Tuesday, 19 March 1991
The House met at half-past Two o'clock
[MR. SPEAKER in the Chair]
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his current estimate for completion of the report of the naval inquiry into the sinking of the fishing boat Antares.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what lessons have been learned in the Gulf with regard to the relative merits of tanks and helicopters as tankbusters.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future deployment of British forces in the Gulf.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what exchanges of information have taken place with the United States of America Government about systems for, and experience in, decommissioning of...
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what further progress has been made in his Department's review of Britain's defence commitments; and what lessons have been learned as a result of the...
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the arrangements for temporarily leasing empty MOD houses to local authorities to assist in their duty to...
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the timetable for withdrawal of British troops from the Gulf.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what aspects of the personal life of service men are taken into account in matters of recruitment and dismissal from employment in Her Majesty's forces.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will enumerate the financial costs of deployment of British armed forces in the Gulf up to the end of the Gulf war.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many man hours have so far been spent by Ministry of Defence officials in evaluating relocation projects within his Department; and if he will make a...
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what lessons his Department has learnt from the Gulf war.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the implications for south Dorset of the "Options for Change" review.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the current military situation in the Gulf.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has about the future use of USAF Fairford.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of contracts awarded by the Ministry of Defence go to British-owned companies.
To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 19 March.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Before I call the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it may be for the convenience of hon. Members if I remind them that, at the end of the Chancellor's speech, copies of the...
I refer first to international developments. The past year has brought recession to a number of major industrial countries including the United States, Canada and Australia. Growth in Germany has...
There is one proviso—and it is a crucial one. We must get inflation down, and this time we must keep it down. The overriding lesson of the past few years is that the battle against...
I come now to the public sector finances.
I now turn to my tax proposals. In preparing this part of my speech I have been guided by great Finance Ministers of the past—first, by Gladstone, whose advice on delivering tax proposals...
The 1980s were years of remarkable progress in our economy, but even more striking was the change in attitudes. The crucial importance of the market is now widely accepted in this country, and...
Many hon. Members have pressed the case for helping two specific industries this year: shipping and films. While I sympathise with their aims, I have to say that there is a limit to the extent to...
I turn now to trusts. In 1988, as Financial Secretary, I announced a review of their tax treatment. Today, I am publishing a consultative document on possible changes to the income tax and...
I turn now to charities. While people's real incomes have risen by over a third since 1979, charitable giving has more than doubled, partly as a result of the measures taken by my predecessors to...
I now come to a proposal to benefit both sport and the arts. Last year, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minster reduced pool betting duty, on the condition that the benefit was passed to the...
I now come to excise duties. First, I propose to raise the duties on alcoholic drinks to maintain their real value. That means that the duties will rise from 6 o'clock tonight by 9·3 per...
Many motorists do not own their own cars but drive those provided by their employers. The scales for taxing the private use of company cars have been substantially increased in recent Budgets,...
I have already drawn attention to the imbalance between savings and investment and its effects in the late 1980s. As companies found more and more opportunities to invest, we needed more savings;...
The measures that I have just announced will encourage people to save, but there is another side to the story, for the fall in the saving ratio at the end of the 1980s was a result not of a fall...
I now come to income tax. Income tax is never welcome, but paying tax unexpectedly is even less so. That is the position facing employees who were working in Kuwait and Iraq at the time the Gulf...
The measures that I have announced today maintain a responsible fiscal policy, while giving help to industry and families. They also include some important reforms to the tax system. However, my...
The measures I have announced are designed to meet the three main requirements of any Budget. First, they represent sound finance, and contribute to a firm counter-inflationary policy. My...
Motion made, and Question,
Motion made, and Question proposed,That it is expedient to amend the law with respect to the National Debt and the public revenue and to make further provision in connection with finance; but...
The House will have heard my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announce in his Budget statement that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment would...
Order for Second Reading read.
Motion made and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Neil Hamilton.]
Debates in the House of Commons are an opportunity for MPs from all parties to scrutinise government legislation and raise important local, national or topical issues.
And sometimes to shout at each other.
