Speeches by Hatton.

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

“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…”

“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…”

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

“And it did nothing.”

“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.…”

“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…”

“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,…”

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

“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…”

“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…”

“T5. The previous Conservative Government exposed themselves to unprecedented levels of corruption and cronyism when delivering contracts during the pandemic. Recent analysis has shown that £1 in every £3 spent went on high-risk contracts, worth more than £15 billion. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that …”

“Thank you, Chair.”

“Thanks, but what I am specifically concerned about is the fact that there is a mixed bag. On the new state pension, which you mentioned, the timeliness is pretty good, but with PIP it is not good; the numbers are much lower for those who are having their cases processed in a timely way. You say “gradually”, but the rea…”

“Thank you, Chair; I appreciate that. Reading this NAO Report, it was interesting that the performance around DWP customer service is a mixed bag. In some areas, there has been a marked deterioration, and in other areas, things are holding up better. I am concerned specifically about the timeliness with which claims are…”

“Amazon currently makes hundreds of millions of pounds in profits in the UK each year, and often gets away with paying little to no corporation tax. Meanwhile, high street businesses in Weymouth, Portland and Swanage in my constituency pay their fair share. To level the playing field, will the Chancellor consider furthe…”

“6. What steps she is taking to increase the level of tax paid by online multinational corporations.”

“What I have been struck by in recent weeks as I have listened to Members from across the House is the clear agreement that the current situation is neither sustainable nor dignified. Almost everyone in this House agrees that the status quo is unacceptable in terms of dignity, palliative care and end of life. Given that…”

“ Do you worry, then, that you do not have anywhere near enough of the information required to have any idea what an accurate estimate of the offshore tax gap would be?”

“ Do you think it is accurate? It seems incredibly small to me.”