In the Autumn Budget 2017 the Government announced that it would introduce an income tax and NICs exemption for certain allowances paid to Armed Forces personnel for renting or maintaining accommodation in the UK private market. Provision to this effect was included in the Finance Bill published after the Budget, and now forms section 8 of Finance Act 2018.

In the Autumn Budget 2017 the Government announced that it would introduce an income tax and NICs exemption for certain allowances paid to Armed Forces personnel for renting or maintaining accommodation in the UK private market. Provision to this effect was included in the Finance Bill published after the Budget,...

Lords second reading. Agreed to on question. Committee negatived. Standing Order 46 having been dispensed with, the Bill was read a third time and passed.

Lords second reading. Agreed to on question. Committee negatived. Standing Order 46 having been dispensed with, the Bill was read a third time and passed.

My Lords, could it be perhaps that noble Lords wish to speak in the next debate, which they see as more important?

My Lords, could it be perhaps that noble Lords wish to speak in the next debate, which they see as more important?

That is one possible explanation, but your Lordships have always been assiduous in their attention to matters such as the Finance (No. 2) Bill before us.

Let me try to address some of the points that were raised. The first point was on the argument about growth. We were the joint...

That is one possible explanation, but your Lordships have always been assiduous in their attention to matters such as the Finance (No. 2) Bill before us.

Let me try to address some of the points that were raised. The first point was on the argument about growth. We were the joint...

My Lords, the Bill before the House today is a mere 187 pages long, which compares favourably to the more than 600 pages of the previous Finance Bill. In part, this reflects the Government’s move to a single, annual fiscal event but it also represents the fact that in December...

My Lords, the Bill before the House today is a mere 187 pages long, which compares favourably to the more than 600 pages of the previous Finance Bill. In part, this reflects the Government’s move to a single, annual fiscal event but it also represents the fact that in December...

My Lords, I suspect that nearly everybody sitting in this House will struggle to recognise the extraordinarily rosy picture of the economy that the Minister just described. Just about every single one of the markets to which we export and to which our economy is usually tied are absolutely going...

My Lords, I suspect that nearly everybody sitting in this House will struggle to recognise the extraordinarily rosy picture of the economy that the Minister just described. Just about every single one of the markets to which we export and to which our economy is usually tied are absolutely going...

My Lords, Lloyd George should be living at this hour. Here we have a Finance Bill introduced by the Minister where the only contributors are the Opposition Front Bench spokesmen. This is an indication of how limited the House’s role is in relation to Finance Bills, and justifiably so. As...

My Lords, Lloyd George should be living at this hour. Here we have a Finance Bill introduced by the Minister where the only contributors are the Opposition Front Bench spokesmen. This is an indication of how limited the House’s role is in relation to Finance Bills, and justifiably so. As...

My Lords, I may have overshot the mark in my opening speech by being a little optimistic. I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, and the noble Lord, Lord Davies, for having well and truly rebalanced that perception. There are two potential reasons why there was not a long list...

My Lords, I may have overshot the mark in my opening speech by being a little optimistic. I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, and the noble Lord, Lord Davies, for having well and truly rebalanced that perception. There are two potential reasons why there was not a long list...

Lords motion that Standing Order 46 (No two stages of a Bill to be taken on one day) be dispensed with on 8 March to allow the Finance (No. 2) Bill to be taken through its remaining stages that day. Agreed to on question.

Lords motion that Standing Order 46 (No two stages of a Bill to be taken on one day) be dispensed with on 8 March to allow the Finance (No. 2) Bill to be taken through its remaining stages that day. Agreed to on question.

Brought from the Commons endorsed with the certificate of the Speaker that the Bill is a Money Bill. Lords first reading. (HL Bill 86).

Brought from the Commons endorsed with the certificate of the Speaker that the Bill is a Money Bill. Lords first reading. (HL Bill 86).

The hon. Gentleman is, as he knows, unfairly paraphrasing my hon. Friend the shadow Chief Secretary. What my hon. Friend has pointed out is that politics is about choices and that this Government have decided, through this set of proposals, to reduce the amount of tax the banks will pay,...

The hon. Gentleman is, as he knows, unfairly paraphrasing my hon. Friend the shadow Chief Secretary. What my hon. Friend has pointed out is that politics is about choices and that this Government have decided, through this set of proposals, to reduce the amount of tax the banks will pay,...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention but, as I say, the central, key, cold, hard fact, which will not go away, is that financial services are paying £8 billion or £9 billion more in tax now than they were before. That is money that can be spent on...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention but, as I say, the central, key, cold, hard fact, which will not go away, is that financial services are paying £8 billion or £9 billion more in tax now than they were before. That is money that can be spent on...

I feel that we have had this discussion in many of the debates on the many Finance Bills we have debated over the past 12 months. No one on the Opposition Benches denies the existence of the Laffer curve; we simply point out, as a point of fact, that the...

I feel that we have had this discussion in many of the debates on the many Finance Bills we have debated over the past 12 months. No one on the Opposition Benches denies the existence of the Laffer curve; we simply point out, as a point of fact, that the...

Let me take each of those points in turn. The hon. Gentleman asserts that, had the corporation tax rate remained at 28%, we would now be collecting more than £53 billion. That is an assertion, and not one with which one can agree without contention. For example, because of the...

Let me take each of those points in turn. The hon. Gentleman asserts that, had the corporation tax rate remained at 28%, we would now be collecting more than £53 billion. That is an assertion, and not one with which one can agree without contention. For example, because of the...

rose—

rose—