Cable & Rowen quiz Harman at PMQs (Twickenham & Richmond Liberal Democrats)

Cable & Rowen quiz Harman at PMQs

March 3, 2010 4:53 PM

• Dr. Vincent Cable (Twickenham) (LD): ' . . CAN the Minister explain why Lord Ashcroft is now claiming that the Government relieved him of the solemn and binding undertaking to remain as a permanent resident in the UK?'

May I add my condolences and those of my party concerning the five servicemen who bravely died on our behalf in Afghanistan; and our condolences, too, on the earthquake in Chile?

I extend a very warm welcome to President Zuma and suggest to the Minister that in her capacity as Government spokesperson on gender equality she might wish to enter into a debate with him on his strong advocacy of polygamy, and particularly the role that married tax allowances might play in promoting it.

Speaking of tax, I told the Minister several weeks ago that Lord Ashcroft was a non-dom, and it has been confirmed that he avoided approximately £100 million-worth of tax while serving in Parliament. Can the Minister explain why Lord Ashcroft is now claiming that the Government relieved him of the solemn and binding undertaking to remain as a permanent resident in the UK?

Ms Harman: As to the hon. Gentleman's point about the married man's tax allowance, it is paradoxical that it would be available to a man on his third wife but not to the first two wives bringing up his children. That is one of the many reasons why we do not support the married man's tax allowance.

The hon. Gentleman, as it turns out, was right that Lord Ashcroft, despite the assurances he gave, was a non-dom, and he was right that the country had been misled into believing that Lord Ashcroft was complying with his previous assurances. I agree with him that there are answers to be given on this, but they are not answers to be given by the Government. They are to be given by the-[Interruption.]

Mr. Speaker: Order. I am grateful-that is fair enough.

Dr. Cable: There are answers to be given by the Government. Will the right hon. and learned Lady release immediately all the documentation and records of conversations in the Cabinet Office that relate to this matter? More generally on the issue of non-domicile taxation, can she explain why the Government took on board a Conservative proposal for a poll tax on non-doms that bears harshly on low-income expatriates but is a pathetic flea bite for seriously rich fat cats such as Lord Ashcroft?

Ms Harman: I believe that we should have full transparency on this issue, and I agree with the hon. Gentleman on that. The question of the release of any Government papers is a matter for the Cabinet Secretary, but as far as information about this is concerned, we perhaps do not just need to wait for any information that is released by the Cabinet Secretary. We can read Lord Ashcroft's autobiography, aptly entitled "Dirty politics, Dirty times", because in it he explains how he came to be in the House of Lords. He says, "I owe it all to William."

Paul Rowen MP - Working for Rochdale! • . . Paul Rowen (Rochdale) (LD): Five years ago a young person in my constituency was on the dole for an average of eight months before getting a job. That figure now stands at 18 months, the highest figure in the north-west. Is not that the reality of how this Government have failed young people?

Ms Harman: The reality is that four times fewer people are unemployed in this recession than in the previous recession, because of the action that we have taken. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we will fight hard to support industry and jobs, especially jobs for young people. That is why we have introduced the future jobs fund, with a guarantee that after only six months every person under the age of 24 will be guaranteed work or training.

Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats: