argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Jack Edgar Brereton (Conservative, Centre-right): I absolutely agree. We are seeing that right across the north and the midlands, in towns and cities that were neglected for decades by the Labour party, including Stoke-on-Trent, and which are now growing faster than most other UK cities. According to Office for National Statistics figures, in the last decade the average weekly pay in Stoke-on-Trent has risen by more than £125 a week. That is due to the policies of the Conservative Government: increasing the national living wage, cutting tax for the lowest income families and freezing fuel duty repeatedly. That is the only way we are going to get out of this cost of living and energy price crisis: continuing to see people’s wages rise and ensuring people take home more. Government can put off the inevitable cost increases, but for how long? What is being proposed today would only delay them, as this is a global trend of increased energy costs that shows little sign of reversing. This measure would also not focus enough on those who need help the most, and given that cost increases are not just being seen in electricity and gas prices we must take broader action to ensure that people are able to earn more and are better able to cope with the pressures of increased costs of living. The only way this is achieved is through helping people to increase skills levels and take on better job opportunities, and getting more people back into meaningful work through schemes such as kickstart and the lifetime skills guarantee that this Government are focused on delivering After decades of decline under Labour, Stoke-on-Trent is a city with renewed confidence, and not only have we seen wages go up, but we have seen record numbers of people in work. The number of jobs available in the city over the last decade has increased by around 17,000 and the number of workless households has almost halved, such was the legacy of a Labour party that condemned people to a lifetime of worklessness and benefits, with hopes and dreams lost. We as Conservatives are determined to reverse that by delivering on the Government’s levelling-up agenda and rebalancing opportunities for our whole country, which has recently seen us secure £56 million for Stoke-on-Trent from the levelling-up fund. It is through these actions that we will see people rising out of poverty and address the cost of living challenges we face.
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Energy
Craig Mackinlay (Conservative, Centre-right): Sadly, this Opposition day debate is, I believe, an opportunity lost for the Opposition. Energy prices and how we can help the lower-paid—and all of us, frankly—to weather the storm of high energy prices is a great topic to be debating. We could have had a debate this afternoon about why that has happened, rather than just papering over the crack of the problem that we are in, which is frankly all we can do at the moment Of course, VAT is one measure that is in our gift to take, now that we are outside the European Union. It is quite funny. Labour spent weeks, months and even years trying to frustrate the Brexit referendum. Mr Deputy Speaker, you were here at the time of what I would call the Brexit wars. We remember the scars of the Letwin amendment, the Grieve Bill and the Benn-Burt Bill, when similar activity was indulged in this House and people tried to take over the Order Paper and get their way, in opposition to the elected Government of the day I hate to break it to the Opposition, but the Government of the day are on these Benches, and they have a pretty big majority. They control the agenda, and I do not think we want to go through the shenanigans of the past. However, if Labour had left today’s motion to about the first line, I think I would be speaking greatly in support of it. The first line says: "That this House calls on the Government to cut the rate of VAT for household energy bills" I agree with that absolutely and entirely, but we need to go further in addressing the papering over the cracks during 20 years of failed energy policy. It is not just our energy policy that has failed—I will admit that—but the Opposition energy policy that failed when they were in government I am absolutely delighted that the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) is with us today, because I think I can put at his doorstep many of the problems that we face, through the climate change levy, the renewables obligation and the Climate Change Act 2008, which added all those extra green and renewable levies on to our energy bills at a time when we really do not want or need them I will quote what the right hon. Gentleman said in 2008, justifying rising costs to business in energy prices. He said that it was a good price to pay and that we should sacrifice economic growth to cut emissions. That is exactly what we are doing now. We need cheap energy. We need a debate on our energy supply. Is it at all sensible that Britain and the European Union spend billions on gas with Putin’s Russia, so that he can have more money to create weapons of offence on the borders of Europe and the UK? It is a mad policy. We need a new policy, but today is not the time for supporting the Opposition.
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Energy
Benjamin David Bradley (Conservative, Centre-right): The debate on the cost of living and energy bills is obviously very important and pertinent, and I hope and trust that it is going on in the corridors of this place all the time, because it is a matter of huge importance to my constituents It is clear that cutting VAT on energy bills is one option to consider. The last I understood, I think it was the Prime Minister who said last week that it was under active consideration. There is obviously a decision to make on how targeted and effective that support might be. Clearly, such a measure would reduce energy costs, but it would mean spending taxpayers’ money on cutting energy bills for a lot of people who are not struggling and do not need that support. Indeed, it would be a tax cut for all of us in this room, despite the salaries that we are paid We have a duty in this place to ensure that taxpayers’ money is spent in an effective way and where it is most needed, so it is understandable and right that the Government will want to consider a whole range of measures to ensure that they come to the most effective conclusion both in targeting that support and for cost-effectiveness for the taxpayer. There are other options, including some of the green levies on bills, which have been discussed already, that make up a higher proportion of many energy bills than VAT. While it is true that the long-term answer may be investment in sustainable energy production, in the short term it makes bills more expensive. Reports from the TaxPayers Alliance in recent weeks suggest that the burden of those green taxes is likely to rise by as much as 40% in the coming years, and that will have an impact on the cost of living.
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Lee Anderson (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is most generous with his time. We talk about the green levies, which affect poorer people the most in society, and we talk about cutting VAT, which will benefit the most wealthy in society, such as people in this place earning £80,000 a year. Does he think that that is unfair?
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Daniel Rayne Kruger (Conservative, Centre-right): Real pressures on the cost of living are obviously coming down the track. I recognise that, and I also note the work that the Government have done and are doing to address it. It is worth noting in passing the contributions made by Treasury Ministers in the last year: reducing the universal credit taper rate and putting £1,000 in the budgets of 2 million low-income families, increasing the national living wage by more than 6.5%, freezing fuel duty for the 12th year in a row, and introducing the housing support fund for lower-income families. However, more clearly needs to be done. The debate has been helpful in identifying some of the options that are open to the Government, including the possibility of a cut in VAT on energy. I note that the Chancellor is considering that option among many others. However, it is worth observing that a cut in VAT on household fuel would disproportionately benefit those with larger homes. I think it is right for the Government to consider it as part of a suite of possible interventions and measures to support families during the current energy price spike There is one option that I have not heard mentioned today, although according to news reports last year it was probably being considered then. I refer to the policy of what is called a carbon fee and dividend. The fundamental challenge that we face, given our net zero commitments, is to reduce carbon emissions without hurting low-income families and the economy more generally. One way of doing that is to ensure that as we tax carbon emissions—as we bear down on carbon using fiscal levers—the income that is generated for the Treasury is reallocated directly to families, and to low-income families in particular, in the form of a carbon dividend or climate income, as it is sometimes called. Other countries have been experimenting with this. I accept that it is quite a statist solution and one that might not come naturally to Conservative Members, but I think it is worth considering the option of enabling the income from carbon taxation to go directly to low-income families Finally, let me make a point that I think must be made in every speech from the Government Benches. It is very wrong and very regrettable that the Opposition are using the opportunity of a debate on this important matter to propose taking over the Order Paper. I was a spectator in the last Parliament, but I saw very clearly during that terrible time a paralysed Parliament, a Government unable to govern, and the public looking on in bewilderment as their representatives serially failed them and betrayed the promises that they had made in their manifestos—
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Energy
Gregory William Hands (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank right hon. and hon. Members for their valuable contributions to this debate I can fairly describe the main thrust of our debate as: wholesale gas price volatility has caused many problems—what are the Government doing about it? By contrast with what the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) said, we have everything to say about this issue. There are two main parts to the Government’s answer, and the first is about making significant improvements to our energy supply, with more energy Our long-term strategy is about finding effective replacements for fossil fuels that are reliable and do not expose us to the volatility of international commodity markets. That means investment in renewables, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingswood (Chris Skidmore) pointed out, and in nuclear energy, which will be key to achieving that aim. In both areas we have made massive progress since 2010 and continue to do so. As of 2020, renewables contributed 43% of our electricity mix. I checked who the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change was in 2010: of course, it was the right hon. Member for Doncaster North. Renewables are now six times the level they were when he was Secretary of State, when they contributed just 7% in that year On 13 December, we launched our biggest-ever contract for difference renewables auction—the largest yet—with a goal of around 12 GW, which is more capacity than the previous three rounds combined. That was a major step towards delivering the Government’s increased ambition. We already have the world’s largest installed offshore wind capacity, which was created under this Government, but we are not resting on our laurels: our ambition is to quadruple that over the next decade. It is a proven technology that is moving us away from the volatility of gas and other fossil fuels There is a key role for nuclear. I am delighted that the Labour party supported in principle the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill last night. That is a far cry from Labour’s 1997 manifesto, in the writing of which I think the right hon. Member for Doncaster North was involved. In that year, the Labour manifesto said: "We see no economic case for the building of any new nuclear power stations" The lost time on nuclear is entirely down to the Labour party I am delighted that we have the new regulated asset base model for the financing of new nuclear power stations.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Richard John Holden (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is setting out a case, but the crucial thing is that the Government have a plan and he has not set out an alternative. So far the alternative sounds to me like extra borrowing. If it is not extra borrowing, where will he get the money to do everything he proposes today?
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Kevin Paul Hollinrake (Conservative, Centre-right): Just to make a point of detail about the context, the hon. Gentleman talks about runaway inflation in the UK, but does he accept that these are international problems? The inflation rate in Germany is actually higher than in the UK at 5.3%, and the inflation rate in the US is 6.8%, which again is much higher than in the UK. Shall we have some facts in this debate, rather than some of the rhetoric coming out from his speech?
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Lee Benjamin Rowley (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the debate I agree with the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds) that this has been an extremely difficult time. He is right to highlight the impact on businesses across the country: it is difficult to overstate the stresses and strains that businesses face, and this has been one of the toughest periods for business and industry since the second world war. From restrictions to rising energy costs, from supply chain shortages to rising inflation, businesses have had to weather an especially turbulent storm. They have had to cope with the logistical and financial disruption brought about by the coronavirus, while keeping staff and customers safe against a disease that we did not initially know much about and that has frequently required rapid changes. We remain extremely grateful for their fortitude and resilience Throughout the pandemic, the Government have tried to do what we can, in the most extraordinary period of our lifetime, to support businesses through the tough times. The interventions that we have made are unprecedented, even for a politician like me who does not like talking about policy solely in terms of input. We have mobilised, necessarily, hundreds of billions of pounds in support from the taxpayer to provide one of the world’s most comprehensive and generous economic responses to the pandemic. Our plan backed business, because we know that only by supporting business can we enable it to create jobs, strengthen communities and support the whole economy. It came on top of other pro-business measures that have always been at the heart of how we, as a Conservative Government, run a strong economy In the Chancellor’s 2020 Budget, he announced a series of substantial interventions through a business rates relief package. The majority of businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors will see a 75% reduction in their rates bill across this financial year and 50% capped business rates relief next year. We recognise that the hospitality and leisure sectors have been hit particularly hard, so there is a reduced 12.5% VAT rate to support cash flow and viability until the end of March, which has helped to keep 150,000 business afloat and has supported nearly 2.5 million jobs. On top of that, we had the £1.5 billion covid-19 additional relief fund for those who had not previously had business rates support.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Matthew James Offord (Conservative, Centre-right): As the Minister will know, the threshold turnover for small businesses to register for VAT is £85,000. A constituent emailed me today to say that as a result of the pandemic, inflation has increased and he has had to increase his prices. Does the Minister agree with him that the Government could raise the VAT threshold to ensure that businesses can grow and the money can be used for investment?
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Lee Benjamin Rowley (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend tempts me to get into policy, which is not the purpose of Opposition day debates—as much as the Opposition would like it to be—nor something that I have control over. He has made his point, however, for which I thank him We had all that support, and then when omicron came along, the Chancellor announced a further £1 billion of support for the most affected businesses, in particular, again, hospitality and leisure businesses, which had seen a steep drop in consumer demand. Taken together, that shows the Government acting in extraordinary times. I am pleased that the IMF praised our support measures as, "one of the best examples of coordinated action globally".
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Lee Benjamin Rowley (Conservative, Centre-right): I hate to break it to my neighbour, but we came out last year with a reform of business rates, which is intended not just to save a substantial amount of money for businesses in his constituency and mine, but to ensure reform and recognition of the changes necessary. Labour ignores those kinds of changes, and what the Opposition did just a moment ago is a perfect example. The Chancellor’s 2021 Budget delivered a huge tax cut to business, freezing the multiplier for 2022-23, worth nearly £5 billion over the next five years, introducing a new temporary 50% relief for the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, and moving to a yearly revaluation cycle from 2023.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Energy
Lee Benjamin Rowley (Conservative, Centre-right): I apologise to hon. Gentleman; I need to make progress so that others can come in Many large energy users have already taken the sensible and responsible step of adopting hedging strategies to shield them from some of the exposure to gas and electricity prices. In recent years, although the Opposition never acknowledge it, we have provided extensive support, worth more than £2 billion since 2013, to help with the costs of electricity and to protect jobs. Yet again, just as with business rates and just as with loan flexibility, we are left asking, "What would Labour actually do?" What is the detail behind the warm words? What are the changes that Labour will be proposing when the headline writers have moved on? How will the contingency fund work? Who will have access to it, and for how long? How will the moral hazard of those who have hedged be dealt with? What will be the definition of "energy-intensive"? How will the windfall tax work? How will Labour avoid reducing investor confidence or capital investment, ensuring that we have enough domestic energy to supply a transition to a greener future There are no answers, no detail, no nothing. This is Labour’s debate in Labour’s time with Labour’s choice of subject, but yet again we find ourselves without the detail, without the information, without the alternative—and why? Because Labour’s plan is no such thing. It seeks headlines rather than solutions, it offers soothing words rather than actual detail, and it plays politics when sober analysis and close working with industry are required I will end my speech by stating once again the Government’s belief in this country as a great place to do business. We have the lowest corporate tax rates in the G20, a regulatory framework that puts us in the global top 10 for ease of doing business, and a highly skilled workforce. It is easy to see why the UK is consistently home to one of the largest and most resilient economies in the world. That is why we are seeing so much excitement in the rest of the world about investing in the UK, not least when investors queued up to spend at the global investment summit last year. In the last 10 months, we have already seen a flurry of spending in the UK: a gigafactory in Sunderland, Ford and Stellantis churning out electric vehicles in the north-west, GE Renewable Energy and others creating an offshore wind hub in Teesside. That is a huge vote of confidence in the UK as a place to do business as we recover from the pandemic We will take no half-baked plans, no headline-grabbing stunts and no lessons from the Labour party. The Conservative party is the party for business, and we will continue to work with business and industry through difficult times to build the free-market, competitive and dynamic future that will make our country healthier, wealthier, greener and happier.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Kevin Paul Hollinrake (Conservative, Centre-right): If I were running a business in Scotland, I would want to know what the hon. Member is going to do in the future, because annual economic growth in Scotland between 2013 and 2019—pre-pandemic —was 1.2%, versus the rest of the UK’s 2%. That is bad for business. What is he going to do in Scotland to grow the economy more rapidly, even to the rate of the rest of the United Kingdom?
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): I refer the House to my entry in the Register I have great respect for the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds). He deserves to sit in the front rank of his party, but I have to differ from him when he says that this Government have provided inadequate support to the business sector. I take him back to 2010. Both parties have faced a crisis; Labour had the financial crisis, we have had the pandemic. Both parties have had to spend hundreds of billions of pounds to prop up the economy. But back in 2010, when I became Employment Minister, unemployment was 2.7 million and the pressures were all upwards. Today, in the wake of the pandemic, having just before the pandemic managed to get unemployment back to the levels of the 1970s, and having feared that the pandemic would take us back to where we had begun, actually we have ended up, as we are, I hope, coming to the end of the pandemic, with unemployment heading down towards 4% and hopefully below, and significant numbers of vacancies in our economy. That has happened because Ministers took the right decisions at the right time and targeted their support in the best possible way. It is not possible to do everything for everyone—