Scotland Bill

My simple amendment would allow the Scottish Parliament to set tax thresholds, as any good Parlia...

Surely if the Westminster Parliament keeps the right to set the initial threshold, it can also va...

That is a good point, and I agree entirely. It does not make sense. One Parliament might be tryin...

Does it not go even further? Without the Scottish Parliament having control over the rules and th...

As I explained, my personal view is that we should devolve the whole thing. It makes logical sens...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship in this Committee, Sir David, and to speak to o...

rose—

I shall give way once, yes.

That is a very important point. We always moan about tax avoidance. I have been talking to people...

I agree entirely. None of us should be encouraging tax avoidance or evasion—not least a Tory Gove...

I was not able to make it to the House earlier, Sir David; I would like to express my sympathies ...

I entirely accept where the hon. Gentleman is coming from in saying that he wants responsibility ...

The Scottish Parliament will have a significant ability to adjust the zero rate in particular. I ...

Is not one of the unintended consequences of the devolution of income tax to the Scottish Parliam...

I am delighted by that intervention, because I was going to speak about that issue later. Given t...

The hon. Gentleman spoke about the principle of pooling and sharing, and I have heard that argume...

What the hon. Gentleman is asking for is full fiscal autonomy. There are many amendments that wil...

Last week, I supported the SNP on full fiscal autonomy and scrapping the Barnett formula, althoug...

Nothing ever surprises me, although I was a little surprised last week that the 56 SNP MPs went t...

I am just trying to understand the point that the hon. Gentleman is making. As I understand it, t...

I think that the hon. Gentleman is confusing two issues. We fundamentally agree with the clauses ...

As others have said, the genesis of the clause lies in the report of the Smith commission. I have...

I rise as a reluctant supporter of the devolution of income tax to the different countries of the...

The hon. Gentleman is raising the issue of what are known in my constituency as “willies”—people ...

Yes, as I was saying, I accept there are always reasons for drawing the line where we do, and try...

The hon. Gentleman is making a thoughtful speech and he has the ears of those on the SNP Benches....

I have tried to convince the Treasury Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for South West Hertford...

May I start by agreeing with the hon. Member for Edinburgh South (Ian Murray) that we should put ...

rose—

I would like to make a little progress.

Since the Committee last met, I have had the opport...

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware of the most recent analysis by the Fraser of Allander Institute...

Order. May I remind the House that interventions should be brief?

Obviously I am familiar with Cuthbert’s views on a range of issues, and many of the points the ho...

Following on from what the Secretary of State is saying, how could the Scottish Government ever b...

The Scottish Government already have to manage their finances by building in estimates of revenue...

Will the Secretary of State please tell the House which person in the Scottish Government has sug...

The Deputy First Minister, Mr John Swinney.

Ruth Davidson, however, has set out the Scottis...

Colleagues here are finding it incredibly depressing that on this, the third day of our debates o...

The world in which I live is one in which I have had a very productive discussion with the Deputy...

We are dealing with my amendment, which relates to threshold points. Surely, if incomes in Scotla...

As my hon. Friend knows, we had lengthy discussions in the Smith commission on the balance betwee...

Will the Minister give way?

No, I will not at this stage—[Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman is one of the most frequent contr...

I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Clauses...

With this it will be convenient to discuss:

New clause 20—Review of operation of VAT refund...

Clause 15 makes changes to ensure that a proportion of the VAT that is attributable to Scotland m...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Crausby.

The Smith commission’s repor...

I note that Highways England and London Legacy, which was created after the Olympics, have both b...

Well, things can be changed through political will. As I have said, where there is a will to make...

Will the hon. Gentleman enlighten this Chamber as to whether the situation we have here is what t...

The hon. Gentleman is really stretching things to try to make that point. What I am suggesting is...

The SNP Government had written extensively to the Government to try to deal with that issue. Is t...

No, of course not. What I am saying is that it would have been far better if the Government in Sc...

It is a pleasure to take part in this debate on clause 15 stand part and proposed new clause 20 i...

rose—

In a moment. We think that the better approach to fix the problem might be through a forthcoming ...

I was going to ask the hon. Gentleman if he was going to support us, but he has pre-empted me. It...

We did not table an amendment because there was not an amendment that we could table to fix the p...

I rise to say a few words in support of new clause 20, tabled by the hon. Members for Edinburgh S...

Let me address the issues that have arisen during the debate, starting with new clause 20 and the...

For 18 years, during which I was a member of both Fife regional council and Fife council, they we...

As I understand the situation that the hon. Gentleman set out, if services were funded through lo...

Is this not just a dry technical issue? This is the only police force and the only fire service i...

But the reason for that is the decision that the Scottish Government took, with full information....

I am sure the Minister would acknowledge that devolution is based on mutual respect. With the ben...

A request was made of the UK Government and we provided information on what the position was. As ...

I understand what the Treasury Minister says about the number of requests received for exemptions...

As I said, a decision was made by the Scottish Government, believing that the efficiency savings ...

We keep hearing about respect. We all know why the Scottish Government introduced the change—it c...

We respected the Scottish Government’s decision, because they were perfectly entitled to decide t...

For the benefit of the Committee, will the hon. Gentleman explain the difference between the agre...

The Isle of Man has different constitutional arrangements. What we are proposing is consistent wi...

I thank the Minister for that answer; it is genuinely helpful, as he always is. However, will he ...

It is kind of the hon. Gentleman to say that I am being helpful. In the spirit of continuing to b...

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Clause 17 stand part.

That ...

Clauses 16, 17 and 18 implement the Smith commission’s recommendations by fully devolving two tax...

Amendment 36 would, in essence, have opposed clause 16 standing part of the Bill, because I want ...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. One of the mistakes is that there is no incentive for the...

The hon. Gentleman makes a pretty fundamental point about devolution. When the House was making a...

The important point I am driving at is that, if the Scottish Government had proper control of the...

If the hon. Gentleman is saying that Scotland, or any other devolved authority, should benefit fr...

Air passenger duty is a perfect illustration of what I said earlier. If the Scottish Government d...

On 20 January, the Chancellor of the Exchequer told the Treasury Committee, in response to a ques...

Does my hon. Friend agree that there is a knock-on effect on cargo? If the successful flight from...

I agree with my hon. Friend. There is competition not only for passengers, but to get airlines an...

The hon. Gentleman is making a point about cross-border competition. Does he agree that there is ...

I agree with that perfectly sensible point.

The Government may have a number of possible so...

The hon. Gentleman has been very kind in giving way. The tax is about more than just a hole in th...

I do not agree with the point the hon. Gentleman makes in his fourth intervention. Demand managem...

I will come on to the comments made by the hon. Member for Blackley and Broughton (Graham Stringe...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Crausby.

I do not oppose the devoluti...

I could be reading the amendment paper wrongly, but am I wrong to interpret the hon. Gentleman’s ...

The reason for that is that I was advised to do so to get my probing amendment on the amendment p...

If the hon. Gentleman is concerned that further devolution to Scotland might make Scotland too su...

I do not disagree with the hon. Gentleman’s thrust, but what the Government have proposed for the...

Prestwick airport, the oldest passenger airport in Scotland, is in my constituency. We are not ev...

I agree, but if air passenger duty were zero in Scotland and the same as it is now in Newcastle, ...

The hon. Gentleman seems to be setting out the most attractive form of tax competition. If Scotla...

On this very rare occasion, I agree with the hon. Gentleman. I would abolish APD altogether; it i...

I am grateful to the hon. Members for Blackley and Broughton (Graham Stringer) and for North Durh...

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that Scotland and the north-east, for instance, are losing bu...

I do agree with that, but I also think that we must consider the motivation for the introduction ...

Does the right hon. Gentleman not recognise that, whether the Davies commission decides on Heathr...

I agree with the hon. Gentleman’s first point only to the extent that there are people who argue ...

rose—

The hon. Gentleman can please inform me otherwise.

The figures that the right hon. Gentleman has given are moving in the right direction, but the di...

I am never knowingly undersold. I accept what the hon. Gentleman has said. I was trying to modera...

I do not share this cosy consensus. The hon. Member for Dundee East (Stewart Hosie) made it very ...

Following the hon. Gentleman’s argument, does he want to increase the rate of APD or is he saying...

Yes, I would increase the rate of APD.

I was a Member of the House when the Climate Change ...

The hon. Gentleman is not correct. Climate change legislation is devolved and the Scottish Parlia...

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for that. Can he inform the Committee how on earth Scot...

Because, as one of the hon. Gentleman’s hon. Friends alluded to, one direct flight is better than...

The right hon. Gentleman will know that the whole history of airline travel hitherto has been tha...

I do not want to detain the Committee for long, but let me just pose a few questions on what has ...

We have had a reasonably lengthy debate in which Members have not, for the most part, tended to d...

The Minister is right to mention the revenue from air passenger duty, but is he aware that a numb...

I am aware of those studies. I will not detain the Committee for long on this subject, but we do ...

Does the Minister see any advantages in other tax revenues from the cutting of APD or does he thi...

There are arguments and different views as to the economic impact of cutting APD. We are legislat...

One advantage of the reduction in APD that we have been able to achieve in Northern Ireland is on...

Again, the hon. Gentleman is making a particular case. There are particular circumstances applyin...

Is the Minister telling the House tonight that the Chancellor has changed his views? When he went...

Let me repeat what I said earlier: there are potential impacts of devolution on regional airports...

I understand the constraints and I would not expect the Minister to criticise his boss. He said a...

Again, that will be set out in the discussion paper, and I think the hon. Gentleman would expect ...

Is it the Government’s view that the existence of APD has had any effect on the number of airline...

It would be fair to say that given our belief that APD raises revenue, there is an adverse effect...

A positive effect then.

I should put it as neutrally as I possibly can. We do not believe that the behavioural effects ar...

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

New clause 21—The Scottish Office...

It is great to see you in the Chair, Ms Engel. Congratulations on your elevation to Deputy Speake...

rose—

Let me just finish off this point. Those words were echoed by Dave Watson, the head of campaigns ...

rose—

Before the hon. Gentleman pops up to say, “Too wee, too stupid and too poor,” as he always does, ...

rose—

I said that I would give way, and I will do so when I have made a little progress, given the late...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will give way to the hon. Gentleman before he bursts a blood vessel.

I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. This rewriting of history is great and i...

I am delighted by that intervention. What I did not want to do last week was rain on the parade o...

Subsection (2) states:

“No Member of the House of Commons or of the Scottish Parliament may...

The new clause is quite clear. I do not think it would be appropriate for Members of the House of...

On a point of order, Ms Engel. I am not sure that I heard the hon. Gentleman correctly, but he se...

The right hon. Gentleman knows that that is a matter of debate, so let us continue with that deba...

The problem with the right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond) is that he does not want to deba...

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that between 2007 and 2009 the UK’s deficit quadrupled. Given th...

I am not sure I understand the intervention. We are debating a deficit in Scotland being £7.6 bil...

Does the hon. Gentleman not see that there is a contradiction in standing up and telling us repea...

That is a rather strange intervention. If Members read new clause 1 and new clause 21, they will ...

We have just listened to one of the worst speeches I have heard in 10 years. The Labour party now...

rose—

No, no, no.

The new clause asks for a Tory Secretary of State to appoint a commission of th...

On that point, Madam Deputy Speaker. For the sake of clarity, the Committee will know that the pr...

So we have confirmation—Labour and UKIP hand in hand, empowering the Tories to run the rule over ...

I do not need a commission to tell me what a disaster full fiscal autonomy would be for Scotland....

I ask the Serjeant at Arms to investigate the delay in the No Lobby.