Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Darren Jones and Nigel Huddleston

Tuesday 19th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones (Bristol North West) (Lab)]

Why does the Treasury Minister think people feel worse off after 14 years of Conservative Government?

[Nigel Huddleston]

As I said, we are turning a corner and have therefore made measures to put money back into people’s pockets. I do not think it would come as a surprise to the hon. Gentleman’s constituents, or to those of any Labour Member looking at the Labour Opposition’s recent record, that Labour claimed on the one hand that it was supportive of tax cuts, but last week failed to support those tax cuts when it came to it in Parliament.

[Darren Jones]

The Minister did not answer the question about why the public feel worse off. We on the Labour side of the House know why. He mentions tax cuts, but he does not talk about the freezing of tax thresholds, or indeed about the council tax that is about to be levied on people, not just this year but each year for the next five years. Why cannot he admit that, for every 10p extra in the pound taken from people since 2010, the Government are only now giving back just 5p?

[Nigel Huddleston]

If I am hearing correctly, the Labour Front Benchers are announcing fundamental changes to policy that they have not yet costed. They did not object, as far as I am aware, to any of the measures required to support households and businesses during the pandemic, which necessitated increases in taxation. We are now reducing the level of taxation because we have turned a corner. They did not support that. It is interesting that they say one thing but then do not take action. I think they need to explain to their constituents why they failed to support the tax cuts last week.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Darren Jones and Nigel Huddleston

Tuesday 6th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones (Bristol North West) (Lab)]

The Labour party has set out clear proposals to close tax loopholes on non-doms, private schools and private equity to give a much-needed boost to our public services. Will the Treasury Minister confirm whether the Government have assessed, or plan to assess, the merits of such a policy?

[Nigel Huddleston]

I am pleased to hear the hon. Gentleman’s enthusiasm for closing down tax loopholes and going after the abusers. It begs the question why Labour did not vote in favour of the Finance Bill last night, which included measures along those lines.

[Darren Jones]

That is a short answer, but the answer to the wrong question—perhaps the Minister can have a second go. While he is thinking about the answer, I point out that the Comptroller and Auditor General has highlighted that the Government are wasting up to £28 billion a year on mismanaged procurement and governance of major projects. Does the Minister agree that the Conservative Chancellor and his predecessors have had to raise taxes so much partly because they are wasting so many billions of taxpayers’ money each and every year?

[Nigel Huddleston]

The reason we have had to raise taxes is £350 billion of support during the pandemic, which I did not hear the Opposition oppose, and an additional £100 billion to help people during the cost of living crisis, which I did not hear the Opposition oppose. We therefore had to increase taxes out of necessity, but we reduce them out of choice, which is exactly what we are doing. Labour increases taxes out of necessity and then continues to increase them out of choice.

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership

Debate between Darren Jones and Nigel Huddleston

Tuesday 18th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones (Bristol North West) (Lab)]

UK car manufacturers are currently changing their supply chains to buy components from either the EU or the UK so that they can continue to export their cars into the EU. However, under CPTPP, those same companies ought to be buying parts from Vietnam to export their cars to Mexico. That is quite confusing. Will the Department publish guidance for business that highlights the regulatory conflicts between trade with the European Union under the trade and co-operation agreement and trade with members of the CPTPTPP? Sorry—you know what I meant. [Laughter.]

[Nigel Huddleston]

It trips off the tongue eventually. The hon. Gentleman is underestimating the opportunities, but he has given me the chance to point out one of the key benefits of CPTPP, which is cumulation, with products and parts being used—of course, supply chains can be complex across CPTPP—and still benefiting from the lower tariffs. So there are huge opportunities with CPTPP for the reasons that he outlined.

Free Trade Agreements: Scrutiny

Debate between Darren Jones and Nigel Huddleston

Thursday 13th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend for her questions and comments from the Dispatch Box, and I will take each in turn.

My hon. Friend is right about resource allocation. As I said in my speech, we have subsumed not only the responsibilities of the International Trade Committee but those of our former colleagues on the European Parliament committee that had power and resources to scrutinise trade agreements on our behalf when we were a member of the European Union. I gently suggest to the House that this is just one example of where, post Brexit, Committees ought to have greater resources, both financial and otherwise, for the additional work we have taken on after leaving the European Union.

The issue of time has been raised both by me today and by the predecessor Committee and our colleagues in the other place. These agreements are long and complicated, and the House’s Select Committees have other work to do in holding Departments to account. Having as much time as possible is always very welcome.

On access to information, let me add that I have learned, having taken on these responsibilities, that it is often easier to look at the press coverage in the other country to find out what is going on than it is to try to get information from the Government. If this information is on the public record, albeit in another country, it ought to be readily shared with us in this Parliament. I encourage Ministers to take that action.

Lastly, on Australia and New Zealand, my hon. Friend pointed out that an unusual approach was taken in the use of primary legislation and highlighted what that meant for this House’s ability to debate and intervene in the details of those agreements. I am not privy as to why Ministers chose to do that, but it is unusual. If it were a symbol, at least, that the Government are minded to update the processes for scrutinising FTAs, perhaps we could take the opportunity to do that.

[The Minister for International Trade (Nigel Huddleston)]

I thank the hon. Gentleman, all members of the Committee and the officials, whom he mentioned, for their work on this report. It shows how seriously they take their responsibilities, which is very much appreciated by the Government.

We believe that the level of transparency and scrutiny for trade agreements stacks up quite well, particularly when compared with the arrangements in other parliamentary democracies. I understand that there is no formal requirement for a formal response from the Government, but I would like to ask him whether he would like to meet me to discuss his findings further.

[Darren Jones]

We are always very grateful for Ministers wanting to appear before the Committee, and we would be delighted to have the Minister before us. There is definitely a debate to be had about how we update our rules. I make the point again that not only were our rules set at a time when we were part of the EU and therefore the European Parliament, but they were based on a convention from 1929. Free trade agreements have changed a lot since the 1920s, and therefore our rules should probably be updated as well.