Autumn Statement

Debate between George Osborne and Alison Seabeck

Wednesday 3rd December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is a major reform of stamp duty that gets rid of the very distorting slab system. The current stamp duty system has attracted huge criticism from all sorts of groups, including property websites, those who help people to move home and, of course, home buyers. [Interruption.] The hon. Ladies on the Opposition Front Bench say, “Do it in the Budget.” I am doing it now so that people can benefit from it now.

[Alison Seabeck (Plymouth, Moor View) (Lab)]

The Chancellor did not pay significant attention to productivity in the south-west in his speech. Our devastated rail line is just getting crumbs from the table, and those are buried in the national infrastructure plan. We have a feasibility study that is semi-permanent, with no guarantee of investment until 2019-20. The Prime Minister said that money was no object when we had the storm damage, but he clearly did not mean it. People in the south-west will not forget and will be angry.

[Mr Osborne]

What the hon. Lady says does not bear a resemblance to what has been announced this week. The south-west is one of the biggest winners from the infrastructure plan that we have announced, with a massive upgrade of the A303 and the A358. In all the years of the Labour Government, nothing happened to those roads. The Dawlish rail line had problems when the storms came, which I guess says something about the investment that the Labour Government put into it, but I will move on from that. Not only have we repaired the rail line; we are looking at an alternative route to increase resilience to the south-west. We have also provided new trains on the sleeper route and made local road improvements, such as the—

[Alison Seabeck]

They’re crumbs!

[Mr Osborne]

This is billions of pounds of investment into the south-west of England that never happened under the Labour Government. The Labour Government completely neglected the south-west of England, and the Labour MPs who represented those constituencies got absolutely nothing from them. Conservative candidates and Members of Parliament are delivering for the south-west.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Alison Seabeck

Tuesday 24th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

Whatever their motivations—I think my right hon. Friend is right—we are absolutely clear about the results. It will put people out of work and ensure that investment does not come to Britain. We are against plans to increase corporation tax. Indeed, I think that most people from around the world would look on in bemusement if Britain were to increase its business taxes, as the Opposition propose. To come to the point, the Treasury and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs are now providing more dynamic modelling of the effect of tax cuts on investment and growth, and cuts in corporation tax and fuel duty are shown to have positive impacts on the economy.

[Alison Seabeck (Plymouth, Moor View) (Lab)]

High profile companies operate schemes that lead to the UK economy losing out, and not benefiting to the fullest extent. Is the Chancellor aware that Google AdWords is de-ranking small firms if they do not stump up substantial funds? It means not only that Google’s profits go up, helped by its tax arrangements, but that the profits of small firms, such as those in my constituency, go down, and the Exchequer is the net loser. Will he please discuss that with his colleague, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills?

[Mr Osborne]

I will make a general point, which is that the internet has provided an enormous opportunity for many small businesses, because it has dramatically cut distribution and start-up costs and created all sorts of opportunities that did not previously exist for small businesses in Britain. If we believe in free markets and technological change, we should believe in the innovation that that brings. Specifically on the tax issue, we are working internationally—this cannot be done in one country—to ensure that the international corporate tax system reflects the digital economy and international business of today. We are helping to fund that OECD work, and we are expecting the first conclusions this autumn.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Osborne and Alison Seabeck

Tuesday 28th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I was in Pudsey the other day seeing a very successful manufacturing business near to my hon. Friend’s constituency. What was interesting was that that business is now exporting to China, which is a total reversal of what we have seen in the textile trade over the last few decades. I am very willing to come and see my hon. Friend and perhaps taste some of that delicious black pudding that the Spanish are buying.

[Alison Seabeck (Plymouth, Moor View) (Lab)]

Thousands of small businesses are often unaware that they are sitting on a bit of a time-bomb: embedded swaps sitting within personal loans, often sold to them without their knowledge. What will the Chancellor do to bring that back into the Financial Conduct Authority review to ensure that these swaps, which are currently not subject to any regulation, are regulated?

[Mr Osborne]

The FCA is looking at the whole issue of swaps and how they were sold to small businesses, and clearly, considerable sums of compensation are going to be paid. I will look at the specific point that the hon. Lady makes. If she believes that there is a group that are not currently included that should be included in that work, I will take a close look at it personally and get back to her.

IMF

Debate between George Osborne and Alison Seabeck

Monday 23rd April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Alison Seabeck (Plymouth, Moor View) (Lab)]

Could the Chancellor please explain to the House and to his largely absent Lib Dem coalition partners—I say that for the record—why the amount chosen for the IMF is, by some extraordinary coincidence, just below the level required for a parliamentary vote? He has bandied around the words “political opportunism”, but is he not himself being a political opportunist?

[Mr Osborne]

I do not think that there is much political opportunism in having to take the difficult decision that Britain should contribute to IMF resources. I have taken that difficult decision, and I am happy to explain it to Parliament and to the public.