Economic Update

Allan Dorans Excerpts

Monday 17th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Hunt]

I believe that the Bank of England has taken important action and I refer the hon. Gentleman to what the Governor of the Bank of England said today and his confidence that those issues have been largely resolved.

[Allan Dorans (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (SNP)]

Earlier this afternoon, the Chancellor announced the formation of a new economic advisory council. Can he confirm that its members will be independent and that they are not major donors to the Conservative party seeking to gain influence on Government policy?

[Jeremy Hunt]

I can confirm that the council’s members will be independent; I can confirm that there will be no improper influence exerted; and I can confirm, as the hon. Gentleman will be pleased to hear, that all donations to the Conservative party are vetted and legal.

Oral Answers to Questions

Allan Dorans Excerpts

Tuesday 11th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

My right hon. Friend was 100% right to notice that the energy intervention was exactly the right thing. We are going to have a commitment to fiscal responsibility, which will stabilise the economic situation and picture, and I am sure that her constituents will fully understand what the growth plan is all about: putting more money into their pockets so that we can have a growing and dynamic economy.

[Allan Dorans (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (SNP)]

T5. The Scottish Government announced yesterday that they will be doubling the December bridging payment granted to low-income families, to £260. The Child Poverty Action Group noted that this will make “a real difference” to households struggling with the cost of living crisis. What plans do the UK Government have to follow suit and bring in targeted measures for low-income households?

Cost of Living Increases

Allan Dorans Excerpts

Monday 24th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Allan Dorans (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (SNP)]

The rise in the consumer prices index will disproportionately affect those already facing pressure on disposable income. The rise will affect low-income families, including the disabled, the long-term sick, the unemployed and those on a low fixed income with no prospect of overtime or salary increases, who on average spend a larger proportion of their income on energy costs and food and will therefore be more affected by the price increases.

I make specific mention of the 3.8 million women born in the 1950s who were cruelly robbed of their pensions by the Government, who are still being unfairly denied full restitution for their loss and who continue to suffer an appalling injustice. I also mention the 3 million people, mainly self-employed and directors of small limited companies, whom the Chancellor callously excluded from any financial support during a pandemic.

There is sadly another, perhaps less reported consequence of inflation: an increase in crime. In 2014 Professor Richard Rosenfeld, an American criminologist, concluded:

“Inflation is the most powerful economic predictor of crime.”

I have several examples from research data to prove that case, but time prevents me from explaining them. I am not suggesting that everybody in financial difficulties, poverty or debt will resort to theft or other crime to make ends meet, pay their bills or feed their families, but unfortunately we too often hear anecdotal stories of parents arrested for shoplifting essential items such as baby formula, nappies and food that will enable their families to survive.

While it is impossible to predict how much crime will increase, history tells us that if inflation continues to increase, crime will also inevitably do so. Therefore, to mitigate the effects of a predicted increase in all crime, which will put pressure on our already overworked police, courts, prison, probation, social work, women’s aid and other support services in the criminal justice system, it is essential that the Government provide further immediate financial support for those services. Not to do so now would be negligent in the extreme. I also urge the Government to take steps to reduce those levels of poverty and spiralling debt in the rest of the United Kingdom by introducing measures such as we have in Scotland, including the game-changing £20 child payment, the 1,140 hours of free childcare a year for eligible children, free prescriptions, free sanitary products for women and girls, free bus travel across the country for everyone over 60 and the disabled—briefly expanded to include young people between the ages of five and 21— and free university tuition in our world-class universities for our young people.

I suggest that savings could be made by not renewing weapons of mass destruction on the Clyde, currently estimated at £205 billion. Spending could be stopped on vanity projects, including the new royal yacht, or on the refurbishment of Buckingham Palace, estimated at £360 million. There was also the shambolic process that resulted in the loss of £4.3 billion to fraud during the pandemic being written off by the Chancellor.

With independence, we could keep crime levels at least where they are, if not further reduce them, by gathering revenue from the massive energy production soon to power all the UK’s 30 million or so homes. More importantly, as an independent country in the European Union, we would have full control of our economic levers, which would help to control inflation and deliver a more equal, progressive and prosperous—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Order. I call Alan Brown.

Treasury

Allan Dorans Excerpts

Friday 23rd October 2020 Ministerial Corrections

The following is an extract from oral Questions to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 20 October 2019.

[Allan Dorans [V]]

The Scottish Government are doing what they can to support individuals, businesses and those who have been excluded by the Chancellor from receiving any grants, loans or payment holidays. They are hampered in doing so by not having the autonomy of borrowing powers to meet the unique requirements of the Scottish economy. Will the Government heed repeated calls for the devolution of borrowing powers to enable the Scottish Government to provide additional targeted assistance to those individuals and sectors that they have identified as most in need?

Oral Answers to Questions

Allan Dorans Excerpts

Tuesday 20th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

[Allan Dorans (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (SNP)]

[Douglas Chapman (Dunfermline and West Fife) (SNP)]

[The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Jesse Norman)]

[Allan Dorans [V]]

[Jesse Norman]

Loan Charge 2019: Sir Amyas Morse Review

Allan Dorans Excerpts

Thursday 19th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Allan Dorans (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (SNP)]

I pay tribute to right hon. and hon. Members on both sides of the House for their eloquence and the detail of their arguments. That will save me some time in my speech, and allows me to give the perspective of one of my constituents. I received a number of constituent inquiries on this subject, but I highlight just one.

In 2008, one of my constituents was a pilot employed by Ryanair. His conditions changed and he was forced to become self-employed. He attempted to register as self-employed, and was asked a series of questions by HMRC, including, “Do I supply my own equipment?” Obviously he did not; Ryanair supplied the plane. “Can I work for who I want?” Absolutely not; he was on the Ryanair rota. “Can I nominate a substitute?” He could not, because he had registered with Ryanair and was allowed to work only so many hours. He could not honestly answer yes to these questions, and so could not become self-employed, although a number of his colleagues did. He, though, was an honest man, and he decided not to.

My constituent looked for alternatives, and found a company on the Isle of Man—a group of qualified and recognised accountants who, for payment, presented him with a legal solution, known as an employee benefit trust. He did not really understand the implications of that solution, but he did his due diligence, and found that it was indeed legal and acceptable to HMRC. He proceeded with that system for four or five years, and filled in his tax returns legally every year on time, declaring his usage of that scheme. He was made aware of the loan charge in 2019. He came forward to HMRC straightaway and offered settlement. He assumed HMRC would treat him as an employed person and charge him for the tax he was due to pay, so he waited for the settlement figures and, in the meantime, paid £30,000 in accelerated payment notices—in fact, an advance payment of tax.

That year, he received a bill of £213,000, almost half of which was made up of interest and penalties. There was no allowance for the vast expenses he incurred. Ryanair made him pay for taxis, hotels and even water, and he had no pension relief. HMRC did not deduct the APNs he had previously paid, and he had provided all this information. He is still in dispute with HMRC.

None of that is fair. This has been a life-changing experience for him and his family. He has been treated like a criminal. He has not evaded tax law, he believes he has acted legally at all times, and he refuses to allow HMRC to ruin his life due to its incompetence. He believes this is nothing more than bullying of individuals by an all-powerful and out-of-control Government body that should rather be pursuing the people behind such schemes.

I will keep my speech short, as I appreciate we are short of time. In the interest of natural justice and fairness, I support the motion:

“That this House believes that the Loan Charge is an unjust and retrospective tax; notes that the law on the Loan Charge was not settled until 2017; and calls on HMRC to cease action on loans paid before 2017.”