Business of the House

Debate between Stuart Andrew and Iain Duncan Smith

Thursday 10th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Stuart Andrew]

I would be interested to know how many times Labour did when she was in the office. There are five days of debate, so Members will be able to debate all these issues extensively and put these questions. I am glad the House will have the opportunity to do that.

The right hon. Lady rightly points out the issue in care homes. I and the Government are grateful to all those who have worked in the sector during this incredibly difficult time, and we have ensured that lots of tests have been sent to those homes, but of course my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health will be making a statement to the House immediately after business questions.

On making statements to the House, it is absolutely right that Ministers should come to the House—it is part of the ministerial code—and I know that my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House reinforces that message each and every time to my colleagues in government.

The right hon. Lady is right to mention the Procedure Committee report. I actually think the hybrid system has been working extremely well, but my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House is currently looking at that report and will come back to the House in due course.

I also want to pay tribute to Martin O’Neill: 28 years in the House is an incredible length of service, and I know that he was highly respected on both sides of the House.

Finally, the right hon. Lady was right to raise the issue of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. It is indefensible and unacceptable that Iran is bringing new charges, and of course we constantly raise the matter with officials over in Tehran. She made the interesting point about the families meeting the Foreign Minister when he is here. I will certainly make sure that that request is put to the Foreign Secretary.

[Sir Iain Duncan Smith (Chingford and Woodford Green) (Con)]

Like many others in the House, I have campaigned long and hard on the unfair treatment of those suffering under the loan charge—including many in my constituency and around—and I know that the issue unites the House. HMRC has historically behaved appallingly with regard to those people, including by the retrospective nature of what it has done, but now it appears that those facing these issues have been asked essentially to put their representations in to HMRC before September—this month. The problem is that HMRC is not capable of processing all those representations now, which means that many of them will not get any justice or any help and assistance and may suffer even further financial penalties. My concern is that HMRC and the Government need to add extra months—six months more would help enormously—and I therefore make that representation, if he could pass it on to the Treasury.

Furthermore, I think it is time for us to have another debate in Government time on the process. It is vital, for our constituents to have any sense that this place represents them, for us to show that HMRC has behaved badly, leaving many of our constituents in deep financial difficulty, in depression and with some having even committed suicide.

[Stuart Andrew]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right to express the strength of feeling that many people in all parts of this House feel about the issue. I will of course pass on his concerns to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor. There has been extensive debate about this in the House, and we had long debates about it in the Finance Bill, of course, but it may be an opportune moment to make an application to the Backbench Business Committee, which hopefully could provide time for further discussion.