Speeches by Evans.

“In his earlier answer the Minister spoke about growth and connectivity being important. How does the £2 increase—the holiday tax being added to airport duty—make a difference, especially when Ryanair has announced that it is going to cut 5 million seats? That will have a dramatic impact on anyone wanting to travel with…”

“On the Budget, GPs, hospices and care homes have been found to be either exempt or not exempt from the national insurance contributions. Will he clarify whether hospices, care homes and primary care are exempt or not? That really matters to their costs.”

“Martin Lewis has long campaigned for changes in childcare, in particular because the way in which it is set up can damage single parents. There is an obvious cliff edge. The last Government proposed a consultation on thresholds for households being taken as one, but this Government seem to have scrapped that in the Bud…”

“The National Farmers Union tweeted: “In 2023 Prime Minister Keir Starmer looked farmers in the eye and said he knew what losing a farm meant. Farmers believed him. After today’s budget they don’t believe him any more.” What is the Prime Minister going to do practically to resolve that?”

“Farmers woke up today broken and devastated after yesterday’s announcement by the Government. We only have to look across social media to see farmers speaking about the impact of the hike in tax on generational farming. Farmers are among those who suffer most from mental health problems, given the problems of a tough h…”

“T2. After yesterday’s Budget, those running small and medium-sized businesses will see their national insurance rise and their wage bill increase. Those in hospitality, running a pub or restaurant, for example, will have a 35% reduction in their business rate relief. To top it off, the Employment Rights Bill will bring…”

“2. What estimate she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the additional funding needed to process pension credit applications within target timescales.”

“I am very grateful for the Minister’s answer. I put in a written question to find out how long this would take, and almost one in four people who apply for pension credit are waiting longer than 50 working days for their application to be picked up, which takes us past Christmas and into the new year. That is before th…”

“Over the past few days, we have had multiple leaked definitions of what working people are. Will the Government place in the House of Commons Library a definition ready for tomorrow’s Budget, so we can all understand who they are talking about?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Rosindell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Cramlington and Killingworth (Emma Foody), and I hope she enjoys her nostalgic tour through all the concerts she plans to go to. For what it is worth, as we are sharing, one of my first gigs was Faithless, which I am qui…”

“The hon. Lady has upgraded me, but of course—on that basis.”

“Hear, hear!”

“I bow to the hon. Lady’s expertise. I hope that will be teased out when we know the terms of reference for the consultation. These are exactly the problems that we need to look at. We can all see that there can be a benefit for the market if dynamic pricing is used for cheaper theatre tickets, but if it is not used in …”

“So close.”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“Will she give way?”

“Can the Deputy Prime Minister define “working people”?”

“When it comes to risk, is my hon. Friend concerned about the timing of this legislation if, as reported, the Budget raises national insurance for those businesses? Is that yet another risk in addition to this legislation?”

“I welcome the Government’s success. Could the Minister tell us the proportion of that investment that came into play before the election?”

“No one wants to see people caught up in problem gambling, but equally, no one wants to see businesses struggle and jobs lost. As the Secretary of State said, we want this industry to thrive, yet this week that was threatened after it was rumoured that the Treasury is planning a £3 billion tax raid. That has already see…”