Finance (No. 2) Bill

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Tuesday 1st April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I am pleased to be called to make a small contribution to the debate, Madam Deputy Speaker. I wish to be respectful to all parties and individuals in my speech, and I want to speak about the reasoned amendment. It refers to the cost of living crisis, and no one who represents a constituency in this Chamber can ignore the cost of living. Yes, things are better. I acknowledge that and it is good that they are better. It is good that unemployment is down and that there are opportunities, but the money is just not in the pockets of the people I see on the high streets of the towns that I represent. The cost of living is still an issue that we need to address and I want to be respectful in that regard.

The amendment also refers to tackling rising energy bills. I know that the Government have given a commitment to doing that through the Budget and the debate over the past couple of days has tried to address that, too.

Today at Lambeth house, the all-party group on hunger and food poverty launched an inquiry to address poverty in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and to take into consideration other parts of Europe where food banks are part of life. I see food banks as a positive, not a negative, as they bring communities together and energise people’s focus on those who are less well off, and people are very kind. Those are the benefits, but the all-party group will focus on poverty as well.

The hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Jones) mentioned young people and work. If there were ever an issue to which hon. Members should draw attention, it is the young people we represent in our constituencies. We want to see them getting courses at their local colleges and employment opportunities at the end of them. In his response, will the Minister gives some indication of the specific provision in this Budget to help young people to get job opportunities?

I also want to highlight the issue of unemployment and those over 50. Those who lose their jobs at the age of 50-plus find it very hard to get back into employment. Although they might have opportunities for courses, re-employment and retraining, the critical factor will be job opportunities. Perhaps the Minister could also consider that.

The Government have clearly made a commitment on child care costs. That will enable people to work. The Chancellor has stated his commitment—the Economic Secretary to the Treasury did so again on TV last night —to create 1 million more jobs. That is good news, if the commitment can be delivered in reality.

Housing supply is an issue in my constituency. One of the biggest issues is the need for affordable rental accommodation. Although housing is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland, it is still a critical issue and I look forward to seeing some changes in that regard.

I commend the Government for their pension changes. The hon. Member for North East Somerset (Jacob Rees-Mogg) mentioned corporation tax. Although there is a commitment on air passenger duty, it is not enough and does not address the considerable difficulties we have in Northern Ireland because of the land border that people can drive across. Air passenger duty in the Republic is 0% and tourism VAT is at 9% whereas it is 20% in Northern Ireland. Those are critical factors that affect the Northern Ireland economy. We also have the highest fuel costs in the United Kingdom, and we would have been happier to have seen a specific scheme for Northern Ireland on that. Those are key issues.

I want to put on the record my disagreement with the Opposition’s view on the marriage tax allowance. I am glad that there is a married tax allowance for the third of married couples who are at present disadvantaged and who will, through clause 11, be better off. It is a Government commitment and it is good news. It is also a Democratic Unionist party commitment. We are pleased to see the married tax allowance coming through for married couples because it is an issue that we have supported. It is a pledge in our manifesto. We support married couples and we have sought provision for them through the Treasury. It is good news to see that delivered through clause 11.

May I put on record my strong support for the provision in the Budget of transferrable allowances for married couples? This has been a long time coming and is very welcome. It is a shame that at exactly the same time the Chancellor should announce a provision that discriminates against one-earner couples. A Government committed to fixing broken Britain should value those families where the decision is made to sacrifice a second salary so that one parent can remain at home to invest in the children. Sadly, the Chancellor’s child care announcement offers them no support at all and leaves them feeling like second-class citizens. There is provision for those on higher incomes and there is provision for those on lower incomes, but those who are often referred to as the squeezed middle do not receive the child care provision that they should have. It is also vital for the provision to be widened, especially with the news that the child care provisions are to remain available to the very rich, so transferrable measures also pertain for higher rate taxpayers.

Since 2000, we have been very unusual in having a tax system that does not recognise family responsibility in any way. All manner of injustices have followed from this fiscal individualism, such as the fact that the tax burden on one-earner married couples on an average wage with two children is 45% greater than the OECD average—up from 42% last year. To really see the problem we have with individualism, we have to consider this burden as a proportion of that placed on a single person on the same wage. In the UK, such a family pays more than 80% of what a single person on the same wage pays while the OECD average is just 55%. Such individualism will not fix broken Britain.

That Chancellor has today taken an important step in re-inserting recognition of family responsibility into the tax system. We welcome that and we are pleased that it has happened. This is a seminal development, and one on which we must now build for the future.