Speeches by Murray.

“The regulations contain a provision for us, in case it is needed. The expectation is that it will not be. As I mentioned, a Government Actuary’s Department report laid alongside the regulations has forecast that the Treasury grant will not be required in 2025-26. The provision in the regulations is a precautionary meas…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right that we want employers to be aware of this important relief, and to encourage them to make use of it to employ veterans. This relief helps to support those who have already given so much to our country, and it also means that the skills and the huge potential of those people who have …”

“I reassure the hon. Gentleman that the Government are making progress across a whole range of issues every day, and we will update the appropriate authorities in the appropriate way at the relevant time. Question put and agreed to. Clause 77 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 78 Rates of soft drinks …”

“New clause 10 would make changes to require the Government to conduct a review of business taxes, and make recommendations on how to increase business certainty and investment, before the next Finance Bill is published. The Government do not support the new clause. The Government keep all taxes, including taxes paid by…”

“Clause 86—[Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”] I thank hon. Members for their wholehearted support for this important clause, which, in the usual manner, sets out the short title of the legislation.”

“This highly controversial clause sets out the legal interpretation, in the usual manner, of abbreviations in the legislation.”

“It is a pleasure to serve on this Committee with you as Chair, Ms Vaz. Tuesday’s debate on this clause concluded before we came to the decision, but I think the Opposition indicated that they would not oppose it. I commend the clause to the Committee. Question put and agreed to. Clause 57 accordingly ordered to stand p…”

“Clauses 58 to 60 make changes to strengthen the conditions that must be met for transfers of shares into an employee benefit trust to be exempt from inheritance tax. An employee benefit trust is a trust that provides benefits and rewards to employees of a company, often in the form of shares in the company. Under certa…”

“I welcome the Opposition’s support for the clauses, which build on the consultation that started when they were in office. The shadow Minister’s question related to what effect the changes might have on small businesses in particular. I will try to answer now, but he is free to contact me if he feels I have not covered…”

“As the hon. Lady knows, because we have debated this many times, the data that we have published, based on His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs data, shows that the large majority of small farms will not be affected. I am sure she knows well the statistics on the 530 farms affected by the reforms to APR and business prope…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his support for the measure. He made wider points about reforms to agricultural property relief, which we have debated several times. The clause focuses in a targeted way on environmental land management schemes. The hon. Gentleman asked why private environmental land management that is o…”

“The clause makes changes to remove requirements in limited circumstances that the National Savings Bank, more commonly known as NS&I, obtains from HMRC a statement of inheritance tax paid before making a payment. The regulations concerned are consolidated regulations that confer powers and administrative obligation…”

“I applaud the hon. Gentleman’s theatre in delivering his response, and welcome his support. Question put and agreed to. Clause 62 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 63 Rates of alcohol duty”

“I will attempt to address the points raised by the Opposition parties. Let me make it clear that clause 63 makes changes to the alcohol duty rates from 1 February 2025. Alcohol duty rates for products qualifying for draft relief will be cut by 1.7% to take a penny of duty off an average-strength pint, while rates of al…”

“As I was saying, the clause also increases the relative value of small producer relief for both draught and non-draught products, and clause 64 ends the alcohol duty stamps scheme. To reassure Members, in consideration of what position to take at the autumn Budget, I had meetings and officials had further meetings with…”

“The association is included under “spirits”. As we know, alcohol duty is frozen until 1 February. The OBR’s baseline, reflected in its forecast, is that alcohol duty will be uprated by RPI inflation each year. The Government have decided to maintain the value of alcohol duty for non-draught products by uprating it from…”

“I welcome the Opposition’s support for these measures. I will write to the hon. Gentleman in response to some of the queries he raised about specific figures. I will address the points that he made about the illicit tobacco market, because that is obviously something we all want to consider in some depth in connection …”

“Clause 66 makes changes to the uprating of standard vehicle excise duty rates for cars, vans and motorcycles, excluding first-year rates for cars, in line with the retail prices index, from 1 April. The clause will also change the VED first-year rates for new cars registered on or after 1 April, to strengthen incentive…”

“I thank the shadow Minister for indicating the Opposition’s support for the clause. I understand what the Opposition are doing by proposing new clause 6, and the points that they want to raise, and the Government have considered it. We consider our commitment, which was made at the autumn Budget in the public domain, t…”

“Clauses 67, 68 and 69 make changes to upgrade VED rates for heavy goods vehicles in line with the retail prices index from 1 April. They also make changes to the VED rates for rigid goods vehicles without trailers, rigid goods vehicles with trailers and vehicles with exceptional loads. Clause 71 uprates the heavy goods…”