Speech in Westminster Hall - Wed 02 Jul 2014 VAT on e-books
"Through you, Mr Hood, I thank Mr Speaker for giving me the opportunity to raise this matter. I raised the subject under a Labour Government in the last Parliament, before the 2010 election. Sadly, many of my concerns have not receded. I welcome the Minister to her place.
"I suppose that at this point we should acknowledge that one of the Minister’s colleagues, the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Nadine Dorries), is consistently in the top six on the Amazon bestsellers list for e-books...." Tom Harris - View Speech
"I apologise for interrupting, but when the derogation was granted on our accession to the EU in 1973, there was no reference to physical books, because e-books did not exist at the time. There was a concession on books, and as that derogation stands, it could be extended to e-books, …..." Tom Harris - View Speech
"I am grateful to the Minister for giving way again. She has shown great patience, and I appreciate it. What she has just said, though, rather misses the point of my debate. No one is asking the Government to offer subsidies or favours to the e-book industry. What I am …..." Tom Harris - View Speech
"I seem to remember being complimentary to the Minister when she spoke powerfully in favour of votes for prisoners in a debate on which we took the opposite points of view, and I believe that we are going to do the same again. I am more than relaxed about the …..." Tom Harris - View Speech
"May I say how glad I am that the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr Hoban) is still in his seat? I enjoyed his contribution and it had passed me by that he had left the Government and returned to the Back Benches—the curse of Harris strikes again; just about every …..." Tom Harris - View Speech
"Yes. I absolutely believe that when the minimum wage was introduced, it was set at the right level. It disappointed a lot of people who wanted it to be higher. There will always be those who want the minimum wage increased beyond what the market can sustain. The hon. Gentleman …..." Tom Harris - View Speech
"I am, as always, very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for intervening as I was just about to get on to the events of 2008-09. I want to address the deficit, because so many Government Members have raised it in the House whenever they have got the chance in …..." Tom Harris - View Speech
"The Chancellor seems determined to follow in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessor, Lord Lamont, who, following our ignominious expulsion from the exchange rate mechanism in 1992, famously had a bath and sang, “Je ne regrette rien”. Does the Chancellor have any plans to have a bath tonight and what …..." Tom Harris - View Speech