Speeches by Blake.

“Just to come back on your observation around additional competition in the banking sector, are there other benefits to consumers that you can identify?”

“Reflecting on Dame Colette’s remarks about focusing on the different ends of the probability curve, I want to come on to public sector borrowing and how you have assessed the risk of public sector borrowing on financial stability.”

“To follow up on that, am I right in understanding that you do not think that public sector borrowing is just heading in one straight line direction, and therefore your assessment of the impact on financial stability is more subtle and more iterative?”

“So are you saying, then, that that opportunity with changes to EU regulations is the only thing that could possibly have changed from previous Governments’ objectives around economic growth? You identified some categories of opportunities, and I am trying to get at what detailed opportunities there are that are not lin…”

“I am confused as to why a party that brought in the proposals is now arguing so vehemently against them—perhaps it is still attached to its chaotic approach to government. What I am not following in the hon. Gentleman’s remarks is the argument that the equalisation of the taxation could have negative consequences. Has …”

“The end of this month will mark the anniversary of Brexit. Will the Minister assure me that we will not return to the appalling divisions of the past, and does he agree that the forthcoming summit and reset negotiations are a vital opportunity to discuss growth, not just for the diverse communities and businesses in my…”

“19. What steps he is taking to improve relations with the EU.”

“3. What steps the Church is taking to improve the maintenance of the Hyde Park Estate.”

“I have been working for months with residents of the Quadrangle, the Water Gardens and Connaught Village on the scale of their service charges. They have managed to reduce their service charges by 10%. Will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating them on their hard work and agree that they should not have had to work …”

“You have to protect the businesses so that they know what they are supposed to be declaring, and then support them and consider sanctioning. What assessment have you made of the potential money laundering gap—you talked to the tax gap—so how many people you might not be observing breaching the rules?”

“Is it ringfenced to spend annually?”

“Is it spent every year?”

“Really key sectors, particularly in terms of how this affects the housing market, are estate agency businesses and letting agency businesses, which are part of the statutory responsibilities. You have referenced how well it is resourced. We have heard previously about the range of government bodies responsible for inve…”

“Thanks, Minister. Priority one is closing the tax gap. Priority two is reforming the system. Priority three is improving customer service. Where does anti‑money laundering supervision come in?”

“It is in the ballpark of £300 million.”

“This is really helpful information about the metrics. Do you think that we can get closer to 2% or 3% in closing the gap on this trajectory?”

“On that basis, if they are not successful in bringing this forward—we will get a stocktake at the end of January and then again at the end of March; there is additional revenue of £815 million next year—will there be a consideration of their headcount? Is there complete confidence in this metric that these staff genera…”

“We are going to come on to digitalisation, but I am really thrilled to hear you talk about metrics. When we spoke to the Perm Sec, Jim Harra, earlier on, I asked about progress towards closing the tax gap within this financial year, because there is £350 million additional to bring in. We did not get to the answer in t…”

“To your number one priority, closing the tax gap, it has gone from 7.4% in 2005-06 down to 4.8% in 2022-23. How much further can HMRC go in closing this gap?”

“I will come on to some of the incredible work that advice agencies do in my constituency. Funding will need to be met with an active approach by local authorities to recruit the right individuals with the appropriate skills to act as inspectors for the regime. Additional funding may be needed for the immediate recruitm…”