Speeches by Baldwin.

“No one knows the truth of this, but do you think the figure is higher or lower than what the Office for Budget Responsibility estimated would be the impact? Just a one-word answer.”

“Do you believe as a panel that people have not left the country, then?”

“Or do you think people have left the country but just not as many as in some of the reported examples?”

“Obviously. Do you think that people who have wealth are more mobile internationally than people who do not?”

“I was going to ask about that, because does anyone seriously think that if the Chancellor came in and said, “This is a one-off, and I am just going to top-slice a chunk of what you have accumulated over your life”, anyone would believe that?”

“Are there any examples where that did not happen?”

“Are there any examples of things that the Chancellor did in last year’s Budget where the outcome has been that we have got less of one of the things that she chose to tax?”

“Philosophically—again, this is a yes/no question—do you believe that if you tax something, you get less of it?”

“Do you all accept—again, with a yes/no answer—that if you taxed wealth in the way outlined at the beginning by Professor Advani, you would get less wealth? Witnesses indicated assent.”

“To go back to wealth taxes, if I may, clearly the context is that a Labour Chancellor, a Labour Government and lots of Labour Back-Bench MPs are calling for a wealth tax. I wanted to set the context and ask up front if any of you are, or have been, members of the Labour party.”

“I am glad that the hon. Gentleman anticipates the rest of my contribution. Has the hon. Gentleman read the impact assessment that the Labour Government have put out for the Bill? It estimates that the cost on businesses will be £5 billion. I ask him how he thinks that will end up. It will not end with a hiring spree, I…”

“Does the hon. Gentleman wish to deny the employment facts from the Office for National Statistics?”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Spelthorne (Lincoln Jopp) on securing the debate. I welcome the Minister to her position; I believe that this is her first opportunity to contribute from the Dispatch Box. I heartily congratulate her on her achie…”

“On a point of order, Dr Murrison. I appreciate that this is the Minister’s first time responding to a debate in Westminster Hall. My point of order is simply that she may wish to consider putting her entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests on the record.”

“It is a pleasure to speak for the Opposition in this interesting debate; I congratulate the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington (Matt Western) on securing it. I add my congratulations to the hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Blair McDougall) on his appointment. I look forward to potentially confronting him, but som…”

“You talked about the businesses that have to put risk capital to work in this regulated context. I just want to ask you, Mr Rathi, about this issue around retrospectivity, because one of the things that they find difficult is that potentially—and it is not the case in this particular situation—something that they thoug…”

“Across the board, and not just motor finance.”

“I know I ask you about this every time, but have you made any changes to the way you are regulating the crypto-sector since we last spoke to you? I appreciate that there are big changes happening across the Atlantic, and I wonder whether that is affecting thinking at the FCA.”

“I am trying to make this clear for my constituents. There is another precedent that this scheme might potentially set, which is around the frequency of scams. People are getting scammed on the internet so much. There is so much financial crime that now comes through scams. Often, people who are scammed in that way will…”

“Yes, late of this parish. The new Economic Secretary replied, and it was about an update on what had happened since the Mansion House speech in terms of deregulation. The phrase she used was very striking. It was, “The Government is not aiming to deregulate.” I just wondered, Mr Rathi, whether you feel that you are get…”