Speeches by Glen.

“You never said that to me.”

“Professor Leunig, it is perhaps worth going back to that point. The current system, as Ms Allsopp and others have set out, creates a massive disincentive for people to have a big lump of stamp duty to pay. But under your proposal, they would have the opportunity to avoid an annual tax in perpetuity, thereby having a si…”

“Ms Allsopp, that was a valuable exchange, but would you like to develop your point further?”

“Thank you very much. May I turn to Ms Allsopp on this, because you might have seen different reactions?”

“You would be most welcome.”

“It is great to see you here, Professor Leunig. Thank you for all the work you did in the Treasury when I was there. You have set out very clearly the problem of, essentially, the Treasury getting a lump of money in year one versus getting it over several years, and that you could make that neutral. You will also know t…”

“I want to ask you all for your assessment of the impact it will have on people who are asset rich and cash poor. We could discuss the different rates and how they are set, but the inference of your proposal is that there will be a regular, reliable annual source of income for the Treasury, but for some people, that wil…”

“I recently met the chief executive of an international charity that happens to be based in Wiltshire where there have been serious historical allegations. Unfortunately, the resourcing of such inquiries falls between the Serious Fraud Office, the National Crime Agency, Wiltshire police and the Charity Commission. Will …”

“Thank you. Sir Vince, would you like to add anything?”

“On that point, the world has changed quite considerably. Our Prime Minister is not sat having a pint with the President of China any more. The world, defence and the risks facing the country are different. Are you really saying that, if you were in office now, you would be able to maintain aid expenditure at that level…”

“Given what you have previously said about the shift in growth in the US compared with the EU, how do you reconcile the enhanced opportunities that you would say exist from rejoining the customs union and the single market with the fact that the shift in productivity in the top seven economies is coming from the US, not…”

“Should she look to rejoin those now?”

“Previously, at last year’s Budget, the Chancellor did not mention Brexit as a cause of productivity performance, yet in the last few weeks, and in her speech yesterday, she has done. Why do you think that is?”

“Can I turn to Brexit, trade and tariffs?”

“The traffic jams continue.”

“Shocking!”

“When you were Chancellor, you looked into Michael Johnson’s proposal on the lifetime ISA, which was characterised as an attempt to create an alternative savings vehicle. Given that £10 billion to £15 billion of pension relief is on higher rate taxpayers and that, if you had had mass adoption of that vehicle, you would …”

“I recall looking into it in some detail as Chief Secretary—”

“Can I ask about the issues of the future liabilities in terms of pensions? We have obviously got some quite big differences in the public sector liabilities going forward. Some opposition parties have been looking at this. Mr Osborne, when you were in government, you introduced the career average imperative. Where do y…”

“Sir Vince, do you want to come in and say anything different on that?”