argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
David Michael Gauke (Conservative, Centre-right): Our record on business rates is that we have consistently looked after the interests of small businesses: we have extended small business rate relief on numerous occasions; we have introduced the rebate for retail premises; and we have made a number of reforms to business rates to assist small businesses in particular, as well as capping increases in business rates. A review is ongoing and I am not going to make any announcement today, however nicely the hon. Gentleman asks me what its contents will be. It is ongoing and the consultation period has only relatively recently finished. We are keen to progress this and we have brought forward the timetable by which we will complete that review; we will have something by the end of the year Improving productivity also means prioritising investment in infrastructure. Our road network has suffered from decades of underinvestment. This Bill implements reforms to vehicle excise duty to support the creation of a roads fund. The reforms will ensure that VED still incentivises purchases of the cleanest cars, while putting revenues on a sustainable long-term footing.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
David Michael Gauke (Conservative, Centre-right): I understand the good point that the hon. Gentleman is making. There will be a need for discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that we reach a sensible conclusion to reflect the various requirements across all the United Kingdom. I hope he appreciates that we understand the point he is making Through backing businesses and supporting infra- structure investment, this Bill will take important steps to boost our productivity, creating growth and prosperity for all Before I conclude this speech I would like to comment briefly on the Government’s tax policy making process. At the start of the last Parliament, the coalition set out its ambition to improve the tax policy making process, through high levels of consultation and legislative scrutiny. That approach was welcomed by tax professionals, and I am delighted to inform the House there have been real achievements. More than 150 formal and informal consultations on tax changes took place over the past five years, and our commitment to publish the majority of Finance Bill clauses in draft was met. I can confirm that this new approach will continue into this Parliament. Indeed, since the recent Budget, we have already published more than 10 consultations on tax policy proposals for future Finance Bills. I should also add that we are establishing the Office of Tax Simplification on a permanent footing as from today, and I am delighted that we are able to do that The Finance Bill before us today, at the start of the new Parliament, sets out the priorities and direction of this Government. Our direction is simple: towards stability and prosperity. The Bill rewards work and supports aspiration through lower taxes for working people; helps fix the public finances by tackling avoidance, evasion and imbalances in the tax system; and takes important steps in improving the UK’s productivity. I am delighted to commend it to the House.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Labor
Richard Quentin Fuller (Conservative, Centre-right): I feel for the hon. Lady, because she has only one Labour Back Bencher here to support her—perhaps because the de facto Opposition are now the Scottish National party. On that specific point about the national living wage, which she calls an enhanced national minimum wage, will the Labour party be supporting or opposing it?
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
Richard Quentin Fuller (Conservative, Centre-right): To tie the issue of productivity, by which I think the hon. Lady means the record on labour productivity, to that of tax credits, does she feel that there is an argument to be made that the widespread nature of tax credits during the last recession played a significant role in the willingness of workers to job share and accept reduced wages in order to maintain themselves in employment, because they knew that the state was going to top up their income if it fell? Therefore, although I support the changes to tax credits, research is still needed into the beneficial impact they can have on maintaining employment in times of recession.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Transportation
Maria Colette Caulfield (Conservative, Centre-right): Can the hon. Lady confirm that it was put on record during the election campaign that if Labour had formed the next Government, they would have cut infrastructure projects in my area, such as funding for the A27?
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
Richard Quentin Fuller (Conservative, Centre-right): Given that the official Labour party position on the important Welfare Reform and Work Bill yesterday was to abstain and that its position on this Finance Bill is to abstain, can the hon. Lady clarify that it is the intention of the loyal Opposition to abstain on every major piece of legislation in this Parliament?
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
Richard Michael John Ogilvie Graham (Conservative, Centre-right): I am grateful for the shadow Minister’s confirmation that she and her party support much of what is in the Bill. Will she confirm that she agrees with its general direction, which is fundamentally towards an economy characterised by higher wages, lower taxes and less welfare?
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
Edward John Comport Argar (Conservative, Centre-right): It is absolutely right that we remove the levy to ensure that, over time, we bring energy prices down and so that we do not subsidise an industry that I do not believe should receive those subsidies To conclude, this is a package that rewards work, pays down the deficit and debt, drives growth and productivity, and puts the country securely on track for a secure and stable economic future, with everyone having the opportunity to benefit.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Energy
Andrew Theakstone Percy (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman mentioned the "insane attack" on, I assume, onshore wind. In areas such as mine, where people are surrounded by 100 turbines, they are driven literally to tears in my surgeries. They are genuinely concerned about the growth of onshore wind, and what we are saying is that we have reached the limit of onshore wind. We are responding to genuine concerns from real people, and my constituents are not insane for having the concerns they have.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
Michael Jon Wood (Conservative, Centre-right): It seems slightly rude to intrude on the private squabbles between the Labour and SNP Front Benches, but I am delighted to speak in support of the Finance Bill, which implements many of the measures in the summer Budget Last week’s black country day celebrated our region’s industrial heritage, and the measures announced in the Budget will do much to develop the framework for businesses in my constituency and across the country. In Dudley South, many of the businesses that I visit are thriving, whether we are talking about Pressvess, which exports to south America and the middle east, or Mechatherm, which designs and exports foundries all the way to Taiwan. Those small and medium-sized businesses are the lifeblood of our local economy and the driving force behind securing economic recovery, increases in employment and greater prosperity for our constituents. Those businesses and others like them account for 60% of employment and almost half of turnover. The measures announced by the Chancellor a few weeks ago will ensure that such businesses can go from strength to strength and create the new jobs that our communities need—for example, the increase in the employment allowance from £2,000 to £3,000, cutting non-wage costs and making it cheaper to create new jobs and to invest in local people One of the first companies I visited as the local Conservative party candidate ahead of the general election makes tools and components for the aerospace and automotive industries. Among the frustrations it voiced to me was that, while it invests large amounts of money, effort, staff time and good will in apprenticeships and in training all its staff from apprentice to the boardroom, other companies seem to want a free ride on the backs of those who invest in that way. I therefore welcome the apprenticeship levy on large firms that the Chancellor announced in the Budget, because it will reward businesses that invest in their workforce and penalise those that attempt to get a free ride I am proud that the Government have demonstrated their recognition of people’s natural aspirations. They are on the side of people who want to succeed and make the most of their lives. It is vital that we press ahead with the economic reform we put to the country in the general election in May to ensure we secure the financial stability that safeguards people’s jobs and mortgages In the past few years, we have seen spending on out-of-work benefits fall to its lowest level since before the recession. The number of people in work in my constituency, and elsewhere across the country, has shot up. For far too long during the boom years before the recession, welfare spending spiralled. We know that many measures were introduced with the very best of intentions. I do not think anybody would argue with those intentions, but unfortunately it sometimes seemed as though too little thought was given to the consequences of the complexity of the systems being built.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
Michael Jon Wood (Conservative, Centre-right): I am not sure that that intervention was necessarily directed at me. I agree with much of the sentiment behind it, but we have to be firm in the need to continue with reform while, as my hon. Friend says, being aware of the impact it will have. I am sure, like other hon. Members, he will have his attention drawn to that impact very regularly through his mailbox The consequences of the complexity of that welfare system did not help the millions who were trapped within the system, with little hope or opportunity to escape and to progress. It is important that the Government’s reforms continue to support people into work, but it is just as important to make sure that it pays to be in work. The Finance Bill moves the Government another step closer to achieving that goal. Securing our finances and ensuring welfare reform are essential to our long-term economic plan. Enormous progress has been made in the past year and in the past five years. We can see the evidence in our communities and in the employment statistics. There are more than 250,000 more people in work in the past year alone and nearly 2 million more in work over the past five years. The economy is continuing to recover and job creation is booming, which is why the measures in the Bill to secure that recovery are so important In my constituency of Dudley South, the claimant count has fallen by 29% in the past year, with 584 fewer people out of work and claiming benefits. Across the west midlands overall, the unemployment rate has fallen more than in any other UK region. This is not just a recovery for London and the south-east. The Government’s long-term economic plan offers the best strategy to ensure that that continues. They have shown that they have the courage to take the difficult decisions needed, and to put the measures in place to support working people. The measures we have already discussed go hand in hand with tax cuts for working people: the increases in the personal allowances rising even further than announced in the April Budget, alongside the new national living wage. A new, higher guaranteed wage will mean an immediate pay rise for 2.5 million people.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
Maria Colette Caulfield (Conservative, Centre-right): I promise not to take as much time as the hon. Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson), but I enjoyed his take on things I rise to speak in support of the Bill because the recent Budget set out clearly a better future for this country. In the last Parliament the coalition Government had to turn around the economy that they inherited by turning around a record Budget deficit, public sector net borrowing at a high of 10.2% of GDP and a benefits system which accounted for nearly a quarter of all public spending, which left less money for public services such as our NHS, our schools and our infrastructure. The Budget and the Bill build on that progress. This is a Budget for ordinary people up and down this country, despite what others might say. This is a Budget for workers. Four key elements support that claim. The Bill reduces personal taxation, so that people can keep more of the money that they earn. It ensures, again despite what others may say, that work actually pays; it is crazy that we inherited a system in which people are better off on benefits than in work. The Bill delivers on housing, and will make it easier for many people to have a place of their own. It also helps businesses, so that we have a thriving economy to pay for our much-needed public services. The Bill supports all those aims.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
Maria Colette Caulfield (Conservative, Centre-right): I wish the hon. Gentleman a very happy birthday. I take his point, but what has been missed from the argument is the raising of tax thresholds that will benefit people, especially those on the lowest wages. I shall come to that in a minute The Bill will make important differences to ordinary families. First, it will reduce personal taxation. During the last decade, under the Labour Government, more than 1.6 million people were dragged into the higher rate of tax, including hundreds of thousands of nurses, teachers, police officers, and other public sector workers. Our measures to raise the higher-rate threshold to £43,000 will make a difference to those people and their families. All in all, a basic rate taxpayer will be £905 a year better off. The families who will benefit from those changes are not wealthy; many of them work long hours and commute long distances, and deserve to keep more of the money that they earn The Opposition parties believe that the way to reward hard work is not to increase wages or reduce the tax that people pay, but to increase benefits in the form of tax credits. That is what Labour did in government, to such an extent that the welfare bill rocketed, accounting for about a quarter of all public spending. That meant that there was less money for our hospitals, our schools and our infrastructure Why are Opposition Members so adamant that the only way to improve people’s lives is to increase their benefits? I will tell you why: because they do not believe in aspiration. They do not believe in the fundamental principle that if people work hard enough, no matter what their background, they can achieve anything in life. A life on benefits is not inevitable, nor should it be the only way forward for working families. Conservative Members support workers by not only increasing the national living wage, which I cannot believe Opposition Members actually—
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Labor
Maria Colette Caulfield (Conservative, Centre-right): I disagree. By 2020, the living wage will be £9, because that is the level at which we have set it. For the lowest-paid workers in the country, that has to be a huge advantage. I cannot believe that Opposition Members are actually disagreeing with a proposal to increase the wages of the lowest earners.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Social Welfare
Maria Colette Caulfield (Conservative, Centre-right): There are lots of hard-working families in my constituency and if the right hon. Gentleman visits us he can see for himself that they are fed up with having to go out and work long hours often on low pay to subsidise a benefit system that historically has not been there to help such people.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
Maria Colette Caulfield (Conservative, Centre-right): I will not give way; the hon. Lady will be pleased to know that I am almost at the end of my speech so I will continue, if I may There are some great measures in this Bill to support businesses, small and large, which have been the engine-room of our economy over the last few years. Cutting corporation tax from 20% to 18% by 2020 will be a huge help to many of them, and the ability to employ four people full-time on the new national living wage and pay no national insurance at all will be a real incentive to them to take more people on. There is also the increase in the annual investment allowance so that companies can grow their business more easily. All this means employers, not the state, will be increasing people’s incomes, so that Government money can be used to fund essential public services instead This is a Budget that not only deals with our deficit, but tackles the country’s debt in a way that supports those who work hard and do the right thing. This is a Budget that says to the ordinary person in the street that if they work hard, get up early and come home from work late they deserve a decent wage and a home. They should not have their wages topped up with benefits, but instead earn a decent wage in the first place. With the breaks that we are giving to employers, we expect them to invest in their workforce in return This is a Budget of aspiration not just for the individual, the family and businesses, but for the country as a whole, and that is why I support it.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
Huw William Merriman (Conservative, Centre-right): Is it not the case that raising the tax threshold to £12,500 may help not only those in the City who are paid very low rates, but the very people that the hon. Lady is talking about outside the square mile?
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
Lucy Claire Leigh (Frazer) (Conservative, Centre-right): There are two questions we ought to consider when thinking about passing this Finance Bill: first, if now is not the right time to balance the books, when is; and, secondly, is it right that our laws should ensure that it pays to work and that work pays Let me turn to the first question. Our GDP grew by 2.6% in 2014 and our economy is now the fastest growing in the western world. We have seen an increase in jobs growth, with 2 million more jobs created over the past two years. In the three months to April 2015, employment continued to rise and unemployment continued to fall As a matter of principle, it is right that our Government are fiscally responsible. In the previous Parliament the Labour party backed the charter for budget responsibility, recognising that it is necessary to cut the deficit. There is never a good time to implement tough decisions, but if now is not the right time, no time ever will be.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
Lucy Claire Leigh (Frazer) (Conservative, Centre-right): What is absolutely essential is that we have a strong economy, because through a strong economy we can build up business. Looking at one isolated country is not a great example—consider what is happening in Greece, which has not balanced its books and has a crippling economy. Balancing the books is absolutely right.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
Lucy Claire Leigh (Frazer) (Conservative, Centre-right): I have already taken one intervention from the hon. Gentleman, so I will carry on The question arises: what are the Opposition really waiting for before balancing our nation’s books? This Budget helps make work pay for the poorest in society and encourages those who do not have a job to get one. It seeks to ensure that we build a society in which work is rewarded.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
Lucy Claire Leigh (Frazer) (Conservative, Centre-right): I am answering the question. It is interesting that the Opposition were pushing for less austerity but now, when the Chancellor increases the time frame in which he wants to make the changes, the hon. Lady opposes it The Bill reduces taxes on working people by further increasing the personal allowance to £11,000 in 2016. The living wage will improve the lives of many people across the country. With tax credits, people are often penalised by deciding to change their hours because they lose far too much of their earnings. The Budget changes that It is worth noting that Labour has proposed no amendments of any nature to the Bill, which suggests that, at the very least, not everyone in the Labour party is opposed to all of it.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
Lucy Claire Leigh (Frazer) (Conservative, Centre-right): If it was the birthday boy, I would be giving way. It is remarkable that the position of both the SNP and the Greens is that this Finance Bill does not address the economic needs of the country and it continues to deepen the social divide between those who have and those who have not. Both amendments are very similar. But on both those questions, nothing could be further from the truth.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Labor
Lucy Claire Leigh (Frazer) (Conservative, Centre-right): I shall continue. On society, it is very important that people are encouraged to work and that work pays. I agree with the director of the Living Wage Foundation that "work should be the surest way out of poverty" That is what the Bill seeks to achieve.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
Huw William Merriman (Conservative, Centre-right): I applaud the content of the Finance Bill, and I am keen to explore certain clauses within it. Before I do so, may I applaud Labour Members for agreeing with the annual investment allowance and rise in the tax allowance? There may not have been as many Labour speakers as one would expect, but those who spoke have been considered in their tone towards the Bill. However, as someone from a socialist background, it makes me sad to see no Labour Back Benchers in the Chamber. I was always told proudly by my parents that Labour was the party of Keir Hardie and Nye Bevan, and those empty Benches would be a huge disappointment to them. None the less, we can perhaps all agree that the argument is being won on the Government side of the House.
Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2015-07-21
Topic: Macroeconomics
Huw William Merriman (Conservative, Centre-right): No, I will not give way. I will make some progress, if I may, and refer to my predecessor, Mr Greg Barker, who organised the husky trip that was lamented by the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Catherine West) Clauses 1 and 2, on the income tax and VAT locks, and clauses 3 and 4, on the personal allowance and national minimum wage provisions, demonstrate that making work pay means giving workers more of their pay. Raising the personal allowance to £12,500 shows that the Government are committed to that aim. The increase in the tax allowance will take more than 800 of my constituents in Bexhill and Battle out of the tax system altogether, and a further 50,000 of my 80,000 electors will also benefit from the tax allowance increase. Indeed, my constituents will further benefit from the tax locks over this term, which will allow them to plan, save and spend in an organised manner, without fear of the Government raids so beloved by Chancellors between 1997 and 2010.