Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Wednesday 18th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[David Mundell]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I hope that the answer will refer to the funding formula for Scotland, as the question should have done.

[David Mundell]

The funding formula for Scotland is calculated on the basis of a basket of taxes raised by the United Kingdom Government. Scots would be much worse off if fuel duty were 10p higher, as it would have been if Labour were in power.

--- Later in debate ---

[David Mundell]

I acknowledge that the hon. Lady is well known for speaking up both for the low-paid and for those on the minimum wage. That is why I would have thought that she would have welcomed the fact that the Government are raising the personal allowance to £10,000 during this course of this Parliament. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. There are a lot of noisy private conversations taking place in the Chamber. I would like to hear the questions and the answers.

[Gregg McClymont]

What does it say about the priorities of this Government that they impose a granny tax on 367,000 Scots while giving a tax cut to the wealthiest 14,000 Scots?

--- Later in debate ---

[Edward Miliband]

This is—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The usual level of orchestration from the usual suspects on the Government Back Benches. Be quiet, Mr Burns. It will be better for your health. You are the Minister for Health. Get better.

[Edward Miliband]

What a desperate Prime Minister, who cannot even justify his own Budget. If he wants to talk about the Mayor of London, we have a candidate for Mayor of London who will cut tube fares, who will make rents fairer, who will bring back the education maintenance allowance. What has the Prime Minister got? A candidate for Mayor of London who is out of touch and was arguing for the cut in the 50p tax rate.

On charities, the reality is that the Prime Minister is not making the rich worse off. He is making charities worse off. Over the past month we have seen the charity tax shambles, the churches tax shambles, the caravan tax shambles and the pasty tax shambles, so we are all keen to hear the Prime Minister’s view on why he thinks, four weeks on from the Budget, even people within Downing street are calling it an omnishambles Budget.

--- Later in debate ---

[Karl MᶜCartney (Lincoln) (Con)]

Has my right hon. Friend noted that Standard & Poor’s, the rating agency that downgraded both the US and France, affirmed a stable outlook on the UK’s triple A rating on Friday and said:

“We could lower the ratings if we came to the conclusion that the pace and extent of fiscal consolidation was slowing beyond what we currently expect”—

in other words, if the discredited policies of the Opposition were adopted?

[Mr Speaker]

That was far too long. I call the Prime Minister.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (Con)]

A few weeks—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Let us have some order in the House. I want to hear Mr Douglas Carswell.

[Mr Carswell]

A few weeks ago in this House, I asked the Prime Minister to what extent he believed that the Whitehall machine—the Sir Humphrey factor—was frustrating reform. He assured us that it was not. According to the Financial Times, in Malaysia last week the PM said:

“I can tell you, as Prime Minister, it”—

“Yes Minister”—

“is true to life.”

Can he tell us what has happened to make him change his mind?

--- Later in debate ---

[Claire Perry (Devizes) (Con)]

Today, a group of MPs—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Hon. Members should not be yelling at the hon. Lady. It is very discourteous. I want to hear what she has to say.

[Claire Perry]

Perhaps Members should listen before yelling. Today, a cross-party group of MPs from across the political spectrum published a report into a matter that is incredibly important to many of us: how we can keep our children safe online. We think that internet service providers should do more and that the Government should deliver a strong lead on this issue. Will the Prime Minister undertake to at least read the summary of the report—I know that he is busy—and perhaps to meet us to discuss our recommendations?

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

I say to the hon. Lady, who did very good work as head of the Child Poverty Action Group, that we have to make difficult decisions to deal with the debt and the deficit. I do not think that it is defensible to ask people who earn £20,000 or £30,000 to pay their taxes so that people sitting in this House can get child benefit. I do not think that that is fair. I know that Opposition Members will walk through the Lobby tomorrow for something that they will benefit from financially, but I think that it is profoundly wrong. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I want to accommodate Back Benchers.

[Andrew Percy (Brigg and Goole) (Con)]

The caravan industry employs thousands of people across the country, and nowhere more so than in east Yorkshire, where the vast majority of such manufacturing is located. Will the Prime Minister listen to my pleas and those of other local MPs, including my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr Stuart) and my right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Mr Davis), and think again about this tax, which will cripple an already suffering industry?