Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Tony Baldry Excerpts

Friday 20th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Sir Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con)]

I appreciate that time is tight, so a full version of my speech will be on my website: www.tonybaldry.co.uk.

First, in my capacity as Second Church Estates Commissioner and soon-to-be chair of the Church Buildings Council, I should like sincerely to thank the Chancellor for the £40 million announced in the Budget towards the repair of church roofs. That is in addition to the £15 million made available for the church roof funds by the Chancellor a little while ago, and the £20 million made available for repairs to our cathedrals. In the past year the Chancellor has made available £75 million for the repair and restoration of cathedrals and churches, and that is in addition to the money he made available earlier in this Parliament to offset for churches and cathedrals the costs of VAT on repairs and renovation. I can think of no similar time when any Chancellor has made available such sums for church and cathedral repair.

For many people the presence of a church in their community is symbolic of the nation and a source of support and comfort even for those who are not regular churchgoers, and we are constantly seeing what more we can do to make church buildings more serviceable to the wider community so that they can be used as much as possible, and not simply for Sunday worship.

Not surprisingly, immediately after the Budget statement the Archbishop of Canterbury tweeted that

“money for church repairs will create local skilled jobs, improve community facilities and protect heritage, most welcome.”

As a trustee and member of the organising committee of Agincourt 600, may I also sincerely thank the Chancellor for the £1 million that he has allocated for the commemoration of our victory at Agincourt? There is a broader point here: the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport have been able to give support to cathedrals and churches, the 600th anniversary of Agincourt and other things only because the Government’s long-term economic plan is working and, as a consequence, the Chancellor has the necessary financial resources.

This year’s Budget has to be seen against the achievements of the past five years. The coalition Government inherited an unholy mess from the Labour Government of the right hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Mr Brown). There was an enormous public deficit. Perhaps the most appropriate epitaph on the last Labour Government was the very telling note left by the last Labour Chief Secretary, which simply said, “Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid to tell you there’s no money left.”

Under the Chancellor, the mending of the public finances is well under way. The Treasury has stuck to its spending plans, and the gap between what the Government receive in tax and what they spend will be roughly half what it was when Labour left office in 2010. Moreover, falling inflation means that the deficit in 2015-16 is likely to be £2 billion to £3 billion lower even than the amount pencilled in by the OBR at the time of last year’s autumn statement.

Britain now has the fastest-growing economy in the world. Its growth last year was faster than that in any other major industrial economy, including the United States. More than half a million new jobs were created last year alone and unemployment is half what it is in the eurozone. The other day, I asked my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions:

“In the past five years, how many people have moved from benefits into work?”

He replied:

“The record now for people moving from benefits into work is remarkable. Some 600,000 have moved back into work. Peak to peak, the figure is over 800,000, and we have many, many more people back in employment. There have never been as many people in work and that number is still growing, with some 700,000 vacancies in the jobcentres every week.”—[Official Report, 9 March 2015; Vol. 594, c. 20.]

We now have the lowest claimant count since 1975.

That significant and sustained fall in unemployment is reflected in my constituency. When I was first elected more than 30 years ago, the unemployment rate in and around Banbury was over 14%. Today, the unemployment rate in my constituency is significantly lower than 1%. The Banbury jobcentre, according to Jobcentre Plus, has just 17 claimants who have claimed continuously for two years and can be considered to be long-term unemployed. The most recent data show that 97.8% of claimants in the Banbury constituency leave jobseeker’s allowance within 12 months of their claim.

It is worth recalling that after my right hon. Friend the Chancellor’s first Budget in 2010, the temporary leader of the Labour party, who is now the deputy leader of the Labour party, claimed that the 2010 Budget would “throw” thousands of people out of work. Labour was wrong about that, as it was with all its other forecasts. It is worth recalling all the numerous scare stories that have been run by Labour, such as the suggestion that there would be a triple-dip recession, all of which have turned out to be completely unfounded. At no time during any Labour Government have so many jobs been created in such a short period of time as has happened on the Chancellor’s watch since 2010.

The increase in economic activity is not restricted to London and the south-east, but is being felt across the UK. Business investment is higher than it was a year ago and the latest trade figures show that the gap between exports and imports is narrowing. It is not surprising that the OBR has upgraded its growth forecast this year from 2.4% at the time of last year’s autumn statement.

North Oxfordshire has a vibrant economy based on a large number of small and medium-sized businesses, many of which will very much welcome the Chancellor’s wide-ranging review of business rates. I represent two market towns, and I am sure that high street shops in particular will welcome the business rates review. They feel that the present system places them at a disadvantage compared with online competitors, because business rates are charged only on bricks and mortar. One cannot create jobs without successful businesses.

Business rates are in need of far-reaching reform. The system means that some small shops on busy high streets pay high rates, while online giants such as Amazon, which have large warehouses in cheaper locations, pay less. We need a resurgence of help for independent shops so that they can compete fairly with online businesses. Victoria Prentis, my successor as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for north Oxfordshire, is already organising meetings with the local business community, so that she can hear first-hand their thoughts and views on the Government’s consultation on business rates.

It is clear that the Chancellor is determined to help hard-working people by raising tax allowances. He has increased the amount that people can earn without paying income tax. In last year’s autumn statement, he said that the personal allowance will be £10,600 from this April. In the Budget, he announced further progress by outlining his plans to raise the personal allowance to £10,800 next year and £11,000 the year after. Let us be clear about what the Chancellor has achieved: the Budget means big tax cuts for families, because significant increases in personal allowances are tax cuts. As a consequence of the Budget, 27 million people will have their taxes cut through the raising of personal allowances. Through the raising of tax allowances, almost 4 million people on low wages have been taken out of the income tax system altogether. That is a very popular policy. It is what people want.

Many people also want to own their own home. I very much welcome the fact that first-time buyers will be able to benefit from a new Help to Buy ISA, which will offer a tax-free way of saving to buy their first home. The Treasury estimates that 285,000 first-time buyers will use the scheme every year. Someone who is trying to save a 10% deposit for a £150,000 home will have to save £12,000 and the Government will contribute £3,000, taking the total to £15,000. It is effectively a tax cut for first-time buyers.

I welcome the fact that Cherwell district council in my constituency is taking the lead in promoting more housing, with a new garden city at Bicester and the largest self-build scheme in Europe. The Help to Buy ISA will give further assistance to those self-builders, as well as to other first-time buyers in my constituency and elsewhere.

There is a lot more that I could say in support of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor’s Budget. However, colleagues and other people will have to read it on my website, because I am conscious that many other Members wish to speak in this debate. This will almost certainly be my last speech in the House of Commons. I am glad that I have been able to make it in support of the Chancellor’s Budget.

In 47 days, the nation will go to the polls. People will have a straightforward choice as to whom they wish and whom they trust to be Prime Minister: the Leader of the Opposition or my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister. I have every confidence that the nation will put its trust in the Prime Minister. I, like every other Conservative Member, will spend the next 47 days bending every sinew to help ensure the Prime Minister’s return to government and No.10 on 7 May.

Oral Answers to Questions

Tony Baldry Excerpts

Tuesday 10th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

The hon. Gentleman will surely be delighted at the news from the IFS and other forecasters that real wages are now rising at a higher rate than inflation, and it is thanks to our long-term economic plan that inflation is so low. We have had council tax cuts and fuel duty freezes, and we have done everything we can by raising personal tax-free allowances to enable people to benefit from a recovering economy, but we can only do it by sticking to a long-term economic plan.

[Sir Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con)]

Am I right in thinking that universal credit will replace working tax credits and child tax credits, making 3 million households better off by an average of £177 per month and improving work incentives by allowing people to keep more of their income as they move into work?

[Andrea Leadsom]

Yes, my right hon. Friend is exactly right. Universal credit is a major reform that will transform the welfare state in Britain for the better. It will replace the current complex system of means-tested working-age benefits, including tax credits, and make 3 million households better off by on average £177 a month.

Mutuals’ Deferred Shares Bill [Lords]

Tony Baldry Excerpts

Friday 6th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Sir Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con)]

I beg to move amendment 1, page 2, line 14, leave out clause 2.

[Mr Speaker]

With this it will be convenient to discuss amendment 2, in title, line 3, leave out from “shares;” to end.

[Sir Tony Baldry]

I should make it clear at the outset that the Bill is an extremely valuable and useful one. The House is grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff North (Jonathan Evans) for promoting it here. The Bill started in the other place, where there was a comparatively short debate on Second Reading and no Committee stage. I believe that, because time was short, the Government Minister said to the Bill’s promoter, Lord Naseby, “If you agree to certain amendments, we will support the Bill. If you do not, we will not support it.” Lord Naseby, being a very wise former Deputy Speaker of the Commons, agreed to the amendments and came to a sensible compromise. The Bill came to the House of Commons and was debated in Committee, which was skilfully navigated by my hon. Friend, because he managed to persuade the Chair to have one debate on all the clauses. There was no reference whatever to clause 2 during the debate.

The reason I tabled amendment 1 as a probing amendment is that there is potentially a conflict in the Bill. The Bill seeks to help mutuals to raise further money, funds and solvency. On the other hand, it says that however much anyone invests in a mutual, they will get only a single vote. I will describe this in more detail in a second, but the European Union Commission has proposed a statute for European mutuals. Under that proposed European law, members of a mutual would have more than one vote, and decisions would be made by a majority vote. The potential conflict is this: how do we encourage people to invest in mutuals but at the same time tell them that, however much they put in, they will get only a single vote?

Mutuals are an important part of what is known more broadly as the social economy, which staggeringly accounts for 10% of all European undertakings—the amount undertaken by mutuals in the UK is less than the amount undertaken by mutuals in other EU member states. Mutuals have been described as voluntary groups of persons whose purpose is primarily to meet the needs of their members rather than to achieve a return on investment. All hon. Members will recall mutuals in their constituencies that go back to the 18th or 19th centuries—they would have been set up in workplaces or neighbourhoods to provide sickness help, funeral cover and various reliefs of that kind, some of which were overtaken by the Beveridge report and the welfare state. There has always been a sense of each person making a contribution and getting something out.

Mutuals were put into difficulty because of the so-called solvency II directive, which called for increased solvency margins, but there are differences between different financial services providers. Smaller and medium-sized mutuals are often focused on one risk or cover one homogenous group. As a consequence, they have more difficulties in acquiring risk capital compliance with the solvency II rules. That has significant consequences for them and can result in their dissolution. As I understand it, the Bill seeks to deal with that conundrum in the solvency rules.

The basic principles behind the solvency II directive, which was adopted in 2009 and came into force in 2013, are that insurance institutions in Europe should be based on a better risk assessment, better spreading of risks and better financial foundations so as to improve the stability of the market and reinforce consumer protection—all sensible stuff. The main innovation introduced by the directive is that in establishing an improved foundation for the insurance sector, the directive concerns more than only the capital solvency requirements as they existed at the time, and it also lays down rules on the whole organisation of insurance takings in Europe. Within the European Union, it also concerns the taking up and pursuit of self-employment activities—the direct insurance and reinsurance, the supervision of insurance and reinsurance groups and the reorganisation and winding up of direct insurance undertakings.

[Jonathan Evans (Cardiff North) (Con)]

For the avoidance of doubt, I should call attention to my interests in this respect. I am the chairman of a regulated insurance company, but it is not a mutual company. I was on the board of a mutual company but not since I have been a Member of Parliament.

My right hon. Friend mentions solvency II, but it is important to remember that that is an effort by Europe to catch up with a regime that has already been in operation in the United Kingdom for 10 years or so. The issue that he has outlined in relation to better risk assessment is something that our regulators required companies to do a decade or more ago. Europe is catching up in that regard.

[Sir Tony Baldry]

I have no doubt that Europe is seeking to catch up with the United Kingdom in many instances, but in reality the Bill is trying to square the circle of how mutuals manage to cope with increasing solvency requirements, whether imposed by domestic legislation or by EU directives. One of the interesting factors of mutuals is that at present they cannot and do not cross national boundaries. If a mutual wants to trade in more than one EU member state, it can do so at present only by setting up a joint stock company to manage the variations in the regulations and laws between the different member countries.

I would be interested to learn from the Minister—I am pleased to see her in her place on the Treasury Bench—what approach the Government think they should take to legislation that would make it easier for mutuals to operate across Europe and, especially if the UK is in the lead in certain aspects of mutual activity, how we could take better advantage of that. The EU internal market rules apply generally to the operators insurance sector, but it is predominantly attuned to for-profit companies, and it is widely acknowledged that the rules do not always recognise the specific position of other company forms such as mutuals.

Within the framework of completing the internal market, with a view to allowing the free movement of people, goods, services and capital with equal terms of competition between different sectors and legal forms in the same markets, way back in 1992, the European Commission proposed regulations for a European mutuals statute, together with statutes for co-operatives and associations, in order to improve the legal embedding of the social economy in the European Community. Each draft regulation was supplemented by a directive on the involvement of employees. In the opinion of the Commission, mutuals, like other organisations within the social economy, should have been able to take advantage of the single market in exactly the same way as other companies, without having to discard their specific characteristics. It was considered that a European statute would help mutuals overcome the legal and administrative difficulties hampering their cross-border and transnational activities and co-operation in the internal market.

Returning to my amendments, the draft regulations were revised in 1993 and a statute proposed for European mutuals, including provisions for members of a mutual to have more than one vote and for decisions to be taken by a majority vote. I would be interested to hear from my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff North and the Minister how they see this circle being squared—there is the perfectly understandable desire to get more money into mutual societies so that they can meet the solvency requirements, but how can that be done if those who invest substantial amounts get only a single vote? Given the history and record of mutual societies in this country, would it not be more sensible to use European-wide legislation that would enable UK mutuals to work and win business elsewhere in Europe, without companies having to go through the rigmarole of setting up joint stock companies to act as a bridge between other mutual societies in other member states?

[Jonathan Evans]

Having spoken to my right hon. Friend the Member for Banbury (Sir Tony Baldry) earlier, I know that he is a friend of the mutuals sector and that his aim is not to undermine the intention of the Bill.

[Sir Tony Baldry]

I come to praise my hon. Friend’s Bill, not to bury it.

[Jonathan Evans]

I am much aware of that. My right hon. Friend and I have spoken about this matter and I know that that is his motivation.

I do not know whether this will help my right hon. Friend’s career—he and I are both leaving the House, so perhaps it does not matter—but we are good Europeans. We have always understood that it is in our country’s interests to engage positively with Europe, so I am pleased by his references to the European landscape. Most of my colleagues are aware that, having served in the House in the 1990s, I then spent a decade in the European Parliament as an MEP and for some of that time I was leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament. The two aspects he has drawn to the House’s attention—the potential European mutuals statute and the debate about the European solvency rules—are matters that I have spent pretty much a decade of my life arguing about.

Given that my right hon. Friend drew attention to the European mutuals statute and quoted the original 1992 provisions and the 1993 revision, it might be worth pointing out that the important word, which he mentioned, was “draft”. The draft was produced, but there was then a long period of decided inactivity. In fact, those of us elected to the European Parliament first in 1999 had to engage in a major effort to get the issue of the European mutuals statute on to the European agenda. Given that, although my right hon. Friend referred to the restriction on voting rights in clause 2—which, he rightly said, might be inconsistent with a report produced more than 20 years ago—it is important to see that report in its context.

--- Later in debate ---

My right hon. Friend raised the matter of legislation that would allow mutuals to operate across Europe. The Government certainly want to promote the continued liberalisation of the European single market, and I would welcome comments from the industry regarding barriers to mutuals trading across Europe, as it has not previously raised the issue. In conclusion, I hope that my right hon. Friend will be minded to withdraw the amendment.

[Sir Tony Baldry]

Having heard the cogent and compelling arguments from my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff North (Jonathan Evans) and the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.



Third Reading

--- Later in debate ---

[Sir Tony Baldry]

My hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff North (Jonathan Evans) is owed a debt of thanks from the House for navigating the Bill through the Commons and it is clear that he has strong family reasons for doing so.

It is worth observing that half the UK insurance market was mutual as recently as 1995, but since then, in just over 20 years, it has shrunk to just over 7.5%. Mutual insurers have 50% of the market share in Holland and 45% in Germany and I think that in this country the insurers demutualised in large part because they needed to raise additional capital and improve the services they thought they were offering to their customers.

During the debate on the amendments, my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff North made a telling point. What is important to investors in mutuals, as for those investing in any other financial instrument, is the return on their investment. Sometimes, the process of demutualisation has not been helpful to policyholders because in many instances since that process they have seen falling returns.

Let me give one example, Scottish Widows—I think we all love the lady in the Scottish Widows advert. Scottish Widows converted to a plc in 2000 and paid out, some of us will recall, a £6,000 windfall to each policyholder. Before demutualisation, in 1998, it paid out £107,000 for a 25-year with-profits policy based on premiums of £50 a month. Someone who invested £50 a month for more than 25 years got £107,000 at the end of that policy period. Statistics posted in 2011 show that that has plummeted since demutualisation to £28,000.71, which is more than 34% less than the average mutual was paying out. As regards returns for investors, this is not just a piece of regulatory tinkering but is very important.

My hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff North mentioned Michael Foot. I, like my hon. Friend, am soon to leave the House. When I joined the House, there were three former pupils of Leighton Park—Michael Foot was one and I was another. So interested was he in my political career that in the 1983 general election he came to Banbury with a view to trying to see that I did not get elected. In the 1983 general election, Banbury was the seat that Labour would have needed to win to get an overall majority. Michael Foot had a run of bad luck, because he came to Banbury street market and went up to the first person, surrounded by television cameras and wanting a quote. He did not know that the man running the fruit and veg stall ran the bingo in the local Conservative club in his spare time. Michael Foot said to Denis, “Denis, what do you think of life?” Denis said, “Not very much, but this, Mr Foot, I do know: No. 10, Maggie’s den.”

Tax Avoidance (HSBC)

Tony Baldry Excerpts

Monday 9th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

HMRC has successfully run the time to pay arrangements over a number of years, which has provided support to a large number of small businesses up and down the country. Lord Green was a very good trade Minister—[Interruption.] Yes, “was”, because he is no longer a Minister, which may have escaped the notice of some Opposition Members. He was qualified to perform the role of trade Minister, and there is no evidence to suggest that he was involved in any of these activities.

[Sir Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con)]

Will my hon. Friend clarify the fact that the previous Government introduced stamp duty intermediary relief in autumn 1997, and that the shadow Chancellor, who was then City Minister, extended that relief in 2007—relief that Labour now attacks? Is that a further example of confusion on the Opposition Benches about how to deal with tax avoidance?

[Mr Gauke]

My right hon. Friend makes a good point. That confusion was followed by the weekend’s confusion whereby countries that do not have a public central register—as opposed to other territories that do not have a public central register—are on a blacklist. Clearly the Labour party desires to say something about tax, but it is a pity that the bar is not set a little higher for it to say something sensible about tax.

Oral Answers to Questions

Tony Baldry Excerpts

Tuesday 27th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

We discovered this morning that in 2014 the UK was the fastest growing major western economy. Employment is at a record level and unemployment has fallen dramatically, contrary to the Opposition’s predictions—but, yes, we have got further to go to reduce the deficit, which is why we need a Government who are prepared to make difficult decisions. All that we have heard from the hon. Gentleman is that he is going to put up fees on gun licences, which is not going to solve the deficit.

[Sir Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con)]

Am I right in thinking that under the charter for fiscal responsibility, to which everyone recently signed up, we have made it clear that part of the savings that we are going to make involves bearing down on tax avoidance? Indeed, we have set out clearly exactly where we are going to save every penny of the £30 billion that needs to be saved. How is it possible for anyone to sign up to a charter for fiscal responsibility without making it clear where they are going to make those savings?

[Mr Gauke]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right; the Opposition have given no indication of the balance between tax and spending and how they are going to find that £30 billion. At a time when Labour Back Benchers are saying that Syriza shows the way while those on the Labour Front Bench apparently support a £30 billion fiscal tightening, all we get from the Opposition is chaos.

Oral Answers to Questions

Tony Baldry Excerpts

Tuesday 9th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

Our plans do not require us to raise taxes. [Interruption.] The shadow Chief Secretary, the hon. Member for Nottingham East (Chris Leslie), is heckling, but I have to say that when he was asked that question on television last week, he refused to rule out raising VAT. Our plans do not require taxes to rise, unlike—I have to say—those of the Labour party.

[Sir Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that a fair tax system should see everyone contributing to reduce the deficit, with those with the largest earnings making the largest contribution? Am I correct that the top 1% of taxpayers actually pay nearly 30% of all income tax receipts at present?

[Mr Gauke]

My right hon. Friend is correct in that assessment. That proportion is higher than occurred in any year under the previous Labour Government or, indeed, when the 50p rate was in place.

Autumn Statement

Tony Baldry Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I am afraid that the right hon. Gentleman is just wrong. Business investment is not flat; it is up 27% and is rising faster in the UK than in any other major advanced economy in the world. The deficit, according to the OBR document, was 10.2% under the previous Labour Government; it is now 5%. The idea that that is an increase is obviously nonsense. Indeed, it falls in every future year, just as it has fallen this year.

[Sir Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con)]

Does not providing potentially up to £100 million in infrastructure investment to make Bicester an exemplar of a garden town for the 21st century, and ensuring that 13,000 new houses are built as speedily as possible, demonstrate that a key part of the Government’s long-term economic plan is building new homes and creating communities of which we can all be proud for generations to come?

[Mr Osborne]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. I commend him and the community leaders in Bicester for working with us to secure this extra investment in the town, to create the vision of a garden town, and to make sure that there are housing and jobs for the town’s population while preserving its beautiful character.

EU Budget (Surcharge)

Tony Baldry Excerpts

Monday 10th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I completely understand the anger and frustration felt by all our constituents at the way money is spent by the European Union. That is why we are seeking reform and why both the hon. Gentleman and I would like to see the British people asked for their consent in a referendum.

[Sir Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con)]

Was my right hon. Friend surprised to see the shadow Chancellor in his place here today? My reading of the Daily Mirror was that the shadow Chancellor was going to make a speech in support of the Leader of the Opposition—I apologise to the House; I misread that. The shadow Chancellor is going to be making a speech in support of the Leader of the Opposition in the next fortnight.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are grateful, but the question suffered from the disadvantage of being irrelevant to the matter under discussion, so we will move on to someone who has a relevant question to ask.

Oral Answers to Questions

Tony Baldry Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel]

The hon. Lady will know that our economy is recovering from the deepest debt-fuelled recession in living memory. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has made it clear that there have been very significant falls in real earnings as a direct but delayed response to the 2008 recession. In the light of this honest assessment, she will know that the only way to raise living standards in a sustainable way is to tackle the country’s economic problems head on.

[Sir Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con)]

20. Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the best indications of the rate of growth is the increase in jobs, and that with over 1.8 million more jobs now in the economy than over the past four years, more women in work than ever before, and youth unemployment falling dramatically, that all indicates that our long-term economic plan is working and that as regards the economic policies of the Opposition, the wheel may be turning but the hamster is dead?

[Priti Patel]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. He has made the case very clearly that there are strong economic indicators out there that are testament to the Government’s long-term economic plan. Quite frankly, this country is going forwards, not backwards.

Oral Answers to Questions

Tony Baldry Excerpts

Thursday 1st May 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Grant]

Of course, the remote gambling Bill that will be presented later this year will do an awful lot to deal with any abuse coming from online gambling. The risks of social gaming fall into two categories: consumer exploitation and problem gambling. The Gambling Commission is looking at both, and I am happy to speak to it and to take advice on the specific issue that the hon. Lady has brought to my attention.

[Sir Tony Baldry]

Am I right in thinking that the mischief of which the hon. Member for Llanelli (Nia Griffith) complains about deregulating gambling was introduced by the previous Labour Government in their Gambling Act 2005?

[Mrs Grant]

My right hon. Friend makes a good point, and we have spent a considerable amount of time unravelling a lot of the work that Labour Members did over the past 13 years—so much so that I was happy to present a set of proposals and a package of reforms yesterday.