Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kerry McCarthy and David Gauke

Tuesday 13th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

T6. Today’s Financial Times cites Bristol Citizens Advice as saying that many more people are now getting into problem debt because of household bills rather than, for example, overspending on their credit cards. Will the Minister urge councils to follow the example of Bristol City Council which, led by Councillors Craig Cheney and Paul Goggin, is introducing an ethical collection policy, rather than deploying bailiffs to collect what are sometimes very small debts from people who have got into debt through no fault of their own? We have already heard today about some of the problems involving intimidation by rogue bailiffs.

[Mr Gauke]

I am very happy to look at what is happening in Bristol. Clearly it is right that debt collection measures are proportionate, and the hon. Lady raises an important point about that. One of the best ways to ensure that living standards increase and debt levels do not rise is by making sure that we get more people into work, and we are succeeding in that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kerry McCarthy and David Gauke

Tuesday 27th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right; the Opposition have given no indication of the balance between tax and spending and how they are going to find that £30 billion. At a time when Labour Back Benchers are saying that Syriza shows the way while those on the Labour Front Bench apparently support a £30 billion fiscal tightening, all we get from the Opposition is chaos.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

2. What recent representations he has made to the EU on the cap on bank bonuses.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kerry McCarthy and David Gauke

Tuesday 24th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)]

The 50% rate raised a fraction of what was expected, which is why we are reducing it to 45% from April 2013. Maintaining the 50% rate would accrue an extra £50 million on top of what is expected in 2013-14, rising to £100 million a year once the impact on self-assessment receipts is included. However, any additional yield could be offset by reduced indirect tax revenues, and as such it may raise nothing relative to the 45% rate.

[Kerry McCarthy]

I think the Minister has somewhat deliberately obfuscated matters. What I wanted was a figure. It has been estimated that the 50p tax rate could have raised £3 billion in future years when there was not a forestalling effect. Have not the Government made a deliberate decision that they want tax cuts for millionaires as opposed to money being put back into the pockets of hard-working people?

[Mr Gauke]

It is worth pointing out that this £3 billion figure that the shadow Chancellor and others recite suggests an entirely static process. Nobody believes that a 50p rate has no behavioural impact whatever, but that is the Labour party’s ridiculous position. That was not its position when in government, and it is not a position that any credible economist would support.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kerry McCarthy and David Gauke

Tuesday 24th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)]

My hon. Friend raises an interesting point. In November, the Government and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs published a consultation paper on exactly those lines, and I very much look forward to the ten-minute rule Bill that my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Ben Gummer) will introduce tomorrow, which makes that proposal. We should all agree that we should do everything that we can to make tax and spending as transparent to the public as possible.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

T8. The Public Accounts Committee has“serious concerns that large companies are treated more favourably than other taxpayers”by HMRC.That once again gives the lie to the Government’s claims that we are all in this together. What action will the Chancellor or the Minister take to ensure greater transparency and accountability in HMRC, and to assure ordinary taxpayers who are struggling to pay their bills this month that companies will also pay their full share?

[Mr Gauke]

The Government will respond in detail to the PAC report shortly, but it is only fair to point out that, in recent years, HMRC’s yield from large companies has increased substantially. Indeed, we have provided, as part of the spending review settlement for HMRC, additional resources to get more out of large businesses, so that we ensure that they pay their fair share.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kerry McCarthy and David Gauke

Tuesday 22nd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight this point. Some of us recall the difficulty in getting distributional analyses out of the previous Government and it has to be said that this Government are taking great steps forward.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

The Chancellor chose to hit women three times as hard as men in his Budget last year and now, as living costs rise and the public sector is slashed, he wants to hit them yet again by changing the rules around maternity and paternity leave and flexible working in small companies. Is it really women whom the Prime Minister has in mind when he talks about taking on the enemies of enterprise, and can the Minister reassure the House that it will not be women who bear the brunt of tomorrow’s Budget?

[Mr Gauke]

This is pretty desperate stuff. It is in the interests of the entire country that we sort out the public finances, even if the Labour party will not accept that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kerry McCarthy and David Gauke

Tuesday 8th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

It is absolutely clear that this Government are on the right course. There are some encouraging signs, but none the less we must stick to the course. The early indications are, in manufacturing in particular, that that sector of the economy is growing well.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

We share the Government’s desire for a strong manufacturing sector, hence our disappointment at Pfizer moving overseas and the Government’s failure to support Sheffield Forgemasters. According to today’s Financial Times, the Deputy Prime Minister, despite his dismal track record on Forgemasters, is leading the drive for more bank lending to small and medium-sized enterprises to secure regional economic growth. Who is now in charge of growth policy? Is it the Chancellor or the Deputy Prime Minister?

[Mr Gauke]

It may come as a surprise to Opposition Members, but an entire Government are capable of working together. That was not the experience when the Treasury was being run by the current shadow Chancellor.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kerry McCarthy and David Gauke

Tuesday 16th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to highlight that issue. We think that the number is very high and that it is possible to find savings in HMRC’s budget. However, there have been specific proposals for where HMRC has identified that it could recover large levels of yield, and this Government have been happy to provide the funding to do that.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

I am sure that the Government will be aware of the growing public outrage at the fact that a company such as Vodafone seems to have been able more or less to decide the size of its own tax bill, and, in doing so, is rumoured to have avoided a sum as high as £6 billion. Do the Government agree that we need far more transparency and accountability when it comes to such backroom deals with large companies, or are we now entering a world where only the little people pay their taxes?

[Mr Gauke]

This Government are determined to crack down on tax evasion and tax avoidance, but the Vodafone deal was a matter for HMRC, and it is right that the Government are not involved in such negotiations. I hope that the hon. Lady will not be aligning herself with those involved in campaigns to close down Vodafone shops. The fact is that companies should pay the correct amount of tax, but she should not believe everything she reads.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kerry McCarthy and David Gauke

Tuesday 12th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

That appears to be their solution given that, as I understand it, they still advocate the increase in the national insurance contributions that we are going to counter by raising thresholds. If the Opposition wish to take that position, so be it.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

I am afraid that the answers that the Minister is giving are simply not good enough. Can he explain the logic behind the child benefit proposal, if there is any? Why is the assessment not being made on household income rather than just on the highest earner’s income? Will it apply to a cohabiting high earner or just to married couples, and why will there be a phenomenally high marginal deduction rate? Is it not true that this is just another “back of a fag packet” policy that the Government have not thought through at all?