Speeches by Olney.

“ There are three things that I heard you say that might have contributed to that underestimate. There is a change in policy; you have cracked down on non-compliance; and there is an increase in volume. Have you broken down, between those three things and, indeed, any po…”

“ Sir Jim, we are coming back to online marketplaces and referring to what we were talking about earlier, which is that online marketplaces are now responsible for collecting VAT information from overseas sellers. When this was introduced, HMRC collected five times more tax than it&#xa…”

“ You are asking the marketplaces to collect data from people who are never going to be taxpayers or required to pay tax on their sales. Would it not be better to require marketplaces to collect the data only when they know that a tax liability is going to emerge?”

“ Sir Jim, eBay UK is headquartered in my constituency of Richmond Park. I had a meeting with it last week about some of its concerns around the application of the new rules for tax reporting for online marketplaces. Its specific issue is that all new sellers&#…”

“ Currently, is it true to say that although we know that fraudulent company registration is a risk for tax evasion, it is impossible to estimate?”

“ I imagine that if you are finding it hard to estimate how much fraudulent registration has been avoided or detected, then it is going to be quite difficult to say how much tax evasion has also been prevented as a result. Is that right?”

“ Ms Smyth, how much has fraudulent company registration reduced since the introduction of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act?”

“I trust that that means the Liberal Democrats can look to the right hon. Gentleman to support our new clause today, because the inevitable result of the legislation, if unamended, will be thousands of children with SEND forced into the state sector all at once, which will be enormously disruptive, and not just for them…”

“The Liberal Democrats do not support imposing VAT on private school fees. We do not support treating independent schools differently from other independent education providers for VAT purposes, and that is why I wish to speak in favour of new clause 9, tabled by my constituency neighbour and hon. Friend the Member for …”

“We have heard this point time and again from the Labour Benches. I want to say, one more time, that the Liberal Democrats put forward a fully costed programme in our 2024 general election manifesto, which had a range of tax-raising measures that would have paid for the changes we proposed and did not include VAT on sch…”

“To continue that point, how will you be able to assess the value for money proposition of selling on Northeye if you do not have a signed-off business case as a baseline for the original value you expected to achieve?”

“Okay, so just let me clarify something. The draft business case originally was that this purchase was value for money, but what has changed is Government policy, and the Government policy change means you can no longer realise the value of the site that you had planned to. Therefore disposal, whether to another Governm…”

“Earlier this week, I introduced a ten-minute rule Bill to bring in proportional representation for Westminster elections and English local elections. I was delighted that it passed a Division of the House. It was supported by Labour Members, as it reflected Labour party policy on this matter. Now that it is the express…”

“The Liberal Democrats are glad that the Government have committed to resetting our relationship with the EU, and that the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary are actively engaging to rebuild trust and our relationships with our European neighbours through meetings with the European Commission and the Foreign Affai…”

“I thank the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster for advance sight of the statement. This new Government have followed the disaster of the previous Conservative Administration. The Conservatives broke the NHS, they crashed the economy with the disastrous mini-Budget and they managed the staggering feat of delivering fi…”

“Apologies, Madam Deputy Speaker. The Bill would introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and local government elections in England. Liberal Democrats have been calling for the introduction of a single transferable vote system whereby candidates on a ballot paper are ranked according…”

“I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and for local government elections in England; and for connected purposes. We are experiencing an unprecedented political moment in this country. Our most recent general election, in Ju…”

“With pleasure.”

“ Thank you very much. I will write to you about this particular case, if that is okay.”

“ I have been contacted by a business in my constituency about R&D tax reliefs. It told me that because HMRC changed its classification once it applied for R&D tax credits, it was then rejected. It has had enormous difficulty engaging with HMRC to discuss the matter. The case was opened in 2022; there was then a wh…”