Alistair Darling: The Secretary of State referred to opting out. What evidence is there in Scotland of a demand by people for the power to opt out? The Glasgow Herald reported last month that the Secretary of State would introduce the Bill, that the hon. Member for Eastwood (Mr. Stewart) would table an amendment and that the Secretary of State had been told by the Prime Minister that he must accept it as it...
Alistair Darling: Can the Secretary of State confirm, for the avoidance of doubt, that no opting-out provisions will be accepted by the Government during the passage of the Bill, and that if opting out is to come in the future it will be through fresh legislation being introduced to that effect? If that is correct, can the right hon. and learned Gentleman confirm that the exchange of memoranda between his...
Alistair Darling: I served on three school councils over six years, as well as being a member of the education committee in Lothian region. Administrative savings will be minimal. In the case of Lothian, it withdrew all the backing under the Conservative regime. These school boards will cost money. If the scheme is going to work properly, along the lines of the Bill, and if the boards are to be serviced...
Alistair Darling: It is important to discuss the financial effects of the Bill because it is one of the many aspects on which Ministers have been reticent. They say that the cost of setting up the school boards will be in the region of £5 million. They dispute COSLA's figure of £20 million. If the school boards are to work properly and do everything that they are told they should do, they will cost a great...
Alistair Darling: I have always found it interesting that Conservative Members are often keen to refer to that matter, but it does not worry me. Having been to an institution of that nature, I am in a good position to comment on its defects. I suspect that if I had not been educated in such an institution, any criticisms I offered would be denounced as having been made without experience. I am in a good...
Alistair Darling: Has the Chancellor received representations on the business expansion scheme proposals, to the effect that it is wrong to provide a tax shelter for those who are the richest in society to enable them to set up rented accommodation, often to exploit those at the poorest end of society?
Alistair Darling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with interested parties about the level of domestic air fares in the United Kingdom.
Alistair Darling: Is the Secretary of State aware of the widespread concern at the escalating cost of air fares within the United Kingdom, both from the point of tourism—I speak here of British holidaymakers who face add-on costs when they go abroad as well as the disincentive to foreign visitors to visit parts of the United Kingdom other than London—and of regional development? Is the Minister further...
Alistair Darling: The hon. Member for Eastwood (Mr. Stewart) seemed to be having difficulty in understanding the terms of regulation 5, or, alternatively, in reading the joined up writing of his brief, which clearly had been handed to him from the Government Benches in order to pad out this debate. I should like briefly to speak about regulation 5, because it concerns a major problem, particularly in...
Alistair Darling: Yes, that is correct.
Alistair Darling: Precisely.
Alistair Darling: If the Chief Secretary is serious about increasing mobility and choice, rather than giving a tax handout to those who would speculate in providing rented property, would it not be better to restore the same amount of money to individuals by way of housing benefit so that they would have beter purchasing power and would be able to exercise choice, including being able to move to this part of...
Alistair Darling: I am no poet, but the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, West (Mr. Battle) are well made. When the Chancellor of the Exchequer introduced his Budget, he set himself four basic principles on personal taxation. The first was to reduce tax rates where, he said, they were clearly too high. He appears to have failed in that objective. If one studies the Inland Revenue booklet...
Alistair Darling: With respect to the hon. Lady, my recollection is that inflation went up quite dramatically shortly after her Government assumed office in 1979. However, I concede that it has come down since then. The Government-inspired electricity price rises will have an effect on industry and on the price of goods, as well as a direct effect on those who use electricity in their homes. Many of my...
Alistair Darling: The Minister of State will no doubt be aware that tomorrow Lothian health board will announce its option appraisal plan for the replacement of the Royal infirmary in Edinburgh. Can he assure us that when the appraisal is finished the Government will fund the replacement of the infirmary so that it is not downgraded to the status of a district general hospital, and so that it can maintain its...
Alistair Darling: As I listened to the hon. Member for Wells (Mr. Heathcoat-Amory), I was reminded of a suggestion made just after the war, I think by Churchill, that there ought to be two Chambers of the House of Commons—one to deal with foreign affairs and one to deal with economic affairs; the two were entirely different. It seems to me that this debate is entirely different from last Wednesday's debate...
Alistair Darling: Is the Minister still convinced that the insistence on providing a substantial proportion of electricity generation through the nuclear industry is the best means of providing low-cost electricity, especially in view of the difficulties and unknown costs of decommissioning and in light of this morning's report in The Guardian which suggests that nuclear power stations are running at below...
Alistair Darling: The Government's support of the clause is indicative of their attitude to a major problem. The primary purpose of the clause is to provide a tax shelter for a few, using the housing shortage as an excuse. It has potentially unpleasant side effects. There is no doubt that there is a major housing shortage. The high demand is ruthlessly exploited by many private sector landlords. There is a...
Alistair Darling: I shall develop that argument shortly. I do not think—and I do not think that the Government believe—that this scheme will bring on to the market the thousands of extra houses that are needed. In any event, any houses for rent will be at the top end of the market, particularly in the south-east of England, where high profits can be made. Other parts of the country where there is a demand...
Alistair Darling: Most of the money has gone to those paying higher rate tax. I repeat that the scheme is aimed at those with substantial sums of money available to invest which they are willing to tie up for five years. The second objection is that after five years investors can sell up and get a profit, free of capital gains tax. The third objection is that in some cases those providing accommodation at...