John Bercow
Main Page: John Bercow (Speaker - Buckingham)Department Debates - View all John Bercow's debates with the HM Treasury
(13 years, 5 months ago)
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Alan Johnson
That was not the question. The fact that one looks at every available tax before reaching a conclusion is nothing new. The conclusion we reached is that VAT should not be increased and that national insurance should be. The Liberal Democrats have been very fair in the way that they have betrayed the electorate. They have broken promises across the age divide—children, students and pensioners—so there is no age discrimination there. The Conservatives specifically said that they would not increase VAT. During the election campaign, we said that if they did not increase national insurance, they would increase VAT. The Prime Minister denied that and said that they had no plans to increase VAT. He said that VAT was
“very regressive, it hits the poorest the hardest”.
I can promise Members that it does. We are now in the unique situation in which we face a tax rise that our Prime Minister has promised will affect “the poorest the hardest”. At the time, the Conservatives said that an increase in national insurance would be “a tax on jobs”. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said that it would lead to 75,000 jobs being lost while an increase in VAT would cost 250,000 jobs.
Alan Johnson
Why is the Chancellor proceeding with this tax on jobs that hits the poorest the hardest?
Mr Speaker
Order. From now on, first of all, exchanges must be shorter. Secondly, let it be clear beyond doubt that Ministers answer for the policies of the Government, not for those of the Opposition. That is the end of the matter.
Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)
2. What fiscal measures he has introduced to provide assistance for pensioners since his appointment.
George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)
Does the Minister agree that it is appallingly disingenuous of Labour Members to posture as the friends of child savings, having left every man, woman and child in this country with debts of more than £22,000 each?
Mr Speaker
Order. The Minister, who is a dexterous Minister, will relate her answer to the policy of the Government, not that of the Opposition.
Justine Greening
I think it is a shame. The best thing we can do for all our children, including looked-after children, is to build a stronger country in which they can grow up and enter the workplace. I am afraid that it simply is not good enough to duck the serious questions of the day, which include sorting out not only our economy, but our broken welfare system, which does those looked-after children no service either.
Andrea Leadsom (South Northamptonshire) (Con)
Recent press reports have suggested that there are many so-called zombie households in the United Kingdom, in which families have got themselves into so much debt that they rely on interest rates remaining low to stay afloat. Does my hon. Friend agree that our policies to keep interest rates low, and to enable the Bank of England and the Monetary Policy Committee to keep them low, are key as we go through a critical period in our recession?
Mr Speaker
A sentence from the Minister in reply will suffice, as the question is about tax inquiry services. We are grateful to him.
Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)
Does the Minister agree that the logic of the policy outlined by Opposition Members is that any child from Prince William and Catherine Middleton would benefit from child tax benefit, whereas the poorest of my constituents would not?
Mr Speaker
Members really should not refer to members of the royal family in questions. That is strongly to be deprecated, and it certainly should not happen again. I ask the Minister to give a very brief reply.
Mr Osborne
The whole point is that we have given these forecasts to an independent body, rather than just relying on the forecasts given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer at this Dispatch Box, so that people can believe in their independence and credibility. The Office for Budget Responsibility will produce its autumn forecast on 29 November. But of course the OBR figure that all Labour Members seem to use is the one for the public sector head count, but they seem to forget that this same body made a forecast of an increase in net employment, which sadly they never use.
Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)
What steps can the Chancellor take to ensure that the Financial Services Authority’s mortgage market review proposals do not have a disproportionate effect on home buyers and the housing market, particularly at a time when we are trying to encourage growth through the private sector?
Mr Osborne
The commission that we have set up is looking principally at the structure of the banking sector, which is another very important issue. We have said that we want the banks to make a contribution, which is why we introduced the permanent banking levy; we did not agree with the previous Government that that should not happen. We followed the best practice set out by the International Monetary Fund, which outlined two taxes that could be pursued—one was a bank levy and the other was a financial activities tax, which we also said that we would consider in the Budget. On the broader point of the Robin Hood tax, or the financial transactions tax, which is sometimes discussed at ECOFIN, I think that everyone accepts that it would have to be introduced internationally or else it would be almost impossible to collect any revenue.
Jim McGovern (Dundee West) (Lab)
Can the Chancellor or another Minister tell us what assessment has been made regarding potential job losses due to changes in the benefit system? Much concern has been expressed in my constituency, particularly yesterday in the local press, that up to 700 jobs might be lost in the HMRC office in Dundee as a result of such changes. What assurances can Ministers give me and my constituents that that will not be allowed to happen?