Speeches by Olney.

“ Sir Jim, we are coming back to online marketplaces and referring to what we were talking about earlier, which is that online marketplaces are now responsible for collecting VAT information from overseas sellers. When this was introduced, HMRC collected five times more tax than it&#xa…”

“ You are asking the marketplaces to collect data from people who are never going to be taxpayers or required to pay tax on their sales. Would it not be better to require marketplaces to collect the data only when they know that a tax liability is going to emerge?”

“ Thank you. Ms Ciniewicz, there has been a big underestimate of previous losses, even if we are not quite sure why. What assurances can you give us that there are not other areas where we may have underestimated losses, for example in the setting up …”

“ Sir Jim, there is a striking piece of evidence at figure 10 in the report about how online marketplaces are being used and actively marketed as a way of evading tax rules. I wonder if you could comment, perhaps, on what HMRC is doing about cracking down on this marketing of evasion tactics to …”

“ You are currently estimating that about half of the £300 million that you identify as deliberate evasion from selling goods and services online comes from the online marketplaces. What makes you so sure about that?”

“ Ms Ciniewicz, how are you working with the online marketplaces to make sure that they are applying the correct VAT treatment?”

“The Liberal Democrats do not support imposing VAT on private school fees. We do not support treating independent schools differently from other independent education providers for VAT purposes, and that is why I wish to speak in favour of new clause 9, tabled by my constituency neighbour and hon. Friend the Member for …”

“We have heard this point time and again from the Labour Benches. I want to say, one more time, that the Liberal Democrats put forward a fully costed programme in our 2024 general election manifesto, which had a range of tax-raising measures that would have paid for the changes we proposed and did not include VAT on sch…”

“I trust that that means the Liberal Democrats can look to the right hon. Gentleman to support our new clause today, because the inevitable result of the legislation, if unamended, will be thousands of children with SEND forced into the state sector all at once, which will be enormously disruptive, and not just for them…”

“To continue that point, how will you be able to assess the value for money proposition of selling on Northeye if you do not have a signed-off business case as a baseline for the original value you expected to achieve?”

“Okay, so just let me clarify something. The draft business case originally was that this purchase was value for money, but what has changed is Government policy, and the Government policy change means you can no longer realise the value of the site that you had planned to. Therefore disposal, whether to another Governm…”

“The Liberal Democrats are glad that the Government have committed to resetting our relationship with the EU, and that the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary are actively engaging to rebuild trust and our relationships with our European neighbours through meetings with the European Commission and the Foreign Affai…”

“I thank the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster for advance sight of the statement. This new Government have followed the disaster of the previous Conservative Administration. The Conservatives broke the NHS, they crashed the economy with the disastrous mini-Budget and they managed the staggering feat of delivering fi…”

“Earlier this week, I introduced a ten-minute rule Bill to bring in proportional representation for Westminster elections and English local elections. I was delighted that it passed a Division of the House. It was supported by Labour Members, as it reflected Labour party policy on this matter. Now that it is the express…”

“Apologies, Madam Deputy Speaker. The Bill would introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and local government elections in England. Liberal Democrats have been calling for the introduction of a single transferable vote system whereby candidates on a ballot paper are ranked according…”

“I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and for local government elections in England; and for connected purposes. We are experiencing an unprecedented political moment in this country. Our most recent general election, in Ju…”

“With pleasure.”

“ Let us move on to the level of debt. Tax debt is now at £43 billion, which is less than a year ago, but it is still very much higher than it was before the pandemic. Do you have anything to say about why it continues to be so high? When might we start to see a significant reduction?”

“ Do you think you are able to say, without any reservation, that nobody has been penalised for getting their tax affairs wrong as a result of having received incorrect advice over the phone?”

“ Do you think there is an increased risk for those taxpayers who have been able to get through, when the procedures have not been followed correctly, that they have received incorrect advice? Are they at risk of paying fines or penalties for inaccurate returns?”