Speeches by Hatton.

“But you do think that it happens.”

“I just wanted to make sure that we did not forget to talk about the offshore tax gap, although we have started to touch upon it. We have talked about the overall tax gap, and the tax gap for the wealthiest individuals. When your predecessor came to this Committee not so long ago, we had quite a back‑and‑f…”

“Just to be really clear, do you feel that the £0.3 billion figure that your predecessor, JP, brought to this Committee is, in any way, a robust estimate of the offshore tax gap, particularly considering that HMRC’s own common reporting standard points out that UK taxpayers hold £850 billion in foreign accounts? I am no…”

“It is £570 billion held in tax havens. These jurisdictions exist completely to enable people to aggressively avoid and evade tax. If it is a £570 billion figure of just UK taxpayers, can you really tell us with confidence that that £0.3 billion figure is an accurate estimate of the offshore tax gap?”

“Is this a very effective formula? Is it world leading? Is it robust?”

“You might be the only ones, but it does not mean that it is effective.”

“So you are accepting that it is partial.”

“Surely, you can understand our concern. Sitting alongside what the common reporting standard sets out, we have seen a litany of offshore tax leaks, such as the Panama papers and the Pandora papers, which expose the scale of tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. For instance, the Panama papers pointed out that 100 U…”

“My objective rests on you having an accurate figure for what the offshore tax gap is.”

“Since your predecessor last came here, the Government have agreed with the PAC’s recommendation that HMRC should develop a stand-alone strategy to reduce the offshore tax gap, so government Ministers also understand the scale of the problem here. With that in mind, can you illuminate the Committee today as to when you …”

“Will there be a publication date for the strategy to be put in one place?”

“The Chair raises a really important point here. Following our session with your predecessor, JP, the Government agreed with this Committee’s recommendation that HMRC research which interventions are most effective in achieving that strong deterrent effect for tax evaders and other organised criminals. What progress has…”

“I have one final question, if that is all right, Chair, just to park this issue. In 2023-24, HMRC prosecuted only 25 wealthy taxpayers, as set out in the NAO Report. I am concerned that that does undermine the rule of law if offences were not pursued in the courts. There is a serious risk that some very wealthy individ…”

“That would only get you to 30 prosecutions, though, would it not?”

“I thank my hon. Friend for bringing up long covid. The organisation Long Covid Kids, which was founded by my constituent Sammie McFarland, highlights the experience of young people with long covid. Does he agree that we must ensure we give long covid the consideration it needs alongside other illnesses when we develop …”

“I completely agree with my hon. Friend, and we really feel that in South Dorset. There are simply not the places needed to support every child with SEND. We urgently need the Government to move further, faster, to ensure that every child with SEND gets the education, and the school setting, that they deserve. I once ag…”

“As many right hon. and hon. Members have outlined, there is no doubt that there is a crisis in our SEND system in this country—a crisis that we inherited from the previous Government. However, funding is still too low to keep pace with the rate at which children are being diagnosed with SEND, and many families and teac…”

“I will be brief. This is Diabetes Week, and we are rightly looking at the impact that diabetes has on children. Does the right hon. Member agree that a similar approach must be taken for long covid? We must look at the unique impact it has on children and young people, so that we can better understand it.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for giving way, and for setting out so clearly the work this Labour Government are doing to fix our NHS. Will he take the opportunity to welcome the investment of some £100 million being delivered by this Labour Government that will totally rebuild the emergency department and critical care unit …”

“And you are confident that where you do persistently say to a water company, “This is ageing infrastructure; you need to repair it,” again and again, and they fail to act, the new powers in the Act will enable you to come down on them quite robustly for their failure to address crumbling infrastructure?”