To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to the letters of 3 July and 30 July.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to the letters of 3 July and 30 July.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of 10 September 2026 from the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of 10 September 2026 from the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs.

Third Opposition day debate (part two). Motion, That this House calls on the Government to cut public spending in order to abolish inheritance tax on family homes, farms and businesses. Negatived on division (99 votes to 291).

Third Opposition day debate (part two). Motion, That this House calls on the Government to cut public spending in order to abolish inheritance tax on family homes, farms and businesses. Negatived on division (99 votes to 291).

I beg to move,

That this House calls on the Government to cut public spending in order to abolish Inheritance Tax on family homes, farms and businesses.

There is a divide the size of Manchester’s Etihad arena in British politics today: between those who want to tax family farms, and those who...

I beg to move,

That this House calls on the Government to cut public spending in order to abolish Inheritance Tax on family homes, farms and businesses.

There is a divide the size of Manchester’s Etihad arena in British politics today: between those who want to tax family farms, and those who...

My right hon. and learned Friend is exactly right. The original reason for the exemption in death duties that previous Labour Governments respected was that generational aspect—the fact that a business or farm does not necessarily produce the cash flow necessary to hand over an enormous part of that value...

My right hon. and learned Friend is exactly right. The original reason for the exemption in death duties that previous Labour Governments respected was that generational aspect—the fact that a business or farm does not necessarily produce the cash flow necessary to hand over an enormous part of that value...

My right hon. Friend is quite right. I urge every Member of this House to spend time with family businesses in their constituency; there are excellent organisations such as Family Business UK that would be delighted to make the introduction.

My right hon. Friend is also absolutely right about the relative...

My right hon. Friend is quite right. I urge every Member of this House to spend time with family businesses in their constituency; there are excellent organisations such as Family Business UK that would be delighted to make the introduction.

My right hon. Friend is also absolutely right about the relative...

I would be delighted to give way and for the hon. Member to talk about the family business contribution in his own constituency, and why he will therefore be supporting the Opposition motion this afternoon.

I would be delighted to give way and for the hon. Member to talk about the family business contribution in his own constituency, and why he will therefore be supporting the Opposition motion this afternoon.

There have been exemptions for family business far beyond that. This goes across multiple generations—the origins date back to the 1960s, and every Labour Government under every Labour Prime Minister have understood the contribution of family businesses, including to those in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency.

We could, of course, talk about...

There have been exemptions for family business far beyond that. This goes across multiple generations—the origins date back to the 1960s, and every Labour Government under every Labour Prime Minister have understood the contribution of family businesses, including to those in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency.

We could, of course, talk about...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his point. Very few of us will not be aware of the challenges of the care sector from meeting constituents at our surgeries. It is why I regret the fact that one of the first actions of this Government on coming into office was...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his point. Very few of us will not be aware of the challenges of the care sector from meeting constituents at our surgeries. It is why I regret the fact that one of the first actions of this Government on coming into office was...

My right hon. Friend is right. I do not think that any fair-minded person in the United Kingdom today would say, “The problem is that we have too many successful companies. Too many companies are setting up, being founded and listing on our stock exchanges; our economy is growing somehow...

My right hon. Friend is right. I do not think that any fair-minded person in the United Kingdom today would say, “The problem is that we have too many successful companies. Too many companies are setting up, being founded and listing on our stock exchanges; our economy is growing somehow...

I will happily give away—I am enjoying the contributions.

I will happily give away—I am enjoying the contributions.

As I have said many times in the House, I think the G7 is the wrong comparator peer group. We are not the fastest growing member of the G7. If the hon. Member took the time to read more than the headlines handed out by the Labour Whips, he would...

As I have said many times in the House, I think the G7 is the wrong comparator peer group. We are not the fastest growing member of the G7. If the hon. Member took the time to read more than the headlines handed out by the Labour Whips, he would...

Thank you, Mr Speaker. First, let me pay tribute to my own predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Central Devon (Sir Mel Stride), and let me welcome the Chancellor to his role. He is already responsible for the highest borrowing costs for 28 years. One in six of our young people are unemployed and yesterday we had the news that one of Britain’s top taxpayers is leaving our country. Every time a billionaire leaves, our country becomes poorer. Chris Rokos is reported to have paid over £300 million in taxes last year. Could the Chancellor tell us how many average taxpayers it will take to replace him?

Thank you, Mr Speaker. First, let me pay tribute to my own predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Central Devon (Sir Mel Stride), and let me welcome the Chancellor to his role. He is already responsible for the highest borrowing costs for 28 years. One in six of our young people are unemployed and yesterday we had the news that one of Britain’s top taxpayers is leaving our country. Every time a billionaire leaves, our country becomes poorer. Chris Rokos is reported to have paid over £300 million in taxes last year. Could the Chancellor tell us how many average taxpayers it will take to replace him?

The Chancellor does not know the answer. On the Treasury’s own statistics, it would take 38,000 average income tax payers to make up for the loss of Chris Rokos. That is a lot of breathing space paid for. It means higher taxes for everyone else, or lower public spending. We know what Labour will choose. The last Chancellor raised taxes on farmers, family businesses and jobs. Conservatives will reform welfare to cut taxes; Labour always puts them up. Which, if any, of his predecessor’s damaging decisions will the Chancellor reverse?

The Chancellor does not know the answer. On the Treasury’s own statistics, it would take 38,000 average income tax payers to make up for the loss of Chris Rokos. That is a lot of breathing space paid for. It means higher taxes for everyone else, or lower public spending. We know what Labour will choose. The last Chancellor raised taxes on farmers, family businesses and jobs. Conservatives will reform welfare to cut taxes; Labour always puts them up. Which, if any, of his predecessor’s damaging decisions will the Chancellor reverse?

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the letters of 7 May 2026 and 10 June 2025 from the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the letters of 7 May 2026 and 10 June 2025 from the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs.

I welcome the moratorium on, and potential saving of, West Sussex, in response to my opposition and that of thousands of residents who did not want our historic county cleaved in two. Now that he has acknowledged that the proposal from the Government was less sustainable than the status quo,...

I welcome the moratorium on, and potential saving of, West Sussex, in response to my opposition and that of thousands of residents who did not want our historic county cleaved in two. Now that he has acknowledged that the proposal from the Government was less sustainable than the status quo,...

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, when she plans to respond to the letter of 2 June 2026 from the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, when she plans to respond to the letter of 2 June 2026 from the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs.

Programme motion agreed to. Consideration of Lords Amendments. Lords Amendments 1 to 18 agreed to.

Programme motion agreed to. Consideration of Lords Amendments. Lords Amendments 1 to 18 agreed to.

I am grateful to their lordships for their work on the Bill. We support the amendments before the House.

Let me be plain from the outset: our objection has never been to steelmaking, or to the men and women who make steel; it is to a Government who have crashed around...

I am grateful to their lordships for their work on the Bill. We support the amendments before the House.

Let me be plain from the outset: our objection has never been to steelmaking, or to the men and women who make steel; it is to a Government who have crashed around...

I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement.

We Conservatives warmly welcome this excellent agreement and congratulate the Ministers and officials who delivered it. I was pleased, when I was the City Minister, to have been part of the team behind the forerunner, the Berne—[Interruption.] Would the Minister listen...

I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement.

We Conservatives warmly welcome this excellent agreement and congratulate the Ministers and officials who delivered it. I was pleased, when I was the City Minister, to have been part of the team behind the forerunner, the Berne—[Interruption.] Would the Minister listen...