Tax Fairness

Andrew Miller Excerpts

Tuesday 12th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Leslie]

Absolutely. That is not our proposal, as we think that it is possible to develop a mansion tax proposition for properties worth £2 million and above. We could develop and build on the Treasury’s suggestions for how it might work and we hope also to build on the carefully thought through calculations made by the Liberal Democrats.

[Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

Would my hon. Friend like to speculate on why the Government chose not to refer to the Treasury document in their amendment?

[Chris Leslie]

Let us be realistic: the amendment was getting rather long-winded, as it is about four or five times the length of the motion. In fact, it looks like a bit of a trashing exercise and does not add to the substance of policy choices before the House. Our view is that the circumstances are very simple.

Amendment of the Law

Andrew Miller Excerpts

Monday 26th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

We have confirmed that we will get to that rate by 2014. The hon. Gentleman should know, as I am sure he has closely studied the Office for Budget Responsibility’s report published alongside the Budget, that the OBR assesses that the cut in corporation tax announced in this Budget will, in fact, lead to an increase in business investment in this country—that is something the OBR has confirmed.

This debate has mainly been significant for the astonishing omissions in speeches from Labour Members. There were no references, except in a few cases, to this country’s fiscal position, to the huge deficit that Labour left us or to the huge debts that this country has accumulated thanks to Labour’s profligacy in office. There was no reference at all to the scale of the mess that the Labour party left this country, far less an apology from any Labour Member to the people of this country for the mess they left this country in. The right hon. Member for South Shields (David Miliband), in an otherwise interesting speech, used the phrase “dangerously complacent”. I think that refers to the opinions of the Labour party in relation to this party’s fiscal position.

[Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

Talking about omissions, will the right hon. Gentleman explain to the House why it is to the advantage of the Liberal Democrats to vote for regional public sector pay? The north of Scotland, Northumberland, mid-Wales and the west country will all be losers—is he going to vote for that?

[Danny Alexander]

If the hon. Gentleman had studied the Budget resolutions, he would know that there is no vote on that subject on the Order Paper tonight, so the opportunity to do so simply does not arise.

To return to the fiscal position, let me be absolutely clear: we on the Government Benches will not return to the model of growth based on unsustainable debt, irresponsible spending and over-reliance on one sector, the City of London, and one region, the south-east of England. Neither will we jeopardise the progress we have made in tackling our debts. That is why this Budget will have a neutral impact on the public finances, and implements the deficit reduction as planned. The Opposition should know that this is their mess but we are clearing it up.

Amendment of the Law

Andrew Miller Excerpts

Thursday 22nd March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

It is a great pity that the Chancellor is not here; I would love to look him in the eye and ask whether we are genuinely all in it together. He and I represent Cheshire constituencies, but I do not think that his position is quite the same as that of the good folk living in the Westminster ward—one of the country’s most disadvantaged—in my constituency. I would really like him to say to those people that he was in the same boat as them. That is manifestly not the case. The media have picked up on that and realised that the story that we were told yesterday is full of half-truths that present the facts differently from what is really happening on the ground.

In these tough times, what the Tory-led Government are doing tells us everything that we need to know about them. It proves that the Chancellor and Prime Minister are totally out of touch with what life is like for people in this country. At a time when bills are going up for families on middle and low incomes, the Chancellor has added to them all. Fuel duty is going up, even though petrol prices are at a record high.

I am glad that some Liberal Democrats are in the Chamber. In the west country, there is already a blog about the new pasty tax. The Lib Dems should watch out; that is not the only thing that they are under attack for. They will be the real losers on the issue of regional pay, raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Dumfries and Galloway (Mr Brown) and the hon. Member for Foyle (Mark Durkan). Areas where Liberal Democrats have traditionally been strong would duck out compared with places such as my county of Cheshire, which is also the Chancellor’s, or Oxfordshire, which is where the Prime Minister is. The Liberal Democrats have a real problem when they start looking at regional pay.

[Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)]

There is a debate to be had on regional pay, and my position is well known. On the sublimely fundamental and seriously important issue of pasty taxes in Cornwall, let me reassure the hon. Gentleman that we will be fighting them on the beaches.

[Andrew Miller]

So when I go to Ann’s pasty shop, I’ll be all right, will I?

The Lib Dems are supposed to be strong on matters related to solar power. This morning, the chief executive of the Solar Trade Association said:

“We cannot understand why solar has been singled out for rough treatment on Capital Allowances when it is a popular technology which will soon reach grid parity and provide businesses with a real alternative to dependence on fossil fuels.”

Again, the Liberals have bought into something that is totally contrary to their own policy position. At the same time, the Budget gave a tax cut to the very richest people in our country, with just 14,000 people earning £1 million or more getting a Budget boost of over £40,000 each year. No wonder the Centre for Policy Studies, which is advised by the Minister for Universities and Science, among others, says that the Budget amounted to small-scale tinkering, regional handouts, and a rearranging of the deckchairs. To be fair to the Minister, there is a lot that I do not agree with in the CPS’s press release. Nevertheless, the Government have chosen to cut taxes for 300,000 people earning over £150,000—the richest 1%. How can that be the priority now?

The Chancellor looked quite smug when he sat down yesterday, but I bet he did not feel so smug when he read today’s papers.

[Stephen Lloyd (Eastbourne) (LD)]

I had the pleasure of sitting in the Chamber yesterday to hear the Chancellor and the Leader of the Opposition, and then some of the later speeches. There was a lot of noise going backwards and forwards about the veracity of the figures on how much will be raised from the different wealth taxes. It is not that I do not trust Labour Members, but last night I thought that I would go and check the figures on Channel 4 FactCheck, which I think we all recognise is very accurate, and it confirmed independently that it estimated that five times more money would be raised from the very wealthy as a result of the various taxes.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)]

Order. I hope that the hon. Gentleman is going to save something for his speech. I remind him that interventions are meant to be short.

[Andrew Miller]

If the hon. Gentleman had been here earlier for the shadow Chancellor’s speech, he would have heard that point put down very firmly.

Let me refer to today’s papers. Did the Chancellor expect to wake up this morning to a 33 mm-high headline—

[Mr Iain Wright (Hartlepool) (Lab)]

Did you measure it?

[Andrew Miller]

Yes, I got the tape measure out. It said: “‘Granny tax’ hits 5m pensioners”. The papers referred to a £3 billion tax raid on pensioners over the next four years, and pointed out that nearly 4.5 million pensioners who pay income tax will lose an average of £83 per year next April and that people turning 65 next year will lose up to £322. As you are in the Chair and know me rather well, Mr Deputy Speaker, I suppose I should declare an interest, as it is my 63rd birthday tomorrow. Whatever the Chancellor says about increasing the income tax personal allowance, a family with children, earning just £20,000, will lose about £253 from this April. Shockingly, he slipped out that £3 billion tax raid on pensioners over the next four years. All this comes from a Government whose economic policies on growth, jobs and the deficit have utterly failed.

Of course, there have to be tough decisions on tax, spending and pay; otherwise, we would not get the deficit down. However, although the restoring of the cuts in the science budget is one of the few measures I agree with, a lot more funding is needed if we are to retain the quality of British science. I agree with Imran Khan, the director of CaSE—the Campaign for Science and Engineering—who said today:

“I suspect the Government realises that the multi-billion pound, 50% cut made to research capital in 2010 simply is not sustainable. Despite difficult times, they are trying to put it right, and it is not going to go unnoticed.

However, simply reversing the cuts isn’t going to be a game-changer for the UK. We need to be far more ambitious if we’re serious about having a high-tech future. The Chancellor should re-invest the windfall from the auction of 4G mobile spectrum, due later this year, into science and engineering.”

The Budget said nothing about that.

[Damian Collins]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Andrew Miller]

No I will not.

I also agree with the Engineering Employers Federation. Although it welcomed the changes to research and development tax credits, it stated:

“Whilst there are some helpful measures, they fail to send a strong enough signal to growing manufacturers”.

This morning’s Financial Times states that John Longworth of the British Chambers of Commerce said that

“small and medium-sized companies felt the Budget measures would ‘overwhelmingly benefit the biggest businesses’ and were disappointed he did not do more to boost confidence across the economy.”

Finally, as the shadow Chancellor said, the Chancellor’s plan has failed. Trying to raise taxes and cut spending too far has backfired. With his tax cut for millionaires, the Chancellor is piling insult upon injury for millions of families and pensioners across Britain. This is a Budget full of failed promises that will fail the country. I urge the House to vote against it on Monday.

Public Service Pensions

Andrew Miller Excerpts

Tuesday 20th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her comments. It is an important point, on which I am glad to have the chance to expand. At the moment, final salary schemes in the public sector work disproportionately to the advantage of people who are highly paid or who see a big increase in their salary at the end of their careers, and the contributions of lower-paid workers subsidise the pensions of the highest paid. On a career average basis, each year’s earnings is what it is and the contribution to be made is treated as what it is; pension is built up year by year on the basis of what people have earned and contributed. That means that each individual’s contributions are valued in a more similar way than they are in the inequitable schemes in place at the moment.

[Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

The underestimation of life expectancy that occurred in the 1970s and the pension holidays of the 1980s put huge pressure on the pensions industry, both public and private. I welcome the fact that the right hon. Gentleman has set a high bar, but as part of that, will he ensure that pension holidays are no longer possible in the invested schemes, as that would mean building in a correction in case we underestimate longevity?

[Danny Alexander]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, which I am sure will have been heard by the Local Government Association and the local government trade unions as they continue their talks on that scheme. I am not going to set out particular rules at this stage, but he makes an important point about the need to ensure that the schemes continue to be funded to meet future life expectancy.

The Economy

Andrew Miller Excerpts

Tuesday 6th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The very simple answer to the hon. Lady is that the House has not been misled in any way. Nothing disorderly—[Interruption.] Order. I have just made the point, which brooks no contradiction, that the House has not been misled in any way. Nothing disorderly has taken place. The vote is what the vote is; it is not for me to interpret. Other hon. and right hon. Members and people outside the House are free to do so as they wish.

[Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

[Mr Speaker]

I hope it is a different and unrelated point of order.

[Andrew Miller]

Mr Speaker, by a majority of 134, the House has determined that this House has not considered the matter of the economy. Have you heard from the Government Front Bench whether the Government intend to allocate more time to ensure that the House does consider the economy properly?

[Mr Speaker]

No.

Fuel Prices

Andrew Miller Excerpts

Tuesday 15th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Albert Owen (Ynys Môn) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Mark Garnier). I congratulate the hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) on securing the debate, and I was one of those who signed the motion and helped him to do so. I believe that the motion is a little broad and weak in its application, but I understand the reason for that—securing this debate.

I wish to talk about two main issues to do with how fuel prices hit peripheral areas—not just isolated communities but other areas on the periphery. They suffer from a double whammy of high energy costs—particularly for those who are off the grid and have to pay for heating oil and liquefied petroleum gas—and having to pay more for their petrol.

Road journeys are a necessity in communities such as the one that I represent. We are not talking about Chelsea tractors or luxury vehicles; we are talking about the necessity of getting from A to B in rural and semi-rural areas, where alternatives do not exist. If the hon. Member for Harlow were to come to my constituency, along with the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr Timpson) and others, he would see the price differences as he moved west from Chester to Anglesey. Only yesterday, the difference was 7p per litre of petrol, and far more for diesel. We need to do something about that.

I welcome any reduction in fuel duty, for which I have campaigned for many years, but the March reduction was wiped out by the January VAT increase. That was a real problem for real motorists. I understand what the hon. Member for Harlow said about businesses reclaiming VAT, but ordinary motorists were unable to reclaim that extra 2.5 percentage points.

[Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend knows that fuel prices go up when he travels westwards from the Chester area to his constituency. However, there are also people in urban areas who are trapped by fuel prices, such as the lady who came to see me at my last surgery, who has to travel to Liverpool for medical treatment and also has to travel regularly to Bolton to see her daughter, who is in a mental health hospital. Such people need support, and some of them live in urban areas. I am sure he would not want to exclude them.

[Albert Owen]

Sure—and I was not making a rural versus urban argument, I was talking about peripheral areas, particularly those far from refineries. Indeed, I want to talk about British refineries. Quite often, crude oil from the North sea is actually refined in faraway countries and brought back here, which adds cost. We therefore need to improve our refinery capacity in this country, to keep prices down.

I welcome the fact that the escalator has been done away with. It was introduced in 1993, perhaps for good reasons: it was felt that people could move from private to public transport. However, in semi-rural areas that is just not possible. That is why motorists have been enraged by the rise in the escalator. It went up, I think, by 5% under the Conservatives and 6% under Labour.

The Government could deal with VAT now. We can talk about the effect that a semi-stabiliser would have on North sea oil and the prices at the pump, but the Government can take measures now to reduce VAT to help motorists today. When the previous Government lowered VAT from 17.5% to 15%, fuel prices came down, helping to stimulate the economy. [Interruption.] They did. The hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr MacNeil) is laughing, but he needs to compare the prices. Prices came down and businesses were able to trade more. Individuals could also use their cars more, and not just for work but for leisure. [Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman says from a sedentary position that fuel duty went up, but the calculation shows an overall saving to the motorist at the pump, and that is what we are talking about. We can argue the complicated and technical aspects, but at the end of the day people want lower prices at the pump.

Global Economy

Andrew Miller Excerpts

Thursday 11th August 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend is right that there is a significant monetary stimulus in place through the very low market interest rates and of course the official rate. Both of those would go up, almost certainly in the case of the markets and probably in the case of the Monetary Policy Committee, although it is independent, and that is why all this talk of more fiscal stimulus is a debate that is happening only in the Labour party of the United Kingdom, alone in the world. It is very difficult to find an opposition anywhere in Europe arguing for less deficit reduction coming off the published plans of a Government. As I say, if the shadow Chancellor turned up at one of these meetings and put forward his proposal, he would be laughed out of the meeting.

[Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

On a bipartisan basis, may I invite the Chancellor, as a fellow Cheshire MP, to join me in sending our best wishes to the two Cheshire officers injured last evening?

On the subject of the statement, 11% coming off the stock market and massive hits to the values of British companies will have a knock-on impact on many pensioners. What is the Chancellor going to do about it?

[Mr Osborne]

Of course, stock market falls affect pension investments and other equity investments. Our stock market has fallen—not as much as some, but it has nevertheless fallen—

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Miller Excerpts

Tuesday 21st December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

I take on board my hon. Friend’s comment, and we are determined to ensure that we do everything we can to help jobs and revenue. That is why we have been able to reduce the corporation tax rate from 28 to 24% over four years, and we are putting in place a stable and predictable tax system. I note his comments, and as I said, there is a review of the matter.

[Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

The Dyson report followed the work done by Hermann Hauser, and one of their recommendations is the creation of technology innovation centres, for which the Government correctly set aside some money in the comprehensive spending review. However, all the commentators who have passed judgment on the matter have said that the £200 million allocated, although welcome, will not go terribly far. What assessment has the Minister made of the long-term need to keep that funding stream alive, and is there a long-term plan to increase it substantially?