argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Energy
Mohammad Yasin (Labour, Centre-left): January is the toughest month for most people, but this year, people’s financial worries are at a whole new level. In December, emails started coming in from my constituents telling me that they are having to choose between heating and eating It is not just pensioners, those unable to work or workers on low incomes who are worried about spiralling food, fuel and energy costs, but the majority of people—many millions of workers—who are not entitled to Government help. They include the self-employed hammered by IR35 and those excluded from help during the pandemic. Most of them can normally withstand the odd unexpected bill, but they cannot now budget for the spiralling costs, income tax hikes, council tax rises and the cost of inflation heading towards 7%, alongside real-terms pay cuts and stagnant growth In 2016, the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities promised us, as they outlined their plans to cut VAT on household energy payments, that gas bills would be lower for everyone and wages would be boosted if voters backed Brexit. A year after Brexit, the opposite is true. Ministers should make good on their promise to ease the burden on families by cutting VAT on energy bills, but instead of action, all we are left with is a tissue of false promises The Government cannot keep hiding behind the cost of the pandemic as an excuse to do nothing, when other Governments have faced the same difficulties. The Labour party has a plan that I hope the Government will listen to today. UK households are already under pressure from inflation and face a sharp rise in costs in April when the cap on energy prices will be raised. The poorest 10% of households will see their spending on energy increase from 8.5% of their total budget to 12% according to the Resolution Foundation. Again, the people who can least afford it are footing the bill while the millionaires and billionaires are untouched We must act now to prevent the devastating consequences of sky high bills that many people simply cannot afford. The need to reform our broken energy and regulatory system has never been clearer. We must unleash the vast potential of British renewable and nuclear energy and we must insulate our homes. To deliver the green transition, we need energy security and affordable bills.
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Energy
Mary Kelly Foy (Labour, Centre-left): It is undeniable that the cost of living is spiralling out of control and the situation is being made bleaker by sky rocketing energy prices. The Government have failed to prepare for and refused to respond to the problem. When the new energy price cap is announced, households in Durham and across the country face a potential 46% rise in their energy bills, yet the Government are doing nothing to protect ordinary people from that hammer blow Fortunately for the Government, while they dither, the Labour party has a plan to protect households from the worst of the spiralling energy costs. The Government must act immediately to reduce the financial burden on households. According to polling by YouGov, a third of people say that a £25-a-month increase in their living costs would be unaffordable, while 50% say that they could not afford a £50-a-month increase. I do not think the Government truly appreciate the gravity of the situation for ordinary people. Labour’s plan would mitigate the impact of energy price rises by temporarily scrapping VAT on domestic energy bills, while taking steps to prevent the costs of supplier failure from being passed on to consumers We also recognise that there are those who need greater protection from these rises, which is why Labour would expand the warm homes discount and increase it from £140 a year to £400 a year, ensuring that it reaches squeezed middle-income and low-income households as well as pensioners. This, combined with our other proposals, would give eligible households a £600 a year reduction in energy payments The Government will no doubt protest that these plans cost money, but what is public money for if not to be spent on the public? At a time when households are experiencing greater pressure than ever on their resources, it is the Government’s duty to relieve that pressure. The best bit about this is that it could be paid for by a windfall tax on North sea oil and gas profits. As ordinary people are left to shiver in their cold homes or to pay through the nose for energy, these oil and gas companies are expected to report near record income in 2021-22. That simply is not right, and Labour would make these companies pay However, we cannot just look at short-term solutions to the crisis. We must also look to the future. Our energy system is broken, and it needs reform to make it greener and more sustainable by accelerating the switch from gas to homegrown renewables and by ensuring that millions of people in Britain have warm and well-insulated homes MPs have a simple choice today: we can vote to ease the squeeze on families across Britain or we can leave many to choose between heating and eating. I know which I will be voting for.
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Energy
Rebecca Long-Bailey (Labour, Centre-left): Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Annual fuel bills are expected to rise not by a little bit but by a whopping 50% when the current energy price cap is raised in April. This motion is right. To provide some temporary relief, the Government must cut VAT on household bills as soon as possible. Beyond that, the longer-term problems must be addressed We could see this crisis coming for a long time. Closing the UK’s largest gas storage plant in 2017 without a plan to replace it was illogical, and the Government were repeatedly warned at the time that the country faced more volatile winter gas prices and was becoming too dependent on energy imports, but they ignored all advice The bigger issue is the business model of the energy sector as a whole. For years since privatisation, the monopoly grid companies prioritised dividend extraction over upgrading the system for renewable energy. The generators did not really start investing in renewables until public money was put on the table, and the supply market is in complete disarray. Many smaller suppliers are now folding, creating even less competition and leaving huge market shares for the bigger players. In response to that collapse, we see the Government setting aside billions in public funds to prop up firms that are too big to fail, but with that public money comes no change in the broken energy market, no reduction in household bills and none of the benefits of public ownership If our energy system were brought into public ownership, such public companies would not be duty bound to prioritise huge returns for shareholders. They could invest in the system and in renewables, and they could use financially buoyant times to build up reserves to protect against the price fluctuations we are seeing. They get this in Germany, where two thirds of electricity is bought from municipally owned energy companies. They get this in France, where two thirds of electricity comes from EDF, which is majority owned by the French state. EDF also runs the French grid and generates most of the electricity. In fact, EDF supplies the UK, yet the Government do not think we are good enough to have our own public energy company Until the Government recognise that public ownership is central to addressing the crisis we face in our energy system, our constituents will continue to pay the highest price. Today’s motion would help them, but ultimately the Government have to look at the bigger picture and examine public ownership.
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Energy
Matthew Raymond Western (Labour, Centre-left): May I just put on record how much I miss Jack Working families everywhere are feeling the pinch. Energy prices are rocketing, housing is increasingly unaffordable and inefficient, food prices are rising and there is a global gas price crisis. Ten years of failed energy policy has left us particularly exposed, including through the closure of the Rough gas storage facility. It was vital to keep that open. That facility would have ensured some energy stability and resilience. Now, our storage capacity is only 2% of our annual usage, compared with 25% in France and Germany. Meanwhile, in February Ofgem will announce a new price cap for April 2022 onwards, under which bills can rise by 46% or £600 a year. That compares with wage growth of 4.2%. How on earth are families going to survive this increase? Without Government support, they will not. Research from YouGov shows one in 10 Brits could not afford a £5 per month increase in their cost of living, a third could not afford a £25 per month increase, and half could not afford an additional £50 per month. Almost 4,000 households in my constituency are already in fuel poverty—that is 8.9% of all households—and they will be hit the hardest and have to choose between heating and eating Inflation is running away at over 5% and it is going to hit 7%, according to Goldman Sachs and the Bank of England. As my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds West (Rachel Reeves) has said, we are facing a high inflation, high cost and low growth economy. That is why Labour is calling for measures now to reduce the expected energy price rise in April. Removing that price rise and increasing the warm home discount would save most households around £200. The lowest earners and the squeezed middle would save up to £600 on bills, preventing all the expected increases in energy bills Pensioners have also been abandoned by this Government through the Chancellor’s failure to protect the triple lock. That simple action would have avoided a short-term crisis but there is more to do to protect our constituents from future shocks. Our housing stock is poorly insulated, the worst in Europe. British homes leak heat up to three times more quickly than the more energy-efficient homes on the continent, resulting in higher bills and colder homes. The last Labour Government introduced a legal requirement for new homes to be zero carbon by 2016. We would have had a million homes built in the past five years if that had been allowed. Labour would make the green deal deliver 19 million warm and insulated homes, saving households an average of £400 a year, but the Government do not see the advantage of that. The Government have also failed to accelerate quickly enough to domestically produced clean energy, as we have heard. Then there is house price inflation and rent inflation, and the exorbitant costs that people living in this country face. I understand how hard this winter is going to be for my constituents, and I believe that the Government have to act urgently to address that.
Household Energy Bills: VAT — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Edward Samuel Miliband (Labour, Centre-left): I will not We have a Government who got us into this mess and have no clue how to help the British people out of it. They are paralysed in the face of this cost-of-living crisis. They do not have any answers for the British people, either now or in the future. That is why we are acting. I urge Members from all parties to join us in a few minutes and vote for relief for hard-working families across this country.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): I beg to move, That this House recognises the strain that businesses are under following a difficult Christmas period and two years of disruption during the covid-19 outbreak; notes challenges are more severe in some sectors; regrets that businesses are struggling with increasing energy costs, high inflation, low growth and higher taxes as a result of the Government’s long-term failures and lack of adequate support; and therefore calls on the Government to reform business rates, to alleviate the debt burden by allowing businesses flexibility on Government loans and to implement a contingency fund to support businesses with high energy costs Our motion highlights the strain that British businesses have been under over a difficult Christmas period and acknowledges the further challenges that they will face this year. Most of all, I hope that it will facilitate a discussion about what this country needs to allow British businesses to grow and succeed, in order to ensure our and their future success I hope that we can take a moment at the beginning of the debate to recognise the toll that the recent challenging trading environment has taken on many people. When the shadow Chancellor and I met a wide range of businesses just before Christmas, I was struck by the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of many of the people present on the call. The uncertainty and the constant need to reinvent business plans and respond to changing consumer behaviour brought on by the pandemic have taken a toll on many people. The Government’s press conference just before Christmas, in which people were advised not to go out but no support package was offered alongside that advice, was genuinely very difficult for people. It was because of the testimonies we heard that day that we were so insistent that support had to be offered before Christmas. I am pleased that the Government changed course and recognised that additional need I am sure that we will hear from hon. Members in this debate the effect of that short-term pressure on businesses in the areas they represent.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Energy
Alexander Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): Energy-intensive industries, such as those on Teesside, are under the cosh when it comes to the cost of gas, and not just for energy but as a feedstock in the production of a wide range of goods. Does my hon. Friend agree that without action on the highest prices in Europe, on gas transportation costs and on carbon costs, many companies could fail, costing thousands of jobs?
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Energy
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, who has put his case as he always does. I will mention energy-intensive sectors later in my speech, but the broader point is that the medium and long-term pressures facing businesses do not look much better than the short-term pressures that they have just come through.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Energy
Janet Jessica Daby (Labour, Centre-left): Rising energy prices have been described as an existential crisis for small businesses in the hospitality sector. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government must offer support to businesses in paying their energy bills immediately?
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is right. There is already a cost of living crisis gripping the country, and it has been brought on by the frightening increases in energy costs and inflation following a decade of poor Government decisions It is obvious that this requires a response from the Government. Surely they cannot be considering allowing the average energy bill to hit £2,000. Surely they cannot be willing to see industry halt production or to have inflation hit double-digit figures. Frankly, it has all gone a bit Ted Heath. Where are the Government In contrast, we have made it very clear how Labour would act. We would take VAT off fuel bills. We would take off the supplier of last resort costs, too, and we would increase both the amount and the eligibility for the warm homes discount. I regret that Conservative Members have said they cannot vote for that, because Labour’s plan would have saved the average household £200 and the worst-hit households £600. The Government have already rejected that plan today, so please let us hear the alternative. It feels like the Government are asleep at the wheel, or perhaps they are just too bogged down in constant crisis and scandal to get the grip our economy needs.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Gentleman is more astute than that. He will have seen the plan to take revenue from the Exchequer windfall and the VAT receipts the Government have already received. We will increase money coming from the North sea oilfield with a windfall tax. He will know the North sea is one of the world’s most profitable jurisdictions in which to extract oil and gas There is something else the hon. Gentleman is not telling the House. If the Government allow the national insurance rise to go ahead, that alone is estimated to put two additional percentage points on inflation. He knows that will trigger a range of further Government expenditure, as well as causing major pain to households. With respect, I do not think he has a case The businesses I have spoken to this week are understandably worried that a squeeze on households of this scale will adversely affect consumer spending. In addition, as we have heard, businesses are directly affected.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): I love it when Members bring testimony from their own constituencies about specific sectors that have been affected. In the urgent question we had before Christmas, a lot of people mentioned coach companies, for instance, which were not at the time getting the national coverage they deserved. I thoroughly agree with the point my hon. Friend has made that businesses are directly affected by energy costs too, because they are seeing their bills go up while revenue goes down. That is clearly the case for energy-intensive industries, for which out-of-control energy hikes are simply unaffordable I am absolutely adamant that great British industries such as ceramics, glass and steel must have a future, but I recognise that that will not happen without political commitment. Many of us here are from places that take real pride in our industrial strength and heritage, and there has to be a future for these industries not least because, although their domestic carbon footprint is high, if we compare them with foreign competitors they are usually among the most efficient in their class. We cannot attempt to hit net zero simply by letting industry, emissions and jobs go overseas. That is why we have proposed a £600 million contingency fund to support energy-intensive industries, and we have laid out a plan for green steel, promising to fund pilot projects using hydrogen instead of coal for production and to joint-fund new equipment so the sector can grow. However, if we want to keep these jobs and firms, it will require the public and private sectors to work together, and that brings me to the long-term challenges facing businesses because in many ways that is the most concerning picture of all. Right now, every economic indicator we have is heading in the wrong direction. The forecast for long-term growth is poor, productivity growth is appalling, wages are stagnant, and inflation is high and rising.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): I will proceed I know many Government Members are uncomfortable hearing it, but it is true to say that the Conservatives have become a high tax party because they are a low growth Government, and there is no plan that I can see to change that. In fact, most of the decisions the Government take tend to make things worse. Raising taxes, failing to deliver on transport promises and tearing up the existing industrial strategy are not the ways to increase productivity, growth and wages We used to talk about the danger of industrial strategy being the Government trying their hand at picking winners. This Government’s strategy is better described as kicking winners. Not a week goes by without some Government Minister trying to drag our world-class universities into their desperate culture wars, instead of recognising the pioneering research that, among other things, gave us the vaccine. There is the Brexit deal the Government negotiated that delivered none of the market access our financial services industry asked for, and which has put bureaucracy and red tape in the way of British exports If we are to meet the challenges of the future, it will take a lot more ambition than this Government have so far shown, and it will require a change of course in several areas. It will require reforms—significant reforms—such as the replacement of business rates that we have proposed, and policies that incentivise long-term growth and investment over slogans such as levelling up, or unproven flights of fancy such as freeports.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Macroeconomics
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): I always have time for the hon. Member, so I am not sad that I gave way to him. Yes, as we come out of the pandemic there are pressures on the global economy—we can see that in supply chains and in inflation. The question for the hon. Member is this: seeing that global picture, are the Government right not to take action, but to add further to the problem? We can see the impact on domestic energy prices, to which we are uniquely exposed because of his party’s Front Benchers. Is that the right course of action, or should we follow the route that the Opposition are putting forward, which I respectfully say is a much better proposition We are fortunate to live in a country where we have world-leading industries, but we agree that our productivity has stalled, that too much work is low-skilled and low-waged, and that prosperity is not shared in every community. With the right leadership from Government, I believe that many of our problems and challenges could be overcome The Opposition motion clearly sets out the action that the Government could take now: freezing and replacing business rates, saving the average shop or small factory £4,000 this year; alleviating the debt burden on firms, allowing them to pay back some Government loans when they are more profitable; not going ahead with the national insurance rise, which is a tax on jobs for employers at the worst possible time; and introducing a £600 million contingency fund for businesses, particularly in energy-intensive sectors, to address spiralling energy costs Where the Government have left the pitch, Labour will back businesses to keep British firms competitive. We need a Government who can match the vision and dynamism of British business, which we are ready to do. Labour is unashamedly a pro-business, pro-worker party. The leaders and entrepreneurs I speak to—[Interruption.] Quiet, Secretary of State! They do not want handouts from the Government; what they want is a level playing field and an environment they can do business in. They want the state to take the long view and provide the foundations that they need for success, and that is exactly what Labour will offer.
Reducing Costs for Businesses — House of Commons, 2022-01-11
Topic: Labor
Jonathan Neil Reynolds (Labour, Centre-left): I share the mutual respect that the right hon. Gentleman kindly outlined at the beginning, but he will accept, because this is his background, that there are 1 million fewer people in the labour market than pre the pandemic. Yes, unemployment has gone down, but of course the participation rate has gone down; it is not because those people have simply transferred across. The huge worry right now, and what is leading those shortages, is that participation has fallen. That is the true picture, surely, is it not?