National Insurance Contributions (Increase of Thresholds) Bill

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The sum of £83 billion dwarfs most Departments: it is the equ...

The Minister said that the poorest and most vulnerable lose out, but under the Government’s propo...

I would say two things. First, there is a raft of measures in place in the package announced yest...

rose—

I give way to another predecessor.

It has been reported overnight that people on universal credit will see only about half of the ga...

We are determined to help people on universal credit to keep more of what they earn. I have not s...

Can the Minister confirm what the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said—that, contrary to claims ...

I thank my hon. Friend for her question. There is no doubt at all that we have targeted the actio...

I thank the Minister for the answers that he is giving. While I absolutely welcome the increase i...

The hon. Gentleman is a fantastic contributor to this place and he takes a keen interest in looki...

The Minister has talked about one side of the budget. The other side of the budget is spending. L...

As a former local government Minister, I hope the hon. Gentleman knows that I do value the impact...

I am wondering how the Minister would suggest that a local authority such as mine in Gateshead in...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for alluding to his experience in local government. I would s...

We are here to discuss the national insurance contributions increase. The national insurance pers...

I can give my hon. Friend that confirmation. I will expand on that later, because it is a major s...

Can the Minister confirm that, as a result of the changes we are making today, 70% of workers wil...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and we cannot emphasise that enough. We are determined to add...

Does my right hon. Friend recognise the calculation by the Institute for Fiscal Studies that it i...

Indeed, I absolutely do recognise what my hon. Friend says. The IFS has described raising the NIC...

Mike Brewer, who used to be with the Institute for Fiscal Studies, has said this morning about th...

As I said in response to the right hon. Gentleman’s earlier remark, I will of course look at what...

My right hon. Friend is making a powerful and informative speech. I welcome this Bill, as will my...

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right in saying that we want a simpler tax system, and we want...

My right hon. Friend will know that my beautiful constituency of Hastings and Rye has residents w...

I thank my hon. Friend for her question. She is a fantastic champion for Hastings and Rye, which ...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I should make some further progress, I think.

The Government recognise that implementing th...

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend; he is being incredibly generous with his time. May I just ...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this issue. The Financial Secretary to the Treasury w...

Will the Chief Secretary to the Treasury give way?

I will, I will, I will.

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman and I apologise for intervening once again. He has made...

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that point. My right hon. and learned Friend the Financial S...

I thank the Chief Secretary to the Treasury for giving way and for his reassurance to people cont...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and I recognise the sincere spirit in which he asks i...

The Minister will know that Bracknell is blessed with one of the lowest rates of unemployment in ...

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. It is a fantastic success that Bracknell enjoys very low...

As we debate the Bill, I cannot help but notice it is becoming a bad habit of this Chancellor to ...

Does the hon. Gentleman acknowledge that 14% of the highest earners in this country will pay 50% ...

As the hon. Gentleman knows, we have debated the increase in national insurance at length, and to...

At the outset of his speech, the hon. Gentleman criticised the Chancellor for being a tax cutter,...

As the hon. Gentleman knows, we are critical of the Chancellor for his desperate attempts to appe...

I am grateful for the work that my hon. Friend is carrying out on this important matter, because ...

I know that my hon. Friend is a champion for his constituents, and in challenging the Government ...

Let me take the hon. Gentleman back a few moments. He said that he was not debating the national ...

I do not recall whether the hon. Gentleman was present in the debate on the health and social car...

In light of the hon. Gentleman’s commitment to reducing the tax burden on hard-working people, wi...

We have had a number of comments about what is within the scope of this debate, and I suspect tha...

If the Opposition had to plan for a spring statement, would they rule out raising income tax?

We have made it very clear that we believe in a fair taxation system. The key point for us in the...

My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech. It is worth putting that last point in context. The c...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that there is a huge opportunity to levy a one-off windfall ta...

rose—

rose—

I am going to make some progress. The record shows that the Chancellor likes putting up taxes. He...

rose—

rose—

I give way to the hon. Lady; the hon. Gentleman has already made several comments.

I thank the hon. Gentleman. I am interested in what the Opposition are saying about not raising t...

I repeat a principle I mentioned earlier to the hon. Member for Bury North (James Daly): the remi...

Would it not have been better for the Labour Administration to have approved new nuclear power st...

As the hon. Gentleman knows, his party has been in power for the past 12 years. We have set out c...

On that point, the Labour Government were the first to put in place the Climate Change Act 2008—t...

I thank my hon. Friend for making an important point about the last Labour Government and drawing...

rose—

I am going to make some progress.

Perhaps the most desperate part of the Chancellor’s pitch...

I call Richard Drax.

12.35 pm

Madam Deputy Speaker, I am not used to being called first—this must be the first time. I am grate...

Obviously, my hon. Friend will recognise that the inflation statistics paint a stark economic pic...

I entirely concur. Yes, inflation is now spiralling to 7%, I think, and more across the rest of t...

Will my hon. Friend confirm that every single Labour Government have raised taxes rather than low...

I totally concur with that comment. Regrettably, Labour will do it again and again and again —tha...

That is not entirely true. As far as I can recall, back in 2010, VAT was 15%. It was increased by...

I agree to the extent that I do not like any tax. However, if there is a note saying that “there ...

If the hon. Member does not like any tax, and given that we have heard that VAT has been raised t...

In an ideal world, I would like to scrap VAT—[Interruption.] I would love to scrap it altogether....

I call the Scottish National party spokesperson, Richard Thomson.

12.44 pm

May I say what a pleasure it is to follow the hon. Member for South Dorset (Richard Drax), whose ...

The SNP has been in uninterrupted governance of Scotland since 2007. During those 15 very long ye...

I presume that the hon. Member is a supporter of the present constitutional set-up. I know that h...

The hon. Gentleman has made some points about the record of the Scottish National party Governmen...

As I have said, 54% of Scots are paying lower rates of tax than they would be paying if they live...

The hon. Member has described this as a tax increase, and obviously it will raise revenue, but do...

Raising the threshold will certainly take some people out of the scope of the measure that was pr...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Gordon (Richard Thomson).

The increasingly u...

It has been interesting to listen to the speech from the hon. Member for Redcar (Jacob Young), bu...

The hon. Member makes the case against the rise in national insurance and for a one-off windfall ...

I do not accept what the Member says.

The tax burden is at its highest in 70 years, and it ...

When it comes to challenging rising costs and what measures the Government can put in place to ad...

Like my mother-in-law.

Like my hon. Friend’s mother-in-law. I went to a “politics and a pint” pub surgery in the Oxcart ...

My hon. Friend and constituency neighbour is a great champion of everyone in Peterborough, and I ...

My hon. Friend and constituency neighbour makes an important point, and it is another example of ...

No one opposes this Bill, but it gives us an opportunity to reflect on yesterday’s spring stateme...

Does the hon. Lady accept this measure helps not only people who drive but hauliers, who move imp...

I accept the measure helps other people, but the reality is that we have seen an increase, on ave...

I point out to the hon. Lady that 200,000 fewer pensioners are in absolute poverty now than were ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for putting that on the record, but we are looking at 1.3 million addi...

I am very interested in the hon. Lady’s arguments on a VAT cut, which is something I would consid...

The purpose of the VAT cut is to increase the economy and increase productivity, and therefore se...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the proposed changes to the national insurance thresholds are disa...

Order. Interventions have to be quite short.

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. We know that t...

I was intrigued by the hon. Lady’s comments that a VAT cut would increase economic activity, lead...

I find it interesting, given the criticism always given to those on this side in relation to the ...

It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain). Watching today...

I very much welcome the fact that my hon. Friend mentioned the fiscal background, which is that w...

Of course, we all have to live within our means: we cannot just keep on spending money. It was ri...

According to the IFS, median earners on around £27,500 can expect to be around £400 worse off in ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that interesting point, but it is clear that 70% of working people...

Does my hon. Friend recognise, as the Chief Secretary to the Treasury did earlier, that the IFS f...

I completely agree with my hon. Friend’s point. This is a Bill that really helps people because i...

My hon. Friend is making a fantastic and eloquent speech. Is he aware that last year unemployment...

I was not aware of that exact point, but it does not surprise me because that is generally what h...

The Chancellor’s spring statement left households and businesses across Luton South to fend for t...

The hon. Lady mentioned the health and social care levy; does she recognise the point made earlie...

There are many ways to cut a cake. The people in my constituency know what fairness is and they k...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

One more time.

We are talking about the second tranche of the household support fund. The first tranche of £500 ...

I am really pleased that the hon. Member is able to remember that figure; I hope he is also able ...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I am going to make some progress.

The household support fund is simply a short-term solutio...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Luton South (Rachel Hopkins), who made a passionat...

I think the hon. Gentleman is confusing cause and effect with the complicated system for forecast...

Absolutely not. The SNP has found a way of raising taxes that penalises their own citizens and ra...

I completely agree with my hon. Friend’s point about clean air. Does he agree that there will be ...

I completely agree. We should be looking at ways to support our hauliers and others who are relia...

rose—

I call John McDonnell.

1.49 pm

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I remind my hon. Friend the Member for Luton South (Rachel Hopki...

The right hon. Gentleman is making a very thoughtful speech. Among his proposals is a cap on prof...

I do not think the hon. Gentleman heard me properly. I was referring to the energy companies, spe...

It is, actually, a pleasure to follow the considered and well thought out speech of the right hon...

One of the oil and gas companies whose name is batted around the Chamber is BP. BP is investing m...

My hon. Friend has been endowed with some form of clairvoyance today; it is almost as if has seen...

Yesterday, the Chancellor published his tax plan, which sets a course for the first income tax cu...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right; it is the certainty in that plan that allows us to move forwa...

One of the measures our right hon. Friend the Chancellor announced yesterday was an increase in t...

My hon. Friend makes a strong point. It goes without saying that the funding is vital for my cons...

It is a pleasure to speak today, having been unable to get in yesterday.

Clearly, as we hav...

I assume that the hon. Gentleman is supporting the Bill; I think his Front Benchers have indicate...

Of course Chancellors want to do all sorts of things. The prospect of this Chancellor actually be...

That leaves, by my reckoning, just under 12 minutes each for the Front Benchers, starting with Ab...

It is a pleasure to respond to this Second Reading debate on behalf of the official Opposition. I...

It is a privilege to close this debate on behalf of the Government. We have heard many excellent ...

I understand the point, and none of us really wants to see short-term measures, but in difficult ...

As we know, there is energy price volatility in that the price of oil and gas will be going up an...

Will the Minister give way?

I am going to carry on, because there are a lot of points to which I would like to respond and I ...

The Minister mentioned Martin Lewis, and I wonder if she could provide the information that the C...

I was going to come back to that point, but I am very happy to deal with it now. My right hon. Fr...