Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief

Sammy Wilson Excerpts

Monday 5th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Tomlinson]

I thank my hon. Friend for his reminder that the previous Government and previous Conservative Prime Ministers were roundly rejected by the country at the last general election. People in rural communities and communities up and down the country voted for change for the better with this Labour Government and for a Government who will continue to represent and support farming communities up and down the country. Let me praise my hon. Friend on his recent appointment to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, to which I know he will provide an invaluable contribution in his continued representation of rural communities.

[Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)]

I wish you and the staff of the House a happy new year, Mr Speaker.

Regardless of the reason for the change in policy—whether it is simply fear of the electoral consequences of breaking election and manifesto promises to farmers, or a belated recognition of the importance of the farming industry to feeding the nation in an increasingly unstable world—I welcome these changes. However, I would point out to the Minister that despite his assurances, 25% of farmers in Northern Ireland will still fall over the threshold he has announced, which will have an impact on family farms because of the cost of land and so on. Having seen the disaster of the policy, does he accept that the only answer is to abolish it altogether?

[Dan Tomlinson]

No, I do not accept that. That is not the answer.

Oral Answers to Questions

Sammy Wilson Excerpts

Tuesday 9th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

Through the financial inclusion strategy led by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, we are extending Help to Save within the universal credit system, and working with banks and building societies. I know that, as a Labour and Co-operative MP, my hon. Friend works closely with the co-operative movement and with building societies to ensure that more people from low-income backgrounds can save for the future.

[Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)]

Low-income families have been hit by being dragged into tax bands that they were not in before and by energy costs, and now the chief executive of Aldi has said that unless the Chancellor reviews her raid on farm inheritance tax, rising food prices will hit those families as well. If she will not listen to the farmers, will she at least show some concern for consumers, and look again at this tax?

[Rachel Reeves]

Since the Budget, the Co-op has cut or frozen the prices of 2,700 essential products at a cost of £1 billion, recognising the impact that the cost of living still has on families, but also reflecting the Budget package that supports our high streets, including our supermarkets.

Office for Budget Responsibility Forecasts

Sammy Wilson Excerpts

Monday 1st December 2025 Commons Chamber

[James Murray]

As my hon. Friend knows, the OBR has already published its forecasts at various rounds during the Budget process. The process is iterative between the Treasury and the Office for Budget Responsibility. I am sure my hon. Friend welcomes the fact that in the Budget, we cut the cost of living, cut NHS waiting lists and cut Government borrowing.

[Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)]

The Government have had a lucky break with the coincidence of the OBR’s confession and report on its leak of the Budget details, which has given the Minister an opportunity to use the shame of the OBR to deflect from the real criticism that should lie with the Chancellor, who, weeks before, was using selective information and distorting the forecasts to cover up the fact that she was taking money from those who work to pay those who do not work. Is that not the real shame of what we are discussing?

[James Murray]

The real focus of the Chancellor has been on cutting the cost of living, cutting NHS waiting lists and cutting Government borrowing. I hope that the right hon. Gentleman, like all Members of this House, values the importance of the Office for Budget Responsibility and takes this matter with the same seriousness that we in government do.

Spending Review 2025

Sammy Wilson Excerpts

Wednesday 11th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

I am pleased that Stockton will be benefit from some of those investments, because pride in place is so important for all our communities. Some of the most deprived parts of the country have missed out on funding for too long, which is why we are pleased to be able to rectify that and ensure, for example through the Green Book reforms, that money goes to where it is most needed.

[Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)]

First of all, I welcome the fact that, at least in real terms, the Northern Ireland budget has been maintained over the spending period, although I would point out to the Chancellor that a 0.5% real increase will not enable the Northern Ireland Executive to match the real increase in spending on health and policing which will be taking place in the rest of the United Kingdom.

May I emphasise again the preference that she has given in this budget to money for a Gaelic Athletic Association ground? In blundering into this issue, she has given the Executive a massive financial headache. She requires £50 million to be matched by funding elsewhere. The Executive will be required to find about £200 million to make up the deficit, raising expectations and, I believe, creating tension within the Executive as a result. I think it was wrong for her to try to interfere in the minutiae of spending of the Executive in that way. As a general point, maybe in the autumn many people who welcome the headlines today will be regretting the tax increases they will face to pay for the announcements today.

[Rachel Reeves]

The announcements today are all within the envelope that I already set out through the tax increases and the changes to the fiscal rules in autumn and then the decisions in the spring statement. All we have done today is allocate the envelope that we already set out. As I said at the time, public services would now need to live within the means that we have set at that Budget. This statement does not spend a single penny more or a single penny less than the money that was already allocated.

On the specific issue the right hon. Gentleman raises, I am very happy to pass on what he says to the Northern Ireland Secretary and to ensure that there is a meeting between the relevant Minister and the relevant Members of Parliament.

Regional Growth

Sammy Wilson Excerpts

Wednesday 4th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question and her vociferous campaigning to ensure that we deliver on our promises to invest in left-behind areas across the country after years of failed promises on levelling up from the Conservative party. It is right that we find that money and invest it in her community. One important point to make is that this is not the total amount of funding that the Government are putting into her community; this is just transport funding devolved to the mayoral combined authority. There will be further announcements in the coming weeks in relation to energy infrastructure, industrial policy, skills, housing and public services in which we will be able to show very clearly the difference that a Labour Government are making, working in partnership with brilliant Labour MPs such as my hon. Friend to deliver the change that people voted for.

[Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)]

The Minister is right in stating that modern growth relies on dynamic, interconnected regions and that stronger transport links are vital for businesses to expand their markets for goods and services. While he has announced £15.6 billion to improve transport links in other parts of the United Kingdom, his Government are spending £140 million on creating a border post in my constituency that disrupts the transport links between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, costing businesses, slowing transport and dissuading some businesses from supplying to Northern Ireland. What will he do to improve the transport links between Northern Ireland and Great Britain for logistics? The current disruption is slowing growth and causing businesses to fail.

[Darren Jones]

The right hon. Member raises important points that my colleagues in the Department for Transport will no doubt have heard. I am sure that he is talking to them about the delivery of that project. The Government have put record investment into Northern Ireland, and we have reset the relationship. Under the last Government there was not even any conversation about Northern Ireland, whereas now I am in frequent communication with the Northern Ireland Executive, who, might I say, of all the colleagues I have had to negotiate with for the spending review, are the toughest? This Labour Government will be delivering a good deal for Northern Ireland, as we will for every nation and region of the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Sammy Wilson Excerpts

Tuesday 8th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)]

What discussions has the Chancellor had with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that the national wealth fund is used to promote economic growth in Northern Ireland? Does she not agree that the big impediment to growth is the fact that she is taxing businesses to death?

[Rachel Reeves]

The Office for Budget Responsibility has revised growth upwards from next year, and expects the economy to be bigger at the end of the forecast period than it thought at the time of the Budget last year. We are using the national wealth fund, the British Business Bank and UK Export Finance to support businesses throughout the UK, and we were recently able to announce significant investment at Thales in Belfast to create jobs in the defence industry there for the export of goods to Ukraine.

Spring Statement

Sammy Wilson Excerpts

Wednesday 26th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

At the Budget last autumn, we increased taxes by £40 billion without asking working people to pay more. We did that by abolishing the non-dom tax status, increasing the rates of capital gains tax, tightening the rules around inheritance tax and, yes, by asking businesses to pay more as well. We have already raised taxes to put more money into our health service, reduce NHS waiting lists and provide free breakfast clubs at primary schools. Today’s spring statement shows that we can grow the size of our economy through planning reforms and therefore ensure more money for our public services. The Government’s No. 1 priority is growth, so I am so pleased that the OBR has said that by the end of this Parliament the economy will be bigger than that we inherited it from the Conservatives.

[Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)]

The Chancellor has claimed today that she is building foundations for the economy, but sadly those foundations are built on sand—increased borrowing, higher inflation, lower growth, jobs taxes and so on. How will such structures stand against the economic forces that will be affecting the United Kingdom, as she has described today? Specifically, what proportion of the transformation fund will be available to the Northern Ireland Executive for the important transformation of public services in Northern Ireland?

[Rachel Reeves]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question. The OBR is clear that the economy at the end of this Parliament will be bigger than it previously envisaged—bigger than the plans we inherited from the previous Government—and the average person with real household disposable income will see their income rise by £500. We are already beginning to deliver the change that we promised. At the Budget last year I was able to announce the biggest ever settlements for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. That continues to be the case after today’s spring statement.

National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill

Sammy Wilson Excerpts

Consideration of Lords message
Tuesday 25th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Gareth Davies (Grantham and Bourne) (Con)]

I rise on behalf of the official Opposition to support Lords amendments 1B, 5B, 8B and 21B. It feels like only last week that we were all here, but it is clear that our colleagues in the other place feel as strongly as the Opposition do about these amendments, as they have returned them to us with a similar aim once again.

Lords amendments 1B, 5B and 8B seek to address two of the most serious consequences of the Bill that should concern and unite us all: that a rise in secondary class 1 national insurance could lead to a significant reduction in health and social care services, including our hospices, hitting the most vulnerable in our society; and could represent a complete hammer blow to the future aspirations and very survival of small businesses throughout the country.

We all know that the Chancellor has an addiction to creating fiscal black holes. First she used a fictional black hole, discredited by the Office for Budget Responsibility, as an excuse for her manifesto-breaking tax rises. This has led to more black holes, only this time they are very real because they are being felt out there in the real economy. The Bill before us today will create black holes in the finances of hospices, GP practices, farms, fruit shops, butchers, bakeries and businesses of all shapes and sizes, but especially the very smallest.

[Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)]

Does the shadow Minister find it puzzling that the NHS will be exempt from these changes, yet the many services on which people depend for their health—dental services, social care and so on—will be hit by this rise in national insurance contributions? [Interruption.] No services will remain unaffected, so people will not experience the healthcare that they require.

[Gareth Davies]

It is rare that questions come with a musical accompaniment, but the right hon. Gentleman’s mobile ringtone made for a great effect. None the less, his point is the right one, which is that, whether it was intended or not, the rationale for the Bill is to “protect”—in the Government’s words—public services. I could say “bolster” public services if I were being generous. The fact is that the Government are taxing public services on which we all rely and he is absolutely right to emphasise that.

Lords amendments 1B and 5B seek to provide the power to exempt from both prongs of attack of the Chancellor’s jobs tax: care providers, NHS GP practices, NHS-commissioned dentists, NHS-commissioned pharmacists, and charitable providers of health and social care, such as hospices. And it is hospices specifically that I want to speak more about today.

Hospices are there at what, for many, will be the hardest moments of their lives. They provide vital physical and emotional support to individuals who are coming towards the final chapter of their lives and for their loved ones. In short, hospices are there to look after us at our most difficult time. So, whether through funding, charitable donations or legislation, they deserve our utmost support to continue in this task.

However, as I set out in Committee, this disastrous jobs tax will cost hospices up to £30 million next year alone. Hospice UK has repeatedly warned this Government that the Bill risks a reduction in hospice services, which will lead only to even greater pressure on NHS palliative care services.

Of the more than 200 hospices across our country, around 40 provide care for children. These are children who are living with terminal illness, many of whom have an all-too-limited time left in this world. The organisation Together for Short Lives estimates that the Labour Government’s decision to raise national insurance will add almost £5 million to the annual cost of providing care for seriously ill children and their families. Let us be clear: this will mean that every children’s hospice in England alone will need to spend an average of £140,000 more just to maintain services for the children in their care, after paying the additional tax that this Bill will impose. The Government cannot seriously be demanding that staff and volunteers at charitable children’s hospices—the very people who already give their heart and soul to look after sick and dying children—fundraise their share of £5 million next year alone just to keep their lights on and their doors open.

At Treasury questions on 21 January, the Chancellor stated, in response to an excellent question from my Lincolnshire colleague, my right hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh), that the settlement for hospices announced by the Health and Social Care Secretary just before Christmas includes money to specifically “compensate” hospices for the national insurance increase. That is not correct, and I am pleased that at least this Minister has tried to acknowledge that point.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dave Doogan (Angus and Perthshire Glens) (SNP)]

The Lords amendments seek to address a clear, present and insurmountable financial challenge for significant elements of health and social care delivery in all our communities. The Government say, in the most spurious and disingenuous way, as though they did not understand their role in the health service, that social care providers, GPs, dentists and pharmacies are contractors. How they are dealt with by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is irrelevant. It is the role that they fulfil in our society and in the delivery of health and social care services that is at stake. These are not contractors that can go and develop new markets somewhere else. Their market is exclusively within the NHS and health and social care up and down these islands. Many properly commercial businesses will not manage to pivot their way out of this attack from Labour—and GP practices, pharmacies, care providers, nurseries and hospices certainly will not.

I want to mention hospices. When Macmillan Cancer Support speaks, no matter what colour our rosette, we should listen. It has highlighted clearly what the measures mean for end-of-life care. There have been 15 years of chaos in the United Kingdom, most of it economic; there has been the lost decade of Brexit, and its catastrophic effect on the UK’s economy and the material welfare of people up and down these islands. I ask: who can we blame? Who is culpable? Who has their fingerprints all over it? Not terminally ill children in hospices, who will, as a result of the Bill, suffer as a result of the debilitating effect on the care with which they are provided. The Minister and his Government could do a simple thing: give hospices a derogation from the grasping hand of the Bill, and protect children in the worst imaginable circumstances.

From the outset, the Government’s fiscal misadventure has been met with opprobrium from all manner of sections of the economy and society, but they have held firm. I pay tribute to the Minister; he fronts up here every time with a smile, and does his best to defend what he has to. That is his job, and I do not judge him for that, but the bottom line is that the Government have yielded, not to children in hospitals, or to people trying to deliver social care and free up hospital beds by preventing delayed discharge, but to the bankers by restoring their bonuses, and to the non-doms who want all the benefits of living in this country but do not want to pay for it. That speaks volumes about what a Labour Government in this day and age are all about.

[Sammy Wilson]

I hope that I can have this intervention without a musical interlude. I apologise to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for having my phone switched on. Will the hon. Member accept that not only are services likely to be affected, as he has outlined, but the Government’s aim of raising additional revenue will be affected as well? As he pointed out, they have given in to the bankers and non-doms because of the fear of losing revenue. Anecdotally, we know that many businesses, whether those supporting the national health service or other small businesses, will cut back on the number of staff that they employ because they cannot afford them, and that will lead to a loss of national insurance and tax contributions. It could be an own goal for the Government if they cause pain to businesses but do not get any revenue from it.

[Dave Doogan]

I agree entirely. This is a £24 billion fiscal drag that is intended to create growth. Work that one out if you can, because it is beyond my ken. The Government will not make derogations for key elements of health and social care, because the benefit of the £24 billion drag on the economy that the right hon. Gentleman pointed out is, after compensation, already down £10 billion. If they compensate the people who they definitely should, such as GPs, pharmacies, care providers and hospices, that would take it down to somewhere around £7 billion or £8 billion. What type of Chancellor and Treasury orthodoxy says, “We place a £24 billion burden on the economy in exchange for an £8 billion return for the Treasury”? It is absolutely catastrophic. It is misadventure writ large, and it has Labour as its logo.

Growing the UK Economy

Sammy Wilson Excerpts

Wednesday 29th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones]

My hon. Friend knows that I have long been an advocate and campaigner for climate justice and our net zero plans, but I am clear that by working with partners and investors to unlock investment in the UK, we will also unlock investment in the net zero transition, and get the industry, the jobs and the capabilities that we need to deliver a net zero future. That will allow people across the country to do other things that they want to do, such as go on holiday.

[Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)]

As I listened to the Chief Secretary declare that this is all about putting our country on a new path towards a brighter future, I was reminded of a wee song that we used to sing when we were children: “There is a happy land, but it’s far, far away.” Unfortunately, many of these projects are long term. They will not be delivered even in the lifetime of this Parliament, and they will not offset the anti-growth policies that the Government have already announced, which are devastating industry.

The Chief Secretary said that he wants to deliver for people in every part of the country, but there was not one mention of a project in Northern Ireland, or any indication of what the Government will do with the anti-growth impacts of the protocol and the Windsor framework. What is there in the statement for the people of Northern Ireland and for growth prospects in Northern Ireland?

[Darren Jones]

We always get a bit grumpy as we get older, don’t we, Madam Deputy Speaker? But I agree with the right hon. Gentleman: we should go back to our childhoods and sing the song of that bright future that is ahead for all of us. It will cheer our spirits and lift the House as we look forward to the future with positivity.

Look, we have made announcements today that will benefit the Northern Ireland economy, not least in the aerospace, life sciences and pharmaceutical sectors. On a recent visit to Northern Ireland, I heard about the businesses innovating and investing in these spaces, and they will benefit from the announcements today. As he knows, the Government are in negotiations with our counterparts in Europe to improve trade barriers, which I am sure, in time, will benefit the Northern Ireland economy as well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Sammy Wilson Excerpts

Tuesday 21st January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

I had to do a once-in-a-generation Budget in October to fix the mess in the public finances left by the previous Government. I will never have to do a Budget like that again because we have now fixed that terrible inheritance.

[Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)]

Devastating changes to inheritance tax, increased environmental costs because of net zero policies, and diversion of farming support to foreign countries—with those kinds of policies, how does the Chancellor ever expect to generate economic growth in rural areas?

[Rachel Reeves]

Bringing stability back to our economy by fixing the public finances is the No. 1 thing we can do to help businesses to grow, alongside our planning reforms to make it easier to build things in Britain and our reforms to the pension system to help businesses access long-term patient capital. As for agricultural property relief, the latest figures show that the top 7% of claims—117 claims—accounted for 40% of the total value of the relief, costing the taxpayer £219 million. We cannot afford to carry on like that, which is why we made those progressive and fair reforms in the Budget.