Speeches by Coghlan.

“He didn’t do it himself.”

“We heard yesterday from economists that, in fact, if you strip out the risk-free rate, UK gilt yields are actually in line with the G7 average, and the UK actually has the second lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7 right now. So what is holding you back from increasing defence to 3% of GDP now, given that it fits entire…”

“This last week has underlined our perilous national security situation and the potential risks to growth. Does the Chancellor agree that now is the time to raise defence spending to 3% of GDP, perhaps funded by borrowing, along with our European and Canadian allies, to reassure the bond markets and to drive growth and …”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“I fully believe that the Minister’s heart is in the right place, but for me the test is what lawyers and KCs—not to big them up too much—are saying about the White Paper: specialist educational lawyers are clear that the White Paper is reducing children’s rights. I would love to support the White Paper, but our country…”

“I welcome many aspects of the special educational needs and disabilities White Paper, especially those on early intervention and increased funding. We know that most local authority SEND staff care deeply, and we are grateful for them for that, but local authority SEND provision is chronically underfunded and too often…”

“I agree with what the Minister says, and it is good that all this provision is coming in, but I simply do not understand why, if she is so confident that these reforms will work, it is necessary to reduce children’s rights. I know that she is likely to say that the Government are not doing so, but it is the view of KCs…”

“I have repeatedly raised with the DFE over the last year very serious misconduct by Surrey county council, including concealing for over 14 months the fact that it had the highest number of complaints in the country and reclassifying complaints as inquiries to reduce complaint volumes. As far as I am aware, no discipli…”

“The Minister is being very generous with her time, and I am being slightly cheeky. I have a horrendous case involving a child in Dorking who is 12 years old. I saw the mother in September, a week after the child’s second suicide attempt. The child and adolescent mental health services wrote to the GP one week later, sa…”

“British Lance Corporal Brodie Gillon was killed by an Iranian ballistic missile in Iraq in 2020. When I arrived as a soldier three months later, our base came under attack from Iranian proxy militias eight times. The Iranian regime has gunned down tens of thousands of protesters in recent weeks. Morality is complex. I …”

“Finally, it seems very restrictive for policymakers that so much political debate is around a single point forecast that is five years out, with these sorts of crazy, tiny variations driving so many things. How would either of you reform the OBR to have less emphasis on a single number being put out by it?”

“Do you think I am being harsh or unfair in describing the OBR’s productivity forecast as a finger in the air?”

“I will just come back on your point about forecasts being completely fine, small teams, resources and top-down forecasts. To be clear, I was staggered in previous Treasury Committee sessions with the OBR that the basis, as I understood it, for the productivity forecasts over the past 14 years or so has essentially been…”

“Sir Robert, I will just come back to you on a couple of points. I completely agree with you that a lot of policy effects on growth take longer than five years to materialise, but I do not share your optimism on the political ease to make this change, if those effects are not showing up in an official forecast. For exam…”

“Thank you. That would be very helpful, because of the issues around stamp duty bunging up the economic system.”

“Economic Secretary, you made an important point that stamp duty raises £14 billion in revenue. However, Professor Tim Leunig testified to the Treasury Committee about a revenue-neutral proposal to reform stamp duty, where payments would be made annually rather than up front, alongside council tax reform. What assessmen…”

“I believe that the proposal, for properties up to £500,000, was to replace council tax with a proportional property tax, and for properties above £500,000 it was to replace stamp duty with a proportional property tax.”

“Given the last-minute decision to fold the PSR into the FCA, did that have any negative impact on staff morale?”

“Are you aligning working conditions between the two organisations? For example, the FCA apparently has a minimum 50% attendance level in the office. Is this applying to PSR staff as well?”

“You disagree with the Bank of England because you think your focus on innovation is important.”