Deficit Reduction

Lord Dykes Excerpts

Tuesday 18th January 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sassoon]

My Lords, as and when there are proceeds they will be fully accounted for. That is the position.

[Lord Dykes]

My Lords, will the Minister agree that if the Government take more energetic action to deal with the tax dodgers, of which there are many—probably amounting to over £100 billion a year—there will then be less need to sell state assets?

[Lord Sassoon]

My Lords, we want to see that the taxpayers of this country pay what they properly should pay. Indeed, we are investing an extra £900 million over the spending review period to ensure that HMRC is able to generate many billions of pounds in additional tax revenue each year. That is quite independent of the need to look properly and hard at Government-owned assets—companies and otherwise—to see what revenue can properly be derived from those assets.