Oral Answers to Questions

Jim McGovern Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd November 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I can give that assurance—that we are going to have a new scheme and there will be £15 billion of schools capital spending in the programme going forward. That will enable us to rebuild many schools—primary as well as secondary schools. I look forward to doing that.

[Jim McGovern (Dundee West) (Lab)]

Q14. In answer to a question I put to the Prime Minister in July—and, indeed, in an answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Luciana Berger) last week—the Prime Minister said that the reason for not initiating tax breaks for the computer games industry was that they were poorly targeted. That seems to contradict talks I have had with his Ministers, who say that it is Government policy not to give tax breaks to any industry in future. Will the Prime Minister give me a definitive answer for the benefit of the House and my constituents?

[The Prime Minister]

The steps we took in the Budget, which I think were right, were to look at the tax system and try to simplify the corporation tax regime so that we could bring about one of the lowest rates of corporation tax in the developed world. That is what we have done—with cuts in corporation tax this year, next year and the year after to bring it down to 24%. That is what we are doing and we are paying for it by removing a number of allowances. I think it is a very progressive and sensible reform that will make Britain, including Scotland, one of the best places in the world to do business.