Speeches by Bool.

“Across my constituency, be it in Grendon or Bugbrooke, flood warnings come hours after the flood events have occurred. What action will the Minister take to ensure that flood warnings are timely and accurate?”

“Not just yet. No monitoring does not mean that water is clean, as the Secretary of State seemed to suggest. One must be faithful to the facts. We will support this Bill’s Second Reading because it includes many measures that the previous Government established—for example, companies that pollute the environment can be …”

“It is absolutely right and correct that we debate these measures to improve the water industry. In the light of continued concerns over Thames Water and Southern Water, action must be taken to protect our water service. It is important to take a step back and put the debate into its proper context. We must appreciate t…”

“Thank you very much, Chair. Stuart, as you mentioned, many expected to die in the saddle, so they have not really been making their plans. I am not asking for legal advice because I know it is very specific, but what sort of legal steps do you think farmers might now try to take to lessen their inheritance tax burden i…”

“Obviously, this is incredibly complicated. If the Government keep going ahead on this process and have set this £1 million threshold, what would be a more realistic threshold that would at least try to offset some of this if they were to be able to move that band at all?”

“Thank you very much, Chair. Stuart, as you mentioned, many expected to die in the saddle, so they have not really been making their plans. I am not asking for legal advice because I know it is very specific, but what sort of legal steps do you think farmers might now try to take to lessen their inheritance tax burden i…”

“Obviously, this is incredibly complicated. If the Government keep going ahead on this process and have set this £1 million threshold, what would be a more realistic threshold that would at least try to offset some of this if they were to be able to move that band at all?”

“Members may recall that large parts of Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire were flooded after heavy rainfall in September, including Grendon in my constituency. Will the Leader of the House ask the Environment Secretary to make a statement to the House on when local authorities can expect to receive the extra funding to …”

“I want to look a little bit more at Ofwat’s strategy and its powers and I think, as has just been addressed, this is clearly a very complicated position at the moment because financing for the water companies is clearly an issue. We have questions about how they are structured. On the other hand, we are also fining the…”

“How will you use the new powers that you will have under the Water (Special Measures) Bill to tackle poor performance? Do you have enough resources to be able to do it?”

“Do you think that is enough? Some of these companies are going to need even more external investment coming in. Do you think it is actually an attractive prospect at the moment for them? Because in this sort of environment, it does not feel like that. How do you counter that? I appreciate it is all very well having the…”

“I want to look a little bit more at Ofwat’s strategy and its powers and I think, as has just been addressed, this is clearly a very complicated position at the moment because financing for the water companies is clearly an issue. We have questions about how they are structured. On the other hand, we are also fining the…”

“How will you use the new powers that you will have under the Water (Special Measures) Bill to tackle poor performance? Do you have enough resources to be able to do it?”

“Do you think that is enough? Some of these companies are going to need even more external investment coming in. Do you think it is actually an attractive prospect at the moment for them? Because in this sort of environment, it does not feel like that. How do you counter that? I appreciate it is all very well having the…”

“The Carrdus school in my constituency is a small private school—it is not an Eton and it is not a Harrow—but it has already announced that it may be forced to close mid-academic year because of the Budget and this Bill. I met the headteacher the other day. She is a passionate leader who is absolutely devastated by this…”

“Yes, but please, you keep using these soundbites, Secretary of State.”

“Secretary of State, I think the best help would actually be to reconsider. You say you are listening, but it is very much listening with closed ears at this point. One of my main concerns is that you have set the threshold very low at £1 million. One of my questions is why, if you actually want to tax very, very wealth…”

“But you are not listening to—”

“Secretary of State, I will keep it fairly brief, but you were talking about farmers needing to forward plan, which is obviously very important. But farmers have to base that forward planning on the continuation of basic payments, and they had already planned based on expecting to receive them at various points. So why …”

“Based on a typical 200-acre farm, though, with an annual profit of about £27,300, the IHT bill would come out at £435,000 over 10 years. That would require them to reallocate 159% of their capital employed each year, so it is not realistic to pay this. Also, what the farmers are telling us, on the ground and practicall…”