"My Lords, will the Minister confirm that, as a result of the postponement of major capital projects until the later part of the decade, they will incur significantly higher interest rate costs than they would have done if they had been planned and financed earlier? Will he also confirm that, …..." Lord Howarth of Newport - View Speech
"My Lords, Colbert famously said that the art of taxation is to raise the maximum of revenue with the minimum of squawking. This Government are raising their revenue with a maximum of purring. Should that not make us suspicious?..." Lord Howarth of Newport - View Speech
"I welcome the Minister’s statement that the Government are considering introducing greater consistency in their treatment of tobacco smuggling and the smuggling of other substances. Will they consider aligning more extensively their treatment of tobacco, alcohol and other psychoactive substances in making policy across those fields more consistent?..." Lord Howarth of Newport - View Speech
"My Lords, given the view of employers that business competitiveness requires the replacement of British jobs by new technologies at home and by low-paid jobs abroad; given the Government’s view that the rate of income tax paid by the wealthy should be cut, public services for us all should be …..." Lord Howarth of Newport - View Speech
"Will the Minister acknowledge that there is abundant evidence that incidences of crime and mental illness are significantly higher in more unequal societies? Given that the tendency of the policies in the Bill will be to exacerbate inequality, is not the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, well justified in her anxiety, …..." Lord Howarth of Newport - View Speech
"My Lords, is not the situation even worse than intimated by the noble Lord, Lord Higgins? We have a state of affairs in which the markets are totally confused by the position taken by the Governor of the Bank of England and the Monetary Policy Committee and in which the …..." Lord Howarth of Newport - View Speech
"My Lords, particularly after the bad experiences of previous decades, this—like any—Government should always bear in mind that if we again lost control of inflation, the consequences would be impoverishing, divisive and altogether malign...." Lord Howarth of Newport - View Speech
"Can the Minister tell us how much revenue is forgone in consequence of higher-rate pension tax relief? Does he consider that either fair or useful?..." Lord Howarth of Newport - View Speech
"My Lords, if the Government are to continue with the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, why do they not introduce a listed places of learning grant scheme? Better still, why do they not abandon their defeatist attitude towards the European Union and reopen vigorous negotiations with the European Commission …..." Lord Howarth of Newport - View Speech