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Treasury and Work and Pensions

That is a possibility, although the Minister must understand that I study such matters carefully before committing my name to a particular recommendation. But the case is now very clear, and he and the Chancellor ought to be studying it and coming up with an answer, because they have the opportunity to do something. It is a fact of life that some very large companies are thinking of going offshore. One or two have already done so. Ireland is beating us very easily, and is now a richer country per head than the United Kingdom as a result of the Chancellor’s watch. The Chancellor needs to come up with an answer for why we are so slow—particularly in Scotland and western and northern England—compared with Ireland, and what he is going to do about it.