Speeches by Glen.

“Many of my constituents who live south of Salisbury are concerned about the interaction between flood risk assessments and new house building. Will the Minister assure the House that her work is fully integrated with the Government’s house building plans so that people can be reassured that, when land is designated for…”

“The hon. Gentleman is a serious individual on the Government Benches, and I respect him very much, but does he not understand that given the delicate set of constitutional arrangements we have, it is not unreasonable to expect the Government to come forward with a plan that sets out several steps, taking us on the jour…”

“May I commend to the Secretary of State the role of Ploughshare, which is used to deal with the increasing commercialisation of opportunities at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down, in my constituency? In the context of the Ministry’s holistic review, which is now under way, will he undertake t…”

“I welcome what the right hon. Gentleman is saying about mental health, but may I take him back to what he said about the Environment Agency? There is concern about the arbitration over whether Natural England or the Environment Agency has authority. South of Salisbury, in the Avon valley, there is a massive issue. The …”

“My right hon. Friend and I have been Treasury colleagues. Officials often put forward this reform in the run-up to fiscal events, and she, like me, has resisted them. Will she reflect on the fact that significant landowners will have sophisticated tax planning regimes in place, that a large number of very small hobby f…”

“Can I come back on that? I totally respect that on day one, it is unrealistic to have a thorough view of that, but those are quite stark revisions to growth expectations of the UK economy by respected sources. It will be interesting, to say the least, to secure a view from the Treasury about what those tariffs will mea…”

“But that would not have happened routinely outside of the preparation for a fiscal event. It was just that that was the business of a Chief Secretary and a Chancellor.”

“Before I ask my questions, I would like, on behalf of my party and personally, to congratulate you on securing the position of Chancellor. Having worked for four Chancellors quite closely, I know what an exacting role it is, and whatever questions I ask, I have respect for you in getting to this position. Can I ask you…”

“Thank you.”

“Can I ask Mr Macfarlane about the mechanisms for accountability for expenditure? I recall numerous times when, in the run-up to any fiscal event, there was another call for extra resources for the NHS—probably absolutely necessary—but there was never a mechanism to assess the productivity of that investment and to hold…”

“We have some great champions for that on the Committee.”

“Mission boards.”

“I might be sympathetic to that, but is it realistic to influence a President who seems so set on a course that is so well defined?”

“Can I ask you, permanent secretary, about the interaction with the OBR? Did anything change in the interaction between Treasury and OBR officials in the run-up to the March fiscal event? Was it any different from anything previously?”

“I do not want this to be an act of self-justification, because I was not there earlier this year, but up to 12 November last year, I was Chief Secretary to the Treasury and I was familiar with an ongoing process of having pressures that one was carrying. Numerous meetings were held, and it was a question of budgets tha…”

“I understand that, and that will allow some time for planning. I recognise the distribution—I am not disputing that—but I am just questioning whether there is a more effective mechanism to capture the small proportion of large landowners who you are focusing on and who are the focus of your narrative. Your proposal wil…”

“But if the denominator is a hobby farm with 3 acres, you will increase that 73% number. That does not do justice to the reality of the distribution of land, the asset price and the liquidity that will be vested by selling.”

“But they make about 1% profit. On an £8 million farm, which is not that significant, with the £3 million relief, you are still talking about £1 million. That is £100,000 a year for 10 years. Now, £100,000 a year, in terms of income for a farm, is a massive amount of money. I recognise the bigger picture, but it is not …”

“Can I ask you one specific question about the APR changes that you have put in? We are talking about the £3 million relief, which the Prime Minister spoke about at PMQs. Would you not accept that even if you want to target that at wealthy people who buy vast tracts of land, you could have looked at business asset roll-…”

“So you don’t rule out additional taxes, then.”