Speeches by Glen.

“Do you not think there is a risk that small retailers will have to bear the cost of dealing with cash, and large online businesses will avoid it completely and have no cost? That has implications.”

“Can I just quickly go back to this crypto thing? I recognise you do not want to talk about it now, but what the industry is saying is that the EU is moving forward quickly and the US is moving forward quickly. The default of our regulator, the FCA, is, “Do not invest in it”, which for most consumers is probably good ad…”

“Can I just go back to the PSR and the future of mechanisms to make payments? It is often said that there is a risk that reviews and the regulator interact more with the incumbents and less with new providers, new financial services firms and platforms, and that their mechanism for evaluating stability and what it needs…”

“I commend the hon. Gentleman on the passionate case he is making for investment in the arts. Does he recognise the work of Darren Henley and Arts Council England? I suspect that we have all received copies of the third edition of Darren Henley’s book, which sets out very clearly the case for public investment in the ar…”

“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his update to the House. I note the press release that went out yesterday, and no doubt there will be another one on 5 March, the day before the next Cabinet Office questions. However, I want to be constructive in my approach; I, too, will be visiting the Infected Blood Compensation…”

“7. What progress he has made on payments to infected and affected people under the infected blood compensation scheme.”

“My hon. Friend will obviously want to recognise the centrality to the country of Salisbury cathedral’s contribution in terms of music and architectural elegance. He will also want to recognise the fact that every church takes on great responsibility for raising funds itself before it looks to the Government. The Church…”

“On Friday, I met the leader of Wiltshire council, who asserts that the way the Government have calculated the distribution of compensation between in-house and commissioned services means that Wiltshire has not fared well in the local government settlement that was announced on 18 December. Will the Minister meet me so…”

“The hon. Gentleman is making a thought-provoking observation, but does he acknowledge that in times past, the proportion of income that any individual, from whichever class, spent on food was considerably higher than it is today? If we are to get to the heart of the matter, we have to address the wider challenge of our…”

“I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman—”

“I thank the hon. Lady for her skilful and professional chairing of the Select Committee. I think all Committee members were straining to find the substantive additionality of this body; I am not sure that we totally convinced ourselves of what that was. I very much welcome the fact that the Office for Value for Money i…”

“Your predecessors did too.”

“I wanted to ask about international matters. One of your predecessors, the one who lasted a bit longer than six months over the last 14 years, was David Gauke. His priorities were looking at the tax system on its international competitiveness and rules on tax avoidance. What significance do you attach to international …”

“I can assume that you are not paid extra for this role.”

“I know that it has only been seven months and I want to be realistic, but what do you think is going to be different to what you have seen from your predecessors, in terms of the actions that are going to be taken by the organisation with your hands-on approach, as specifically as you can, if possible?”

“Close the tax gap, reform the tax system and improve customer service. They are your three.”

“Let us move on to the substance of your role and your impressions of the organisation. Perhaps you could give us your initial take, six or seven months in. What worries you? Perhaps you could set out what the priorities are that you have as a Minister in this new role.”

“Why would you not just say to the lead official for customer service that you are concerned that the rapidity of the transformation and the use of best practices that you are observing in the private sector are not being adopted quickly—“Could you write to me with a summary of what has happened and why we are doing it …”

“Thank you, Minister. I wanted to reflect. I never had responsibility for this during my ministerial tenure, but I sat in the office next door; the offices of your predecessors were next to mine. Events occurred. Jim Harra, the Perm Sec, or his predecessors, came in when events occurred. There was a dialogue and then de…”

“It is reinforced by your presence.”