Speeches by Glen.

“I understand your logic, but some of the companies are configured with cross-subsidies in different parts of their business. In essence, do you expect to see a consequential restructuring in the industry? It seems likely that some will not find it viable, because of the nature of the subsidy from different parts of the…”

“Did you make that decision or did the Prime Minister?”

“Why did you decide to change the decision on raising the rate of income tax in those 10 days?”

“It does raise taxes for working people.”

“Chancellor, I totally recognise the integrity of the spending review process. I am just saying that if you align the reasonable expectations of health spending, education spending and your aspirations on defence, all the other Departments have a pressure that pretty much resonates with what happened between 2010 and 20…”

“The clear impression left by the scene-setter press conference on the 4th was that income tax was going up. That was what every newspaper was saying—income tax was going up—and then 10 days later it was not. What can you tell us about your decision-making process during those 10 days?”

“What led to those being meaningfully different?”

“I welcome the changes to the listings review, but will the Minister look at what is happening with research and development tax credits and the efficiency of the delivery of those tax credits, because when the system does not work well enough, businesses are struggling before they get to listing?”

“Thank you. May I bring in Dr Mann?”

“In the near term.”

“Can we turn to your assessment of the effects of the measures in the Budget? On near-time growth and inflation, what do you think about what you have heard from the Chancellor?”

“Which is to wait for somebody else.”

“Could I draw your attention, then, to the immediate few weeks before the Budget? What do you think could account for the movements seen around the Chancellor’s scene setter on 4 November, and the stories in the press about the OBR forecast on 14 November? Do you recognise anything in the market behaviours that could be…”

“So you do not think that the moves on the 14th, notwithstanding what you said about the overall pattern over three months, had anything to do with—”

“I accept that, but what about—”

“Of course. Nobody is disputing that.”

“You have glided straight into the aftermath. What I am trying to get at is that, let’s be honest, this was rather more unusual than previous Budgets. You said so in the report, and so does the commentary of CEOs and Andy Haldane, who is obviously an experienced individual who is known to you. Are you not saying that th…”

“Could I turn to the Budget and the effects of the Budget? I think the monetary policy report published on 6 November refers to the uncertainty over the Budget, softening GDP growth and delaying investment. There has been a lot of commentary around the unusual nature of the run-up to the Budget. Would any of you wish to…”

“I thank the Security Minister for early sight of his statement, and I thank him most warmly for the way in which he has presented the Government’s response this afternoon. As someone who spent a previous life in Salisbury and south Wiltshire, he has served the people of my constituency very well. I am also very pleased…”

“Richard Hughes was a first-rate public servant, but he did the right thing on the narrow matter of the premature upload of the file last week. OBR representatives told us a number of things yesterday in the Treasury Committee. They told us that there was a £16 billion downgrade and £4.2 billion of headroom on 31 Octobe…”