Part of Finance (No. 2) Bill – in the House of Commons at 6:30 pm on 12 January 2026.
Dan Tomlinson
The Exchequer Secretary
6:30,
12 January 2026
I thank my hon. Friend for that Intervention and for giving me the chance to reiterate this Government’s focus on economic growth and on providing economic stability. Last year, the OBR forecast that the economy would grow by 1% but it then revised that up to 1.5%. That is a 50% increase in our growth forecast. Of course, we need to continue to redouble our efforts as a Government, going further and faster when it comes to supporting economic growth, so that we can see rising living standards in every single part of the country. That is core to our plan. We do not want to see people continuing to suffer.
The last Parliament was the worst on record for living standards, and it is no surprise that the British people decided to boot out the Conservatives and replace them with a Government who are laser-focused on improving the cost of living and improving living standards, both through the changes we are making—including in the Finance Bill to support our public finances—and, as my hon. Friend mentions, through continuing to partner with business to unlock private sector investment and increase economic growth. The changes that we are making to planning do not just support more houses being built and more residential development, which of course we need for the reasons we have discussed; they should also make it easier for us to build large infrastructure projects to support economic growth—including new nuclear power stations, which the Conservatives continually did not invest in—and to get our long-term growth and productivity rates up.
By keeping the clauses in the Bill unchanged, we will raise additional revenue from those who are undertaxed relative to most employees. As I have said, the changes on dividend savings and property income will raise an additional £2.2 billion in the coming years, which will help us to repair and improve our public finances. The changes will also enable us to reduce the contribution that we are asking of working people through the threshold freezes. By making changes such as the introduction of the electric vehicle excise duty and the reduction in relief for those who are selling their businesses to employee ownership trusts, we are making it possible to reduce the ask of working people. That is in sharp contrast to the position set out by the Shadow Chancellor, the right hon. Member for Central Devon, who said that if he was in Labour’s position, he would be increasing the rates of income tax. Rather than doing that, we will ensure that this Government stay true to their manifesto commitments on tax and the public finances, with borrowing falling in every year of the OBR’s forecast.
I therefore urge the Committee to reject new Clause 2 and new clauses 10 to 12, and to support the inclusion in the Bill of clauses 1 to 6, schedule 1, clauses 7 and 8 and schedule 2.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 1 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clauses 2 to 6 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Schedule 1 agreed to.
Clauses 7 and 8 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Schedule 2 agreed to.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
The Chancellor - also known as "Chancellor of the Exchequer" is responsible as a Minister for the treasury, and for the country's economy. For Example, the Chancellor set taxes and tax rates. The Chancellor is the only MP allowed to drink Alcohol in the House of Commons; s/he is permitted an alcoholic drink while delivering the budget.
The shadow cabinet is the name given to the group of senior members from the chief opposition party who would form the cabinet if they were to come to power after a General Election. Each member of the shadow cabinet is allocated responsibility for `shadowing' the work of one of the members of the real cabinet.
The Party Leader assigns specific portfolios according to the ability, seniority and popularity of the shadow cabinet's members.
An intervention is when the MP making a speech is interrupted by another MP and asked to 'give way' to allow the other MP to intervene on the speech to ask a question or comment on what has just been said.
The Conservatives are a centre-right political party in the UK, founded in the 1830s. They are also known as the Tory party.
With a lower-case ‘c’, ‘conservative’ is an adjective which implies a dislike of change, and a preference for traditional values.