Finance (No. 4) Bill

Debate between Hywel Williams and Sheila Gilmore

Thursday 19th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Temporary Chair (Hywel Williams)]

Order. I intend to call the Minister at 4.23 pm, so I ask hon. Members to keep their contributions short.

[Sheila Gilmore]

I am now totally baffled, because the hon. Member for Amber Valley (Nigel Mills) returned to the simplification issue, but what we heard earlier, when he perhaps was not in the Chamber, was an impassioned ex post facto rationalisation for this change given by the hon. Member for Ipswich (Ben Gummer) and, to a lesser extent, by the hon. Member for Stourbridge (Margot James). They sought to assure us that this really was not about simplification, and that it was all part of a master plan to deal with the problems of an ageing population and make the pensions system better for people. So I am now baffled as to which it is. Is it about tax simplification only or is it about a very thoughtful plan, which had not previously been mentioned? This is where I was also puzzled by what the hon. Member for Ipswich said, because nothing of what he said was said by the Chancellor; no obvious rationale on those terms was given by the Chancellor when he introduced this measure in his Budget speech, as he slipped it in as being “simplification”.

This is not part of dealing with the problem of an ageing population; there are other ways of doing that. If the money raised was to be used to help with pensions, it would be a different matter. If it were to be used to help people in my constituency who are struggling with increased care costs and who are not getting assistance with care because they do not meet the extremely high thresholds that are now being imposed, we would have to listen to the suggestion. However, the provision is about finding some extra money to fund the big tax cut that has been given to people with high incomes.

Social Security

Debate between Hywel Williams and Sheila Gilmore

Thursday 17th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Hywel Williams]

That is a valid point. Of course, the variation across the country is quite substantial. I refer again to my own constituency, where there has traditionally always been a very high level of owner-occupation. There are older people who own their houses, but in other areas people are still paying off their mortgages. The figure of 7% has been mentioned—that is a lot of people who will be hit.

[Sheila Gilmore]

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that that figure might well grow in future? Given the level of borrowing that many people have made to buy properties, and that a lot of people are buying at a much later age, many more people are likely to move into retirement with a mortgage still to repay.

[Hywel Williams]

That is a very good point. Indeed, I think I might be one of those people. I understand that the average age of the first-time buyer is now 38. These are valid worries that people have.

The arguments on RPI and CPI have been well rehearsed this afternoon so I will not go further into them. I have a great deal of respect for the Minister and I think he would agree with me and many other people that what we need is a bit of calm and consensus on pensions policy—something that has been lacking for 25 or 30 years. I worry that this change will not lead to consensus and that he might have fallen in with a bad lot.