Oral Answers to Questions

Duncan Hames Excerpts

Tuesday 10th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

I know that the shadow Chancellor has made one change since last week. He has appointed a new special adviser on hand gestures: Greg Dyke. [Interruption.] That is the gesture the shadow Chancellor’s colleagues are making every time they hear him in this House of Commons. The fact is that the Liberal Democrats, as part of this coalition Government, are delivering a sustainable economic recovery. We are part of a Government who are delivering £700 for every single working person in this country and who are delivering a proactive approach in the European Union, including by ensuring that the integrity of the European treaties is maintained, and that is what this legal action is all about.

[Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)]

T4. I welcome the Chief Secretary to the Treasury’s ambitious plans for capital investment for a stronger economy that were set out last week. He will have heard me urging the Prime Minister to make up for the previous Government’s failure to rebuild Wiltshire college’s Chippenham campus. Could my right hon. Friend see his way clear to making that investment, so as to equip our young people with the skills that will enable them to get on in life?

[Danny Alexander]

I know how important that project is for the college that my hon. Friend mentions. I can confirm that the Skills Funding Agency has told the college that it is prepared to make grant funding available for the project, subject to some additional assurances being received. Those assurances are being sought this week, and the agency hopes to respond to the college by the end of this week.

Bradford & Bingley plc

Duncan Hames Excerpts

Wednesday 27th November 2013 Westminster Hall

[Cathy Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab/Co-op)]

I have listened with great interest to the comments of the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies), whom I congratulate on securing this important debate, and of the hon. Member for Calder Valley (Craig Whittaker). I was struck by the fact that both referred to a duty of care. I therefore hope they will see fit to support the work that I and colleagues have done to try to get a fiduciary duty of care written into legislation. I have tabled amendments to that effect to financial services Bills on various occasions.

Let me return to some of the issues that have been raised. Hon. Members will no doubt be disappointed that I was not in Parliament or a member of the Government at the time of Bradford & Bingley’s nationalisation, and I am therefore not able to speak from personal experience. The collapse of Bradford & Bingley came about during the worst global economic downturn since the great depression, and we must remember the serious situation that the then Government were facing, which, to be fair, hon. Members have recognised. It is also worth remembering that we had seen just 12 months earlier the first run on a bank for 80 years at Northern Rock. I recall queues of people outside the bank’s branches seeking to withdraw their money, with police having to be deployed in some instances. It was the duty of the Government of the day not only to secure an agreement on the future of Bradford & Bingley but to steady the financial system and to ensure that the country would get through those turbulent times.

We should also remind ourselves of the surrounding circumstances at that time. It was important to take account of the 2.5 million people who had a total of £22.2 billion invested in Bradford & Bingley. A million people had a mortgage with the bank. It had also been particularly exposed to the falling house market after specialising in buy-to-let and self-certification mortgages. I am tempted to go off on a slight tangent and discuss how housing bubbles are created, but that would do a disservice to those concerned about this particular debate, so I will not at this point.

Bradford & Bingley had fallen £26.7 million into the red in the first six months of 2008, so the circumstances were serious. Bad loans increased by 86% between January and June 2008 compared with the same period the previous year. Shares had fallen some 93% in the year before nationalisation, dropping to just 20p the week before. In the first six months of 2008, more than 9,000 customers had their homes repossessed or were more than three months behind with their payments, which was twice the average. Some 370 jobs had been lost, with a further 3,000 at risk. At that time, following various plans to raise funds from shareholders, the confidence of the City had been lost.

[Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)]

I do not envy the position that the hon. Lady finds herself in today. I appreciate that we cannot do anything about what occurred in 2008, but we can today do something about the culture of secrecy that followed. Will she commit to the hon. Members gathered here that she will speak with her Scottish colleagues—the previous Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Mr Brown), and the former Chancellor, the right hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Mr Darling)—and ask the two of them to provide answers to the questions posed both here and by our constituents about what happened between the rights issue and the nationalisation of Bradford & Bingley?

[Cathy Jamieson]

I have not, to date, spoken directly to the previous Prime Minister or the former Chancellor on this particular issue. I was interested to hear what the debate would be about today, and I look forward to what the Minister has to say about any action that the current Government will take. If there is something useful to be gained from my discussing the matter with the previous Prime Minister and the former Chancellor, I would be more than willing to do so, but I do not know whether that would produce the result that the hon. Gentleman seeks.

Trident Alternatives Review

Duncan Hames Excerpts

Wednesday 17th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jones]

It is very consistent, and I am very proud of the Labour Government’s record on reducing our nuclear stockpiles, as we reduced the number of WE177 bombs and the number of warheads. I disagree with the hon. Lady’s position, but I respect the fact that she has one, which is a lot more honest that the Liberal Democrats.

However, credit should be given where credit is due. I think that the Chief Secretary should get some credit, because he managed to do something yesterday that I thought was remarkable, although I am sad that it was not reported more in this morning’s newspapers: he got the Prime Minister and Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite, to agree with one another, on this occasion on the Liberal Democrat proposals. That was some feat. If he is able to bring two individuals with such diametrically opposed views together, clearly he should turn his attention to the middle east peace process. Quite rightly, Unite described the Liberal Democrats’ position not only as reckless, but as a farce and a fudge, and that is exactly what we have here—[Interruption.] The Chief Secretary says that if Len McCluskey agrees with it, it must be a nonsense position, but he agrees with the Prime Minister, so is the Chief Secretary suggesting that the Prime Minister’s position is ridiculous?

[Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)]

If wishing to end a continuous deterrent is such a reckless position, how does the hon. Gentleman think our other NATO allies in Europe can possibly cope with their current situation? Is he recommending that they should escalate their own nuclear posture?

[Mr Jones]

The hon. Gentleman has got to try better. The fact of the matter is that France has a continuous-at-sea nuclear deterrent. Our deterrent is part of the nuclear umbrella for NATO. He and his Liberal Democrat colleagues would have more credibility if they came out and said that they were unilateralists, because that is a defendable and credible position, unlike the nonsense they are putting forward.

The importance of the nuclear programme to this country’s submarine-building capability has been overlooked in the Liberal Democrats’ proposals. My hon. Friend the Member for Barrow and Furness (John Woodcock) is right to point out its importance not only to his constituency but to constituencies in Derby and to the wider supply chain in the United Kingdom. If we are to maintain our sovereign capability, we have to do it by building submarines, and we cannot do that if we follow the Chief Secretary’s suggestion.

Investing in Britain’s Future

Duncan Hames Excerpts

Thursday 27th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

Today I have announced the guarantee for the Mersey Gateway bridge, which is necessary to enable that project to go forward because of the private funding. That is a new announcement of a guarantee. We are setting out tens of billions of pounds of new investment in roads until 2020. I know that the hon. Lady in particular has argued in the past for longer-term certainty on funding for road projects to allow us to get better value for money for those investments. That is precisely what we will do.

[Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)]

This must be the most substantial and, dare I say, lengthy commitment to a stronger economy made by a Liberal in government from that Dispatch Box since Lloyd George. How much less could we have afforded to invest in our future had the Government not taken the decisions necessary to ensure that the interest rates at which we borrow are kept low?

[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.

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Duncan Hames Excerpts

Thursday 21st March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central) (Lab)]

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this important debate at this important time. The Chancellor told us yesterday that his priority was to promote an “aspiration nation” with a Budget for those who want to work hard and get on. I hope he will understand if we are sceptical about his ability to deliver, given that in each of his last three Budgets he set out his key priority and test for the Budget, and in each of those three Budgets, he has failed to deliver.

In 2010, the Chancellor’s priority was tackling the deficit. That Budget was, he said, the Budget to deal with our country’s debts. But what has happened to our country’s debts? Today, national debt as a percentage of gross domestic product is not forecast to start falling until 2017-18, and borrowing is forecast to be £245 billion more than planned at the time of the spending review, to pay for the mounting costs of this Government’s economic failure.

In 2011, the Chancellor’s priority was promoting growth. That was the Budget that the Chancellor named the “Budget for growth”. Since 2010, however, the UK economy has grown by just 0.7%, compared with the 5.3% forecast at the time. Last year, the UK endured a double-dip recession and the economy shrank by 0.3% in the final quarter. Only three other G20 countries have grown more slowly than the UK in that time, and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s growth forecast has halved from 1.2% to 0.6% since the autumn statement.

In 2012, the Chancellor placed an emphasis on rewarding those who work. I concede that he has made some progress towards that goal. For the wealthiest in today’s society, there is a huge reward for work—in fact, a £100,000 reward. Unfortunately, it is those who are struggling on low and middle incomes who are suffering, including many people in constituencies such as mine.

Barnsley is a town with a proud history and it should have a bright future, but each week, I see what the Chancellor failed to address yesterday: a lack of opportunity, a lack of growth in our economy and a lack of vision from a Government who are more interested in running the country than in changing it. According to the latest figures for my constituency, the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance is at its highest since May 2010, at 7.8%. The figure for young people claiming JSA is 13.7%.

[Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)]

Unemployment is an important matter, and it is important that our constituents should have jobs. Is the hon. Gentleman trying to tell us through those statistics that unemployment in his constituency was higher under the last Labour Government than it is today?

[Dan Jarvis]

I was simply stating a matter of fact: unemployment in my constituency is higher now than it was in May 2010. The number of young people claiming jobseeker’s allowance is now 13.7%, which is higher than it was in 2010. Those people in my constituency want to work, to provide for their families and to earn a living. They want to get on the housing ladder, to save for their old age and to contribute to our town, but the jobs are simply not available.

Yesterday, we heard the Chancellor set out his latest scheme to provide growth: a new infrastructure plan. During the course of this Parliament, we have already heard about the Government’s national infrastructure plan—in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Despite the promises, however, infrastructure spending in the public and private sectors has fallen, year on year, according to the Office for National Statistics. Frankly, my response to this latest announcement is, “We’ll believe it when we see it.”

A lack of growth has a multitude of effects, and they are being felt most acutely by our low and middle income families. Utility bills are rising, the price of food is rising and fuel costs are rising, all at the same time as wages are stagnating. A typical low income family will see their net income fall by 15% by 2020, while the wealthiest households will see their living standards grow.

Fairness has been the one consistent priority for the Chancellor in every Budget since 2010, yet fairness is the area in which he is failing to deliver the most. This Government’s favoured slogan, “We’re all in this together”, simply does not ring true as inequality deepens and the Chancellor’s policies target those who have the least to give. It cannot be right that millions of ordinary families are being forced to pay more for this Government’s economic failure, through cuts to tax credits, child benefit and maternity pay and through the bedroom tax, while at the same time, the most well off in society are set to receive an average £100,000 tax cut.

The Budget, and the Chancellor’s record, have failed to secure economic recovery, and that is certainly not fair. We have had three Budgets and three failures. On every economic test that the Chancellor has set himself, he has fallen short. On deficit reduction, on growth, on rewarding those who work and on fairness, he has failed those who need the Government the most. Despite numerous opportunities and calls to change course from the Opposition and from Members within his own party and even from members of the Cabinet, the Government continue on a reckless course that is serving only to prolong the economic crisis, and it is people in my constituency of Barnsley Central who, sadly, will pay the price of this failure.

Oral Answers to Questions

Duncan Hames Excerpts

Tuesday 12th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

In areas of enforcement and compliance, we are investing more money in HMRC. Staff numbers will increase, and that contrasts favourably with the record of the previous Government. The fact is that HMRC’s ability to get in more money is increasing year after year.

[Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)]

9. What recent assessment he has made of the effect of alcohol duty and fuel duty on the cost of living and household budgets.

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

As a result of Government actions on fuel duty, from April average pump prices will be 13p per litre lower than if we had implemented the previous Government’s plan to squeeze motorists, and will remain at least 10p per litre lower over the remainder of the Parliament, giving real help to millions of families and small businesses.

[Duncan Hames]

I certainly welcome the efforts that the coalition Government have already made, but with the price of fuel now once again nudging £1.50 per litre in some places, does my right hon. Friend recognise the anxiety that the continuing prospect of rises in fuel duty causes people in rural parts of Wiltshire, as much as in the highlands of Scotland, who find themselves with little alternative to running a car?

[Danny Alexander]

As my hon. Friend knows, as a fellow rural MP I fully understand the pressures he describes, which is why we have taken the action I set out in my previous answer. He will also know that the pressures on the public finances remain substantial. I would remind him and the House that 25 million working people in this country will see the largest ever increase in their income tax personal allowance, meaning that the income tax cuts delivered by this Government will amount to £50 a month from April.

Tax Fairness

Duncan Hames Excerpts

Tuesday 12th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Leslie]

Yes—especially on issues such as the bedroom tax, tax credit cuts and increase in VAT. Of course, let us not forget the tuition fee decisions that the Liberal Democrats have made. That is a matter for them, however. They must account to the electorate and they must go back and explain how they have voted today.

Let me say a little about how we would use the money raised from the mansion tax. Our view is that a fair tax system should include a 10p starting rate of income tax. We support the increases in the personal allowance, but a 10p band would mean a different tax rate for those on middle and lower incomes from that for those on higher incomes, helping the move towards a fairer tax system. Some argue that the 20p rate is adequate, but I believe that a steadier incline moving from zero tax to 10p and from 10p to 20p could be the bedrock of a more progressive tax system, sending out an important signal that tax cuts for working people are a priority.

The 10p starting rate would provide a tax incentive to enter work, especially for those on lower wages. It was a mistake to remove the 10p rate in 2007, even though it enabled the then 22p basic rate to be reduced to 20p, where it stands today. Reintroducing a 10p rate would be the right thing to do and, if the Liberal Democrats are correct that the mansion tax could raise £2 billion, the Chancellor could make that change next week in the Budget.

Just as there is support for a mansion tax from Members on the Government Benches, there is ample support for the return of a 10p starting rate for income tax, although strangely some of those Members have chosen not to take their place in the Chamber today. The hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) spoke about the 10p rate idea in his recent Adjournment debate, arguing that

“restoring the 10p rate would help the coalition to counter the war cry of its political opponents that it is only interested in cutting taxes for millionaires. It would prove to the public that ‘lower taxes for lower earners’ is not just a soundbite but that it can be a reality…the policy would be popular…it would be a symbol of the Government’s economic mission and…it would help to tackle the desperate stagnation in incomes that Britain has suffered”.—[Official Report, 22 January 2013; Vol. 557, c. 34-38WH.]

That argument was made by a Conservative Member.

[Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)]

The hon. Gentleman is right that the previous Government were mistaken to scrap the 10p rate, but under this Government the income that would previously have been charged at the 10p rate is now charged at a 0p rate. If he supports the increases in the personal allowance, why is support for those increases totally absent from his motion in a debate on tax fairness?

[Chris Leslie]

We wanted to focus on the mansion tax proposition, because the hon. Gentleman’s Business Secretary suggested that we keep the motion simple and that if we did so, the Liberal Democrats would support it. That is what the Business Secretary said. We support the changes to the personal allowance, but in our view it is important to have that graduated step up. People go from the zero rate to the 20p rate and it is important to consider introducing a more graduated step as a work incentive, which is something we ought to have in the system.

[Duncan Hames]

Why does the hon. Gentleman think that a 10p tax rate is a greater incentive to go into work than a 0p tax rate?

[Chris Leslie]

The hon. Gentleman seems to think it is all or nothing, but we think that a progressive tax system argument needs to be developed. If people move from paying zero tax straight to 20p, there is a cliff edge. We think it is important to consider smoothing the transition to work and making work pay more effectively. That is not part of the motion; it is our preference for what we would do with the revenues from the mansion tax.

[Duncan Hames]

rose—

[Chris Leslie]

I will give way to the hon. Gentleman once more, if he wants to say whether he agrees with the text of our motion—not the flim-flam about the amendment. Does he agree with the text of our motion?

--- Later in debate ---

[Duncan Hames]

I will be voting for the amendment; it states Liberal Democrat policy, which I support. The hon. Gentleman has accepted that he wants to do something very different from us with his mansion tax, and on that basis I am not happy to support him.

[Chris Leslie]

What more can I say? I thought the hon. Gentleman supported the proposition in our motion, but clearly he does not. However cynical and defensive he may feel, Liberal Democrats should at least acknowledge that a principle of fair taxation is at stake today, and that it ought to transcend party differences as we try to create a more just society.

Oral Answers to Questions

Duncan Hames Excerpts

Tuesday 11th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)]

I thank Ministers for listening to the pleas of MPs explaining the plight of pensioners with self-invested pension plans that were affected by the cap on drawdown. Will the announcement in the autumn statement to lift that cap come into force in time to protect their pension income in this financial year?

[Sajid Javid]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question; I remember that he raised this issue last time at oral questions. He has been a great campaigner on it, and I commend him for that. I am pleased that he welcomes the decision to raise the cap to 120%. That will be in the next Finance Bill. We are consulting with stakeholders about the easiest way to bring it in, and we will try to do so as soon as possible.

Oral Answers to Questions

Duncan Hames Excerpts

Tuesday 6th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

The Government are increasing taxes on the wealthiest in society and using that money for a number of things, including to put in place a new free child care entitlement for disadvantaged two-year-olds; to extend the child care entitlement of three and four-year-olds to 15 hours a week; and to reduce the income tax personal allowance, which benefits families in work. The hon. Lady should welcome rather than criticise those policies.

[Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)]

Some pensioners with capped draw-down and self-invested pension plans have seen their retirement income halve as a result of decisions by the Government Actuary’s Department. How would the Minister suggest those pensioners cope in retirement with such a sharp fall in access to what is, after all, their own money?

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Sajid Javid)]

My hon. Friend is right to point out that pensioners are facing pressure because of low interest rates and longevity. The Government Actuary’s Department makes recommendations to the Government and we must take them seriously—we keep the matter constantly under review.

Oral Answers to Questions

Duncan Hames Excerpts

Tuesday 11th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

The right hon. Gentleman will be aware that the policy announcements in the last Budget resulted in millionaires paying more in tax, not less. As far as this Government’s record on pensioners is concerned, let us not forget that the state pension is going up by £120 more compared with the Opposition party’s plans.

[Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)]

For a long time, some pensioners, by virtue of having their personal allowance clawed back, have found themselves paying an effective rate of income tax far higher than many working people on a similar income. Will the Government’s policy of raising the personal allowance mean that that unfairness is eventually brought to an end?

[Mr Gauke]

I am pleased to say that my hon. Friend is right. Our policy will reduce complexity in the tax system and reduce the need for high marginal rates for pensioners through the taper system.