Autumn Statement

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Thursday 5th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend and the Leader of the House, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley), raised with me the Cambridge city deal, which is a really good plan. I can be absolutely candid with him: we worked hard to announce it today, and although we did not quite get it over the line we hope to do so in the next few weeks. It is a classic example of a good local authority and local MPs working with the national Government to secure a long-term plan that will help create jobs and housing in an incredibly important city.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

In view of this week’s announcements on infrastructure, would the Chancellor, a fellow Cheshire MP, agree to meet a cross-party group of MPs from Cheshire and Merseyside so that we can air our case to change the plans to toll both the current Mersey crossing and the future road crossing? Our case is as strong as that behind his decision to drop the tolls for the A14.

[Mr Osborne]

I would be happy to meet the hon. Gentleman and other MPs local to my constituency. I know how important the second Mersey crossing is—he and I have joined forces over many years to try to deliver it—but I would draw a distinction: the A14 was an existing road that wanted upgrading, but of course it is controversial to put tolls on an existing road, whereas the bridge is a new bridge, and there is a long-established principle, from the Humber to the Severn estuary, that new bridges have tolls. Local people will have strong views on the level of the tolls, however, and I am happy to discuss that with my honourable neighbour.

National Infrastructure Plan

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Wednesday 4th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

I have not seen the correspondence, but if my hon. Friend would like to pass it to me, I will gladly look at it. I have to say, however, that it sounds as through what the Department has recommended is in line with normal practice, and I would not necessarily want to recommend any changes.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

Why is the Chief Secretary dropping plans to charge a toll on the A14 in affluent Cambridgeshire but continuing plans to force Halton borough council to charge tolls across the proposed new Mersey Gateway bridge and the current toll-free bridge in one of the most deprived boroughs in the country? Will he think again and drop the charges for the Mersey Gateway?

[Danny Alexander]

The decision on the A14 was taken in direct response to our public consultation. The A14 would have been the only road in the country to be tolled in that way. We said that we were considering that and wanted to know what people thought, and they told us what they thought. Tolling on estuarial crossings, I am reliably informed, is usual practice and an important part of financing such projects.

Investing in Britain’s Future

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Thursday 27th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

My goodness! I am not sure quite how to respond to that one—I am blushing slightly, but I am grateful for the positive remarks from my hon. Friend. He makes a very important point. If we had not entered into the process of clearing up the economic mess left by the Labour party, we would not be able to invest any of this money at all.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

The Chief Secretary has confirmed what the Chancellor told us on 20 October 2010, at column 963 of Hansard, that financial support would be available for the Mersey Gateway in my constituency. However, the devil is in the detail. Will the Chief Secretary meet me to hear the concerns of my constituents? The funding package given to Halton borough council restricts its ability to give discounts or free travel across the currently free Widnes to Runcorn bridge when the Mersey Gateway opens.

[Danny Alexander]

My hon. Friend the Financial Secretary, who is also responsible for cities policy within the Treasury, will be pleased to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss precisely those concerns.

Royal Bank of Scotland

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Thursday 13th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

The Minister’s statement underlined what a shambles this is, and also made it clear that there might not be a new appointment for some time. My specific question is this, however. When my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham East (Chris Leslie) asked about the Chancellor’s involvement, the Minister said that the Chancellor had had no direct involvement. May I ask whether he had any indirect involvement? Let me help the Minister to answer that question. Was the Chancellor asked by any member of the ministerial team or by civil servants in Whitehall, or by people in the Royal Bank of Scotland, for his view on whether this was the right decision?

[Sajid Javid]

As I have said, such decisions are for the board of RBS, which is a commercial organisation. As we all know, however, because it is a commercial organisation in which the state is the majority shareholder, with the state’s interests represented through UKFI, when RBS makes a major decision it will inform the Government.

Public Service Pensions Bill

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Monday 29th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. Many of my constituents contact me about the impact on pensioners of the wholesale changes that the Government are proposing and have made in respect of this notice period and the fact that people are having to change their plans. That has caused great distress and worry to many of my constituents. I am pleased that she is addressing the point, because the Government seem to be ignoring it.

[Rachel Reeves]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. We argued exactly the same point when the Government arbitrarily increased the state pension age for women in their late 50s with just six years’ notice given. When Lord Turner carried out the review of state pensions for the previous Government, he recommended a 15-year notice period be given, and the Pensions Policy Institute recommends a 10-year notice period. Such notice needs to be given and it is not enshrined in this Bill.

Oral Answers to Questions

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Tuesday 11th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)]

My hon. Friend will be aware of the paper that HMRC produced at the time of the last Budget, in which it set out the ways in which we would reduce the administrative burden on small businesses, including cash accounting. He mentioned the difficulties in getting through to HMRC and the problems with the contact centres. HMRC is making further investments and employing an additional 1,000 people in order to improve the performance at its contact centres.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

T7. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury was asked earlier about the cost of living, but he said nothing in his reply about what the Government were doing about rising food, transport and energy prices. Have he and his colleagues had discussions with the Energy Secretary about getting a grip on the energy companies and sorting out the soaring energy prices and the profits that the companies are making as a result?

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander)]

I have certainly had conversations with the Energy Secretary about initiatives such as the green deal, under which people’s energy costs will be brought down by insulating their homes. The hon. Gentleman mentioned fuel costs, but he must be aware that the price of a litre of fuel is 10p less than it would have been if we had stuck with the plans that the previous Government put in place. That was their approach to the cost of living, and this is ours.

LIBOR (FSA Investigation)

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Thursday 28th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend makes a good point, which is that those responsible in government at the time have to apologise and account for their own role before they will be listened to when speaking about their plans for the future. At present they do not seem willing to do that.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

I must check up on what Barclays says about customer care, following the debate today. In view of what the Chancellor told the House today, do he and the Governor of the Bank of England have full confidence in the senior management of Barclays?

[Mr Osborne]

What I have said is that the chief executive of Barclays has some very serious questions to answer about who knew what when, and who in the management knew that.

IMF

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Monday 23rd April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I agree with my hon. Friend. The coalition Government have taken very difficult decisions in order to make sure that our public finances are back under control, and we are seen by the world to be dealing with our debt crisis. After spring meetings in Washington at which countries not in the EU, including Australia, Japan, South Korea, Norway and Switzerland, all agreed to contribute to increased IMF resources, it would be truly bizarre if a British Chancellor were to come to the House today and announce that Britain is not contributing. [Interruption.] What did the shadow Chancellor say? [Interruption.] What? [Interruption.] What? The truth is that a Chancellor who came here and said he was not taking part when all those other countries, some of them on the other side of the world, were taking part, would have absolutely no credibility abroad.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

Does the Chancellor believe that the eurozone is doing enough to help itself and its own countries? If he does not believe that, under what conditions would he support an IMF loan to any eurozone country?

[Mr Osborne]

I do not want to speculate about any future programmes that might, or might not, be required. What I want to do is make sure that the IMF is able to deal with whatever is thrown at it. That is massively in Britain’s national interest. We are talking about the source of 40% of the exports made by the businesses and factories of the constituencies we represent. For us to walk away from that at the moment would be bizarre. Does the eurozone need to do more? Yes, it does need to do more. For instance, as the former Chancellor, the right hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Mr Darling), said, it needs to sort out the problems in its banking system, and it needs to make sure that the programmes that countries have been asked to embark upon are deliverable, but that is not an excuse for Britain not to take part in a global effort to support the IMF.

Finance (No. 4) Bill

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Thursday 19th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

The money involved will not alleviate the pressure on women in retirement. It will all be used to give a tax cut of £40,000 to 14,000 millionaires. The hon. Lady talks about women in retirement, and it was Government Members who voted to increase the state pension age for women with just five or six years’ notice, hitting them by up to £15,000 in lost retirement income. We will not take any lectures from them about the matter.

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

I notice that we have not heard much about fairness or about the big tax cuts being given to millionaires in the interventions by Government Members. Is it not true those retiring next year with personal or occupational pensions of as low as £67 a week could be affected by the change to age-related allowance? The Government are attacking a group of pensioners with modest incomes, which will be a particularly devastating blow in the most deprived areas such as Halton.

Finance (No. 4) Bill

Derek Twigg Excerpts

Wednesday 18th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab)]

There are a couple of points to make. First, there is no uncertainty that 14,000 millionaires will significantly benefit from the change. Where there is uncertainty, however, is in the Government’s arguments about the overall impact on the Exchequer, in terms of tax gained and tax lost. The Select Committee on the Treasury has said today:

“The cost and benefits of reducing the additional tax rate to 45p are both highly uncertain”.

The Government have tried to make an argument, but they have not even got the facts right in the first place to make their argument stick.

[Owen Smith]

The word “uncertain” is used so many times in the various documents that I have lost count. In fact, I must apologise to the Committee. On Monday evening, I said, perhaps with my dander up, that there were three instances in the HMRC document of the words “uncertain” or “uncertainty”, when there are in fact 32 such references—one for just about every page. I shall read out some excerpts from the document later.