Speeches by Yang.

“Do you have a sense of whether that amount is large or small compared with previous fluctuations between round 1 and round 3?”

“Thank you both for appearing before us this morning. Mr Josephs, I wanted to go back to the point that you both touched on very briefly about the fluctuations between rounds of forecasts. From my reading, the change between round 1 and round 3—so, across all the pre-measures rounds—is about £6.7 billion. Am I right in …”

“I will turn now to Professor Miles on the macro picture on productivity. We have spoken to you before, when you have made previous appearances before this Committee, about your optimism on growth relative to other forecasters. Of course, the IMF, the Bank of England and others downgraded the UK’s productivity in previo…”

“Yes.”

“The three of you make a consensus decision. Thank you; that is helpful. I have a small point on productivity. Professor Miles, you mentioned the view that you had been too optimistic. An animal has been invoked by journalists to describe that feature, the productivity porcupine, which has spikes above but not below. Th…”

“In the last Budget, there are several increases in the effective rate of tax on income flowing from wealth and, in particular, in the effective rate of tax on dividends. I see that, in relation to behavioural effect, you find that, over the five-year forecast period, the effect of people changing their behaviour in res…”

“You had many conversations with three or four internal economists as well as all the external economists you mentioned. Having spent a lot of time among academic economists, I know they are prone to disagree about many things. Ultimately, and institutionally, is it down to you to make that decision? Is it you and you a…”

“I appreciate that there is something to be said for letting the dust settle. How is this decision made institutionally? For example, I think you have around a dozen economists working in the OBR. Was there a discussion with them? Was there a discussion between the three members of the committee?”

“Does this tend to happen on the committee—for example, Mr Josephs, being the fiscal go-to, gets the say over fiscal issues and you get the say on macro issues, and that you each keep to your own?”

“I rise to welcome the Budget, because despite the difficult economic times we are in, the Chancellor has made decisions that are strong, sound and fair. It is a strong budget that more than doubles the fiscal headroom to £22 billion. It is a sound budget that improves the economic efficiency of some of our taxes and ma…”

“Three quarters of the tax raised by this Budget will go towards building fiscal headroom, doubling it—something that previous Conservative Chancellors never did. Does the hon. Lady welcome the investment in the gilt markets that international investors have now shown, demonstrating their confidence in the UK economy?”

“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way. Does he find it fiscally responsible that with his two Budgets, he left us with the lowest amount of fiscal headroom since the OBR was created at £8.9 billion in 2024? Is he proud of that? That left the current Chancellor and this Labour Government a mountain to climb to…”

“rose—”

“Given the hon. Gentleman’s interest in the bond yields, will he celebrate with me and other Labour Members today’s rally in yields, as well as the increase in the value of sterling and in the FTSE?”

“I, too, very much enjoy reading the Blue Book. While we are talking about our favourite passages, I wonder what the right hon. Gentleman makes of page 29, which says that “persistent weakness in productivity growth relative to the pre-financial crisis period is more likely to reflect underlying structural trends.” What…”

“14. Whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of exempting British national overseas visa holders from the proposed extension of the settlement qualifying period on levels of net migration.”

“Reading is proud to be a town of many immigrant diasporas, including Hong Kong BNOs who are seeking refuge here. Many of my immigrant constituents have lived in our community for years, and they work incredibly hard so that they can put down roots, much as my parents did when I was a child. Will the Minister acknowledg…”

“I appreciate Mr Donnell and Ms Allsopp’s points about young families being prevented from moving into houses of the appropriate size, because I see that happening in my constituency in Reading. Professor Leunig, you have made a proposal for an annual national property tax. That would mean that rather than the Governmen…”

“Can I clarify two separate things that I think have got confused in this discussion? One is the discussion of broadening the CGT tax base; in this case, as Professor Leunig mentioned, that could include not exempting main residences—or charging CGT on main residences—which is not case. The question I actually wanted to…”

“Thank you, Professor Leunig. Mr Donnell, you are smiling. Could you comment on the impact of Professor Leunig’s proposal? What impact do you think such a proposal would have on the market?”