Andrew Gwynne
Main Page: Andrew Gwynne (Labour (Co-op) - Gorton and Denton)Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Matthew Hancock
I thought that my hon. Friend was about to mention the Mayor of London.
My hon. Friend makes an important point. As he knows, this Government have taken a huge amount of action to ensure that taxes are low but are paid. We have raised about £5 billion more a year by tackling tax avoidance in the UK. We have brought in new techniques to do that. I am sure that other Governments around the world under financial pressures could benefit in the same way.
Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)
The Minister mentioned that discussions are taking place with Britain’s overseas territories and his belief that progress is being made, but he did not explain to the House precisely what progress he believes is being made. Will he set out precisely what progress he thinks is being made with Britain’s overseas territories, and perhaps a timetable for each of the overseas territories to implement the beneficial ownership rules?
Matthew Hancock
There is progress in two areas: the first is fiscal and on tax, and the second is on transparency. The overseas territories are each in a slightly different position, so the answer is complicated, but I would be very happy to report in future on how that is progressing.