Speeches by Tomlinson.

“I am always happy to show leadership, and this Government—and, I may say, previous Governments—have worked hard with international partners, both in the OECD and the UN, to do all we can to reduce tax avoidance and evasion by multinational companies. We continue to work with our partners in the UK and abroad to clamp d…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his representations on this matter here today and over many months, and in Westminster Hall just a few weeks ago. The rural fuel duty relief scheme does provide that 5p discount and it will benefit his constituents on the islands and in the communities he represents. We will of course keep al…”

“This is a complex change to implement, but the Government’s position is that it is right to have the same rate of VAT across our country. During the pandemic, there was a cut—a temporary cut—to the rate of VAT and that came at the significant cost of £8 billion. We have to make sure that we can raise revenue from acros…”

“We have made sure to freeze fuel duty since we have been in office. That has saved the average driver 8p per litre at the pump, and it will rise to 11p when the increase does not go ahead in a few weeks’ time. If heating oil is an issue that affects the hon. Lady’s constituents, I hope she will be able to attend tomorr…”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Climate Change Levy (Fuel Use and Recycling Processes) (Amendment) Regulations 2026. It is a pleasure to serve on the Committee with you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. The draft regulations exempt from the climate change levy electricity used in—this is a word I am goin…”

“I thank the shadow Minister for his questions. I always enjoy listening to him; one day, I am sure I will do so on a bumper car in his constituency. Those Members who did not serve on the Finance (No. 2) Bill Committee will not know that reference; I will have to update them afterwards. We will conduct the wider review…”

“It is definitely something that we should consider. One of the taxes we have is the digital services tax—the 2% charge on the revenues of the largest online platforms—and the Government do not have any plans to change that. That change has been implemented over recent years. Broadly, our direction of travel—and I have …”

“Yes. Specifically, in the way that pubs are valued and through the changes we will consider as part of the review, I want to get to a place where those businesses have a clearer understanding of the underlying formula used to determine their valuations. For shops, restaurants and others, they know what their floor spac…”

“Just to set out, there are these three big things happening—I will not go through them again. On the day of the Budget, the Government focused on the big change that it had agency and control over, which was the change in the tax rate and the change in the multiplier. Because the rateable values are set independently, …”

“It is right that, in part, it is quite complicated; this is a hard thing to do. The way that many businesses are valued by the VOA is not determined by politicians or the Government. One of the things—”

“There are so many different aspects of it. One of the challenges is that, because we wanted to redesign the system and put those permanently lower multipliers into it, we have now gone from two different multipliers to five. That has added complication. I would not want to say that, by making it less complicated, I wan…”

“This is what I was trying to do when I made the statement in late January—”

“That is just the sort of thing that I want to look at in the review that we announced in late January, when we announced the new relief for pubs and music venues. We heard that loud and clear from the publicans and the groups that represent them after the Budget. Before the Budget, we had not had strong and significant…”

“The key technical driving force for the change was the conversations we had with the sector after the Budget about the way they are valued. We in the Treasury made an assessment that we wanted to look at that again and in full. That is why we came forward with the package of support.”

“Pubs definitely have a unique role in British culture—”

“Yes, and the tax rates, and the multiplier within this—there is a whole reform—has now fallen.”

“Yes. The rates for pubs, for example, are determined broadly based on their turnover. There are some adjustments, which I mentioned earlier. The rates for shops or restaurants are not based on their turnover; they are based on their floor space and a methodology that the VOA sets out, which you can all read in the rele…”

“Can I just add one thing? One of the reasons why businesses will see their bills go up is that they are doing really well and performing really well. That goes back to the point about the way that pubs, in particular, are valued. If their takings increase, their bills increase and their business rates bills increase, w…”

“When I did the statement in late January, I overran in the Commons, as you may remember; that is a learning for me. The reason I overran was because it is a very complicated system. I cannot recall how long the Chancellor’s speech was in the autumn Budget—I imagine it was around an hour. The time you get to spend in a …”

“This is getting into the detail of the way that different businesses are valued for business rates. Most high street businesses—cafés, restaurants, shops—will be valued on their floor space. There is a complex methodology, which the Valuation Office Agency publishes in consultation with the sector and experts in this s…”