Speeches by Murray.

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right that we want employers to be aware of this important relief, and to encourage them to make use of it to employ veterans. This relief helps to support those who have already given so much to our country, and it also means that the skills and the huge potential of those people who have …”

“Regulations are made each year to set various national insurance thresholds, and to uprate child benefit and the guardian’s allowance. In opening the debate, I will give the House details of what the regulations set out to do. First, the Social Security (Contributions) (Rates, Limits and Thresholds Amendments, National…”

“The association is included under “spirits”. As we know, alcohol duty is frozen until 1 February. The OBR’s baseline, reflected in its forecast, is that alcohol duty will be uprated by RPI inflation each year. The Government have decided to maintain the value of alcohol duty for non-draught products by uprating it from…”

“I applaud the hon. Gentleman’s theatre in delivering his response, and welcome his support. Question put and agreed to. Clause 62 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 63 Rates of alcohol duty”

“The clause makes changes to remove requirements in limited circumstances that the National Savings Bank, more commonly known as NS&I, obtains from HMRC a statement of inheritance tax paid before making a payment. The regulations concerned are consolidated regulations that confer powers and administrative obligation…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his support for the measure. He made wider points about reforms to agricultural property relief, which we have debated several times. The clause focuses in a targeted way on environmental land management schemes. The hon. Gentleman asked why private environmental land management that is o…”

“As the hon. Lady knows, because we have debated this many times, the data that we have published, based on His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs data, shows that the large majority of small farms will not be affected. I am sure she knows well the statistics on the 530 farms affected by the reforms to APR and business prope…”

“I welcome the Opposition’s support for the clauses, which build on the consultation that started when they were in office. The shadow Minister’s question related to what effect the changes might have on small businesses in particular. I will try to answer now, but he is free to contact me if he feels I have not covered…”

“Unpredictable, you mean.”

“Clauses 58 to 60 make changes to strengthen the conditions that must be met for transfers of shares into an employee benefit trust to be exempt from inheritance tax. An employee benefit trust is a trust that provides benefits and rewards to employees of a company, often in the form of shares in the company. Under certa…”

“It is a pleasure to serve on this Committee with you as Chair, Ms Vaz. Tuesday’s debate on this clause concluded before we came to the decision, but I think the Opposition indicated that they would not oppose it. I commend the clause to the Committee. Question put and agreed to. Clause 57 accordingly ordered to stand p…”

“On a point of order, Ms Vaz. I thank you and Mr Mundell for chairing for the Committee. I thank all the Clerks and officials who have looked after us so well this week, and officials in the Treasury who have helped me to prepare for the Bill. I also thank all hon. Members present—both my hon. Friends and Opposition Mem…”

“I thank the shadow Minister for indicating the Opposition’s support for the clause. I understand what the Opposition are doing by proposing new clause 6, and the points that they want to raise, and the Government have considered it. We consider our commitment, which was made at the autumn Budget in the public domain, t…”

“Clauses 67, 68 and 69 make changes to upgrade VED rates for heavy goods vehicles in line with the retail prices index from 1 April. They also make changes to the VED rates for rigid goods vehicles without trailers, rigid goods vehicles with trailers and vehicles with exceptional loads. Clause 71 uprates the heavy goods…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for confirming that the Opposition will support these clauses. He asked about the wider challenges faced by the road haulage industry. Road haulage is key to the UK’s economy, and the Government acknowledge the pressures the industry has faced in recent years. As a result of the changes in th…”

“Clause 66 makes changes to the uprating of standard vehicle excise duty rates for cars, vans and motorcycles, excluding first-year rates for cars, in line with the retail prices index, from 1 April. The clause will also change the VED first-year rates for new cars registered on or after 1 April, to strengthen incentive…”

“The clause makes minor amendments to ensure the legislation for the application of vehicle excise duty to zero emission vehicles operates as intended. In the 2022 autumn statement, the former Government announced that from April 2025, zero emission cars, vans and motorcycles would begin to pay VED in line with their pe…”

“The clause extends the scope of agricultural property relief from 6 April this year to land managed under certain environmental agreements. Agricultural property relief is an inheritance tax relief that reduces the amount that farmers and landowners must pay on land and other property that is owned and occupied for the…”

“Clause 72 sets the rates of air passenger duty for 2025-26, as announced in the 2024 spring Budget, and they will take effect on 1 April 2025. Clause 73 sets the rates of APD for 2026-27, as announced in the 2024 autumn Budget, and they will take effect a year later, on 1 April 2026. APD rates have fallen in real terms…”

“It might be worth my saying at the outset that our support for the aviation industry more broadly is very clear. I am sure the hon. Gentleman was listening to the Chancellor’s growth speech yesterday, in which she announced that we will no longer shy away from decisions about airport expansion, which can be delivered t…”