Financial Transparency: Overseas Territories

Debate between Joe Powell and Jim Shannon

Wednesday 5th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. I thank the hon. Member for Bolton West (Phil Brickell) for leading today’s debate with such a detailed, informative speech. We are all impressed by the way he set the scene.

This United Kingdom is made up of four countries that are directly impacted by public finances in how we can distribute allocated money and what we have the capacity to deal with, so this debate is important. There is already a strain on public finance; we all witness it every day. We see our public Departments struggling, especially health and education. Whether it is here or back home, the issues are the same. We must also note that the Chancellor has not yet ruled out tax rises ahead of the Budget. The public are already taking on the burden of the UK’s debt.

We have seen, and the Government are aware of, countless instances of tax evasion and avoidance by people in the United Kingdom, especially in the jurisdiction of the Cayman Islands. That contributes to lost tax revenues across the country. My issue is the loss of tax revenue—money that should be spent in this country on our own people. The UK Treasury loses billions each year to offshore tax avoidance. Northern Ireland relies on the block grant from Westminster through the Barnett consequentials for our devolved Government, so this tax avoidance and evasion means less funding for crucial sectors in Northern Ireland such as health, education and infrastructure. That is frustrating for people. [Interruption.]

[Joe Powell]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Jim Shannon]

Just for a second; thank you.

[Joe Powell]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for joining the last debate we had on this topic in this Chamber seven months ago. Does he agree that the link we are discussing between the overseas territories and the sorts of criminal activity that we all see demonstrates that the British public would be on side with cleaning up this mess?

[Jim Shannon]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving me the chance to get my cough sorted; I appreciate that very much. I agree with him.

There is obvious unfairness in taxation, especially because citizens face higher scrutiny than wealthy users of offshore arrangements. For example, the average person will at some point in their life be hit with a tax bill—that dreaded letter that comes through saying, “You haven’t paid enough tax.” The same does not go for those who partake in tax avoidance. The Treasury should do more to ensure that such people pay into the system just the same as everybody else.

The UK’s register of overseas entities 2022 revealed that several properties in Northern Ireland were held via entities in secrecy jurisdictions—more evidence of offshore-linked ownership of commercial and residential assets, especially in Belfast. Such investments can inflate property value and cause confusion over true ownership of property. That has a great impact on the ordinary person.

My focus and my responsibility are my constituents and the money that they must lose from their wages each month to increase Government spending. There must be more clarity and better insight. Government must do more to reinstate trust with the public, because there is disillusionment when it comes to finance. The Minister is a good and honest man. I look to him for an acknowledgment that Northern Ireland and the devolved nations suffer as a result of this and that he will endeavour to do more for this country to protect finance and, ultimately, my constituents.

London’s National Economic Contribution

Debate between Joe Powell and Jim Shannon

Thursday 10th July 2025 Westminster Hall

[Joe Powell (Kensington and Bayswater) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered London’s contribution to the national economy.

It is an honour and a privilege to serve under your chairship, Mr Western, for this important debate on London’s contribution to the Government’s national growth mission. I am proud to be a London MP, and of the contribution that our great city makes to our country, and to the world. It is disappointing that, in some quarters, London-bashing has come back into fashion. People want to talk down our city for their own political agendas or—dare I say it—play vigilante for likes on social media. I hope that today we can instead focus on the mutual benefits that a strong London economy brings to the UK.

We all know that the problems inherited by this Government are far bigger than London alone. For too long, our country has missed opportunities to unlock growth and potential for all our people and places. Since the global crash in 2008, productivity has flatlined. Stagnation has taken hold, hurting not just London’s prospects but the prosperity of every community across the UK. Regional divides were allowed to deepen, potential was wasted, and growth was squandered. The promise of levelling up proved nothing more than a gimmick: more hanging baskets than a genuine effort to tackle regional inequality. It is welcome that we have a Government determined to change that with their relentless focus on tackling regional inequality by delivering good jobs, putting more money into people’s pockets and giving local communities real power over the decisions that affect them.

The Green Book review and the commitment to place-based growth are important steps forward because every community deserves a fair chance to thrive, but we should be clear that tackling regional inequality must never mean holding back our greatest national economic asset. That has never been a strategy for success. London is one of the most successful cities in the world, a gateway for global talent, investment and trade, and an economic engine that drives prosperity far beyond the M25. We finally have a Labour Government working hand in hand with a Labour mayor to deliver, for example, the London growth plan that I know the Minister recently helped to launch, which is a blueprint to boost productivity and build the infrastructure that matches that ambition. It aims to ensure that London contributes an extra £27.5 billion in tax revenue by 2035. That is money for our NHS, our schools and our public services everywhere in this country.

To unlock London’s full potential, we need to be clear about what more needs to be done. I know that colleagues will talk in this debate about ensuring that our streets are safe, with properly funded policing, and that our councils have the resources they need to deliver basic services to some of the most deprived communities in the country. I will cover three areas at the outset: first, ensuring that London remains a magnet for global talent, attracting the skills that we need to lead the industries of the future; secondly, delivering the homes that the capital needs, which means social and genuinely affordable homes that support strong, thriving communities and provide the foundation for growth; and thirdly, a transport system fit for a world-leading city.

Let me start with talent. The recent immigration White Paper offered some welcome signs, by recognising that the global race for talent is accelerating and Britain must compete in that race. We want a controlled immigration system with democratic consent, and the Government are right to prioritise that, but we must not let that system become a barrier to attracting the people who will drive our future growth. Many businesses in Kensington and Bayswater tell me that they are struggling to hire the people they need. I believe that we need urgent reform of how we attract talent. That means the global talent visa, of which only 4,000 were issued last year. I think we should aim for at least 10,000 a year, to send a clear message that Britain and London are open for business, and for talent. We should also introduce a credible investor visa—not a return to the failed pay-to-play schemes of the past and the golden visa fiasco, which was tainted with corruption, but a genuine pathway for entrepreneurs in high-growth sectors like biotech and clean energy.

The west London tech corridor, for example, is ready for exponential growth, but it needs capital, talent and leadership, and world-leading institutions like Imperial College London rely on international talent to stay globally competitive. The proposed UK-EU youth experience scheme is therefore an important step forward. I know that businesses welcome it, including those in hospitality, where cost pressures have been acute. We should build on it, because if we want Britain to lead in the industries of the future, we must be a country that welcomes talent.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the hon. Member for rightly bringing this forward. For the record, I wish to see London doing extremely well, because if London does well, I think we all do well. In 2024, 264 foreign direct investments arrived in London, which indicates not only the importance of London but the potential that people see for investment. Does he agree that when it comes to encouraging foreign investment, there has to be a spin-off for Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh as the three regional capital cities? The Minister may have committed to this, but perhaps he can build on it: London does well, and the spin-offs are for the rest of us.

[Joe Powell]

I agree with the hon. Member. Before this debate, I was looking at the Transport for London budget. It contributes £11 billion to the UK-wide economy through the construction of what we hope will be new trains on the Jubilee line, the DLR and hopefully the Bakerloo line, and supports 100,000 high-quality jobs across the country. Transport and manufacturing are sectors that have huge spin-off potential across the country.

Another such sector is housing. It is a huge relief that we now have a Government who recognise the true scale of the challenge and are prepared to put serious investment and policy change behind it. In my constituency, there are 3,000 families on the social housing waiting list and more than 2,000 people living in temporary accommodation. The housing crisis is not a victimless problem. Many colleagues see it every week in their surgeries and inboxes.

Grenfell Tower Fire: Eighth Anniversary

Debate between Joe Powell and Jim Shannon

Tuesday 10th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Joe Powell]

I thank the Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee for her intervention. I completely agree with her, and the legacy must be the systemic change that I talked about. Many of the people who lost their lives in Grenfell were disabled, so I welcome the Government’s commitment to laying regulations that will mandate personal emergency evacuation plans for disabled people, which is a crucial step forward. I know that the Minister has recently taken fire safety into his brief and will look closely at the resources to make sure that such plans are implemented and available for disabled people.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

May I commend the hon. Gentleman for bringing forward this issue? It is appropriate and right that this House should recall the tragic events of 14 June 2017 and pay tribute to all of the 72 innocent lives that were lost—I think the House is united in thinking of those families. Although the fire happened in 2017, the memories linger long for the families who lost loved ones. The Crown Prosecution Service has indicated that decisions regarding potential charges are not expected until late 2026, which will be almost a decade from when it happened. Does the hon. Member agree that more effort must be made to expedite the process, to ensure that families and friends have justice and the closure that they need to grieve and move on with their lives?

[Joe Powell]

I thank the hon. Member for expressing his solidarity, and he is right. The finding of the public inquiry that reported in September was devasting: the simple truth is that the deaths that occurred were all avoidable. I know we must respect the criminal investigation and avoid saying anything that jeopardises that process, but on behalf of our community, I simply say to our Government that until there is criminal accountability for those responsible, there will be no justice.