National Insurance Contributions (Reduction in Rates) (No. 2) Bill

Owen Thompson Excerpts

Committee of the whole House
Wednesday 13th March 2024 Commons Chamber

New clause 1 would therefore require the Treasury to come clean and set out the impact of the Conservatives’ plan to reduce national insurance contributions for employees and self-employed people to zero. It would force the Treasury to be honest about the impact of their plan on total receipts from national insurance, and the impact that would have on overall public finances. It would compel the Government to set out how they would fund the black hole that their plan creates. I urge Members in all parts of the House to support our new clause, including Conservative Members—if they want to prove that they can put country before party; and fiscal responsibility ahead of loyalty to their weak Prime Minister. This vote matters because the public deserve answers on the Conservatives’ £46 billion unfunded tax plan.

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[James Murray]

No, I am going to make some progress.

The public deserve to know whether the Prime Minister’s commitment to abolish national insurance means tax hikes for pensioners, even higher borrowing, cuts to important public services, or all of the above.

[James Murray]

The problem we have with the Chancellor’s announcement is that he has said that in the next Parliament he wants to abolish NI contributions. [Interruption.] The Prime Minister said that on the Saturday following the Budget. The Prime Minister and the Chancellor have again and again, in emails to party members and in interviews with media outlets, made it clear that that is what they want to do. I appreciate that some Treasury Ministers have been flip-flopping a bit when they have been out on their media rounds and have not entirely been able to toe the party line. But going into the general election, I would listen to what the Prime Minister and the Chancellor are saying, and if they are saying that they want to abolish NI and create a £46 billion black hole in the public finances, they should stand up here and defend that to the people of Great Britain today.

The reckless way in which the Conservatives announced their unfunded tax plan and then refused to give any more details exposes the risk of five more years of them in power. It is clear the Conservatives will happily gamble with the public finances and yet again leave working people being forced to pay the price. As they have been unwilling to explain how their plan will be funded, we will today vote to force the Government to come clean on the impact of their £46 billion tax plan on the state of public finances.

[Owen Thompson]

I am very interested in this and am listening carefully to what the hon. Gentleman is saying, but I am struggling to understand whether he is for or against the proposed cut in NI. It would be helpful if he would be clear on that. It sounds as though he is saying that the Opposition do not support it, but if that is the case, why would they not have come through the Lobby with us in opposing it?

[James Murray]

I am happy to provide clarification for the hon. Gentleman. We have had an extended debate about this today, where we have made it clear on several occasions that we support the Government’s cut in NI, because we believe that the tax burden on working people is too high and we want to see it come down. What we do not support is an unfunded £46 billion tax plan that the Chancellor has committed the Conservative party to. That is the subject of our new clause that we are debating now, and I look forward to his joining us in voting for it in a few moments.

Mortgage and Rental Costs

Owen Thompson Excerpts

Tuesday 27th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

During the French revolution, the Queen of France supposedly said, “Let them eat cake”, after being told that her subjects were starving with no bread. Today, as the country faces a mortgage meltdown, our multimillionaire PM tells people that

“we’ve got to hold our nerve, stick to the plan and we will get through this.”

I am not sure whether he is looking to model himself as a modern-day Marie-Antoinette, but whether or not that was his intention, his gall is quite beyond belief. I will leave it to others to say that the Prime Minister is guilty of projecting

“an extraordinary, Orwellian, meaningless, evasive word salad”

when he speaks. Nor will I say that the PM is

“as much of a mendacious, narcissistic sociopath as his previous boss”.

These things are much better delivered by Ben Elton himself.

However, I will say that we are past crisis point. The Bank of England has raised the base rate 10 times since December 2021, from 0.1% to 4% as of February. Meanwhile, figures from the Office for National Statistics show that average weekly earnings have fallen in real terms in the year to December 2022 by 3.1%, which is one of the largest falls in growth since comparable records began in 2001.

Scottish homeowners are suffering for Westminster’s failure. As a result, independence becomes ever more necessary for ordinary Scots, so that they can stop paying the price for UK Government self-inflicted messes. Stronger direct action is needed to protect vulnerable homeowners from soaring mortgage costs. Like my right hon. Friend the Member for Dundee East (Stewart Hosie), I welcome the limited action that has been taken so far, but a purely voluntary scheme that stops repossessions for 12 months and allows for lower payments for six months is not enough to protect many householders from this disaster.

My constituency of Midlothian is especially vulnerable to this Westminster-triggered chaos. Midlothian’s population is growing, placing increasing demands on services that aim to tackle poverty. Just under a quarter of Midlothian’s children—4,400—were living in poverty going into the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. Midlothian has higher rates of economic activity and lower rates of unemployment than the Scottish and UK averages, but we also have lower average wages across some groups, in common with many other former coalfield communities. The falling value of real wages will hit many residents hard, and the higher than average house prices in Midlothian suggest a vulnerability to economic downturn and other cost of living pressures, particularly mortgage hikes. The average price of a house in Midlothian in October 2022 was £243,500, compared with the Scottish average of £193,730. This combination of higher house prices and lower wages could spell disaster for many.

The Chancellor’s mortgage charter is really a sticking plaster on a broken arm, and my constituents deserve better. These residents have been forced to stretch their budgets to get on the housing ladder in the first place, and are now utterly vulnerable to rising costs and labour market turbulence. It is hard to believe that the Tory party was ever seen as a bastion of high finance and fiscal propriety. Del Boy and Rodney could do a better job. In Scotland, we are fortunate that we have an alternative way out of this mess, and now more than ever we need to make sure we cast this PM and his ultra-rich cronies into the dustbin of history by forging ahead with independence.

Cost of Living

Owen Thompson Excerpts

Tuesday 16th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

It is always interesting to follow the hon. Member for Moray (Douglas Ross). Some of his contribution nearly touched on the subject of today’s debate. I will try to stick to the topic at hand.

The cracks in this disunited kingdom are clear and there for all to see. The catastrophe of Brexit, Tory cuts, the UK Government’s pandering to the rich few and, unfortunately, Labour’s persistent lurch to the right has shown what we all know to be true—Scotland is held back by this place, this Government and any Government in this place. Both Scotland and my constituency of Midlothian are being strangled by the vice grip of Westminster control. The UK is the sick man of Europe, lagging behind other countries on economic growth. The UK economy grew by only 0.1% in the first quarter of 2023 and contracted by 0.3% in March, according to the Office for National Statistics figures. That is yet another clear indication that we need to find a new way to end this morass. The SNP wants to get Scotland back into the EU, with all the benefits that brings. While Labour backs Brexit and continues to dig a deeper hole for millions of families left struggling by the cost of living crisis, the Government here do nothing that will address any of these issues.

I can see the impact of rising food and energy prices every day in Midlothian. We are in an appalling situation, where soaring inflation and food prices have made it difficult for struggling families to put food on the table. It is heartbreaking to see so many families struggling to afford the absolutely basic necessities. There are some stark examples of the reality of the situation in my own constituency. One restaurant fears that nearly a third of outlets could be forced to shut down due to soaring energy and food prices. Its own energy costs have increased to £80,000 a year. On top of that, there are the unsustainable price increases. That local business has seen a 25% increase in the cost of rice alone. The cost of other basic ingredients such as onions, garlic and cream have doubled. That is having a real daily impact, with jobs and opportunities threatened across Midlothian and throughout Scotland.

SNP-led Midlothian Council has, thankfully, formed a cost of living taskforce to fight back against the onslaught, the first—as I understand it—such taskforce to be established in the UK. The taskforce has provided a £1.6 million cash injection to boost the local economy, but the UK Government desperately need to step up and accept their responsibility to do so much more. SNP-led Midlothian Council is taking action and the SNP Scottish Government are taking action with their limited powers, but what about the UK Government? The Westminster Government could restore the lower rate of VAT, which ended last March, for tourism and hospitality businesses. The UK Government must take urgent action to address the root cause of the shortages and ensure that Midlothian residents have access to affordable and nutritious food. They could uplift universal credit. They could end the benefit cap. They could take action to address soaring food prices and the increasing mortgage rates inflicted on so many by the disastrous failed experiment they attempted last year. Those are choices and the lack of action by this Government is a choice—it is their choice.

The impacts of Brexit and Tory economics are being felt across the country, and Midlothian is no exception. Given that the damage is so obvious, I find it astonishing that Labour is hellbent on inflicting yet more hardship by supporting so many of the Government’s policies.

Real change could be implemented now. We do not have to wait. We can find sustainable solutions to the challenges to ensure that our communities are supported through very difficult times. This Government could act now to stop the rot by investing in local agriculture and food production, as well as by boosting support for food banks and other community initiatives that help families in dire need. Instead, I have been struck by this Government’s apathy towards issues north of the border.

This Tory Government, augmented by tacit Labour support, have shown nothing but contempt for Scotland and my constituency. I recently contacted the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on all those issues. She could act immediately to ease the suffering happening right now, but so far the response is that it is not for the Government to intervene in such matters.

The Government could do so much more. I wish the Labour party offered a genuine alternative, but as far as I can see there is only one way for Scotland: for us to decide our own future.

Wagner Group: Sanctions Regime

Owen Thompson Excerpts

Wednesday 25th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[James Cartlidge]

I have merely stated the fact, and it is the case, that these decisions are routinely taken by senior civil servants. I also said that we are ultimately responsible. We, as Ministers, are accountable to Parliament. That is why we will conduct the internal review.

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

I would be grateful if the Minister could outline to us what it is about billionaire Russians such as Yevgeny Prigozhin and others that make this Government feel that they need special licences so much that they are able to dodge sanctions.

[James Cartlidge]

To be clear, we do not make any of these decisions with prejudice to the legal case that the individual is pursuing. They have a right under our law to have legal representation. What we have here is a process for considering applications to use frozen assets to fund legal fees in specific cases.

Economic Situation

Owen Thompson Excerpts

Wednesday 12th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Chris Philp]

When the hon. Lady was stopped in the street, I presume that she explained the points about global interest rates increasing. When her constituents asked about energy prices, I presume that she explained to them that this Government took decisive action on our third day in office to protect our constituents from bills that could have gone up to £5,000 or £6,000 a year. I presume that she also explained that the Labour party’s plan was good only for six months, but the plan that we have put in place lasts for two years.

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

We have seen the crash of the pound. We have seen mortgage prices going through the roof. We are seeing the cost of living across the country getting out of control. There has been economic chaos since this new Tory Government took over from the last Tory Government. May I ask the Chief Secretary: on a scale of one to 10, how well does he think it is going?

[Chris Philp]

I do not call the lowest unemployment for 48 years, and the top growth rate in the G7, economic chaos.

Independent Brewers: Small Brewers Relief

Owen Thompson Excerpts

Tuesday 6th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

It is good to see such an amazing turnout for tonight’s Adjournment debate and such an interest in small brewers relief!

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

Order. Will right hon. and hon. Members please leave quietly, because if they do not, we will not be able to hear the Adjournment debate?

[Owen Thompson]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Take two. Politicians like to talk about how everything, in one way or another, is political. We would say that, wouldn’t we? But I think it is genuinely true; decisions taken in places such as this set the scene for our broader social and cultural lives. How we answer questions such as what gets support, what is left to the whims of the free market and how much is something taxed can have a direct impact on how people live, what products they use, what they eat and what they drink. That is certainly the case when it comes to beer.

When we look at Scotland and the UK’s independent brewing scene today, we see diversity and growth, but this is not how it has always been. Only 20 years ago, there were only about 400 brewers in the UK, whereas today the number stands at about 1,900, which is five times as many, with nearly one in every parliamentary constituency. Midlothian, my constituency, punches well above its weight when it comes to brewing, as it does in many other regards; to name just a few local companies, we have Stewart Brewing, Cross Borders, Top Out, Otherworld and Black Metal. The overall picture in recent years has been a booming sector coming out of nowhere and making a huge economic impact.

According to the Society of Independent Brewers, which is represented here tonight with Barry Watts, Keith Bott, Eddie Gadd, Roy Allkin and Greg Hobbs in the Gallery—I am delighted to see them here and I thank them for their support in campaigning on this issue—small independent breweries contribute about £270 million to GDP each year and employ about 6,000 full-time staff. That is an average of 4.1 employees per brewery. A great deal of that success is precisely because in 2002 the Government of the day recognised that existing policy—beer duty—was artificially holding back a sector. In addressing that, politics has enabled craft beer to flourish, to the point where it is now embedded in our culture. Much of this is thanks to small brewers relief, which celebrates its 20th birthday this year. Conveniently, today of all days, the Five Points brewery in Hackney hosted a 20th anniversary celebration to mark the good that SBR has done. Sadly, parliamentary business meant that I could not make it along, but I am told that it was a roaring success, and I hope the Minister will join me in congratulating the organisers.

SBR was introduced to help smaller craft brewers compete in a marketplace dominated by large and global brewers. It allows smaller breweries who make less beer to pay a more proportionate amount of tax, as with income tax. For those who produce up to 5,000 hectolitres a year, which, for clarity, is about 900,000 pints and enough to supply around 15 pubs—or one Downing Street Christmas party, perhaps—SBR means a 50% reduction in the beer duty they pay. Above 5,000 hectolitres, brewers pay duty on a sliding scale, up to the same 100% rate that the global producers pay. This enables brewers to invest in their businesses, create jobs and compete with the global companies.

However, SBR has always had a major glitch. Once a brewer makes more than 5,000 hectolitres, the rate at which duty relief is withdrawn acts as a cliff edge. As a result, instead of empowering small brewers to grow, SBR puts up a barrier, and all because of a wee technicality. It is not the sort of thing that should take years and years to address, but sadly that is exactly what has happened.

As far back as 2018 the Treasury announced a review of SBR to address the cliff edge. Since then, brewers have been barraged with a review in 2019, a technical consultation in 2021, a call for evidence on the alcohol duty system, and a consultation on yet another new system this year.

[Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)]

I think a number of us were discussing this matter back in November 2020. One of the drivers then was the sense that we needed to support small, independent brewers coming out of covid. Here we are almost two years down the road. We need to support them in relation to covid and in relation to energy. The need to incentivise support from this Government—we all agree how important the brewers are to our communities, as well as to the economy—is just as important now as it was then, if not more so. We would welcome a supportive response from the Government.

[Owen Thompson]

The hon. Lady makes an excellent point. I will speak later about some of the issues that businesses currently face with regard to energy costs.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

In my constituency, as in the hon. Lady’s, we have breweries. I am reminded of Bullhouse Brewery in Greengraves Road in Newtonards, a local family business. It produces an incredible product that sells well, but it is a small brewery. It really is in that category. Without the assistance of small brewers relief, there is no guarantee that our independent brewers would be able to survive. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that to ensure that our local brewers are able to reman comfortably on their feet, there must be greater relief on their beer duty to ensure that they are not penalised by crippling tax in years to come? The very fact of what local brewers do means that they are intensive users of electricity so the costs for them are multiplied to a place where they may not be able to survive.

[Owen Thompson]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman. Many small family brewers are so much a part of their local communities. It is not just about the business, it is what they do for their local communities.

Each proposal that the Government have brought forward so far has been a step up from the last, but has missed the mark in crucial ways. So let us look at the most recent reform package that the Treasury has put on the table—what it gets right, which it does, and where we still have some way to go. I welcome last year’s announcement that the 50% rate would be reduced to 2,500 hectolitres. This came off the back of a great deal of lobbying from campaign groups and Members across the House, and demonstrates the cross-party willpower to get this right for our brewers. That is not to mention a public petition of more than 50,000 signatures. But issues remain.

Brewers cannot wait any longer for another half-right, half-wrong proposal. This time, the Treasury must listen to brewers’ calls, act decisively, and implement that decision. No more leaving brewers in the lurch. They have a right to know the final details of what the Government are planning and when it will be introduced so that they can be prepared for the changes. So, having spoken to SIBA and to local brewers in Midlothian, I am asking the Treasury to address the following problems in its most recent proposals with transparency and urgency. I and many small brewers have serious concerns about the ways in which these reforms could turn small brewers relief into big global brewers relief. Time and again, the current proposals open the door to benefiting the big players, and it is almost starting to look as if that is a feature, not a bug. For one, the Treasury needs to scrap its plan to set the start and end point of relief depending on the UK’s average alcohol by volume. This nationwide average is heavily skewed towards global brewers, and it needs to be the average of small brewers instead. Then we have the fact that the reduced rate of SBR will be widened from 2.8% to 3.4% ABV, at £8.42 instead of £19.08.

SIBA has told me that it is concerned that this allows large brewers to undercut smaller ones—they could easily cash in on the benefits by altering their recipes to a lower ABV. Not only would that cost the Treasury an estimated £200 million a year in lost revenue, but it would fundamentally go against the spirit of SBR. On top of that, we have the Treasury’s decision to maintain the Farmgate exemption, which exempts 80% of cider makers from paying any duty. Small cider producers absolutely deserve parity of support, but there is no getting round the fact that the cider sector has a very different landscape. Global producers account for 87% of the cider sold in pubs, so it is global producers again that disproportionally benefit from the Farmgate exemption.

According to SIBA, taxing cider at the same rate as beer could raise £360 million a year for the Treasury, so why is it not happening? Are the Government scared of upsetting big business yet again? Using SBR reform as a means of opening the door to advantaging global brewers just does not make sense, yet it seems to be the direction of the Treasury. At best, this is an honest oversight. At worst, it is as if the Treasury is trying to stick to these plans no matter what. I think that questions need to be asked about what communications and hospitality the Treasury might have received from some of these large global brewing companies. I urge the Minister to ensure that that is not the case and that small brewers relief is genuinely to support small brewers and not be that in name only.

Aspects of the latest proposals for SBR reform also undo some of SBR’s spirit of innovation and growth. When calculating a producer’s average ABV, the proposed new small producer relief will include everything the producer makes—beer or otherwise. I am sure that it has not escaped the notice of the Minister or others in the Chamber that many small brewers are branching out and not simply making beer but also spirits such as gin or whisky, and this innovation should be welcomed. However, under the current plans, producing spirits will send a brewer’s average ABV skyrocketing. Small producer relief will act as a roadblock to innovation. Instead, the average ABV calculations should only include products of up to 8.5%—the same amount that actually qualifies for relief.

The Treasury also needs to urgently clarify some issues around its simplification of ABV bands surrounding SBR. It is welcome that SBR will now apply to beer below 2.8%. That can only encourage a trend of lower alcohol beer to aid in healthier drinking habits. However, will this affect brewers that currently receive up to 50% relief on beer between 2.9% and 3.4%. There is zero clarity on this and brewers need an answer. I urge the Minister to address this in his response.

Furthermore, under the current proposals, the Treasury is planning to introduce a reduced rate of about 5% for draught products below 8.5% ABV in large containers of at least 40 litres. This is a positive step forward, but why stop there? The Minister will be aware of SIBA’s “make it 20” campaign. Small brewers and community pubs often use 20 or 30 litre containers to keep the beer fresh. Even some of the larger pub chains are using that size of containers because of the freshness of the product. Will the Minister commit to expanding the reduced rate to include containers of that size? Go on, prove that the Treasury does actually care about the wee guys after all. Crucially, the Minister needs to guarantee that this is full SBR, by ensuring that relief fully applies in cash terms to the lower rate, main, higher and the draught products rate so that small brewers can continue to compete.

On top of this, the way in which the small producer relief is calculated is a completely untested system. Rather than using a simple percentage, brewers will have to consider different cash reliefs at different alcohol bands, based on hectolitres of pure alcohol. It is unnecessarily complex and could act as a cash cap, once again discouraging brewers from innovating.

Brewers do not just need solutions to those issues; they need them to happen now. Frustratingly, however, delay and confusion have been the name of the game so far. First, brewers were promised an announcement on the final details of SBR reform before the summer, but it would appear that the Government have been a bit too busy over the summer to have got around to it, so it never happened. I hope the Minister will take today as an opportunity to give a long-awaited update and maybe even a date of publication for it. Secondly, SBR reform has been rolled into the wider alcohol duty review. Small brewers simply cannot wait for that review’s findings, so I hope the Minister will listen to calls for the reform to be progressed on its original timetable for February 2023.

This is not good enough. The urgency of supporting the brewing sector is possibly more serious now than ever before. Under this Government, the mass closure of pubs and breweries is more likely than it has ever been. The industry is facing a multi-faceted crisis of covid recovery, energy price hikes, Brexit and climate issues.

The brewing industry was one of the pandemic’s worst-hit sectors, with pub closures locking it out of 80% of its sales. Production fell by 40% in 2020 and remained 16% below 2019 levels in 2021. On average, each small brewer came out of the pandemic with £30,000 of debt. The Scottish Government’s brewers support fund provided millions of pounds of direct support for the sector, but there was no equivalent from the Westminster Government, whose wider package of hospitality support failed to include hundreds of brewers. As a result, the UK lost 160 active brewers during the pandemic and has lost between 40 and 60 more this year.

Yet there is a growing consensus in the sector that the current crisis is far more worrying than even at the height of the pandemic. Skyrocketing energy bills are putting brewers’ futures at risk. One Midlothian brewer told me that their electricity bill was currently triple what it had been a year ago, at an unimaginable £90,000 a year. They estimated that by next year it would reach £180,000. Another local brewer is paying £21,600 more on energy this year than it did last year, almost enough to hire yet another a new employee.

The energy crisis also has indirect effects on the supply chain, as the energy cost of producing certain materials skyrockets. For example, I have been told that the price of buying cans to put beer in has risen from 9p to 14p, leading to massive increases in costs.

Then we have Brexit, which has created not only product movement issues, but a change of attitudes among buyers on the continent. At a time when the cost of living crisis could mean people spending less money in pubs, the last thing brewers need is a complicated export processing system, but that is exactly what Brexit has given them. A brewery in Kent that was chosen by the Department for International Trade as a Brexit export champion recently revealed that it only has one EU customer left. When EU buyers look at the paperwork needed to trade with UK brewers, it seems the conclusion they come to is, “Why bother?”.

The climate crisis is also wreaking havoc on the industry. With the recent high temperatures and drought, hop harvests in Europe are expected to be down 20% to 40% on last year, which means higher prices yet again in the coming months. As if that picture was not worrying enough, there is yet another shortage of CO₂, a key part of the brewing process, again partly due to energy prices.

There are glimmers of hope that I have seen when speaking to local businesses throughout the summer. Many are responding to energy prices and CO₂ shortages by installing green technology to help with renewable energy generation, storage, electrolysis and CO₂ recovery. The Government might not be engaging with long-term planning to adapt to this crisis, but local businesses in Midlothian certainly are. They are turning up the dial on the green revolution in the place that matters most: their own back yards.

However, that kind of long-term investment is exactly that—long term. The up-front costs can be prohibitive for many, while Government funds such as the industrial energy transformation fund are again aimed at larger businesses. Distilleries benefited from £11 million to help them to go green, so I would be grateful if the Minister would consider further steps to help small and medium-sized enterprises such as small brewers to cover the up-front costs of some of those innovations.

I am here because of Midlothian, to fight the corner of its residents and businesses. That is why I have been talking to local businesses over the summer to understand the issues they are facing in the midst of this crisis, and it is why I am standing here today to communicate those messages to the Government. That is how the system is meant to work. It would be a huge failure of the system if the Treasury were to shrug its shoulders and plough on with these poorly thought-out plans regardless.

Midlothian is blessed with many independent brewers, which are a huge asset to the local economy, the community and its culture, but the Treasury’s current proposals for SBR reform seem to put global producers first. They undermine the incentive to grow and do not go nearly far enough to support these valued businesses through the energy crisis, which is existential for many. The back and forth of four years of fiddling with SBR reform simply has to end. We need the Government to act today to give brewers clarity on what reform will look like, to address the concerns about SBR reform benefiting global companies and discouraging innovation, and to deliver urgent support for energy bills and switching to green energy production. That way, I hope that we can continue to raise a glass to our independent brewers for years to come, because they give so much to all our communities.

Cost of Living Increases

Owen Thompson Excerpts

Wednesday 16th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Ian Murray]

It certainly is. To correct the Minister—I hope it is not the third time already; I am on only the second page of my speech—she assumed that the SNP motion backed a windfall tax on oil and gas, but it is actually the opposite. The motion is not to back a windfall tax on oil and gas, but to back a windfall tax on everything but oil and gas—maybe the SNP can clarify that later.

This Chancellor is also presiding over the largest hit to disposable income since the second world war. How are any of those policies helping, alongside, as we have already heard, the largest ever overnight reduction in support for the poorest households through the reduction in universal credit and the scrapping of the triple lock for pensioners? They are making people poorer and taking more money out of their pockets at a time when everything is going up—a cocktail of Government decisions that mean the discussions around the dinner table for many families are about the worry of paying the rent, the mortgage or the energy bill or for the weekly shop or to fill the car they need for work.

Families face a perfect storm of the Government’s own making: rising taxes, rising bills and rising inflation, and lower wages in real terms. This is all the result of over a decade of Conservative mismanagement of the economy. They like to think they have been in government only since 2019, but they have now been in place for 12 years. The policies of a succession of Tory Chancellors have created a low-wage, low-growth insecure economy.

I want to talk for a minute or two about the Scottish Government’s role in this. As the hon. Member for Aberdeen South (Stephen Flynn) rightly said when he moved the motion, the Scottish Government have a stake in this and I am grateful that the SNP has brought this debate to the House. The SNP is correct to point out the lack of action by the UK Government in trying to tackle this, as we have all discussed, but it is not an observer in this crisis as it is in government and can also help.

Scots are facing the prospect of higher council tax bills, because for over a decade the Scottish Government have decimated local government funding and spent 15 years promising to scrap the council tax—a promise that they continue to break at every election.

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

I find it particularly useful that the hon. Gentleman mentions council tax, given that the Labour administration in Midlothian proposed a 4.7% increase in council tax. Thankfully, the SNP amendment to that ridiculous proposal was accepted and that amount was reduced.

[Ian Murray]

We do not want to see council tax bills rising anywhere across the country, but my own council, the City of Edinburgh Council, has had £1 billion ripped out of its budget over the last 10 years by decisions to take Conversative austerity, times it by four and pass it on to local authorities. [Interruption.] I hear the cries of “What?” behind me, but these figures can all be checked. The 3% of Conversative austerity is multiplied by four and passed on to our local authorities who are delivering these services. Councils are forced to make decisions that they do not want to make. [Interruption.] All those figures can be checked, Madam Deputy Speaker, despite the SNP Members chuntering from the back.

The Chancellor’s measly council tax rebate scheme, while welcome at £150, will distribute more money to the Scottish Government, but the SNP response is just to reflect that entire policy. The Minister mentioned this. To put that into context, there will be £150 off council tax in bands A to D in Scotland, which means I will get £150 off my council tax. How is that fair? Of course, I will be donating it to local charities, but that policy is money wasted that should be directed to those who need it the most.

What of this one-off windfall tax on the unexpected cash bonanza for the oil and gas sector? The SNP group here in Westminster has been more interested in standing up for Shell than standing up for Scottish taxpayers. [Interruption.] Again, Hansard has all of this documented. When my colleagues and I put down a motion in this House for a vote on a windfall tax on the enormous excess profits of the oil and gas companies, the SNP sided with the Conservatives and failed to back it. In fact, the SNP BEIS spokesperson, the hon. Member for Aberdeen South, who is sitting not yards from me and who moved this motion, defended that position vociferously in this House. The deputy leader of the SNP did not back our motion on BBC “Politics Scotland”, live on television, and the hon. Member for Gordon (Richard Thomson) said:

“I am sorry to say that I have not heard anything to persuade me why a one-off smash and grab on the North sea industry is the best way to deal with this crisis.”—[Official Report, 1 February 2022; Vol. 708, c. 239.]

Let us see what this crisis is doing. Shell’s profits have quadrupled, in what its CEO has described as a “momentous” year, to an unexpected $19 billion. That is $600 a second in profit, driven primarily by the huge increases in energy prices. While Scottish families face the heartbreaking choice between eating and heating, the CEO of BP is describing the energy sector as a “cash machine” for his business. Under our proposals, he would be popping his corporate credit card in the cash machine, and giving a little bit of that money back to struggling families. Before both Governments—the Scottish Government and the UK Government—trot out the usual defence of harming investment, most of that unexpected profit is going to additional bonuses for shareholders in dividends and buybacks of shares, so such businesses will not be using that money for investment.

Now we see that the SNP, after weeks of defending not backing a one-off windfall tax to help Scottish people pay their bills, has its own proposal with one line in the motion about

“a windfall tax on companies which are benefitting from…impacts associated with the…pandemic or the…international situation”.

Surely that means oil and gas. Does it mean oil and gas? Does the BEIS spokesperson want to intervene and tell us if it means oil and gas? [Interruption.] Nobody on the SNP Benches is saying it means oil and gas, so what on earth does it include? Will it not affect investment, if that is the defence for oil and gas, in other industries? Do they have any detail on how much that would raise, how it would be implemented or who would be impacted?

Does this include every business that has turned a profit during covid? What about small businesses such as the micro-breweries that turned their hand to making hand sanitiser during the pandemic—should they pay? What about Pets at Home, because of the boom in people buying pets during the pandemic? The critical argument is that these businesses’ profits are not driven by the increases in energy costs that are hitting family finances directly. It is the oil and gas companies’ profits that are driven by the crisis, and it is they that should pay a little more. It is their additional, excess and unforeseen profits that are directly linked to the rise in bills paid by millions of families, and I have yet to receive an intervention to find out whether the SNP motion includes oil and gas—nothing. Quite obviously, we can come to our own conclusion that it wants to tax Irn-Bru, but not tax oil and gas.

--- Later in debate ---

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh North and Leith (Deidre Brock). While we cannot completely swerve the growing crisis around the globe, a sensible emergency package of financial measures could soften the blow, and it is incumbent on the Government to take decisive action now.

I speak on behalf of the people of Midlothian who, like the rest of the UK, are about to face the worst income squeeze for a generation. As a former coalmining community, my constituency unfortunately has first-hand experience of Tory Government policies leaving people high and dry and struggling with hardship. We are a resilient bunch though. It should not be too much to expect a little support from the Government rather than their hindering our efforts to tackle poverty and build back opportunities after the pandemic, but there is little evidence of that from this Administration.

It does not help the economy to take more money out of people’s pockets and risk more people entering a spiral of debt and despair. Let us not soft soap this. As anti-poverty campaigner Jack Monroe warned the Work and Pensions Committee, this crisis will have fatal consequences for some families. It is not an exaggeration to say that more people will be forced to skip meals and face ill health, hunger and cold. This is 21st-century Britain; inequality is on the rise. Yes, there are global issues—I have not heard anyone try to deny that today—but they have simply compounded the crisis that we were already facing after years of Tory austerity. The ideology imposed by the Government, which we have had to endure, has left public services running on empty. We have seen drastic cuts to benefits, which hurt the most vulnerable, along with the refusal to protect pay and conditions to make sure workers earn enough to get by, the betrayal of pensioners, the absolute wrecking ball of Brexit and the half-hearted commitment to green energy investment.

As things stand, poor decisions and self-inflicted damage over a decade have left the UK without the resilience to cope when external factors such as covid or the war in Ukraine take their toll. We have had a poverty problem in the UK for years, yet more and more families on modest earnings are finding that they are being pushed into poverty. The New Economics Foundation warned that by April, half of children will be in families who cannot afford the cost of living. It should be a matter of shame for this Government that food banks have become an accepted thing in our towns. I pay huge tribute to the Trussell Trust and Midlothian Foodbank, Food Facts Friends in Penicuik and all the volunteers involved with them, but they should not be necessary. We need Government action, and we need to reduce the size of the storm that households are about to face.

The £200 loan announcement from the Chancellor is put into perspective by what is actually needed. We do not need loans that people have to pay back. The SNP has suggested a range of measures, but the Government simply will not listen. My constituency of Midlothian is not only poorly served by this Tory Government but has a cloth-eared Labour administration in the council that simply does not listen to the communities that it is there to represent. It is sluggish and poor to listen and drags its heels on bringing forward proposals from the Scottish Government that are designed to help ease the financial burden on households. Only a few weeks ago, the Labour administration proposed a whopping 4.7% increase in council tax, backed by some of their Tory chums. Thankfully, the SNP’s alternative proposal to the budget was accepted, yet the council administration continues to implement what is now an SNP budget. Hon. Members can make of that what they will. It is time for action to be taken and we need it now.

Oral Answers to Questions

Owen Thompson Excerpts

Tuesday 15th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr Simon Clarke)]

My hon. Friend has made an excellent point. He is right to champion the value of apprenticeships, in which the Government keenly believe. I had a great roundtable with apprentices in Newcastle recently, and heard for myself just what a difference they are making both to their employer and to the wider economy.

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

It is estimated that the Chancellor’s smash and grab on national insurance will raise £13 billion. By happy coincidence, at the end of the financial year the Chancellor will have an extra £13 billion-worth of borrowing, because the Government have not met the borrowing expectations. Will the Chancellor use that happy coincidence to scrap the tax on jobs?

[Rishi Sunak]

The forecast for the public finances will be updated next week. As for jobs, I am happy to confirm that, according to today’s figures, there are record numbers of people on payrolls, record numbers of vacancies, and, indeed, more people in work now than before the crisis—and the unemployment rate is now lower than, or at the same level as, it was before coronavirus hit.

Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Appointment

Owen Thompson Excerpts

Monday 7th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Michael Ellis]

I can indeed, and I know my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary continues to work on it, too.

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

We now have a Spad who is not a Spad, so a special status is being created. Will this be the only appointment with such special status?

[Michael Ellis]

I do not see this as a special status. This is a Minister of the Crown who remains Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and now has the role of chief of staff at No. 10. It is a highly democratic, highly accountable position. In fact, more so than any of those who went before. The hon. Gentleman should welcome it if he is interested in democracy.

Cost of Living Increases

Owen Thompson Excerpts

Monday 24th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Douglas Ross]

The hon. Gentleman knows that that was taken completely out of context. If he wants to repeat to the House the entire comment that Councillor Eagle made to the Moray Council committee meeting, he is welcome to do so. I gave way to the hon. Gentleman, so I will do so once more: does he agree with the SNP council group leaders who are saying to the SNP that the cuts are too much?

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker, I beg your forgiveness—I am not an expert in “Erskine May”—but I understand that if a Member resumes their seat without an intervention, they are deemed to have concluded their contribution.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

As Christmas has just passed, let us be a little generous. Have you finished your contribution, Mr Ross?

--- Later in debate ---

[David Rutley]

I will not give way just yet: I will make further progress.

The latest job figures tell a very positive story. There is now a record number of people in payroll employment in the UK, with 23,000 people added to payrolls in Scotland in December alone. With around 1.25 million vacancies across the UK, up 33,000, or 2.7% in a month, and by 467,000, or 58.9% since the start of the pandemic, there are many further opportunities for people to move into and, importantly, progress in work and increase their earnings.

Current estimates also show that the number of online job adverts in Scotland has risen by 13% since the start of the pandemic. We know the importance of employment, particularly full-time work, in substantially reducing the risks of poverty, especially in households with children. That is why the focus of the Secretary of State and the whole DWP ministerial team is on matching people looking for work with those opportunities, which will also boost key sectors and the economy as a whole. As well as getting people into jobs, we are taking action to boost the take-home pay of low-income working households by giving 2 million families an extra £1,000 a year through our cut to the universal credit taper rates and increasing work allowances. Raising the national living wage by 6.6% to £9.50 from April will mean an extra £1,000 a year for full-time workers.

To help people to take advantage of the record number of vacancies, our plan for jobs is helping people at any age and any stage of their career, as the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex (Mims Davies), is fully aware. Since the start of the pandemic, we have recruited 13,500 new work coaches to ensure that claimants, no matter where they live across the country, can access support and opportunities to get a job, progress in work and realise their potential. It is good to know that there are 1,200 extra work coaches in Scotland alone. In addition, the flexible support fund is available to remove barriers for anyone looking to access the labour market and is administered by work coaches on a discretionary basis, so it is a great tool to help people overcome their own personal barriers to work. For those who have been unemployed for between three and six months, the job entry targeted support programme provides intensive support to help them bounce back as quickly as possible, and for individuals requiring upskilling to take advantage of a vacancy in a certain sector—Members have discussed particular concerns in specific sectors—sector-based work academy programmes, or SWAPs, provide claimants with those key skills and a guaranteed job interview at the end of the placement.

For young people, who are of course most at risk of long-term unemployment and have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, we have the £2 billion kickstart scheme, which has seen over 122,000 young people start a six-month work placement across many different kinds of jobs and sectors, with 10,000 starts in Scotland alone. There are youth hubs in every jobcentre to support young people—150 youth hubs have been opened, 19 of them in Scotland—and extra support is available for those aged over 50 as well, to help them find the work they need and help them progress with their career aspirations.

We recognise the pressure people are facing with their household finances and are providing extra support for those who need it in this period of cost pressures. We must of course highlight the household support fund, which has provided £500 million of support across the United Kingdom, with £41 million going to Scotland and the Scottish Government.

We have provided extra support as well over the years, recently by increasing the local housing allowance in cash terms, with an extra £600 on average to 1.5 million households. As we look at the rising energy prices, we are working with Ofgem and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to ensure that we have the correct response to the recent pressures and make the appropriate changes where needed to increase our resilience to future price fluctuations. There is the energy price cap, and the winter fuel payments, cold weather payments, and the warm home discount, all of them making a real difference to people facing energy cost challenges across the country, including in Scotland.

So, we have done a lot. We will continue to do more. We are committed to working with the Scottish Government to help them achieve their devolution aspirations. We look forward to hearing more about them so we can help them in this task, and we are absolutely committed to help those—

[Owen Thompson]

claimed to move the closure (Standing Order No. 36).

Question put forthwith, That the Question be now put.

Question agreed to.

Main question accordingly put.