is not in her place at the Dispatch Box. N...

The hon. Gentleman speaks about incompetence from the Government. Does he not recognise, when he ...

Let us have a general election and we will deliver on those promises.

On Brexit, there is n...

The hon. Gentleman’s talk of bills reminds me that the Labour party has made a massive number of ...

With the greatest respect, I am not the hon. Gentleman’s research assistant. I refer him to Labou...

Was my hon. Friend surprised, as I was, that the Financial Secretary did not mention wages once? ...

The answer to the last question is no, they do not. The Budget proved yet again that the Governme...

The hon. Gentleman is presuming to tell us about the opinion of the electorate, but I appeal to h...

The hon. Gentleman can ask as many questions as he likes—[Interruption.] And the hon. Member for ...

I agree with my hon. Friend that the predictions suggest that the economy is not in good shape. W...

My hon. Friend is prescient, and I will come to the point that he makes in a minute. Let us conti...

The hon. Gentleman is coming out with some excellent statistics, but I hope that he will not forg...

The Chancellor did not know what the unemployment figure was the other day. Let us put it like th...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the WASPI women, who had expected to retire at age 60 and who are ...

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. The Government have reached the stage where they blame a...

The hon. Gentleman referred to low wages, but he knows that the Finance Bill contains measures to...

The hon. Member for Aldershot (Leo Docherty) might not like the answer that I gave to his questio...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No; I am going to make some progress. Public sector wages are now at their lowest level as agains...

Looking back in history, the Conservative-led Government introduced the bank levy in 2011, but La...

It is not a question of rewriting history. We do not support Bills that continue austerity year i...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will give way to the hon. Gentleman, but then I must make some progress.

I know Labour Members are not necessarily very good at numbers, but for the benefit of people wat...

I am not quite sure whether the hon. Gentleman is actually listening to anything I say. I am not ...

I will not give way.

In addition to the funding crisis in the NHS, social care and the poli...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will come back to each hon. Gentleman in a moment.

All of this is directly linked to the ...

I want to enhance exactly what the hon. Gentleman is saying. Does he agree it was absolutely appa...

The hon. Gentleman is right. The only people to whom the Government seem to pay attention are the...

I know that my hon. Friend is a proud Liverpudlian, but on his point about children’s services, m...

I say to my hon. Friend that—to use an old phrase—he should not hold his breath.

The Govern...

The hon. Gentleman is very clear and honest in his plans about wanting to spend a lot more money—...

I have the greatest respect for the hon. Gentleman, but I refer him to the answer I gave earlier....

rose—

I will give way to the Minister, who may tell me that the Government do not have such a view.

The hon. Gentleman is being very generous in accepting interventions. From what I can understand,...

Speech!

Order.

I beg your pardon, Madam Deputy Speaker.

I am very pleased that the hon. Gentleman—from a sedentary position, which he is not allowed to d...

I had largely made my point, but if I am to have a second bite at the cherry, let me just add a f...

My message to the great British public, who have showed their support for Labour on this, is to g...

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is a bit ironic to be asked to take lessons in finances from a ...

My hon. Friend is right. Of course, as ever with the Tories, when we tell them the truth, we get ...

Order. The hon. Gentleman is not giving way.

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

Mind you, anything to avoid even more embarrassment for an...

It is a great honour to be the first Back Bencher to be called; it has never happened to be me be...

Does my hon. Friend think that the banks’ lack of willingness to lend to small and medium-sized b...

Small-ticket debt definitely has its place in starting businesses, but they need—the Government a...

I agree that employee share ownership schemes are a good thing, and I would like to see an increa...

The hon. Lady refers to schemes that require the employees to pay for the shares. In my view, bus...

My hon. Friend has made excellent points about share ownership, but I want to bring him back to p...

There is no doubt that stamp duty, as a frictional cost, causes all sorts of problems and distort...

Employee shared ownership is something that I did with my business—I draw attention to my entry o...

My hon. Friend makes a strong point. How can it be that an enlightened farmer is deterred by the ...

I am really pleased to have the opportunity to stand here on behalf of the Scottish National part...

Will the hon. Lady share with the House the economic and revenue impact of the SNP Scottish Gover...

The hon. Gentleman has spoken to me before about the land and buildings transaction tax. I refer ...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I will not let the hon. Gentleman intervene again. He is becoming one of my more regular commenta...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I will not.

On transferable tax history, I am pleased that the UK Government have committed...

My hon. Friend is making a very good point about the right to buy. Apparently about 40% of the ho...

I agree with my hon. Friend. Having observed the real-life impact on people who came through my d...

I think it only right for me to support a comparatively brief Finance Bill in a comparatively bri...

The Bill does nothing to address the shortfall in firefighters, who are essential to my constitue...

I note what the hon. Gentleman says, but how that local authority spends its money on funding the...

It was interesting to listen to the hon. Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (Bill Grant), not le...

The hon. Gentleman is talking about zero-hours contracts. Does he therefore welcome the work we h...

I would always commend the work of a Committee chaired by my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Wes...

Does the hon. Gentleman share my disappointment that the armed services were not even mentioned i...

The hon. Gentleman makes his point well, and I agree with him. He also made a point earlier that ...

Order. Before we proceed, let me enlighten those Members who might not be aware that, because thi...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I will shorten my words accordingly.

I would like to congr...

Is the hon. Gentleman aware of the extensive correspondence on the Scottish Government’s website ...

This House made it clear at the time that if the Scottish Government went ahead with the centrali...

Does my hon. Friend agree that this was all designed in order to create a grievance—

Order. I do not like to interrupt the hon. Gentleman, and I let him do this earlier, but if he fa...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I had in fact finished my intervention, in which I asked my hon....

Clearly I agree. I would like my hon. Friend the Member for Stirling (Stephen Kerr) not to make t...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Dumfries and Galloway (Mr Jack), because I am goin...

I support any measure to try to close the gap in gender equality of income. Does the hon. Lady we...

I am so glad a new Member has raised one of the legacies of having an amazing feminist MP like my...

This is an important Bill for the long-term future of our country. It builds on hard-won progress...

The national living wage that the hon. Gentleman speaks of is not actually set at the national li...

If the hon. Lady looks at this, she will see that the national living wage is continuing to incre...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Jack Brereton). This Finance...

Does the hon. Lady welcome the huge investment in northern powerhouse rail and the latest proposa...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that point; unsurprisingly, I am going to mention that lat...

I rise to speak in support of both the content and the intent of this Finance Bill. As I said in ...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Not just now. I wish to make more progress.

That decision was made in the face of warnings....

Does my hon. Friend agree that those are indeed the dividends of the Union?

I could not agree more, and I will go further into those dividends shortly.

The Government ...

Does the hon. Gentleman not accept that the Government are actually creating far more families li...

I could not disagree more. More money is going directly to frontline services, and we are lowerin...

Please do.

Well, education is another area that I could touch on. Reading scores and mathematics and science...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will not, because I am conscious of time.

Under the SNP, more money goes in but fewer ser...

No, there is not.

Yes, there is, and there is a real-terms increase, as the hon. Lady knows. There has been a whisk...

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate.

As my hon. Friend the Membe...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Heywood and Middleton (Liz McInnes),although I cou...

If the £10 billion was spent on Crossrail for the north, it would bring revenues of £85 billion. ...

I appreciate the hon. Lady’s point, but I still think that she very much spoke about spending and...

Twenty-three times.

I think it was at least 25 times that Labour Members were asked, and still no answer other than “...

I am pleased to be able to speak in this important debate, and to follow the hon. Member for Fave...

The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point about the disparity in investment, but he might be int...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention; I am sure that what he says is true. I have had ...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Easington (Grahame Morris). We share an economic i...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is terrible that more than half of small businesses fail in...

Businesses fail for many reasons. Business is an extremely risky undertaking—I have been in busin...

The Chancellor’s Budget speech set out the serious state of our economy, including on the key iss...

I rise to welcome the Bill. It continues the Government’s prudent financial management that has d...

My hon. Friend is making good comments about investment in the NHS. Will she join me in welcoming...

I certainly will. As a children’s doctor, I have seen a dramatic increase in the number of young ...

Given my hon. Friend’s experience of the NHS, I should be interested to hear how that £500 millio...

I shall give an example from my constituency. United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust is consider...

Does my hon. Friend agree that all these opportunities to reduce the cost of providing health ser...

My hon. Friend brings me to my next point. These investments are welcome, but we also need to inv...

My hon. Friend is making many excellent points. Does she agree that there is a link between the p...

It is indeed true that slow broadband speeds can be a challenge for people running businesses in ...

The economy of our kingdom largely turns on the wheels of white van man. The initiative the hon. ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention.

Finally, I welcome the £668,000 the Govern...

My hon. Friend will be aware that the Opposition’s position is that it will cost what it will cos...

It certainly does sound horrific. Spending money might sound lovely now, but we would be spending...

We were asked earlier to look things up on the internet, so I looked up something about universal...

I do, and that is why I will be supporting the Finance Bill today. It is good for my constituents...

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for calling me to speak in support of this critically important Finance Bi...

Does this jobs miracle include apprenticeships for 65-year-old WASPI women?

I am delighted that the hon. Gentleman has raised that point, which we discussed in another debat...

I thank the hon. Lady for giving way one more time. I went to see my local WASPI group on Saturda...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. I assure him that I have spoken to WASPI women ...

Is my hon. Friend aware that no Labour Government have left office with unemployment lower than w...

I am delighted that my hon. Friend has reminded me of that excellent point. He is absolutely righ...

Besides my being offended by the use of the term “miracle”, which does not describe anything that...

I thank the hon. Lady for that intervention, in which she makes two broad points. This Bill is no...

If the figures that I have read are correct, only 2.8% of people in employment in the UK are on z...

I thank my hon. Friend for his characteristically direct and pertinent intervention. In my previo...

Is my hon. Friend aware that, in their report on employment practices in the modern economy, Matt...

My hon. Friend is absolutely correct. Matthew Taylor has clearly stated that banning zero-hours c...

My hon. Friend is being extraordinarily generous with her time. Like her, I enjoyed the speech of...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He reminds us that, in fact, there are a lot of measures in t...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I give way to my hon. Friend instead.

I remind my hon. Friend that Scotland is the highest-taxed part of the United Kingdom. Scottish N...

My hon. Friend is completely right. He reminds us of why we see so many Conservative Members repr...

I like the logic of the hon. Lady’s analogy about giving people a tax cut and giving them a pay r...

I am glad the hon. Gentleman made his intervention, because I would like to set the record straig...

Will the hon. Lady remind the House which party criticised the last Labour Government for having ...

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I was not in the House at that time, but I...

Does my hon. Friend think Labour Members are not answering this question about how much their spe...

My hon. Friend is completely right and I fear that it may be a combination of the two issues. We ...

I referred earlier to “Freeing Britain to Compete”, and I have the reference here on my iPad. It ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I fear that the combination of the Labour Front-...

It is an honour to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Redditch (Rachel Maclean), whose impassio...

Does my hon. Friend, like me, welcome the fact that at the same time as the economy has been grow...

Twenty-eight per cent.

I am corrected: they pay 28%, which is a higher proportion than ever before.

My hon. Friend makes an extremely good point that we have not heard often enough. We should absol...

My hon. Friend quite rightly talks about the progressive nature of the tax regime that has been v...

That is a horrifying suggestion. I am not surprised that that is the attitude of the Liberal Demo...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the change by this Government in the manner, timing and way in...

The hon. Gentleman makes a very, very good point. As chairman of the all-party group for small an...

I thank my hon. Friend and neighbour for giving way. Is he aware that since 2010 we have raised £...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This is a Government who are cracking down on and taking seri...

As my hon. Friend is explaining so clearly, when we lower taxes on small businesses, we raise mor...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is quite important that we have sensible measures in place...

rose—

I will not give way, as I wish to make some progress in the short time that I have available to m...

I rise to make a few remarks in support of the Bill, which addresses fundamental issues on which ...

I have to leave later this evening to get back to my constituency so that I can have a tooth remo...

Order. Before I call the Minister, I think that the hon. Lady was moving the amendment, was she n...

We have had a very comprehensive debate, as is fitting for a Finance Bill. I thank all Members wh...

Order. I think the Minister has concluded his oration.

Question put, That the amendment be ...