Budget: Press Briefings
Debate between James Murray and Seamus Logan(1 week, 5 days ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
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James Murray
A number of the hon. Lady’s colleagues have asked the same question today, and my answer has been consistent throughout, which is that I am not going to comment on the ongoing Budget process.
Seamus Logan (Aberdeenshire North and Moray East) (SNP)
The chaos and confusion at the heart of this Government are deeply damaging to Scotland, to its economy and to its public services. The constant leaks, briefings and U-turns flowing from the Treasury make the Scottish Government’s task all the more difficult, and this is worsened by the Chancellor’s refusal, to date, to meet the Scottish Secretary for Finance. Can the Minister succeed in persuading the Chancellor to have this meeting, please?
James Murray
In my role as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, I have met Ministers in the Scottish Government to discuss the fiscal situation. We have a fiscal forum every quarter, with representatives from the Scottish Government as well as from Wales and Northern Ireland, and that is the right way for us to have routine discussions about matters of shared interest.
Farming and Inheritance Tax
Debate between James Murray and Seamus Logan(11 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Seamus Logan (Aberdeenshire North and Moray East) (SNP)
Does the Minister agree that in the Government’s haste to target tax avoiders such as Jeremy Clarkson and others, as has been mentioned, they have actually caught a lot of small and medium-sized farmers in their sights, in a completely irresponsible way?
James Murray
Although our policy should discourage the kind of tax planning to which I think the hon. Gentleman refers, the policy is broader than that. It is necessary to balance significant relief from inheritance tax on family farms with the need to fix the public finances, and that is the balanced decision that we have taken with this policy.
Of course, the decision on this tax policy sits alongside the Government’s wider decisions at Budget 2024. There is £5 billion over two years for farming and land management in England, which will help restore stability and confidence in the sector. That includes the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature recovery in our country’s history. Despite the difficult fiscal inheritance, £60 million of funding has also been prioritised for the farm recovery fund, to support farmers impacted by severe wet weather over the last year.