Contributions
1,690 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTax Avoidance and EvasionAgain, I would like to speak rubbish—actually, the evasion of landfill tax. I have spoken about this subject on a number of occasions. The Government are making progress in…25 Feb 2020HANSARDTax Avoidance and EvasionOn the analytics, what is HMRC doing to track individuals who set up companies, fold them after two or three years and then open up new companies? A constituent came to me with a…25 Feb 2020HANSARDTax Avoidance and EvasionI wonder whether the Minister thinks that there is a strong ethos of enforcement within HMRC, especially on landfill tax fraud, which I will speak about. In a case I was involved…25 Feb 2020HANSARD Local Government Finance (England)I will come on to business rates in a minute. I will give an explanation as to why, for example, Durham County Council is doing what it is doing with its headquarters. I would…24 Feb 2020HANSARD Local Government Finance (England)I am sorry, Mr Speaker—I never had this problem with the hon. Gentleman’s predecessor. The Secretary of State referred to the grants on public health. Again, this issue needs to…24 Feb 2020HANSARD Local Government Finance (England)I do not want to get off the subject, but the hon. Gentleman will have to try better than that, because I was a Member then, and I remember, for example, the investment in Sure…24 Feb 2020HANSARD Local Government Finance (England)If the hon. Gentleman has been in the current building, he will know that large sections of it are empty.24 Feb 2020HANSARD Policing (England and Wales)The Minister mentioned Durham, which has lost 380 officers since 2010. Even with these replacement officers—they are not new ones—there will still be a shortfall of 154 officers…24 Feb 2020HANSARD Policing (England and Wales)They are not. They are replacements.24 Feb 2020HANSARD Policing (England and Wales)Will the Minister give way?24 Feb 2020HANSARD Local Government Finance (England)Not only do we have a system that has been deliberately skewed to benefit certain parts of the country, but there are added pressures on certain councils, such as Durham and other…24 Feb 2020HANSARD Local Government Finance (England)The Secretary of State opened the debate by announcing that this is the best local government funding settlement for a decade. That would not take much beating when we consider…24 Feb 2020HANSARD Policing (England and Wales)It is no good starting to take money out of certain parts of the system such as mental health services or local councils’ support to local communities if we do not tackle, for…24 Feb 2020HANSARD Policing (England and Wales)Will the hon. Gentleman give way?24 Feb 2020HANSARD Policing (England and Wales)Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is also moving money from the most deprived areas to some of the wealthiest? For example, 50% of properties in County Durham are in band A,…24 Feb 2020HANSARD Policing (England and Wales)May I begin by agreeing with the Minister and thanking all the people who work for our police force—not just the men and women in uniform, but the community support officers and…24 Feb 2020HANSARD Local Government Finance (England)Will the hon. Gentleman give way?24 Feb 2020HANSARD Local Government Finance (England)Councils such as Durham County Council are being disadvantaged, because even if they increase their council tax by 2% to cover that element, it will raise far less than could be…24 Feb 2020HANSARD Policing (England and Wales)I do not disagree, and I shall come on to some of those points. Even if we get 20,000 more police officers, the population in this country has grown since 2010 from 62.8 million…24 Feb 2020HANSARD Policing (England and Wales)Ron was a very good friend of mine, but he was not a typical police officer. The hon. Gentleman may be trying to portray him as a hard-line “hang ’em and flog ’em” person, but Ron…24 Feb 2020