Tax Credits (Income Thresholds and Determination of Rates) (Amendment) Regulations 2015

Lord Grocott Excerpts

Monday 26th October 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Grocott (Lab)]

Does the noble Baroness not acknowledge that there is at least a certain irony in that, for five of the last five and a half years, her party gave strong support to the Cameron-Osborne Government? Now that Messrs Cameron and Osborne come forward with a proposal that they do not like, they are suggesting that the right course of action is a somersault. Would it not have been a lot easier, and maybe a lot more principled, if she and her colleagues had decided to bring down this Government a lot earlier?

[Baroness Manzoor]

I thank the noble Lord for his intervention. He is right to raise that point and quite right to ask that question. As I understand it very clearly, we did veto these proposals.

I have no doubt that this House could spend many hours debating our constitutional role. I, and all those on these Benches, take our role very seriously and will continue to push for reform that means that this House has real accountability to the electorate. But this debate is not about that. This is about putting to rest an issue which is of immense—

--- Later in debate ---

[Earl Howe]

Of course, I do accept that. The amendment of the noble Baroness is expressly asking the Government to do something other than what is in the regulations. By definition, that means that if her amendment were carried, we could not bring back the same set of proposals. The implementation of these regulations would not be delayed, as the noble Baroness is suggesting; it would be thwarted entirely. So, she is asking the House to accept a false proposition. It is very interesting that the noble Baroness herself has recently given an interview which certainly implied that the amendment of the noble Baroness, Lady Hollis, is a fatal one. In the interview she gave to the Huffington Post, she said that if the amendment of the noble Baroness is carried, the Government cannot go ahead with the cuts. Well, that, to me, is very fatal indeed. Therefore—

[Lord Grocott]

I am really quite surprised at the noble Earl, given all his experience and the respect in which he is held in this House. He seems to be suggesting that there is no significant difference between a fatal amendment and a non-fatal amendment. In the time I have been here, which is less than his, there has always been a clear distinction between the two—“binary” is the word he used in another context. Indeed, the Leader of the House seemed to be unclear in her opening remarks about the distinction between the Lib Dem amendment and the Labour amendment, but the difference is surely fundamental. If he does not accept my proposition, could he at least enlighten the House as to the professional advice from clerks to him and the Conservative Front Bench about which of these amendments are fatal and which are not.

[Earl Howe]

There is a clear difference in the wording—that is unarguable—but the effect is exactly the same. That is the point I am making.

Armed Forces: Pension Scheme

Lord Grocott Excerpts

Monday 22nd July 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Astor of Hever]

My Lords, because of the complexity of pensions calculations, establishing the exact number of Army personnel who fall into this category would require manual analysis of the records of those selected for redundancy. This could be undertaken only at disproportionate cost. However, to ensure the redundancy programme is fair, selection criteria have been published by each service and, while rank and seniority are reflected in selection criteria, length of reckonable service is not. This means that individuals might be made redundant either just before or just after the length of service at which they qualify for an immediate pension. Redundancy criteria are based on the future needs of the Army. Exempting personnel because of proximity to pension point would be contrary to this principle and would mean selecting others instead.

[Lord Grocott]

My Lords, the mood of the House in response to the Minister’s answers is one of considerable concern. It is no answer to the serious example spelt out in detail by my noble friend Lord Touhig, which seems to show a grave injustice, to say that this grave injustice applies to only 1.2% of the people affected. It is a grave injustice to them and, at the very least, I would appeal to the Minister—who listens carefully to what is said by the House—to go back to the department and say that there has been a very unhappy response to the answers he has given today.

[Lord Astor of Hever]

I will take on board what the noble Lord says. I cannot make any promises, as we have spent a lot of time considering this scheme and it has been very carefully thought out.