Autumn Forecast

John Pugh Excerpts

Monday 29th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

The Irish bank restructuring package will now take several weeks—at least—to put in place, and we are, of course, very aware of the interconnectedness of the banking systems of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and, indeed, the whole UK. That is one of the reasons why we are making this bilateral contribution; it is one of the reasons why we are in the room discussing the conditions and the banking package. I am certainly conscious of the fact that some of the Irish banks have significant assets in the UK, and we have a very real interest in the future of that. That is why my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary came to Northern Ireland earlier this week, and I want to make sure that the Treasury, as well as the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland of course, remain in very close contact with the Northern Ireland Executive and Members from Northern Ireland.

Corporation tax has genuinely been a matter of debate in the European Union. I do not think that has been any secret; it has been in the newspapers. Some member states wanted to attach conditions to Ireland’s corporation tax rate, and I do not deny that that 12.5% rate is a real challenge for companies in Northern Ireland. That is why the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is looking at that and at packages to help the competitiveness of companies in Northern Ireland. But I took a position, which was that it is not really for other member states to dictate the tax rates of sovereign nations, even when they are seeking international assistance. The rates of tax levied by the Irish Government should be a matter for the Irish Government and the Irish Parliament. If the shoe was on the other foot, we would not want to be accepting, in this country, decisions imposed on this Parliament about tax rates. This should be a matter for the elected Parliament of the country. I do not deny that that 12.5% rate is a challenge for Northern Ireland, but I did not feel it was right to use the position we found ourselves in to get Ireland to increase that corporate tax rate.

[Dr John Pugh (Southport) (LD)]

The Chancellor says he is intent on reforming our “outdated and complex rules for controlled foreign companies.” Can he assure me that this will not create new opportunities for tax avoidance?

[Mr Osborne]

Yes, I can assure the hon. Gentleman that that is certainly not the purpose of the measure and that tax avoidance is what we are going to seek to avoid. The measure is there to keep pace with the changes in corporate tax regimes that have been introduced in many other countries, not only Ireland, which we have just been talking about, but countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands, which have also made corporate tax changes that attract international companies to headquarter there, rather than in the UK. We have to keep pace with those changes, which is why we are taking the measures that we are.