Greece

Robert Jenrick Excerpts

Monday 6th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

The hon. Lady is perfectly right to draw to the House’s attention the very difficult situation that Greek families can find themselves in at the moment. That is all the more reason why we need to find a resolution. As I have said, the British pharmaceutical companies, which are important suppliers to the Greek medical system, are continuing to make those supplies, despite the imposition of capital controls. The whole question of what should happen if Greece falls out of the eurozone is something that I think we should return to if that eventually arises. Greece is one of this country’s oldest allies and of course we will always stand by it.

[Robert Jenrick (Newark) (Con)]

The Chancellor has said that we must not underestimate the impact of these events on the UK economy. Whatever happens, the weak and stagnating economies of southern Europe, in particular, will continue to deteriorate. Looking towards the Budget and the months ahead, will my right hon. Friend use all his offices to pivot the UK economy towards growing and emerging economies elsewhere in the world, particularly as he did decisively with the UK’s leading role in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank?

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. British exports are too dependent on European markets and have been badly hit by weaknesses in the European economy over the past five years. That is why we have put a huge effort into trying to expand our trade and investment in fast-growing parts of the world, such as Asia. We want to be part of the new institutions there, such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. However, some southern European economies, such as Spain’s, have shown a remarkable turnaround, because they have taken difficult decisions, reformed their economies and are now reaping the benefits.

Productivity

Robert Jenrick Excerpts

Wednesday 17th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Robert Jenrick (Newark) (Con)]

I, too, congratulate the new Members on their excellent maiden speeches. May I also welcome my Nottinghamshire neighbour, the hon. Member for Nottingham East (Chris Leslie), to his role as shadow Chancellor? He is the third Nottingham man in recent times to hold the position, although of course only my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke) ever got the top job. I am sure that if the hon. Gentleman needs any friendly advice on how to run a successful economy, my right hon. and learned Friend would be happy to give it.

The fact that productivity continues to grow in prominence is, as has been said throughout the debate, a recognition of the remarkable achievements in employment during the past few years—almost 9,000 new jobs have been created since 2010 in my constituency—and the fact that we now have a credible, long-term plan for the public finances, respected by the markets. We need to continue to deliver on it. It is also an acceptance by all of us that the country is running up against the limits of what can be achieved by boosting employment alone. We are well on the way to becoming a country of people in work, but the task for the next five years is addressing how we can become a country of people who are well paid.

So much has been said already, but let me address one area in particular. The truth is that the UK has never quite managed to develop an entrepreneurial culture equivalent to that in the United States. Governments do not create entrepreneurs or the businessmen and women of the future, but they can and must be the flagbearers for them. Margaret Thatcher was, undoubtedly, the outstanding champion of British enterprise of the past 30 years. We need to re-awaken the spirit of those times, albeit in contemporary language, and I am certain that the Treasury Front-Bench team will do so.

A few days ago, I had the great pleasure of going to the excellent Palace theatre in Newark to watch the play “Arcadia”, and a line in it stuck with me. It was when one character turns to another and says, “This is the greatest time to be alive, because everything we thought we knew is wrong”. We should all remember that line. With the internet upending old industries; and with the shift in power from the west to the east; new opportunities are out there, if only we and our generation can seize them with a new, spirited, entrepreneurial culture.

How might we do that? We could pivot towards the growth of those emerging markets, and away from the stagnant economies, mostly in Europe. That means new free trade agreements with China; avoiding the caricature of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership; using the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Commonwealth network, as we did in the previous Parliament; and not complaining, as some on the Opposition Benches do, of mercantilism in the FCO as if trade were a dirty word.

The UK should become a hub of the IT sector in Europe. It has the best universities and it has the venture capital industry; we just need the ambition to realise it. We should use our universities. The Catapult initiative that we have heard of already has been and will continue to be excellent. We should have the confidence to allow enterprise to have its rewards. Genuine wealth creators should be able to reap the benefits of their success and not be ashamed of it.

We need to be on the side of the insurgent, and not the vested interest. We need to tackle the big six and to break up BT Openreach. Generations of Treasury Ministers have had “supply side” written on their political gravestones. I am sure that the Chancellor and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury will be remembered as the entrepreneurs’ champions. There is no better epithet. We need to inspire a generation to succeed, prosper and excel, as all Conservative Governments have done in the past.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. As the House will know, the ballot for electing Chairs of Select Committees closed at 5pm. Counting has been under way since then. I had hoped that it might be possible to declare the results to the House at 7.15 pm this evening—in contrast to the arrangement five years ago—before the Adjournment. Sadly, I have to tell the House that that will not be possible. I therefore intend to announce the results after questions tomorrow morning at around 10.30 am. I am advised—and I am glad—that there will be no prior publication.

Royal Bank of Scotland

Robert Jenrick Excerpts

Thursday 11th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

No, I have not read that report.

[Robert Jenrick (Newark) (Con)]

Is not the reason it is difficult to get our money back from RBS that, other than the Greek banks, no other major bank in the world is in such a parlous, unprofitable state, the root causes of which go back to the last Labour Government—a poor loan book, terrible misconduct, resulting now in catastrophic fines, and ill-judged mergers? Even if we sell the shares at a loss, would that not merely be a tragic reminder to the British public of the failure and economic incompetence of Labour?

[Harriett Baldwin]

I could not put it better myself.

Tax Avoidance

Robert Jenrick Excerpts

Wednesday 11th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Robert Jenrick (Newark) (Con)]

I want to say a few words about the international dimension of what we have been discussing today, because I think that Opposition Members have been, at the very least, unkind about the Government’s record of tackling the issue internationally.

A real problem confronts most developed countries. Corporate tax receipts remain largely flat, and they face the challenge of raising tax in a global economy in which technology and the internet are upending old industries and old tax-raising methods. There is also the complexity of modern businesses and, indeed, modern lives, with mobile entrepreneurs and people who live in, and marry, those from other jurisdictions. That is the reality of the modern tax landscape.

The issues we have discussed today are inevitably international, therefore, and the solutions will come from working with international partners and some of the processes and projects like the BEPS project we have heard about today. The question is how one could increase tax receipts, harnessing some moral and Government pressure to encourage businesses without damaging the perception of this country and other developed economies in the world as good places to do business—how, essentially, we can shrink the grey areas of tax, particularly for sophisticated businesses and entrepreneurs, without seriously compromising certainty for businesses and entrepreneurs of all sizes and incomes as they do business around the world. That is exactly what this Government have set out to do, and with a level of priority that we have not seen in any previous Government—certainly not in the previous 13 years of the Labour Administration.

All the international comparisons are extremely favourable. My old law school read, the Tax Journal, in its special report on tax avoidance, talked about the measures being taken by the OECD countries to tackle base erosion and profit sharing—the BEPS project. It said:

“The UK government is widely regarded as one of the more enthusiastic proponents of reform.”

That is a fair assessment of what the Minister and my right hon. Friend the Chancellor have set out to do. We only have to look at the position paper published by the Treasury with the Budget last year to see the Government setting out aggressively to tackle tax evasion and avoidance, alongside moves to make the UK a most competitive tax environment.

[Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con)]

My hon. Friend is making a clear and powerful speech. Does he agree that, with £24 billion collected from large corporates in corporation tax over the last year—a record for the country—the measures for tackling anti-avoidance while encouraging businesses to operate here are clearly working very well?

[Robert Jenrick]

I agree entirely with my hon. Friend’s comments.

The Tax Journal sets out its analysis of all the countries in the world that are taking this seriously. It lists all the major, modern, 21st century challenges—whether the digital economy, the hybrid mismatch arrangements, treaty abuse, re-examining transfer pricing, CFC rules, harmful tax practices, artificial avoidance of private equity status. The Government have a strong record of tackling each and every one of those areas and taking them forward in the international community. Indeed, this survey concluded that the Government are not only taking this seriously, but are in the vanguard of each and every one of those and 15 other areas, which will be the major issues facing tax policy in the years to come. These areas sound dry and technical, but this is the reality of tax reform. It is not about soundbites and playing to the gallery; it is about methodical research and reform to improve the situation and taking it forward with our partners around the world.

As we have heard, we are already seeing the fruits of this work. The idea that this Government are in the pocket of tax advisers and lawyers on these issues is fanciful, and anyone who says that clearly has not met them recently. I was sitting on the back row of a meeting at which the Financial Secretary was speaking to Accountancy Age, I think, some time ago, and he was being given a difficult time because the Government have pursued some of the most aggressive tax reforms, which many feel have fundamentally changed the relationship between companies and individuals and HMRC and the state. I and many others have some concerns about those—such as the risk to privacy and the workability of requiring a beneficial register to be published for all companies in England and Wales—but we cannot consider these to be anything other than radical approaches. Allowing HMRC to claw back from individuals’ bank accounts and arguably looking retrospectively at tax schemes do not have much sympathy from many Members of the House. They are undoubtedly radical attempts to take this issue forward.

The Government have a very strong record in this area of which they should be proud. We must take this forward.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Robert Jenrick Excerpts

Thursday 4th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

As my hon. Friend has raised that point, I will make this observation. Labour says that more money should be raised from properties worth more than £2 million. In 2015-16, this measure will raise more than £300 million from such properties. Obviously, that is a useful sum for the Exchequer, but if the view is that Labour wants to raise £1.2 billion from the mansion tax on those properties, will it drop that figure down to £900 million? That is a question that the hon. Gentleman will no doubt be seeking to respond to later.

[Robert Jenrick (Newark) (Con)]

This policy was hugely welcomed in my constituency—Newark and Bingham, two of the fastest-growing towns in the east midlands, have lots of first-time buyers—but will the Minister provide some reassurance over rates? Will the rates, which are very high at the top, keep pace with rising house prices? We do not want reasonably affluent people on middle incomes being drawn into these rates in five, 10 or 20 years.

[Mr Gauke]

We have set out the rates as they stand. If there is to be any uprating, it will be a matter for future Budgets and autumn statements, but I stress that across the country 98% of transactions where stamp duty is paid will see a reduction in SDLT. My hon. Friend raises a matter that might be an issue in the future, but in every city, town and county the majority will benefit.

So far, I have touched on the administrative transitional steps for the major reforms introduced yesterday and on HMRC’s support. We have also put in place arrangements for individuals who have exchanged contracts but not yet completed. When the new system came into force, transitional rules ensured they would not lose out compared with what they expected to pay in SDLT. In those cases, people have the choice to choose the lesser of the tax rates under the old and new systems. That is only fair.

I look forward to debating the reforms in full as the stamp duty land tax Bill progresses. As my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House made clear earlier, that discussion will begin on Second Reading next Wednesday. However, today, I would like briefly to explain our rationale for introducing the measures via two motions under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1968. First, it was important to act quickly, because reform to SDLT was long overdue. Usually, the measures would have formed part of the annual Finance Bill following a Budget, which is why the stand-alone Bill I am introducing today is premised on the same financial motions as those that would follow a Budget. The first motion, which the Chancellor moved yesterday at the end of his statement, gave effect to the changes from midnight. That was important to give people certainty and to avoid forestalling.

Secondly, hon. Members will understand that the measure was subject to strict confidentiality. Given the potential impacts on the housing market of a tax change of this significance, it was right that the measure was announced first by the Chancellor to the House. We ensured that the motion passed yesterday was available in the Vote Office immediately the Chancellor sat down after his main speech and then voted on at the end of questions and answers. The motion is effectively the Bill I hope to introduce in a few moments. For the reasons I set out, it was necessary to have two motions under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act and today to allow for a fuller discussion.

I look forward to discussing the Bill in greater depth next Wednesday, but today is also an opportunity for the House to debate the matter, and I commend the motion to the House.

Oral Answers to Questions

Robert Jenrick Excerpts

Thursday 3rd July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Grant]

As my hon. Friend will know, Gallipoli is one of our key dates in the Government’s programme. My Department is working very closely with the embassy in Ankara to ensure that the event at Cape Helles on 24 April next year marks the British and Commonwealth contribution appropriately. We are also working with the Gallipoli Association on a UK-led event, and I would welcome my hon. Friend’s input into its planning.

[Robert Jenrick (Newark) (Con)]

11. What steps his Department is taking to encourage (a) national collections and (b) the royal collection to loan works of art to regional museums and galleries.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr Edward Vaizey)]

First, may I welcome my hon. Friend to the Chamber? This is the first opportunity I have had the chance to welcome him to the House.

In 2012-13, national museums sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport lent objects to more than 1,500 museums around the country through touring exhibitions, star object loans, loans of local significance and long-term loans.

[Robert Jenrick]

Regional museums would benefit from a much more active programme of loans from national museums, which are sitting on hundreds of thousands if not millions of works of art that are rarely if ever seen by the general public. The Secretary of State recently viewed the site of the new Newark national civil war museum, which is a perfect example of a regional museum that would benefit from active loans from national institutions. What can the Department do to encourage national museums to review their civil war collections and to loan them to our museum in Newark?

[Mr Vaizey]

I know for a fact that the Secretary of State thoroughly enjoyed his visit to the new National Civil War centre, which was awarded a grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund of £3.5 million in 2012, and we look forward to its opening next year. I am certainly happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss what we can do to encourage loans of civil war objects from national museums, but it is important for the House to remember that national museums are of course independent and do not simply do what the Government tell them.