"The shadow Chancellor is certainly showing flexibility in concluding that in time, it would be acceptable for VAT to reach 20%. When did he reach that decision, and will he be able to persuade his colleagues, whom we know are so adamantly against VAT at 20%?..." Duncan Hames - View Speech
"Give our country’s debts, it is reassuring to learn that the price for Government borrowing has fallen to the lowest levels since the last Liberal Government. How much more expensive would Government borrowing be for taxpayers and public services if our interest rates had gone the same way as those …..." Duncan Hames - View Speech
"I am most fortunate to live in a beautiful part of the country and to represent my neighbours, as they are my constituents. They enjoy communities with access to the countryside, from which so many of them benefit. Although I am sure that there is much to commend in other …..." Duncan Hames - View Speech
"The hon. Lady is right to refer to the need for regulation. What troubles her more, the profitability of high-cost lenders or the techniques that they use to entrap their customers? Does that not provide a clue to where we should focus any Government interventions?..." Duncan Hames - View Speech
"Last week, I met development campaigners from Bradford-on-Avon at the “Tea time for change” rally. They welcome the Chancellor’s support for transparency in companies operating in developing countries. Will he press for effective legislation internationally, and for country-by-country, project-by-project financial reporting for companies in the resource extractive industries?..." Duncan Hames - View Speech
"How does the Government’s disposition on these matters differ between the case of Greece and that of other strained but larger or more closely integrated economies, such as, say, Spain?..." Duncan Hames - View Speech
"Given the Chancellor’s concern for the use of taxpayers’ money, will he really allow members of GP consortia boards to be paid as much as £30,000 a year for just one day’s work a week?..." Duncan Hames - View Speech
"In defending the bank bonus tax and the revenue that would have been raised by continuing with it, what allowance has the hon. Gentleman made for increasing levels of legal tax avoidance by those no doubt skilful bankers who would have been keen to avoid paying tax under that regime?..." Duncan Hames - View Speech
"The shadow Chancellor wants to slow the pace of spending cuts, so will he tell us what spending cuts he wants in the coming year?..." Duncan Hames - View Speech