Draft European Union Budget

Debate between Ian Davidson and Mark Hoban

Thursday 12th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hoban]

Absolutely. My hon. Friend is spot on and it will cost this country £10 billion over the lifetime of this Parliament. That is the disgraceful way in which our rebate was given away for some review of the CAP that never materialised.

[Mr Ian Davidson (Glasgow South West) (Lab/Co-op)]

As the Minister will be aware, I am no great defender of the previous Government’s position on these matters. However, simply pointing to the previous Government’s position is not answering the question. Will this Government make it clear that they will not agree to an increase in the money going to the EU? Yes or no?

[Mr Hoban]

We are going through the process and we have been very clear about our red lines for own resources and the rebate. We have tried to reach a common position with our allies on the size of the budget and of the multi-annual financial framework. We have been very clear that, at a time when member states across the EU are being asked to curb their spending, the EU should play its role in doing that, too. That is what we are seeking to do, not just in the budget but in the financial framework. Just as we have delivered spending restraint at home, we are urging the case for delivering spending restraint in the EU. We have argued forcefully that we need to tackle the chronic over-budgeting and strictly prioritise EU spending. We need significant cuts in the Commission’s spending and I think that they are possible without impeding efforts to boost growth.

Section 5 of the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993

Debate between Ian Davidson and Mark Hoban

Wednesday 27th April 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hoban]

Indeed. If my hon. Friend has studied this carefully, as I am sure he has, he will recognise that large chunks of it are familiar from the Red Book. Of course, chapters 6 onwards are taken from the Office for Budget Responsibility’s economic and fiscal outlook. This information is in the public domain and Parliament has had sight of it before its presentation to the European Commission.

[Mr Ian Davidson (Glasgow South West) (Lab/Co-op)]

Will the Minister remind me exactly why we have to produce all this information for the European Union? I have not read it in enormous detail but it seems that Parliament is telling teacher or the boss why we have done what has been done. That places the House of Commons very much in the position of being subordinate to the European Union.

[Mr Hoban]

I do not agree that Parliament has been placed in a subordinate position. We are passing this information to the European Union having already made it available to the House, particularly during my right hon. Friend the Chancellor’s Budget speech, and there is no requirement on us to accept any recommendations that the Commission might make as a consequence of having read the information. We are in a very different situation to those member states that will provide their convergence programmes at the same time as the UK, but before their Budgets rather than after them.

Finance Ministers’ Meeting (Ireland)

Debate between Ian Davidson and Mark Hoban

Wednesday 17th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hoban]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is noteworthy that Opposition Members have made yet another call for us to put off making difficult decisions. We see in Ireland what will happen if we do not make difficult decisions now and sovereign debt ratings come under pressure.

[Mr Ian Davidson (Glasgow South West) (Lab/Co-op)]

Does the Minister agree that we should thank goodness that Scotland is part of the United Kingdom? Scottish banks were bailed out by the UK as a whole rather than being left to float loose as those in Ireland have been? Does he agree that if, when they are making cuts, the Government can find billions of pounds to bail out Ireland, they could better use that money to ameliorate the effect of the cuts in the UK?

[Mr Hoban]

As I said, no formal request has been made for assistance. We have a clear national interest in the stability of the Irish economy, and that must be recognised.