Rob Marris: The lead amendment in this group, amendment 33, stands in my name and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds East. Unless the Government accepts this amendment—I hope they do—we will seek your permission to divide the Committee, Mr Brady. I thought that I would start with this group with what may be some of the less contentious material; the contentious material is likely to focus on...
Rob Marris: The lead amendment in this group, amendment 33, stands in my name and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds East. Unless the Government accepts this amendment—I hope they do—we will seek your permission to divide the Committee, Mr Brady. I thought that I would start this group with what may be some of the less contentious material; the contentious material is likely to focus on...
Damian Hinds: ...to be coming in, but is not. As my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary set out comprehensively at the start of the debate, no Government have done more than we have to crack down on tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. The Government crackdown, led by my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, has resulted in more than 40 changes to tax law to close loopholes that...
Damian Hinds: ...to be coming in, but is not. As my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary set out comprehensively at the start of the debate, no Government have done more than we have to crack down on tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. The Government crackdown, led by my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, has resulted in more than 40 changes to tax law to close loopholes that...
Harriett Baldwin: ...that we have had a wide range of speeches, with 12 by Back Benchers from, I am pleased to say, almost across the country. We heard from my right hon. Friends the Members for Chichester (Mr Tyrie) and for Cities of London and Westminster (Mark Field), the hon. Members for East Lothian (George Kerevan) and for Bassetlaw (John Mann), my hon. Friend the Member for South West Devon (Mr...
Patrick Grady: May I associate myself with the comments about Holocaust Memorial Day? Today we mark Robert Burns day, for one of Scotland’s great humanitarians. My hon. Friend the Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Roger Mullin) has already quoted the lines: “O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us!” How do the Government think this looks? The proposal to take our fair...
Anna Soubry: It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone, and I will do everything I can to comply. I have taken out some large chunks of the speech that was helpfully provided by my officials. And I always say—there are some here this afternoon who have heard the usual line that I trot out, and I am looking at my hon. Friend, the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), as I say...
Lilian Greenwood: No, I have already given way to the hon. Gentleman. East Coast cut its fares in real terms in 2014 and reinvested all its profits in the service. As reported last week, it was delivering the best-ever service on the line in the weeks before it was sold. Instead of extending that successful model of public ownership to the other franchise services, the route was prioritised to be sold off....
Peter Grant: I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman recalls that, last time there was a major review of the boundaries in Scotland, the Kingdom of Fife was reduced from five parliamentary constituencies to four. The then Member of Parliament for Dunfermline, East, by the name of Gordon Brown, found himself without an obvious successor seat. The MP for Kirkcaldy agreed to retire from the House, Mr Brown...
Jo Johnson: The Government are working hard with our European partners to give the support that is possible to the steel industry, and are working hard with all the companies involved to assure good outcomes in line with our competition regime. I shall return to the subject of the trade agreements. TTIP holds tremendous potential for the British economy; it is potentially worth up to £10 billion a year...
Neil Gray: I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Mhairi Black) on securing this important debate and on moving the motion with such an impassioned, articulate and typically powerful speech. I also pay tribute to the hon. Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley) for her speech and for being a co-signatory to the motion. I pay tribute to my hon. Friends...
Anna Soubry: ...comfort, but I think we have had a really good debate about this important agreement. Unfortunately I have only about seven or eight minutes to try to answer all the points that have been raised, and I will fail in that. The usual rules apply, and anybody who has raised an important point will get a letter in response to it, because time—as ever—is against me. I congratulate the hon....
Alex Rowley: ...many years. I attended an event in connection with the CRT in Kelty recently at which a number of groups got awards for local funds; it was a really positive evening. Crucially, whether it is in Cowdenbeath, Kelty, Benarty or Cardenden, the Coalfields Regeneration Trust is working to develop local community plans in my constituency. One of the questions arising from the Community...
Neil Gray: It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Davies. Indeed, it is a pleasure to follow the excellent contribution of the hon. Member for Heywood and Middleton (Liz McInnes), in which she cited examples of her own constituents who are affected. I am grateful for being able to take part in this debate, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley),...
Gavin Newlands: I am sure that the Chancellor merely forgot to answer the questions of my hon. Friends the Members for Dundee East (Stewart Hosie) and for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Roger Mullin) on the rebuilding of Syria, so I will give him another chance. If the Government persuade the House to back military action, how much has he set aside for the city deals for Aleppo, Damascus and Homs?
Damian Hinds: I am not quite sure how to follow the hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Roger Mullin). Protecting the country’s tax revenues is of course a vital part of our long-term economic plan. It is particularly important given the contributions that we expect the tax system to make to delivering an overall surplus in 2019-20. As an integral part of that, we strengthened HM Revenue and...
John Woodcock: ...explain that to them. It does not matter how many times they ask, I will not give way to them. In the remaining time that I have, let me quickly read a list of some of the constituencies in Scotland that are affected by the submarine supply chain: Argyll and Bute, which we have already mentioned; Aberdeen North; Coatbridge; Chryston and Bellshill; Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch...
Harriett Baldwin: I am sure that, like me, the hon. Gentleman is a passionate feminist and thinks it important that men and women have the same pension age. I appreciate, however, that the process of transition from the much earlier age at which women were retiring will, depending on people’s circumstances, have posed a range of challenges, of which the Government are well aware. As a constituency MP, I am...
Jo Johnson: It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr McCabe. I congratulate the hon. Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Angela Smith) on securing the debate, which is the fourth on the subject in as many months. The topic is also the subject of an ongoing Science and Technology Committee inquiry. All that activity underlines the great importance of science to our economy and to Members...
David Gauke: ...excise duty. It is necessary for the Government to use all the tools in the toolbox in these circumstances. We think that that is the right way to address that concern. Indeed, new regulatory standards are being put in place for NOx. I will, if I may, turn to the £40,000 premium surcharge. A concern was raised that it might slow the uptake of the latest carbon technologies, such as...