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Debate on bill and Committee of the Whole House (HC) on Tuesday, 12 May 2009, in the House of Commons.

Finance Bill

Finance Bill. Committee stage first day. (Clauses Nos 7, 8, 9, 11, 92, 14, 16 and 20). Clause 7 agreed to, with an amendment debated and negatived on division (200 votes to 302). Clause 8 agreed to, with an amendment debated and negatived on division (180 votes to 294). Clause 9 agreed to on division (318 votes to 194). Amendment 10 to Clause 11 negatived on question. Amendment 12 to Clause 11 negatived on division (41 votes to 272). Clause 11 agreed to on division (260 votes to 47).

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
492 c687-828 
Session
2008-09
Department
Treasury
Legislative stage
Committee stage
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Finance Bill. In two volumes, with explanatory notes.
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Bills
House of Commons
Proceeding contributions
Colin Challen | 492 c823-4 (Link to this contribution) How does the price of whisky, with which I must admit I have a certain affinity, compare with the RP...
Alan Reid | 492 c824 (Link to this contribution) The price of whisky is going up, mainly because the Government keep on putting the duty up higher th...
Show all contributions (429)
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c825 (Link to this contribution) Order. Again, I am not anxious to curtail debate, but I must explain that we are not now going over ...
Colin Challen | 492 c822 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman's general intent, but the increase in duty on beer imposed in the Bu...
Greg Hands | 492 c821 (Link to this contribution) You are, of course, quite right, Sir Michael. I shall thus discuss the clause itself, on which I do ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c822 (Link to this contribution) Order. There is a loud buzz of conversation in the Chamber that is making it difficult for me to hea...
Alan Reid | 492 c822 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman asks about beer, but I was concentrating on whisky. He has made his point so I wi...
Alan Reid | 492 c822-3 (Link to this contribution) It is quite obvious that these constant increases in duty will deter investment in the industry, and...
Jim Devine | 492 c822 (Link to this contribution) Can the hon. Gentleman name one individual who has lost his job in the whisky industry?
Alan Reid | 492 c822 (Link to this contribution) I wholeheartedly agree with my right hon. Friend, who makes an important point. The constant increas...
Greg Hands | 492 c806-9 (Link to this contribution) I certainly agree with my hon. Friend, but I fear that if I comment on that, I shall stray away from...
Mark Todd | 492 c809 (Link to this contribution) Would not a differential between cask beer and beer served in bottles and cans have a similar effect...
Greg Hands | 492 c805 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a powerful point, which highlights how much duty has risen in the past 14 month...
Tobias Ellwood | 492 c804-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a powerful argument about the level of duty. The duty hits the breweries, w...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c806 (Link to this contribution) Order. I hope that the hon. Member for Hammersmith and Fulham (Mr. Hands) will content himself with ...
Greg Hands | 492 c805-6 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention, and I add my congratulations to his constituents in Sy...
Angela Eagle | 492 c813 (Link to this contribution) My own father took the pledge when he was 15—[Interruption.] No, 15, not 50. I have not quite manage...
John Hayes | 492 c813 (Link to this contribution) Does the Exchequer Secretary believe that it is impossible to produce the sort of report that the am...
Angela Eagle | 492 c814 (Link to this contribution) There is always Treasury modelling, some of it based on tax returns, which are confidential and cann...
Angela Eagle | 492 c815 (Link to this contribution) I have been here for two and a half hours, and the hon. Gentleman has not been here for the debate. ...
Alan Reid | 492 c815 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Exchequer Secretary. She mentioned exports, but the unfairness of the British d...
Angela Eagle | 492 c815 (Link to this contribution) We thought that, for fairness, it was right to have 2 per cent. across the board this time round, al...
Alan Reid | 492 c815 (Link to this contribution) I want to support amendments 10 and 12.
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c816 (Link to this contribution) Order. I now have to decide whether to accept a closure motion. The Minister is only 10 minutes into...
Angela Eagle | 492 c816 (Link to this contribution) I had actually finished my remarks on the amendment, Sir Michael. Question put forthwith, That the ...
Greg Hands | 492 c810 (Link to this contribution) I thank you for your guidance, Sir Alan. However, it is always good to see colleagues using previous...
Greg Hands | 492 c810 (Link to this contribution) I shall take an intervention from the hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. Browne).
Rob Marris | 492 c809 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman favour some kind of minimum pricing scheme for alcohol? A great deal of alco...
Greg Hands | 492 c809 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. My understanding—I think we will discuss EU regulation ...
Angela Eagle | 492 c809 (Link to this contribution) I may as well deal with that point now. Our advice is that the cask differential is unlawful as the ...
Greg Hands | 492 c809 (Link to this contribution) That clarification is helpful, but in my experience—and as a long-standing member of the European Sc...
Angela Eagle | 492 c813 (Link to this contribution) We have had a debate that has been a bit like shadow-boxing, on amendments 10 and 12, which were tab...
Stewart Hosie | 492 c812 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is conflating two different issues. The first is duty, and amendment 12 calls for...
Alan Reid | 492 c812 (Link to this contribution) In the present circumstances, whisky and other spirits are treated unfairly compared with beers and ...
Rob Marris | 492 c811 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has clearly done a huge amount of research that underlines the point I made earli...
Greg Hands | 492 c812 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a probing point. I am merely going on the figures used in the German Govern...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c810 (Link to this contribution) If I remember correctly, during last year's Finance Bill the Conservative party tabled an amendment ...
Greg Hands | 492 c810-1 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right to raise that interesting question. We still have the policy that we had...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c796 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am sure that Sir Michael would have been delighted, but he is not in the Chair at the momen...
Lord Redwood | 492 c794 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right to say that we could not do it under the provision that we are considering, ...
Lord Redwood | 492 c794-5 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his expertise in that agricultural sector. I knew that agricultu...
Lord Redwood | 492 c792-3 (Link to this contribution) That is quite right, although it takes us into a wider, general economic matter that is not strictly...
Peter Bone | 492 c793 (Link to this contribution) Assuming that there is a new Conservative Government in the next year and that they want to cut duty...
Lord Redwood | 492 c793 (Link to this contribution) Some breweries may experience some benefit on energy, but there may not be benefits on other input p...
Lord Redwood | 492 c792 (Link to this contribution) We must be careful not to make this a wider economic debate, and we have dealt with that matter in s...
Kelvin Hopkins | 492 c792 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman not accept that the depreciation of the pound or the appreciation of t...
Lord Redwood | 492 c790 (Link to this contribution) Sir Michael, I would be wandering far wide of the amendment if I were to go into all my drinking hab...
Lord Redwood | 492 c789-90 (Link to this contribution) The amendment invites us to change clause 11. The substance of the argument, as we heard in that int...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c789 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has summed up my case perfectly and eloquently. I fear that the Government are on...
Philip Davies | 492 c789 (Link to this contribution) I very much support the hon. Gentleman's comments about the importance of breweries. The recently es...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c789 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Sir Michael. I was seeking to be serious, and I shall conclude.
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c788 (Link to this contribution) Order. Will the hon. Gentleman direct his remarks to his amendment? These are serious matters for pe...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c789 (Link to this contribution) Yes, but may I first explain just how many different areas of public life in this country are taken ...
Philip Davies | 492 c789 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c789 (Link to this contribution) Order. If the hon. Gentleman is encouraging other Members to make speeches, given the time available...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c789 (Link to this contribution) I promised to give way before I concluded, Sir Michael.
Peter Bone | 492 c787 (Link to this contribution) Before the hon. Gentleman concludes his opening remarks, could he explain subsections (6A) and (6B) ...
Philip Davies | 492 c787-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman glossed over the question asked by the hon. Member for South Derbyshire (Mr. Todd...
Brooks Newmark | 492 c787 (Link to this contribution) I have just one supplementary question to those asked by my hon. Friend the Member for South Holland...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c787 (Link to this contribution) I was keen to get on to the impact on brewers, but I give way to the hon. Gentleman.
Robert Smith | 492 c787 (Link to this contribution) An important message that the Government have to take on board when it comes to the competitiveness ...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c786 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that intervention. I hope that a wide range of people will be consulted, including...
John Hayes | 492 c804 (Link to this contribution) You have guided us to the exact issue of the amendment, Sir Alan, and it makes specific reference to...
Greg Hands | 492 c804 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. More research needs to be done and the Government should be awar...
Lord Redwood | 492 c803-4 (Link to this contribution) Although I can understand my hon. Friend's reluctance to vote for the amendment, because it will not...
Greg Hands | 492 c804 (Link to this contribution) We are; that is what my speech is all about—the fragile state of the industry and the damage that is...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c803 (Link to this contribution) The ruling that I have made is in connection with the terms of the amendment that we are discussing,...
Greg Hands | 492 c803 (Link to this contribution) I shall certainly try my best, Sir Alan—[Interruption.] I shall do more than my best.
Greg Hands | 492 c803 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Sir Alan, for that guidance.
Tobias Ellwood | 492 c803 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Sir Alan. In the previous clause that we debated, it was considered that clause...
Peter Bone | 492 c804 (Link to this contribution) I gather that my hon. Friend is referring to subsection (6B) of the amendment, which concerns the co...
Greg Hands | 492 c804 (Link to this contribution) Yes. I think that we are aware of most of the problems facing the industry. I would not be opposed t...
Greg Hands | 492 c801-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a telling intervention. Obviously, price is an important determinant of con...
Greg Hands | 492 c802 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. He has spoken well in all four of the debates, and he ties to...
Rob Marris | 492 c802 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a powerful case for voting down amendment 10, which calls for research into...
Greg Hands | 492 c803 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. I would be delighted to accept an invitation to go to Braintr...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c803 (Link to this contribution) Order. I must remind the hon. Gentleman of the terms of the amendment. It excludes that particular p...
Greg Hands | 492 c798-9 (Link to this contribution) As ever, my hon. Friend makes a telling point, dwelling on the history of many of these issues. I lo...
John Hayes | 492 c799 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted that my hon. Friend is making such a strong case for the link between alcohol and law...
David Drew | 492 c800 (Link to this contribution) As someone who admits to being a teetotaller, may I say that pubs could be much fairer by recognisin...
Mark Todd | 492 c800 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that disorder is rather less likely to emanate from the supervised env...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c781-2 (Link to this contribution) If I think about it, perhaps I will be able to work out what the second half of that intervention me...
Bill Wiggin | 492 c781 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman say something about the tremendous amount of work that all sorts of bodies, ...
Lord Redwood | 492 c781 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree with the publicans, who have lobbied most of us in this House, that th...
Philip Dunne | 492 c780 (Link to this contribution) Not only do the Liberal Democrats no longer represent Shropshire in this House, but I can reasonably...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c784-5 (Link to this contribution) There are a number of reasons why pubs are suffering. I touched on changing lifestyles, and I suppos...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c783 (Link to this contribution) Order. May I ask the hon. Gentleman to concentrate on the amendment, before we start to talk about d...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c783 (Link to this contribution) Sir Michael, your guidance is invaluable. The only thing that I would say is that I visited Andy For...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c784 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to hear that. Perhaps you might seek to encourage Members to talk about pubs they enj...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c784 (Link to this contribution) I carry out extensive research into the well-being of the pub sector in my constituency, as you migh...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c785 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman. I think we all agree that there are a large numbers of relevant fac...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c785 (Link to this contribution) Asda in Taunton is the company's south-west regional training centre. It is an extremely important a...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c785 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps no one else will need to make a speech—I shall just use the opportunity of mine to give ever...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c786 (Link to this contribution) I shall do so briefly and directly, Sir Michael.
Mark Todd | 492 c786 (Link to this contribution) I was fortunate enough to miss the start of the hon. Gentleman's speech—[Laughter.] He may have cove...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c786 (Link to this contribution) I regret giving way to a Member who, first, was not interested enough in the subject to turn up at t...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c779 (Link to this contribution) It is widely drunk in Somerton and Frome, though. I give way to my hon. Friend.
Jeremy Browne | 492 c779 (Link to this contribution) I am not saying that it would not be impaired in my constituency. I am merely saying that it would n...
Tony Baldry | 492 c779 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman says that the purpose of the amendment is there for all to see. In fairness, howe...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c779 (Link to this contribution) I will give way in a moment. This is a wider debate; the overall concern is the impact on pubs, brew...
Brooks Newmark | 492 c755 (Link to this contribution) Not to be too cynical, does my hon. Friend feel that perhaps the Germans, the French and the Dutch w...
David Gauke | 492 c755 (Link to this contribution) That is an interesting idea. Although it would be unfair, I am tempted to say that the Minister—or a...
Brooks Newmark | 492 c755 (Link to this contribution) To follow up with a more serious point, I would be interested to know from the Minister, given that ...
David Gauke | 492 c755 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, although I take it that the hon. Gentleman will not be claiming credit for any stimulation i...
Stephen Timms | 492 c757 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted that the hon. Gentleman has now looked at the CEBR report. I wonder whether he has re...
David Gauke | 492 c752 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. The Government can and should do many things to address a recession. We dif...
David Gauke | 492 c753-4 (Link to this contribution) Again, a little patience from the Financial Secretary would be appreciated. I know that he is keen t...
Stephen Timms | 492 c753 (Link to this contribution) May I press the hon. Gentleman a little more? He is now setting out a view, which is consistent with...
Robert Syms | 492 c759-60 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. Browne) on tabling an amendment that gives us an opp...
Brooks Newmark | 492 c763-6 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to be able to make a few points on clause 9. I shall focus on three main areas—many o...
Bob Spink | 492 c766 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman disagrees with some well respected Conservative Front Benchers, who felt that cut...
Stewart Hosie | 492 c766 (Link to this contribution) That argument is peculiar, because when the VAT cut is put through the input-output model, one finds...
David Gauke | 492 c758 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the hon. Lady to the debate and I give way to her.
David Gauke | 492 c758-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right that a case can be made for moving it back, but that would have an effec...
Bob Spink | 492 c758 (Link to this contribution) Is there not a case for pushing the date back rather than bringing it forward—perhaps to 1 June, whi...
Alison Seabeck | 492 c758 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, Mrs. Heal; I mean the hon. Gentleman. He said that he would at some stage tell us what t...
Philip Dunne | 492 c769-70 (Link to this contribution) The whole House will be astonished at that information, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend for brin...
Philip Dunne | 492 c768 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is most inventive in his excuses for the Government trying to account for the cut in ...
Brian Binley | 492 c768 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that for every job loss, two people are equally worried about the possibil...
Philip Dunne | 492 c768 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend will have seen the unemployment statistics that came out earlier this week, indicatin...
Brooks Newmark | 492 c768-9 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an interesting point. I believe that up to 600,000 young people will leave scho...
Brooks Newmark | 492 c769 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an excellent point about the shift downwards in interest rates. Many of us have...
Brooks Newmark | 492 c767 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend think that that could have to do with the Government's anti-obesity campaign? Do...
Philip Dunne | 492 c767-8 (Link to this contribution) As the deputy chairman of the all-party group on diabetes, I take a particular interest in the level...
Bob Spink | 492 c766-7 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to you, Sir Michael. Does the Economic Secretary agree that cutting taxes was perhaps ...
Brooks Newmark | 492 c768 (Link to this contribution) Given the Government's huge interest recently in the environment, does my hon. Friend believe that i...
Brian Binley | 492 c766 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c766 (Link to this contribution) Order. It is quite clear that the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) has no intention of givin...
Bob Spink | 492 c766 (Link to this contribution) No. The hon. Gentleman has just walked into the Chamber.
Greg Hands | 492 c778 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman make the position entirely clear? Is he suggesting that there should be no f...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c778 (Link to this contribution) I will, although I have hardly started.
Stephen Timms | 492 c772-3 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman has declined so pointedly to endorse his right hon. and learned F...
David Gauke | 492 c772 (Link to this contribution) I am explicitly saying that we could not afford it.
David Gauke | 492 c771 (Link to this contribution) Does the Financial Secretary acknowledge that the BRC also stated that the April numbers should be t...
Brooks Newmark | 492 c771 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate that. I have asked the Minister a lot of questions, as have other Members. How much wil...
Stephen Timms | 492 c751 (Link to this contribution) Can the hon. Gentleman tell us why there is no Conservative amendment on this subject? Given the str...
David Gauke | 492 c751 (Link to this contribution) This is an important debate, and I share the view of the hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. Browne) that i...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c731 (Link to this contribution) If his intervention is directly related, I shall give way to the hon. Member for Northampton, South ...
Brian Binley | 492 c732 (Link to this contribution) Of all the things the Government have done in recent months, one of the worst is to increase corpora...
John Howell | 492 c734-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. We all need to bear in mind and to stress the support provide...
Brian Binley | 492 c733 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point, because it allows me to point out that just a...
John Howell | 492 c733 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether my hon. Friend's experience is similar to mine in that, because of the vulnerabilit...
Mark Hoban | 492 c719-21 (Link to this contribution) We have had a wide-ranging and thorough debate on the amendment about reducing the headline rate of ...
David Leslie Taylor | 492 c718-9 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to hear the views of international businesses about the user-friendliness of HMRC. The ...
Stephen Timms | 492 c718 (Link to this contribution) The climate is certainly not hostile on tax. Of course it is true that, from time to time, some comp...
Mark Hoban | 492 c725-6 (Link to this contribution) Having engaged in a helpful and thorough debate on amendment 1, relating to the main rate of corpora...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c725 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:
Mark Hoban | 492 c725 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 2, page 3, line 22, leave out '21%' and insert '20%'.
Mark Hoban | 492 c726-7 (Link to this contribution) That is an important question. It returns us to what was said earlier about distortions in the tax s...
Lembit Opik | 492 c727 (Link to this contribution) I accept that the hon. Gentleman's amendments seek to achieve specific ends, but does he more genera...
Mark Hoban | 492 c727-9 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his comments too, but I hope that that is the end of them, a...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c730 (Link to this contribution) One might seek to give the greatest encouragement to precisely those businesses. I take the hon. Gen...
Mark Hoban | 492 c730 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point about recognising the importance of small companies in t...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c715 (Link to this contribution) Order. May I ask the hon. Gentleman to speak a bit more about the amendment as opposed to the genera...
Stephen Timms | 492 c718 (Link to this contribution) I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the authoritative KPMG survey of more than 500 multinational com...
Lord Redwood | 492 c718 (Link to this contribution) If everything is so wonderful, why have so many companies left for tax reasons and why have there be...
Rob Marris | 492 c717 (Link to this contribution) May I take my right hon. Friend back a few sentences? I think that he said that the Government's aim...
Stephen Timms | 492 c717-8 (Link to this contribution) I was coming to precisely the point about Canada, which, thanks to my hon. Friend's contribution and...
David Leslie Taylor | 492 c716 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has rapidly developed a reputation in the House for being a rather more subdued a...
John Howell | 492 c716-7 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure whether to thank the hon. Gentleman or whether his remarks comparing me with my predec...
Stephen Timms | 492 c717 (Link to this contribution) The debate has been interesting. I want to underline the Government's determination to maintain the ...
Brian Binley | 492 c711 (Link to this contribution) Of course my right hon. Friend is correct. Many of the greatest business supporters of the current G...
Stewart Hosie | 492 c711-2 (Link to this contribution) I do not have a problem with lower business taxes, and I am very supportive of lower corporation tax...
Robert Syms | 492 c714 (Link to this contribution) There is over-capacity within the car industry, and there will be cutbacks there; and we have alread...
Stewart Hosie | 492 c748 (Link to this contribution) Would the hon. Gentleman like his proposed assessment to include the Treasury's own forecasts, run t...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c748 (Link to this contribution) Yes; the hon. Gentleman is very helpful. Although it is tempting—and, I hope legitimate, Mrs. Heal—t...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c747-8 (Link to this contribution) It would probably be better to hear the Minister's view of that claim; it does not accord with my ex...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c739 (Link to this contribution) I ask the Sergeant at Arms investigate the delay in the No Lobby.
Stephen Timms | 492 c735-6 (Link to this contribution) Opposition Members are right to underline the crucial importance of small businesses to the UK econo...
Brian Binley | 492 c736 (Link to this contribution) May I point out the case of a small company in my constituency that sells wood-burning fires for com...
Brian Binley | 492 c736 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is most generous in giving way again, and I am most grateful. I accept the value of the...
Stephen Timms | 492 c736-7 (Link to this contribution) We are undoubtedly in a very serious world economic downturn, and the measures that the Government h...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c743-4 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 8, page 4, line 2, at end insert—
Lembit Opik | 492 c745 (Link to this contribution) I very much agree with my hon. Friend's point, but is there not another marketing consideration? Som...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 492 c744 (Link to this contribution) Without wanting to make a point about it, I agree about the need for fiscal stimulus. Before every B...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c744-5 (Link to this contribution) I not only acknowledge but completely agree with that. The starting point for us, for the Governmen...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c746 (Link to this contribution) That is an entirely fair point. Parking charges are a good example, which leads on from the point ma...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c745 (Link to this contribution) I take my hon. Friend's point. Many retailers round their prices to a sensible point and then discou...
Robert Syms | 492 c745 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has talked about costs to small businesses, but there are also the costs to local...
Bob Spink | 492 c746 (Link to this contribution) Local authorities, of course, could reduce the council tax as a result of having collected more mone...
Geoffrey Robinson | 492 c688 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman confirm the fact that we have a more competitive corporation tax rate than F...
Geoffrey Robinson | 492 c687-8 (Link to this contribution) We can take it for granted that everyone wants to reduce taxes when they can, and no doubt we will c...
Mark Hoban | 492 c687 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 1, page 3, line 16, leave out '28%' and insert '25%'. After that rather sha...
Stephen Timms | 492 c689 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the invitation. The hon. Gentleman was getting on to firmer ground when he talked ...
Stewart Hosie | 492 c690 (Link to this contribution) I agree that the G7 argument is spurious. Workers in my constituency have recently lost their jobs t...
Mark Hoban | 492 c690 (Link to this contribution) I just think that this argument about the G7 is a bit sterile and a bit stale. It says that the G7 e...
Mark Hoban | 492 c691-2 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising the issue of costs, and I shall tackle it within the...
Rob Marris | 492 c691 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his usual generosity in giving way. These are difficult iss...
Mark Hoban | 492 c691 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure that it is the main cause, which is the asset price bubble that built up because credi...
Mark Hoban | 492 c690 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point about his experience of jobs in his constituency moving ...
Mark Hoban | 492 c693-4 (Link to this contribution) Indeed—we literally have all night. Let me continue to make the case for why it is important for us ...
Mark Hoban | 492 c692 (Link to this contribution) I had forgotten that we had the voice of fiscal conservatism to the left of our Benches. I will, as...
Mark Hoban | 492 c692 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. A big part of the issue is sending a clear signal about what a tax regime's direction of tra...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c692 (Link to this contribution) I share the hon. Gentleman's enthusiasm for the notion that the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, South...
Mark Hoban | 492 c692 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the hon. Gentleman wishes to add his support to the point I am making.
Jeremy Browne | 492 c708-9 (Link to this contribution) The measure proposed by those on the Conservative Front Bench is actually rather simple and modest. ...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c709 (Link to this contribution) I will in a moment. We are considering not how much business is taxed, but whether the burden on dif...
Mark Hoban | 492 c694 (Link to this contribution) It is very clear who the Mayor of London is. [Interruption.] If I meant the lord mayor, I would refe...
Mark Hoban | 492 c694 (Link to this contribution) I happily give way before moving on to the favourite topic of the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, Sou...
Mark Hoban | 492 c694-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman had an Adjournment debate on this issue last week when we were debating the Secon...
Robert Smith | 492 c695 (Link to this contribution) I am interested in what the hon. Gentleman is saying about complexity and differences in the tax sys...
Stephen Timms | 492 c696 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is extolling, I think, the advantages of a country having the lowest corporation ...
Mark Hoban | 492 c696 (Link to this contribution) I am not taking a position on where we should be in the league tables. I am saying that other countr...
Mark Hoban | 492 c695 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, and that is why I carefully quoted the report, pointing out that the quotation related to th...
Mark Hoban | 492 c697 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman cannot have it both ways. He must either accept that our proposal is a funded tax...
Geoffrey Robinson | 492 c697 (Link to this contribution) The debate is interesting. As the hon. Gentleman said, we often had it in the Treasury, and the head...
Stewart Hosie | 492 c698 (Link to this contribution) Is there not a slight paradox, given the argument being made? Only last year, there were significant...
Mark Hoban | 492 c698-9 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman, who is a fellow veteran of previous Finance Bill Commi...
Geoffrey Robinson | 492 c698 (Link to this contribution) Bringing those allowances into line with depreciation is no good at all. That means we will barely b...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c698 (Link to this contribution) Order. We are beginning to lose track of who is making the speech and who is making an intervention....
Mark Hoban | 492 c698 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his rather lengthy intervention, because it enabled me to fi...
Mark Hoban | 492 c707 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman referred to the 100 per cent. first year writing down allowance for computers. Di...
Lord Redwood | 492 c701-5 (Link to this contribution) I am a director of two companies, as declared in the Register of Members' Interests, but I wish to m...
Mark Hoban | 492 c707 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is characteristically honest, but does he not recognise that decisions are taken ...
Alan Reid | 492 c823 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely with the hon. Gentleman. He makes an important point. Whisky is an important export...
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 492 c823 (Link to this contribution) On a day when manufacturing trade has reduced by 0.1 per cent., the largest reduction since records ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c824 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am loth to interrupt the hon. Gentleman, but we covered much of that ground earlier in the ...
Lord Redwood | 492 c824 (Link to this contribution) In the preceding debate, it was very disappointing that the Minister was unable to explain how claus...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c824-5 (Link to this contribution) I shall be brief, and my contribution will be along the lines of that made by the right hon. Member ...
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 492 c825 (Link to this contribution) I declare an interest as chairman of the all-party wine group. Our group carried out a study of the ...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c825 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Sir Michael. The amendment is widely drawn and there is scope for overlap, but I was seek...
Alan Reid | 492 c821-2 (Link to this contribution) I, too, wish to oppose clause 11. In my constituency, whisky distilling makes an important contribut...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 492 c822 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making an important point. In my area and other parts of north-east Scotland, new ...
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 492 c825 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend makes a good point. What the Government are doing makes no sense. If it increas...
Lord Redwood | 492 c825 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend think that Labour Members are ashamed of what they are doing? None of them has r...
Greg Hands | 492 c806 (Link to this contribution) I thank you for that guidance, Sir Alan. It is worth remembering that the VAT cut—the Government's ...
John Hayes | 492 c806 (Link to this contribution) Like my hon. Friend, I make a strong case for rural public houses—indeed, just a week ago, I was in ...
John Howell | 492 c805 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend mentioned the Brakspear brewery, but he may not be aware that the company has decided...
Lord Redwood | 492 c814 (Link to this contribution) Will the Exchequer Secretary give way?
Angela Eagle | 492 c814 (Link to this contribution) I was about to answer the right hon. Gentleman's questions, but if he must intervene, I shall give w...
Angela Eagle | 492 c814 (Link to this contribution) There are many reasons why particular pubs might close. Some businesses were possibly never viable a...
Lindsay Hoyle | 492 c814 (Link to this contribution) Is it not fair to say that many pubs are in trouble because of pub companies charging high rents and...
Angela Eagle | 492 c814-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is a distinguished member of the Select Committee on Business and Enterprise, and a r...
Nicholas Brown | 492 c816 (Link to this contribution) claimed to move the closure (Standing Order No. 36).
Alan Reid | 492 c816 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Sir Michael.
Greg Hands | 492 c821 (Link to this contribution) As we had started the debate on the interesting but fundamentally flawed Liberal Democrat amendment—...
Greg Hands | 492 c809-10 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. In due course, I shall discuss in detail the Scott...
Robert Goodwill | 492 c810 (Link to this contribution) Although having differential rates of duty for cask beer and for beer in bottles and cans may be aga...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c810 (Link to this contribution) Order. I suggest that the hon. Member for Hammersmith and Fulham (Mr. Hands) does not develop that p...
Rob Marris | 492 c813 (Link to this contribution) May I gently suggest to my hon. Friend that it is often better to abstain when it comes to alcohol?
Greg Hands | 492 c812-3 (Link to this contribution) I understand what the hon. Gentleman says, but it is still my understanding that if price and duty a...
Greg Hands | 492 c812 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman raises an interesting point. In general, as I have said, we are in favour of lowe...
Robert Goodwill | 492 c794 (Link to this contribution) Notwithstanding the point that the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Rob Marris) made about...
Stewart Hosie | 492 c795-6 (Link to this contribution) Amendment 12, which stands in my name, is about alcohol duty generally, not the whisky industry in p...
Rob Marris | 492 c793 (Link to this contribution) I share some of the right hon. Gentleman's concerns, especially about the price of beer. Marston's, ...
Brooks Newmark | 492 c792 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Luton, North (Kelvin Hopkins) made an important point about the currency shift w...
Bob Spink | 492 c791 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman think that one problem with the Liberal amendment is that it would pre...
David Leslie Taylor | 492 c790 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is well known for his erudition and knowledge about a whole range of issues...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c789 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps after giving way, the hon. Gentleman will conclude his speech.
Jeremy Browne | 492 c789 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether it would be better for Members to make speeches.
Jeremy Browne | 492 c788 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point. I do not want to stray too far, but there is also a differenc...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c788 (Link to this contribution) Cotleigh Brewery, which is based in Wiveliscombe—its leading beer is tawny beer, which I strongly re...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c787 (Link to this contribution) That is an interesting point. I hope that the review would consider it and make recommendations. I a...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c787 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is a champion of the industry and makes the point perfectly.
Jeremy Browne | 492 c787 (Link to this contribution) I think that the cost will be considerably less than the cost to the taxpayer of the industry contin...
Greg Hands | 492 c800-1 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure that I quite agree with that. There is a limit to how much soft drink prices can be re...
Stewart Hosie | 492 c801 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman saying that although price may be a factor in, and its use a tool to control, ...
John Howell | 492 c802 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that today's debates will also affect those businesses? We have debated co...
Greg Hands | 492 c803 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. It is fair to say that we will not vote for amendm...
Brooks Newmark | 492 c803 (Link to this contribution) I invite my hon. Friend to come to Braintree, which is a bit closer to London. My constituency is se...
Greg Hands | 492 c797 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Sir Alan. It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Dundee, East (Stewart Hosie). I ...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c797 (Link to this contribution) I caution the hon. Gentleman about failing to see the wood for the trees. I made it extremely clear ...
Greg Hands | 492 c797 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman raises an interesting point. Although I am relatively new to the Finance Bill, I ...
John Hayes | 492 c797-8 (Link to this contribution) I know that my hon. Friend is anxious to move on, but it would be remiss of him not to say something...
Greg Hands | 492 c800 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. He makes the telling point that a well-supervised,...
Greg Hands | 492 c799 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point. It is worth mentioning that the problems I have just outlin...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c782-3 (Link to this contribution) I shall come to skittles later in my contribution. Pubs also offer other services that are not neces...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c782 (Link to this contribution) It is a perfect example. In many villages, the pub just selling alcohol to the residents of that vil...
Dan Rogerson | 492 c782 (Link to this contribution) I know that my hon. Friend is a great supporter of the fight to keep open pubs in his constituency. ...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c781 (Link to this contribution) Not only do I agree, but the evidence is there for all to see. Six or so pubs are closing on a daily...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c780-1 (Link to this contribution) Sir Michael, that intervention may have been of a better length if the hon. Gentleman had cut out al...
Kelvin Hopkins | 492 c784 (Link to this contribution) I am absolutely in favour of the pub culture in our way of life, but does the hon. Gentleman agree t...
John Hayes | 492 c783 (Link to this contribution) It is indeed important that we defend these great British institutions. Skittles has been mentioned,...
Roger Williams | 492 c783 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a very powerful case. Does he agree that when pubs shut it is very difficul...
Peter Bone | 492 c784 (Link to this contribution) I am following the hon. Gentleman's powerful speech with great interest, but will he tell the Commit...
John Hayes | 492 c786 (Link to this contribution) The amendment refers to a report on competitiveness. I appreciate that this may take some time, but ...
Mike Weir | 492 c785 (Link to this contribution) I agree with much of what the hon. Gentleman says. Obviously, rising duty is one factor, but is not ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c786 (Link to this contribution) Order. I would find it helpful if the hon. Gentleman explained how his remarks relate to his amendme...
Philip Davies | 492 c785 (Link to this contribution) Surely the hon. Gentleman does not want the many thousands of people who visit Asda in Taunton to pa...
David Heath | 492 c779 (Link to this contribution) I merely wish to make it clear that the social life in my constituency would be considerably impaire...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c779 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way to the hon. Member for Banbury (Tony Baldry).
Jeremy Browne | 492 c779 (Link to this contribution) Whisky is, indeed, important, and I would not wish to diminish its importance—I know that the Conser...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c780 (Link to this contribution) As what I have just said is the case, I think it is best that I make a little headway for the moment...
David Gauke | 492 c754-5 (Link to this contribution) I anticipate that you would not want me to dwell on a response to that, Mrs. Heal, but I have seen a...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c755 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman think that the Government could take the approach of announcing—or letting i...
David Gauke | 492 c755 (Link to this contribution) No, I do not. My hon. Friend puts forward an interesting theory—it is one that I am sure the Governm...
David Gauke | 492 c755-7 (Link to this contribution) Again, I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I am sure that the Minister will have taken that question on...
Robert Syms | 492 c752 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is developing his argument well. Clearly, the VAT cut pales into insignificance compa...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c753 (Link to this contribution) Order. I have allowed some latitude, but the hon. Member is now straying rather wide of the amendmen...
David Gauke | 492 c753 (Link to this contribution) My principal argument is that we cannot afford it. On what constitutes the best fiscal stimulus when...
Stephen Timms | 492 c753 (Link to this contribution) I am following the hon. Gentleman's argument closely and with interest. I appreciate that there are ...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c754 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate the hon. Gentleman's joke, but I fear that it may not be accurate. I beg your brief ind...
David Gauke | 492 c753 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mrs. Heal. I want to argue that we could not afford the VAT cut, which was announced in t...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c754 (Link to this contribution) Order. I have been generous to hon. Members. Perhaps we can now adhere a little more closely to the ...
John Howell | 492 c762-3 (Link to this contribution) I have some sympathy with that view, and it reinforces the difficulty of using proxies in such matte...
Alison Seabeck | 492 c762 (Link to this contribution) I am not as expert as the hon. Gentleman, but his argument about the proxies—spending on VAT-able an...
Bob Spink | 492 c766 (Link to this contribution) No. The hon. Gentleman walked into the Chamber just two minutes ago, although the debate has been go...
Peter Bone | 492 c766 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Bob Spink | 492 c766 (Link to this contribution) This debate is about whether one is a tax cutter or not. I am a tax cutter, unlike the official Oppo...
David Gauke | 492 c757 (Link to this contribution) I have seen that comment, but I come back to the point that it is very difficult to disentangle all ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c759 (Link to this contribution) Order. For the avoidance of doubt, I should inform hon. Members that I am indeed treating this as a ...
David Gauke | 492 c758 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady, but I am not sure whether it is a question of filling the gap, as it...
Alison Seabeck | 492 c758 (Link to this contribution) I do not want to be impatient or churlish because you have been approaching this issue in a spirit o...
Philip Dunne | 492 c769 (Link to this contribution) The retail sector is one of the most innovative in our economy. It would not surprise me at all if c...
Peter Bone | 492 c769 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way; he is being exceptionally generous. Before he moves ...
Stephen Timms | 492 c770-1 (Link to this contribution) Before Christmas, the Government acted promptly with temporary, targeted, timely measures to support...
Philip Dunne | 492 c769 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has posed a question for the Financial Secretary, who is now back in his seat; I am s...
Philip Dunne | 492 c767 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to be called to contribute to this debate, Sir Michael. I touched on the VAT cut in my...
Bob Spink | 492 c766 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not. [Interruption.]
Brian Binley | 492 c766 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Jeremy Browne | 492 c778 (Link to this contribution) It is my intention that the Government examine their policy on alcohol taxation, which is of great c...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c778 (Link to this contribution) Amendment 10, tabled by me and by some of my hon. Friends, seeks to prevent increases in alcohol dut...
Greg Hands | 492 c778 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Jeremy Browne | 492 c773-4 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Sir Michael, for giving me an opportunity to speak at the conclusion of this helpful deba...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c774 (Link to this contribution) I ask the Serjeant at Arms to investigate the delay in the Aye Lobby.
Jeremy Browne | 492 c777 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 10, page 5, line 35, at end insert—
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c778 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss amendment 12, page 5, line 37, at end insert—
Jeremy Browne | 492 c778 (Link to this contribution) Conservative Members always labour under the misapprehension that no one in Taunton drinks anything ...
Stephen Timms | 492 c772 (Link to this contribution) I hope that that shows the hon. Gentleman's implicit acceptance that the VAT reduction has boosted r...
Stephen Timms | 492 c771 (Link to this contribution) I do not have the budget in front of me, but given our debate, I think that the House will welcome t...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c750 (Link to this contribution) Order. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will contain his comments to the amendment that is tabled in h...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c749-50 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. I accept that the date in the amendment is arbitrary; I was t...
Stewart Hosie | 492 c749 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman says that the assessment should be done before 1 April 2010. Does he agree that i...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c749 (Link to this contribution) I am not aware of what consultation took place among retailers. I hope that the Minister is more awa...
David Gauke | 492 c751 (Link to this contribution) If the right hon. Gentleman will be a little patient, he will receive the full reason why there is n...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c750-1 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mrs. Heal, for that very helpful guidance. The point that I was trying to make—I certainl...
Tobias Ellwood | 492 c751 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that we tried very hard in the debate on the Bill last week to get the Fin...
David Gauke | 492 c752 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I was going to address that point later, and I will come back to it...
Mark Hoban | 492 c731 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure how my hon. Friend defines seniority, but could the hon. Gentleman make his point a li...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c731 (Link to this contribution) Should I give way to the Front-Bench spokesman?
Mark Hoban | 492 c732 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend will know from his experience running small businesses about the impact that the Gove...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c731-2 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman's intervention, because it perhaps gave the response that I may...
Brian Binley | 492 c731 (Link to this contribution) It is. We should recognise that the seniority to which I referred was with regard to pecking order, ...
John Howell | 492 c733-4 (Link to this contribution) I wish to draw Members' attention to my entry in the register, as I am the director of a family comp...
Robert Syms | 492 c733 (Link to this contribution) Clause 8 is important and amendment 2 would be very helpful. We have already heard how important sma...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c734 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way, because he has only just started to speak. I am ...
Brian Binley | 492 c732-3 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a vital point. Many small businesses that were thinking in the longer term have...
Brian Binley | 492 c735 (Link to this contribution) I am listening intently to my hon. Friend's speech, and I congratulate him. I meet many small busine...
John Howell | 492 c735 (Link to this contribution) I completely agree. An important point that emerged in our debate on the headline corporation tax ra...
Stephen Timms | 492 c719 (Link to this contribution) No, it certainly is not, although I do not agree that our announcements about changing the way in wh...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c721 (Link to this contribution) I ask the Serjeant at Arms to investigate the delay in the Aye Lobby.
David Leslie Taylor | 492 c726 (Link to this contribution) I recall the decision and its implementation, and I recall the massive wave of incorporation that to...
Lembit Opik | 492 c727 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his concurrence with my view, but for the avoidance of doubt...
Mark Hoban | 492 c727 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point: we must have a less complex system. The Chancellor of t...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c729-30 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this part of our deliberations. I say at the outs...
David Leslie Taylor | 492 c730 (Link to this contribution) I am a big admirer of the FSB and I use its website and services from time to time. Has it said whet...
John Howell | 492 c716 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. There is always a limit to the use that we can make...
Rob Marris | 492 c716 (Link to this contribution) May I caution the hon. Gentleman about praying in aid Canada and Poland? He will find that both coun...
John Howell | 492 c715 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is right—there was a certain pleasure in that, although perhaps I should not us...
Stephen Timms | 492 c716 (Link to this contribution) I may have misheard, but I believe that the intervention was factually incorrect. The corporation ta...
John Howell | 492 c715 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Hood. I shall try to do that. That complexity, though, is very much part of the balan...
Lord Redwood | 492 c715 (Link to this contribution) When my hon. Friend was in Canada, did he find people taking great delight in the fact that the UK r...
Stephen Timms | 492 c717 (Link to this contribution) By the contributions of my hon. Friend, to whom I gladly give way.
John Howell | 492 c714-5 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for not having realised that in order to participate in this debate one had to be an exp...
Lord Redwood | 492 c712 (Link to this contribution) From the point of view of the hon. Gentleman's party, what would be a competitive corporation tax ra...
Stewart Hosie | 492 c712 (Link to this contribution) We suggested a reduction to 20 per cent. That was our favoured route, and we thought it would be the...
Robert Syms | 492 c713-4 (Link to this contribution) First, I should like to draw hon. Members' attention to my interest in the Register of Members' Inte...
Lord Redwood | 492 c714 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend worried for firms in his constituency that are part of multinationals given that, ...
Lord Redwood | 492 c711 (Link to this contribution) Drawing on his business experience, does my hon. Friend find, as I do, that business people in big c...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 492 c748-9 (Link to this contribution) The basis of the hon. Gentleman's argument, which he is making very powerfully, is whether the VAT c...
Tobias Ellwood | 492 c746-7 (Link to this contribution) Another aspect of the issue, to which the hon. Gentleman may come, is the date itself. The VAT chang...
Lembit Opik | 492 c747 (Link to this contribution) Given my hon. Friend's sage and insightful observations, he may be amazed that at today's sitting of...
Mark Hoban | 492 c738-9 (Link to this contribution) This has been a useful debate, especially in having drawn on the experience of my hon. Friends the M...
Stephen Timms | 492 c736 (Link to this contribution) I do not accept the hon. Gentleman's conclusion, and I was about to make an extremely important poin...
Stephen Timms | 492 c738 (Link to this contribution) No, I do not agree with that. The entrepreneurs whom I know and admire earn a long way short of £150...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c746 (Link to this contribution) I do not want to incur Mrs. Heal's wrath, so I will not extend the debate to local government financ...
Mark Hoban | 492 c688 (Link to this contribution) But we have also slipped down the table: our rate used to be the fourth lowest, and now it is the 19...
Mark Hoban | 492 c688 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has long experience of business, both in the UK and overseas. He will understand ...
Lord Redwood | 492 c688-9 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend, like me, concerned to see Shell, for example, deciding to locate its headquarters...
Mark Hoban | 492 c688 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. I do not argue that my proposal is a magic bullet—that ...
Geoffrey Robinson | 492 c690 (Link to this contribution) Surely the point is that when we make a judgment we have to take the most meaningful comparators. We...
Mark Hoban | 492 c689 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend makes some important points. I shall discuss later some of the companies that h...
Mark Hoban | 492 c689 (Link to this contribution) People regard such tax policies as a way to gain competitive advantage and we need to bear that in m...
Kerry McCarthy | 492 c691 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman saying that the regulatory environment in Ireland is not a factor in its econo...
Mark Hoban | 492 c690-1 (Link to this contribution) Labour Members say, "The Irish economy has collapsed, so we should throw out the idea that low tax r...
Kerry McCarthy | 492 c690 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) drew a comparison with Ireland. During my time on ...
Mark Hoban | 492 c693 (Link to this contribution) I am just getting going on the amendment. I have said to both the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, Sou...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c692-3 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way once more, and I am sorry for interrupting his fl...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c687 (Link to this contribution) I call Mr. Stephen Timms to move the order of consideration motion.
Lord Redwood | 492 c709 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Jeremy Browne | 492 c709-10 (Link to this contribution) That would have been funnier if the timing had been better. As it was, it was a typical Back-Bench a...
Lord Redwood | 492 c709 (Link to this contribution) Do I understand the hon. Gentleman correctly? Does he think—unfairly—that, because the proposal from...
Brian Binley | 492 c710-1 (Link to this contribution) I declare an interest as the chairman of an SME that employs about 140 people and that pays well bel...
Mark Hoban | 492 c695 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. When I thought about the amendment's impact, I consider...
Stephen Timms | 492 c695 (Link to this contribution) For completeness, will the hon. Gentleman confirm that the separate provinces of Canada charge addit...
Rob Marris | 492 c697 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for his generosity in giving way. On the projections for corporation tax ...
Rob Marris | 492 c697 (Link to this contribution) I am rather bemused by the hon. Gentleman's explanation of the cost-neutrality, which makes it sound...
Mark Hoban | 492 c697 (Link to this contribution) I do not agree and I shall explain why. The hon. Gentleman argues that there is a clear relationship...
Mark Hoban | 492 c698 (Link to this contribution) According to some examples, the general plant and machinery capital allowance will be about 12.5 per...
Geoffrey Robinson | 492 c699 (Link to this contribution) Distortion in the tax system is one thing, and we have had the arguments about neutrality. I am sorr...
Mark Hoban | 492 c699-700 (Link to this contribution) This is about trying to reduce distortions in the tax system to ensure that decisions are not being ...
Lord Redwood | 492 c700 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the parlous plight of British manufacturing today means that a very...
Geoffrey Robinson | 492 c700 (Link to this contribution) Having been lucky enough to catch your eye, Sir Alan, I wish briefly to revert to the question of ef...
Rob Marris | 492 c707 (Link to this contribution) Yes. It was cut by this Government and I do not think that it should have been. It should have been ...
Rob Marris | 492 c706-7 (Link to this contribution) I am not saying that it cannot happen: I simply said that my scepticism meter starts twitching. Foll...
Rob Marris | 492 c705-6 (Link to this contribution) If one looks at table C6 on page 231 of the Red Book, one sees that the projected receipts from corp...
Lord Redwood | 492 c706 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman recall that under a Conservative Government corporation tax rates were cut a...
Geoffrey Robinson | 492 c700-1 (Link to this contribution) If they are loss-making, they are not going to benefit from a reduction in corporation tax. That is ...
Rob Marris | 492 c707-8 (Link to this contribution) I will not be tempted too far down that line, Sir Alan. However, I think that there is a role for wr...
Lord Redwood | 492 c814 (Link to this contribution) Why does the Exchequer Secretary think that pub closures have increased so much in recent months?
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c821 (Link to this contribution) Order. First, the last thing that we must do in a clause stand part debate is rerun amendments that ...
John Howell | 492 c760-2 (Link to this contribution) The amendment asks us to consider having""a report containing an assessment of the impact of the tem...
Greg Hands | 492 c778 (Link to this contribution) I am slightly confused by the amendment. It states""No further amendment may be made to section 5 of...
David Gauke | 492 c772 (Link to this contribution) The point is that all of us on these Benches, and certainly the shadow business Secretary, made it v...
John Howell | 492 c716 (Link to this contribution) I think that my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) was talking about the overa...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c747 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an entirely legitimate point, which I have heard him make in other debates....
Mark Field | 492 c737-8 (Link to this contribution) The Minister professed the crucial importance of small and growing businesses, but is he not concern...
Tobias Ellwood | 492 c746 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman and I both have constituencies in the south-west, where the biggest industry is t...
David Leslie Taylor | 492 c688 (Link to this contribution) Is it not potentially misleading to concentrate solely on the rate of corporation tax? We have to in...
David Leslie Taylor | 492 c694 (Link to this contribution) When a detailed analysis was done in 2006, it was found that the de facto corporation tax rate for l...
Robert Goodwill | 492 c806 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend describes the impact of the duty changes on pubs, but does he agree that they will al...
Stephen Timms | 492 c771-2 (Link to this contribution) Of course, but they are a data point in a growing and increasingly clear picture about what is happe...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c731 (Link to this contribution) There would be an additional saving to such businesses, and it would depend on the rateable value of...
Jeremy Browne | 492 c746 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. To follow on from that made by the hon. Member for Mid-Sussex...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 492 c687 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman, otherwise we might never have started at all.
Lord Redwood | 492 c791-2 (Link to this contribution) I think that latecomers should refrain from making comments that have already been made by hon. Memb...
Mark Hoban | 492 c689 (Link to this contribution) But Canada has stated a clear ambition in that respect, and our competitors are to be found outside ...
Robert Syms | 492 c692 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for his generosity in giving way. Clearly, our financial problems are spread ...
Subjects
Alcoholic drinks Companies Business Corporation tax Competition Capital investment Excise duties Business rates Public houses Tax allowances Tax avoidance Taxation VAT Tax rates and bands Trade competitiveness
Legislation
Finance Bill 2008-09
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
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