"My Lords, does the Minister agree that the OBR note confirms that farmers and businesspeople have a large number of options for reducing their inheritance tax liability? Does he agree that, in so far as the measure encourages farmers to pass on their farms to younger, more dynamic successors, it …..." Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court - View Speech
"My Lords, usually I have a lot of sympathy and respect for the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, and my noble friend Lord Londesborough. However, on this occasion I am going to disagree, first, because if you cut tax in one area, you are only going to have to raise it …..." Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court - View Speech
"My Lords, I will try to be extremely brief because no doubt I will be interrupted again. The point I was making was that if you cut tax in one area, you are going to have to raise it somewhere else. That is always problematic.
"My Lords, I add my support for Amendment 92. It is an important principle of public audit that institutions within the public sector are audited by the National Audit Office. Indeed, when I was at the Treasury, I spent many years trying to get the Royal Household and the Bank …..." Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court - View Speech
"My Lords, I am in no doubt that taxes have to rise. The spending decisions made by the last Government—or rather the lack of them—the cost of the pandemic, higher interest rates and increasing demographic pressures all point in the same direction. Therefore, with a heavy heart, I broadly support …..." Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court - View Speech
"My Lords, does the Minister agree that a budget for evaluation should be built into new programme settlements from the beginning, as happened with the New Deal in 1997? It is a practice which, sadly, has been rarely followed since then...." Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court - View Speech
"My Lords, back in March 2013, the Budget was comprehensively leaked and the then Chancellor, George Osborne, commissioned me to do a review into the pre-release of Budget information. I published a report in July 2013 and recommended a ban on the pre-release of the core of the Budget. The …..." Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court - View Speech
"My Lords, I broadly welcome the Government’s Statement, but we have to recognise that so many fiscal rules have come and gone in recent years that the credibility of the macroeconomic framework has been severely dented. Can the Financial Secretary confirm that the investment rule will apply to a specific …..." Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court - View Speech
"My Lords, unusually, as a former Treasury official, I am generally in favour of greater devolution—the more so when the likes of the noble Lords, Lord Hain and Lord Wigley, and my noble and learned friend Lord Thomas support a proposal. But on this occasion I fear I should advocate …..." Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court - View Speech
"My Lords, this is an interesting and important amendment that goes to the heart of Treasury control. Historically, it is fair to say that, when it came to nationalised industries, the Treasury set external finance limits that were not subject to constraints ex ante from Parliament. The proposal to borrow …..." Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court - View Speech