National Insurance Contributions (Rate Ceilings) Bill

My remarks will be so short that hon. Members will need to intervene quickly with their points of...

Can the Minister clarify what assessment she has made of the number of self-employed people who m...

We are very pleased that we are backing those who want to take a chance, start their own business...

Has the Minister done an impact assessment on public services—for example, the impact that the Bi...

I am delighted to hear the first bid from the Opposition not to freeze national insurance for emp...

The Minister should not twist my words. I asked her about the impact of the Bill.

Of course, the impact of freezing national insurance for employers and employees is that througho...

The Minister’s team might helpfully do something about the fact that if one searches online for t...

I thank the hon. Lady for her sensible suggestion. I know that those who put together the impact ...

I have businesses in my constituency that work hard and do the right thing. They do not want to b...

I thank my hon. Friend for making that excellent point. The Government want to back small busines...

May I press the Minister on the point I made in my earlier intervention, which she did not actual...

When one starts out in business, it is often the case that one earns a small amount, but it is th...

Freezing NI is important for my constituents, many of whom are low wage earners and have benefite...

I certainly agree that the Government are keen to take steps to back an economy that continues to...

Surely the Minister has not forgotten that in the lifetime of the previous Parliament—from 2010 t...

That is an extraordinary line of attack. The Government have nearly doubled the personal allowanc...

Will the Minister comment on how successful the previous Government were in getting people into w...

That gives me a welcome opportunity to state that every Labour Government in history has left off...

My hon. Friend may be ruing her invitation to Members to intervene. In a constituency such as min...

My hon. Friend’s point is well made, because in North Dorset and around the country it is the sma...

One of the problems with national insurance contributions for employers is that they are a direct...

My hon. Friend is right. The Bill’s measures strongly back business and other employers, many of ...

The Bill is very much welcome and goes hand-in-hand with what the Government are doing in other a...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This is part of a package of measures the Chancellor announce...

The Office of Tax Simplification has been asked to look at proposals to merge income tax and nati...

My hon. Friend is correct. In the summer Budget, the Chancellor announced a consultation on behal...

On a point of clarification—this may be a bit cheeky—I take it that we could reduce national insu...

That is not a cheeky question; that is a very sensible question. It is indeed the case that we wi...

As the Minister described, the Bill provides for the Government’s commitment, as set out in their...

Will the hon. Lady confirm that in her party’s manifesto, on which she just stood, there was a si...

I will come on to my party’s manifesto commitments in a very short while. I do not think it is he...

Unlike the hon. Lady, not all Government Members are obsessed with the new leader of the Labour p...

Government Members should stop going back in time. I have just referred to the fact that the Prim...

Order. The hon. Lady is using the term “you” which refers to the occupant of the Chair, not Gover...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, that is really helpful. It is sometimes easy to forget.

I ...

I hear what the hon. Lady is saying—she believes the Bill is purely a gimmick—but would she not a...

In a minute, I will record how other commentators also think it is a gimmick. I have said we are ...

I am a little confused. The hon. Lady has said that she supports the policy but is now quoting a ...

The hon. Lady confuses our not opposing a pledge that we made first on 25 March—it is our pledge,...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

No.

Paul Johnson believes that the tax lock could rule out sensible tax reforms. That is th...

Nobody reads it.

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that Opposition Members do. It read:

“No one can see into t...

So it is not a gimmick then, but welcome certainty for families and business.

The hon. Lady is not listening.

The Financial Times leader, to which I referred earlier, sa...

Madam Deputy Speaker, may I seek your guidance about whether we ought to be discussing something ...

The hon. Lady is experienced enough to know that if she wishes to raise a point of order, she can...

I think that the whole range of the tax regime and national insurance is under discussion today.<...

The hon. Lady says that the Opposition will not oppose this welcome measure. Does that mean they ...

As I understand it, there will not be a vote because it will not be opposed, but I cannot speak f...

The hon. Lady keeps referring to the measure as a gimmick. It would be helpful if she could expla...

I do not think that the hon. Gentleman is listening. I know that Conservative Members often sit t...

I can understand why the shadow Minister does not want to comment on her new leader’s position, b...

We are not signalling any change of position. It is amusing to hear this from Conservative Member...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

No, I will not.

The tax lock restricts the Government’s ability to respond to unexpected ec...

Is it not indicative of the level of trust in politics and politicians generally, but specificall...

Indeed. I agree with my hon. Friend and I thank him for raising that point. I think that Minister...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

No, I have nearly finished.

As I have argued, the Bill provides no protection for millions ...

I am most grateful to the hon. Lady for allowing me to intervene. She will know that the Bill ext...

Yes, it is. I am the shadow Treasury spokesperson responsible for the Bill today. [Interruption.]...

It is often forgotten that companies do not actually pay tax. All they do is collect their tax on...

The hon. Gentleman talks about the need for certainty and explains why he believes that the Bill ...

The hon. Gentleman will have to ask my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer that que...

My hon. Friend is generous in giving way. The question of certainty has been raised and eloquentl...

My hon. Friend has made a strong point. During the debate on the referendum concerning our possib...

I can tell the hon. Gentleman that it was certainly worth two Lords in the Lords.

In fact, ...

These things always involve a balance. A point that I have often made in another elected chamber—...

Does my hon. Friend agree that taking on staff constitutes a large responsibility for employers? ...

That is exactly the point that I am making. Businesses are much more likely to employ people if t...

Of course I agree with what my hon. Friend says about certainty and clarity. Does he not think th...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It must be said that the Brown years injected an enormous sen...

I applaud what my hon. Friend has said about stability and certainty in the business community, e...

My hon. Friend has made a powerful point. Some of the sectors that are the most critical to the U...

The hon. Gentleman talks about inflation as if it were the danger, but the real danger at the mom...

The hon. Gentleman may have a point at the current time, but some of us are of an age to remember...

As the Minister said, the Bill will prevent any increase in the current rates of class 1, class 1...

The hon. Gentleman mentioned VAT and the lock that the Government propose. Does he agree it would...

That is the kind of thing any Opposition politician should say about any set of Tory policy decis...

Of the options my hon. Friend has given, may I go for option three, which means the Government wi...

My hon. Friend is right. Harking back to 2009 and the Fiscal Responsibility Bill, the then Chance...

The hon. Gentleman must be vying for the 2015 Caledonian brass neck award. On the arc of prosperi...

The £1.5 trillion black hole which is the UK national debt is of rather more significance than an...

I have a great deal of sympathy with what the hon. Gentleman has been saying. He mentioned the ta...

It is certainly the case that during the downturn the decision to remove the 50p rate of tax was ...

The Bill is about low taxation. Low taxation is critical to encouraging our businesses and our ec...

I am pleased to take part in this debate, even though it is on a gimmick, and we are not so used ...

If we reach that point and the provisions have to be repealed, that will be a public act. This is...

I am afraid that I do not accept that. This is purely weak willed on the part of the Chancellor. ...

Does my hon. Friend agree that there is another reason to believe that this is purely a gimmick f...

My hon. Friend makes an astute point. That is one of the things that is going on here.

The ...

I heard the shadow Minister say that this was Labour party policy. What does the hon. Member for ...

As I have said, I would not have made a commitment on the upper earnings limit. That is just not ...

May I seek some clarity? The hon. Lady said that she would not make a commitment on the upper ear...

I am saying that it would be perfectly reasonable to consider that, rather than pre-committing in...

I think I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her support earlier. That was kind of her. Would she a...

Well, it might or it might not, depending on the circumstances.

This quest for certainty is...

rose—

I shall give way to the hon. Gentleman from the Scottish National party.

In any debate about taxes, it is instructive to look at what the OECD tells us about global tax-t...

The hon. Gentleman knows the way to my heart; he knows that I am half Danish and that I would muc...

The hon. Lady is a doughty individualist. I recall her calling me up a few months ago, when she w...

That is rather a silly remark. If the Chancellor makes decisions on tax, we can question him abou...

I warmly support the provisions in the Bill to enshrine the level of contributions for national i...

rose—

If you disagree, I will take the intervention.

I am disagreeing. Certainty is being provided in one narrow aspect of business taxation. As my pa...

Not at all. Perhaps I can come on to deal with that by considering the macro levers the Governmen...

Does my hon. Friend feel that this legislation chimes in well with what we saw from the last Gove...

I absolutely agree with that. I recall that five years ago there were howls of derision when the ...

Our commitment to creating more jobs and bringing more jobs to our country goes hand in hand with...

I fully agree with that point and I think I can link it to the one made previously by the SNP. Th...

My hon. Friend talks about taxes rising. The Bill provides certainty, whereas rising taxes cause ...

I agree completely. The cut in corporation tax allowed this Government to justify the increase in...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Perhaps I can make a little progress, but then I will of course give way.

The Government co...

I apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker, for having to leave the debate for a short while, but I manage...

We are wandering rather further from the topic of the debate than I would like, but how would the...

I can only refer the hon. Gentleman to the excellent article by the economist Ben Chu, which goes...

The hon. Gentleman is completely right to say that this is purely a gimmick by the Government. Th...

That would certainly be one way of dealing with it, but I think that not cutting tax credits, whi...

The hon. Gentleman, as ever, is gracious in giving way. He suggests that the Labour Government we...

I have to agree with the hon. Gentleman, but the great deregulation occurred in 1979 with the aba...

The hon. Gentleman must have seen the figures. Every time the higher rate of tax was cut, the amo...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention, but the fact is that successive Governments hav...

The hon. Gentleman obviously has the inside track on the voice of the City—he has referenced lunc...

I must say that I have not had lunch in the City recently. Indeed, my contacts with City people h...

I am pleased to follow the hon. Member for Luton North (Kelvin Hopkins), although I felt as thoug...

rose—

I am happy to give way this once.

It was a temporary limit imposed on holidaymakers by Harold Wilson, but most had no problem spend...

I am glad to hear that everything was all right because it was Harold Wilson who imposed the limi...

It is a pleasure to make a short contribution on this important Bill, which I very much welcome. ...

This Bill is short but very important. It is a commitment not to increase national insurance, whi...

I should like briefly to add my voice in support of this welcome Bill. Having listened to the hon...

I am delighted to speak in support of the Bill. A number of colleagues have spoken of the need fo...

A brief Bill deserves a brief speech. I am pleased to see the shadow Minister back in her place. ...

We now come to the Front-Benchers. With the leave of the House, I call the shadow Minister to spe...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank the House for giving me leave to speak again.

We have...

It is a great pleasure to respond to a lively debate. I thank all those who have contributed, not...

I am astonished that the Minister can talk about things that happened in the past and not reflect...

For those of us who were debating such matters at the time, the state of the public finances, and...

My points are about the way the public feel about broken pledges. This gimmick of a tax lock mean...

We are underlining our commitment not to increase the rate of class 1 NICs by introducing this Bi...

The Minister seems to forget that I read out to him a list of various pledges on policy that the ...

I can understand why the shadow Minister does not want to defend the position of the current lead...

I would be happy if the Danes lowered their VAT rate, but can the Minister tell us what Danish in...

I do not have all the numbers in front of me, but I take it from the hon. Gentleman’s remarks tha...