Speeches by Hatton.

“ I have just one final question there. It would be great if you could offer reassurances to the Hair Council. I have had a barber in my constituency in Weymouth, south Dorset, raise this specific concern. The legitimate businesses that are doing the right thing and…”

“ As an initial question, why do you not monitor the tax gap by sector, particularly in relation to the online retail sector?”

“Recent BBC news analysis found that burning household rubbish in waste incinerators is the dirtiest way that the UK produces power. When might the relevant Minister update the House on exactly how and when we will move away from harmful incinerators? Will the Government support my campaign to implement a moratorium on …”

“Say that last bit again. You did do due diligence?”

“What is really striking, Sir Matthew, when looking at the NAO Report and all the supplementary documents, is that it feels like the decision to acquire the Northeye site was rushed. Do you agree with that summary—that actually the decision was rushed and the problem was that it was a case of buy first and do the thinki…”

“You have talked about getting the balance right, but surely you would conclude today in front of this Committee that you did not get the balance right. The Northeye site had serious structural problems, including asbestos. The Bibby Stockholm barge was found to have legionella on board and posed a number of fire risks.…”

“To answer my question, Sir Matthew, did you get the balance right? That was the question. Do you think, looking at the fiasco that has taken place at Northeye and looking at the mess of the Bibby Stockholm barge, that the balance was right—yes or no?”

“Looking at the Northeye site and many of the other larger schemes and projects that were under way, there does seem to be a pattern that has developed. Northeye cost at least £15.4 million. We now know it was never operational and is likely to be sold. The Bibby Stockholm, north of £34 million, is going to be closed do…”

“Thank you.”

“What I find quite worrying is that the innovation came at great public cost. Again, what reassurances can you offer us that those mistakes will not be repeated? To simply say, “We’re proud that we are an innovating Department. We are proud that we are a Department that takes risks,” is quite alarming if those pilots—th…”

“What I have found quite shocking in the responses that we have heard today is that there does seem to have been something of a worrying culture in the Home Office at the time when decisions were made about acquiring these larger sites. Some of the language we have heard today seems to speak to a worrying culture. Belin…”

“At £715 million, I would like it to be at the heart of the conversation, personally.”

“It is not too simplistic to say that you have spent a great deal of taxpayers’ money on the three schemes—Northeye, Rwanda and the Bibby Stockholm—yet all three delivered very little after the money had been spent by the Home Office. Surely that is a simple conclusion that we can reach: there was a rush to spend money,…”

“And it did nothing.”

“Just look at the three schemes—they did not work.”

“Surely you understand that the reason why they are divisive, Sir Matthew, is because so much public money was spent, yet the moment the money was spent, the schemes seemed never to go anywhere. That is why I am drawing the three together—not to make some sort of political point, but because it feels to me, and I am sur…”

“One thing that has recurred in a number of answers to our questions, which I find a little concerning, is that you keep saying “We moved at pace, and Ministers were well justified to move at pace”, but surely that is one of the biggest cultural problems. There was this rush to move at pace, which seemed to stop the mom…”

“A very expensive lesson that we are now learning.”

“Why did you do it so many times, over and over again?”

“To conclude, that is the problem. There was clearly a culture at the time that was very over-optimistic at the outset. Once these things started to progress, they realised that those overly optimistic assessments made at the outset, or during due diligence, were not actually in any way close to reality. It is really wo…”