argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Education
Questions: Thank you, Mr Officer Dibble Speaker. In my constituency we have the outstanding-rated Worthing Hospital and some outstanding GP practices, but we also have the Sussex and East Surrey sustainability and transformation plan, which has been rated in category 4 —“needs most improvement”. Part of the problem is that it is too big and does not follow a natural footprint. Will the Minister support local calls for it to be withdrawn, and help to make it fit for purpose and sustainable?; A few months ago, Medway hospital came out of special measures, with the improvement to patient safety being one of the most notable highlights in the report. Given the success in my local area, will my right hon. Friend inform the House what progress he is making to boost patient safety across the rest of the country?; Could I raise the issue of mesh implants, which has been raised with me by constituents? A report in the United States indicates the associated pain—the headaches and the aches and pains in joints. Are Her Majesty’s Government looking at this issue? Rather than Ministers saying that this is merely a matter for the devolved Administrations, it would be instructive if they could give me an answer, because that would help inform the Scottish Government.; The James Paget Hospital at Gorleston, which is doing great work under great pressure, has highlighted the fact that it and the clinical commissioning group have two different regulators. Does my right hon. Friend agree that it would be sensible for one body to oversee both organisations, so as to avoid duplication and redirect funds to the front line?; I have repeatedly asked the Secretary of State, and I ask him yet again, whether he will visit my area to see for himself the damaging impacts that the downgrades and closures of local hospital services in Dewsbury and Huddersfield will have on my constituents.; May I thank the Secretary of State for all the help he gave with Minehead hospital in my constituency? I am very grateful. However, one problem is that Somerset pays the lowest amount in the peninsula to keep people in homes, and that is putting more people into hospitals. Will the Secretary of State offer some advice on how we can get round this situation?; If the Health Secretary does visit Huddersfield and Dewsbury, can I join the party? [Interruption.] I will not spoil his visit. I would like him to meet our local vice-chancellor, who would be very interested in having a teaching hospital in Huddersfield if the money were available to start one up. Will the Secretary of State meet my vice-chancellor when he comes to Dewsbury and Huddersfield?
Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (Conservative, Centre-right): In principle, I would be delighted to meet the hon. Gentleman’s local vice-chancellor, but I have to tell him that the decision about where the new medical schools will be based will be taken independently of me, because I have a constituency interest in the issue as well.
Hospital Car Parking Charges (Abolition) — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Transportation
James Philip Duddridge (Conservative, Centre-right): I rise in trepidation, because this is a popular and, certainly at a superficial level, well-thought-through Bill. However, if one considers it at a deeper level, one finds that it needs to be opposed. I say from the outset, given that we are going to be here until midnight anyway, that I do not think it would be beneficial for the House to divide on it I am concerned about the funding stream. My right hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) mentions £200 million—it is certainly more than the £162 million mentioned elsewhere—so that funding gap would need to be addressed. If we have £162 million or £200 million extra, we would be better spending it on hospital care rather than hospital parking I am concerned that capital expenditure will not be found to provide more parking spaces. There will be no capital expenditure because there is no revenue associated with it. I am concerned about transitional relationships. What happens in cases where existing car parks are being built and a revenue stream is anticipated? I am concerned that this will break the fundamental basic economics of supply and demand: as demand increases, there will be no market mechanism to enable more car parking spaces in the future. The Bill is a popular move—it would be popular with my constituents—but the responsible thing to do is to say, in this House, that the plan is flawed Question put and agreed to. Ordered, That Robert Halfon, Lucy Allan, Frank Field, Jeremy Lefroy, Martin Vickers, George Freeman, Jack Lopresti, Mrs Pauline Latham, Emma Hardy, Sir Mike Penning and Julie Cooper present the Bill Robert Halfon accordingly presented the Bill Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 16 March 2018, and to be printed (Bill 125).
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Anna Mary Soubry (Conservative, Centre-right): I have been very helpfully provided with some facts that I think should be put to the House. I am told that since 2010 the Government have secured £160 billion from tackling avoidance, evasion and non-compliance and £2.8 billion from offshore tax evaders, and invested £1.8 billion in Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to tackle avoidance and evasion. I am very proud of this record. Does the right hon. Lady agree that it is an excellent record from a Conservative Government? How does it compare with the record of the Labour Government that she has always been so keen to support?
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Rebecca Faye Clark (Pow) (Conservative, Centre-right): Obviously the right hon. Lady is making a very good point—everybody wants tax evasion clamped down on—but I, too, have some statistics. The Government have invested £1.8 billion in HMRC to tackle tax avoidance and reduced the tax gap by 2% more than Labour did. We are on the right track.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately (Conservative, Centre-right): The right hon. Lady has said several things I agree with—for instance, that everybody should pay their fair share into the tax system, which helps fund our vital public services, and that everyone should work together on tax avoidance—but, given that, does she not feel ashamed at her party’s actions to block steps, before the election, that would have reduced tax avoidance?
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
James Philip Duddridge (Conservative, Centre-right): The title of this debate is "Tax Avoidance and Evasion". I thought I understood the distinction between the two, but I feel the line is being blurred. How does the right hon. Lady understand the distinction between avoidance and evasion?
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): I congratulate the right hon. Member for Barking (Dame Margaret Hodge) on securing this important debate. She has been a vigorous campaigner on these issues over many years, and has certainly been very active in the last week; I responded to an urgent question and there was an Adjournment debate in respect of the Isle of Man last week, and now we have this debate as well. The right hon. Lady said that tax and tax avoidance was one of those matters that should not divide us. I agree, and it seems to me that in the various iterations of this debate that she and I have held across this Dispatch Box there is a great deal on which we can be united rather than divided; I am thinking not least of the shared view across this House—certainly on my side of the House—that aggressive tax avoidance and evasion are utterly wrong. They are wrong for the reasons that the right hon. Lady has given: those who pay their tax fairly should not be penalised by virtue of the fact that some do not pay their tax fairly We also know, as the right hon. Lady pointed out, that tax is necessary to fund our vital public services. It is therefore entirely wrong that those who aggressively evade or avoid tax put pressure on our public services—on our NHS, our doctors and our nurses.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): I will get back to the hon. Lady on that We know that tax is important for our public services, and we know, as the right hon. Member for Barking rightly stressed, that it is important that the Government act, and be seen to act, when we come across aggressive tax avoidance and evasion. As my hon. Friends on this side of the House have eloquently pointed out, we have a very strong track record in that respect. We have raised £160 billion in additional revenues as a consequence of clamping down on tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance since 2010. We have also brought in £2.8 billion by tracking down those who have sought to inappropriately hide their finances in overseas tax jurisdictions. We have brought in £28.9 billion in additional compliance yield in the last 12 months alone, too The right hon. Lady is rightly critical of the performance of the last Labour Government; she raised that this afternoon and raised the same point in last week’s Adjournment debate. The tax gap is the difference between what we could potentially bring in by way of tax and what we actually bring in, and it currently stands at 6%, which is a historical low—a world-beating figure. If the average tax gap today was the same as under the last Labour Government, there would be £45 billion less in our Exchequer—£45 billion not there for those vital public services that the right hon. Lady is keen to discuss.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman has raised the issue of investment in HMRC, because we have a very good record in that respect. Some £1.8 billion of additional money has been invested in HMRC since 2010, of which £800 million will relate to the period after 2015, bringing in £7.2 billion by 2020-21. We will also be trebling the number of investigations of the wealthy to ensure they are paying their appropriate level of tax, as a direct consequence of all that additional investment.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): I challenge those figures: a far larger number than the hon. Gentleman suggests are engaged in clamping down on tax evasion and avoidance. About 50% of the 2,100 largest corporations in this country are under investigation at any one time—not necessarily because they have done anything wrong, but because they have complex tax affairs. So we are investing in that.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): This Government have an exemplary record on the tax take from the wealthiest in this country. The wealthiest 1% pay about 28% of all income tax. Under the last Labour Government that figure was below 24%, so I will not take any lectures from the Opposition parties on this.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): I am pleased that the right hon. Lady has raised this issue, because the robustness of this tax gap figure is extremely high. The International Monetary Fund says it sets one of the highest standards in the world. The figure is audited and agreed by the National Audit Office and is made public in HMRC’s annual report and accounts.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Oliver James Dowden (Conservative, Centre-right): The Minister rightly talks about the need for the wealthiest to pay their fair share. Does he agree that one of the most obscene things under the last Labour Government was the fact that cleaners were having to pay more tax than the hedge-fund owners who employed them? It was a Conservative Government who closed that so-called Mayfair loophole.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is entirely right. It is this Government, for example, who raised the personal allowance to £11,500, taking 3 million to 4 million of the lowest paid out of tax altogether. It is this Government who brought in the national living wage, and it is this Government who will go on ensuring that those who have the broadest shoulders pay their fair share of tax.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): I want to make just a little more progress, as I am conscious of the time and the shortness of the debate In fact, we have brought in 75 measures since 2010 to clamp down on these practices. A further 35 will come in from 2015, raising £18.5 billion by 2020-21. One of the problems is that we have been so active in bringing in so many measures that, unfortunately, not all of them have been noticed. In last week’s debate, the right hon. Member for Barking raised the issue of taking action against those who promote tax avoidance schemes. Once again, she needs only to look at the Finance Bill—all 777 pages of it; it is very technical, and it will probably put her to sleep at night—in which she will find measures to deal with precisely what she was urging us to take action on last week. We have already done it!
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
James Philip Duddridge (Conservative, Centre-right): I congratulate the Government on the specific changes they have made, but does the Minister agree that the biggest change has been the general anti-abuse rule? That catches a number of these schemes and allows Governments to look not only at tax avoidance, through tax planning, but at what he describes as aggressive avoidance, which therefore becomes evasion, which is illegal.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The general anti-avoidance rule has had a significant impact. It was brought in under this Government and it has been very effective. The Opposition profess the importance of all these measures, some of which have already been brought into law while they are calling for them. There is a certain irony in the fact that, when it came to the Third Reading of the Finance Bill that brought these measures in, the Opposition voted against it.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): Going after the tax gap is exactly what this Government are doing, and we have an exemplary record. We have the lowest tax gap in the entire world. It is the lowest in history—far lower than it was under the last Labour Government. The hon. Gentleman asked a specific question about tax officers. We need to move towards an HMRC that is ready and equipped for the 21st century. That does not mean a large number of scattered offices; it means hub offices with the necessary staff and technical skills to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and understanding in order to move forward.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): I will now make some progress. I am aware that this is just a two-hour debate and that many Members wish to speak We have covered the various measures that we have taken, and we have covered the huge investment that we have made in HMRC. Perhaps I can now turn to the international aspects. We all agree that we need to look closely at what is happening in the international sphere. On that, this Government have a record of which we can be proud. Through the OECD, we have been in the vanguard of the base erosion and profit shifting project. We have worked closely with the Crown dependencies and overseas territories We have brought in a diverted profits tax, which will raise £1.3 billion by 2019, and common reporting standards to ensure that information is exchanged in relation to around 100 countries. We have introduced a directory of beneficial ownership that is accessible by HMRC, the authority that needs to have that information. All this has happened in the last couple of years, and it is a game changer. Many of the issues arising from the Paradise papers go back very many years, but these measures are in place right now I also want to make an important point on transparency. In last week’s debate, I asked the right hon. Member for Barking, in relation to the 13 million files held by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, whether she would join me in calling on the ICIJ to release that information to HMRC so that we could go after anyone who, as a consequence of that data release, was thought to be abusing our tax system. Will she support us in that endeavour?
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to the right hon. Lady. I will take that as a yes—we can work together to try to ensure that that information is provided to HMRC. I see no reason why that should not happen.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Robert James MacGillivray Neill (Conservative, Centre-right): I very much agree with what my right hon. Friend has said. Before he leaves the international dimension, will he confirm that in recent years—well after many of these papers came to light—the three Crown dependencies and the overseas territory of Gibraltar have fully co-operated with the UK in relation to all tax transparency and OECD measures, and that they have the same tax transparency ratings as the United States, Germany, ourselves and other western democracies?
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Melvyn John Stride (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention. In relation to corruption inquiries, for example, we have automatic access to our Crown dependencies and overseas territories as a result of that co-operation I recognise how important this issue is to the public, and it is of critical importance to the Government as well. The UK’s tax authority now has more information and more power than ever before to clamp down on avoidance and evasion, because of the actions of this Government. The Government of which the right hon. Lady was a member failed to take those actions. I conclude with the words of the right hon. Lady in last week’s Adjournment debate, when she said "I have never defended the record of the Labour Government in this area".—[Official Report, 7 November 2017; Vol. 630, c. 1442.] That speaks directly to the heart of this issue: an apparent legacy of tax abuses going back many years, framed by the inaction of the Labour party. It speaks to the core of Labour’s approach to the world that the opportunity always lies in criticism and derision, rather than in action and justice. This Government are acting and will continue to leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of those who seek to duck their responsibilities at the expense of us all. Whenever and wherever they are found, this Government will continue to bring the avoiders, the evaders and the non-compliant to book.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
James Roger Cartlidge (Conservative, Centre-right): I will ask the shadow Minister a question. The tax gap is now 6%. It averaged 8% under Labour. Does he accept that if the tax gap was 8% now, the deficit would be £12 billion bigger?
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: Macroeconomics
Andrew John Bower Mitchell (Conservative, Centre-right): I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests I congratulate the right hon. Member for Barking (Dame Margaret Hodge) on securing this debate. She brings great expertise and authority on these matters, not least from her time on the Public Accounts Committee. The most important point for the House to focus on this afternoon is that this is absolutely not a party political issue. Although the right hon. Lady raised some criticisms of this Government, she also raised criticisms of the Government of which she was a member. In my judgment, the only plausible criticism that can be made of the current Government is that they need to speed up some of the initiatives they have already implemented. They have not done so in respect of the overseas territories because, obviously, we would rather those havens took action themselves—to be fair, to some extent they have already started to do so On the actions taken by the Government, David Cameron and George Osborne led the international effort at the G8 to clamp down on such matters, particularly tax avoidance and evasion. The UK introduced publicly accessible registers of people with significant control, abolished bearer or anonymous shares and, importantly, introduced unexplained wealth orders. The anti-bribery law, work on which first started under John Major in Paris in 1995, was finally introduced in this country by David Cameron in 2011, after 13 years of Labour government On this Government’s record, let us be clear that they have been taking action and have raised an immense amount of extra tax as a result. However, the time has come—this is my third debate on this issue—to insist on the same levels of openness and transparency for the overseas territories as we have in this country. The territories gain hugely from their relationship with the United Kingdom and, as the Government made clear in 2012, "As a matter of constitutional law the UK Parliament has unlimited power to legislate for the Territories."
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: International Affairs
Andrew John Bower Mitchell (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a good point. I specifically exclude Gibraltar from what I am saying because it is not an example of what we are talking about Time is short. My final point is that the United Kingdom led on the 0.7% target. Around the world, the United Kingdom is looked to for leadership on international development. International development is part of this Parliament’s identity, it is who we are and it is part of global Britain. We have an obligation, not least to our own taxpayers, to champion transparency and openness and to have zero tolerance towards corruption When we first came into government in 2010, the Department for International Development led the way with its transparency guarantee. We openly published all expenditure above £500 on the internet. It may be a cliché, but sunlight really is the best disinfectant. That is at the heart of what we are talking about today.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: International Affairs
Andrew John Bower Mitchell (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The first of my two points was about trying to tackle head-on the counter-arguments that are sometimes made by some territories On tackling and having zero tolerance towards corruption, in 2010, when I had responsibility for international development, we targeted funding specifically at the City of London police, which has expertise on pursuing and recovering stolen funds. We should do as much of that as possible.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion — House of Commons, 2017-11-14
Topic: International Affairs
Andrew John Bower Mitchell (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend makes a fair point in view of the humanitarian crisis that is afflicting the BVI, which are of course one of the most transparent of these havens. What I hope will be a temporary crisis in the BVI following the hurricane damage should not in any way detract from my argument that, in a defined, perhaps short, period of time, these open registers are essential.