From: Greg Hands MP news@greghands.comSubject: News Bulletin from Greg Hands MP #440

Date: 15 July 2015 14:42To: news@greghands.com

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In this edition:

Greg Hands MPs Diary Website of the Week:Hammersmith & FulhamForum Greg Hands welcomesSummer Budget as clearplan to deliver security forworking people in Chelseaand Fulham New Income Tax cuts tomake people in Chelseaand Fulham morefinancially secure Hands in Parliament:Greg Hands sums upSummer Budget Debate Greg Hands MP presentsEnterprise Awards atFulham Boys School Photo news:Hands welcomes GermanMEP to Treasury for talkson the UK's EUrenegotiaton process Greg Hands WelcomesMemorial to Victims ofTerrorism Photo news:St John's Walham GreenPrimary School visit Greg inthe House of Commons 7 ways to contact Greg Hands

Issue 440 - Wednesday 15th July 2015

Since the last edition, Greg:

Attended the special Budget Cabinet and contributedsignificantly to the Summer Budget presented by ChancellorGeorge Osborne, in his role as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.Joined the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the steps ofNumber 11, Downing Street, for the traditional Budget photo-call.Did a question & answer session for business leaders at theLondon Stock Exchange, on the Budget.Did a wide variety of post-Budget media, including BFBS TV,Bloomberg, and Reuters.Welcomed senior German MEP, David McAllister, to theTreasury, for talks on the UKs EU renegotiation.Met Scottish Finance Minister, John Swinney MSP, for talkson making progress on implementing a Scottish FiscalFramework, and delivering on the commitments made in theSmith Commission process on Scottish devolution.Welcomed pupils from years 3 and 4 of St Johns WalhamGreen Primary School to the Houses of Parliament for a tourand a question and answer session.Made the presentation of awards and prizes at the FulhamBoys Schools Enterprise Week.

Website of the Week:www.hammersmithfulhamforum.com A community website, which offers a place to celebrate life in ourborough, share ideas and hold the council to account.!

Greg Hands welcomes Summer Budget asclear plan to deliver securityfor working people in Chelsea and Fulham

Greg Hands MP with Chancellor George Osborne on the steps ofNumber 11, Downing Street, on Budget Day, 8th July.

Greg Hands, Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Member ofParliament for Chelsea and Fulham, has welcomed the SummerBudget, endorsing the Chancellor of the Exchequers plan to finish thejob on the deficit, to keep moving Britain to a higher wage, lower taxand lower welfare economy, and to put security first for families inChelsea and Fulham. The budget sets out the action the Chancellor will take to put securityfirst: The economic security of a country that lives within its means:the forecasts show that Britain will be the fastest growing majoradvanced economy for a second year in a row. However, the deficit isstill too high, so the Budget sets out a balanced plan to cut the deficitat the same rate as in the last Parliament in order to achieve a surplus. The financial security of lower taxes and a new National LivingWage: The new National Living Wage will mean two and a half millionpeople get a direct pay rise. Those currently on the minimum wage willsee their pay rise by over a third this Parliament, a cash increase for afull time worker of over 5,000. There is further support for workingpeople with an increase in the tax-free personal allowance, so peoplewill be able to earn 11,000 before paying any income tax at all. Wewill also raise the 40p rate to 43,000, lifting 130,000 people out ofthis higher tax rate. Cutting tax on business to secure growth, with Corporation Taxreduced to 18 per cent: we have already taken this rate to the lowestin the G20 and aligned it for large and small businesses. However, wecannot afford to stand still, so we will cut it further to send out themessage that Britain is open for business. The national security of a country that defends itself and itsvalues: The Budget commits to meeting the NATO pledge to spend2% of our national income on defence not just this year, but everyyear of this decade. Greg Hands welcomed these measures as good news for hardworkingtaxpayers in Chelsea and Fulham, saying: This is a Budget thatdelivers security for working people in Chelsea and Fulham, andkeeps Britain moving from a low wage, high tax, high welfare economyto a higher wage, lower tax and lower welfare country. The new National Living Wage and tax cuts for working families willboost take-home pay for those who work hard and want to get on inlife, meaning more financial security. Reducing the tax burden on businesses will create jobs and givemore people the security of well-paid work, and having a strongeconomy means we can invest in our world-class NHS and meet ourdefence commitments, helping families across the country feel moresecure in their homes. The economic security of a country that lives within its means. Thefinancial security of lower taxes and a new National Living Wage. Thenational security of a country that defends itself and its values. This isa Budget that puts security for families in Chelsea and Fulham first.

New Income Tax cuts to make people inChelsea and Fulham more financiallysecure

Greg Hands, Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Member ofParliament for Chelsea and Fulham, has welcomed further income taxcuts for hardworking people in his constituency, delivering on theConservatives key election promise to raise the personal allowance. In the Summer Budget, the Chancellor set out the next steps in hisplan to support working people by ensuring they keep more of themoney they earn: A downpayment on a 12,500 Personal Allowance: in 2016-17, thepersonal tax-free allowance will increase by 400 to 11,000, so thatnext year a typical income taxpayer will be 905 better off comparedwith 2010. This is part of the Conservatives commitment to raise theallowance to 12,500 by the end of the parliament. Delivering on the Conservative Partys promise to raise thehigher rate threshold: in 2016-17, the threshold for the higher rate oftax will increase from 42,385 to 43,000, saving the typical higherrate taxpayer 142 and lifting 130,000 people out of the ratealtogether. This is a first step on the Conservatives commitment toraise the threshold to 50,000 by the end of the parliament. The Summer Budget also introduced a new National Living Wagefor over 25s to support people who work hard and do the rightthing. The new National Living Wage will mean two and a half millionpeople get a direct pay rise. Those currently on the minimum wage willsee their pay rise by over a third this Parliament, a cash increase for afull time worker of over 5,000. Greg Hands commented: The new National Living Wage combinedwith these income tax cuts are excellent news for hardworking peoplein Chelsea and Fulham, and shows that we will deliver what wepromised. The rise in the personal allowance will mean lower taxes for about46,000 working people here in Chelsea and Fulham, with anestimated 709 people taken out of income tax altogether. The rise inthe 40p threshold will also mean fewer people in Chelsea and Fulhamwill now pay the 40p rate of tax. That means local people keeping more of the money theyve workedhard to earn, giving them and their families more financial security forthe future.

!Hands in Parliament:Greg Hands sums up Summer BudgetDebate Tuesday 14th July 2015

Click on the image above to watch Greg Hands's speech. The full text of Greg's speech was as follows: The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Greg Hands): I am verypleased to be closing the debate on this historic Budget as the firstConservative Chief Secretary on behalf of the first Conservative-onlyGovernment since 1997. We have had a good debate. Indeed, we have had four good days ofdebate. For me, the most remarkable parts were the commandingspeech from my right hon. Friend the Chancellor on day one and thereal passion from my right hon. Friend the Work and PensionsSecretary. Almost as remarkable were the opening exchanges onThursday; for the last five years of the Budget, day two saw set piecesbetween Ed Balls and Vince Cable, but not this year, as we, theConservatives, took both of their seats on 7 May. Today we have had five high-quality maiden speeches from the threegreat nations of England, Scotland and Wales. It was a particularpleasure to hear from my constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend theMember for Kensington (Victoria Borwick). She made a marvellousmaiden speech, with a great tribute to her predecessor Sir MalcolmRifkind, who is actually my predecessor as well. We have anothercommon predecessor; she told us how she appeared in the index ofAlan Clarks Diaries and the concern that had caused her husband. Equally impressive was the maiden speech of the hon. Member forPaisley and Renfrewshire South (Mhairi Black), who spoke with greatpoise, engagement and passion, although I have to say that most ofher speech seemed to be directed at the Labour party. She said thatLabour had left her family, not the other way round. I congratulate heron a memorable maiden speech and on her first-class honours degree. From Wales, we heard from my new colleague my hon. Friend theMember for Brecon and Radnorshire (Chris Davies). In what was avery entertaining speech he took us through his first day herehowhe saw the mosaic of St David in the Central Lobby and his pride atbeing both Welsh and a Unionist, and how the Whips approached himsternly, with one Whip reminding him somewhat of his wife backhome. I am wondering which member of the Whips Office that mighthave been. His speech was also peppered with references to all kindsof other battles and heroism. Also from Scotland, we heard from the hon. Member for Airdrie andShotts (Neil Gray). He made a very competent maiden speech andtalked about life in Westminster and missing his family back inScotland. I can tell him that that is not unique to those travelling fromScotland; it can happen to those of us who are MPs for Londonconstituencies as well. He was generous about his predecessor,Pamela Nash, and talked about being the first Orcadian for 200 yearsto be an MP. Again from Scotland, the hon. Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk(Martyn Day) was generous to his predecessor, Michael Connarty,who I knew well and served under on the European ScrutinyCommittee, and gave us a radical, passionate and humorous speech.I wish him well. A number of other Members also contributed to the debate, but I willnot go into their speeches in detail. I was struck, however, by the factthat, although some Labour Members raised interesting points, somany of their speeches sounded like they were cut and pasted directlyfrom their election hustings speeches and showed no recognition ofwhat had happened on 7 May or what happened last week. Let me now conclude the Budget debate. This is the Budget that givesBritain a pay rise and that cuts taxes for 29 million people. It is theBudget that protects our national security and that gives Britain thesecurity of living within its means. To be fair, not all Labour Membersignored the results of the election or the Budget last week. The actingLeader of the Opposition, the right hon. and learned Member forCamberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman)[Hon. Members: Where isshe?] That is a very good question. She might be in hiding. Shereprimanded the shadow Health Secretary over the benefit cap,reminding him: You may have noticed that we lost the election. It is remarkable that he or anyone else could possibly have missedthat fact. It is equally remarkable that she now appears to be on theright of her party. I do not think that she moved; I think the party hasmoved to the left. We have heard from the right hon. Member forBirkenhead (Frank Field), who is so enthusiastic about our newnational living wage that he wants it to be brought forward and to startsooner. It is resoundingly clear from this Budget debate that Labourhas made no progress in economic policy since May. Geraint Davies: Is not this a Sheriff of Nottingham Budget? Is not theChief Secretary to the Treasury robbing the poor by removing their taxcredits and giving to the rich by increasing the inheritance taxthreshold? This Budget stinks, and his grubby hands are all over it. Greg Hands: There you have it, Madam Deputy Speaker. The hon.Gentlemans remarks epitomise everything that we have all beensuspecting about the Labour party over the past 10 weeksnamely,that it has learned nothing from its defeat right across the UK on 7May. It looks as though it intends to start this Parliament as it startedthe last one: in disarray, denying the deficit and failing to apologise forits past mistakes. The right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband) lost theelection, and the turning point was surely that moment in the TVdebate when he denied that the Labour Government had spent toomuch. If they had not spent too much, how come there was no moneyleft? Labours economic credibility was so bad that, at the election, iteven lost the constituency of its own shadow Chancellor as well asthose of half its Treasury team. There was one senior Labour figure who avoided losing his seat, buthe did so only by standing down voluntarily. That was the last LabourChancellor, Alistair Darling. He is reported to have said somethingvery interesting the day after the Budget, which was that Labour wasin disarray and that it was paying the price of not having a credible economic policy. He hit the nail on the head. Labours response to the Budget has beentotally incoherent. Who would have thought that a Labour Oppositioncould attack a policy to bring the minimum wage for workers from6.50 up to a national living wage of 9 in the course of a Parliament?I invite the other parties to consider their positions. By the way, onlythe Labour party could have a leadership crisis without actually havinga leader. If Labour Members vote against the Budget in a few minutestime, they will be voting against a national living wage, against dealingwith the deficit and against meeting the UKs NATO defencecommitments. They will also be voting against 10 billion of extrainvestment in the NHS. This is not a Government who shy from the tough decisions. It is rightthat higher wages, not welfare subsidies, should raise the standard ofliving of working families. It is right that those with the broadestshoulders should bear the biggest burden. It is right that we shouldhelp and support our businesses to bring prosperity to this nation andit is right that we should build ourselves strong, stable and securepublic finances. We are doing that. This has been a landmark Budget,delivering for the entire country for a bright and prosperous future.There are still tough choices ahead, but I commend the Budget to theHouse.

Greg Hands MP presents EnterpriseAwards at Fulham Boys School

Greg Hands MP speaking at the Fulham Boys School this week. Greg Hands, Member of Parliament for Chelsea and Fulham, haspresented awards at The Fulham Boys Schools Enterprise Week. The Fulham Boys School one of the Free Schools established underthe coalition Governments education reforms held its first EnterpriseWeek, which witnessed the pupils putting their skills to the test out andabout in London. The week also signalled the start of the boys effortsto design social enterprise projects which aim to make an impactlocally in the next academic year, and Nick Hewer from the BBCs TheApprentice chaired an appraisal of the projects. The Schools Enterprise Week culminated in an awards ceremony,and patron of The Fulham Boys School, Greg Hands MP, was invitedto make the presentations. Greg also took the opportunity to addresspupils, staff, and parents on the topic of blue-sky thinking, and howThe Fulham Boys School, as a Free School and therefore a stateschool, is trying to instil in its pupils an entrepreneurial spirit. Greg Hands says, It took a great deal of community enterprise to getThe Fulham Boys School open last year, and I am delighted to seethis entrepreneurial spirit continuing in the encouragement of pupils todevelop their skills of innovation, hard work, and communityinvolvement. As a patron of the School, I call on businesses interestedin helping to design a curriculum fit for 21st Century enterprise toanswer the Schools request for active partnerships. I am convinced that projects like The Fulham Boys SchoolsEnterprise Week which itself is a mark of the educational freedomcharacteristic of Free Schools will help the boys to developentrepreneurial skills, and that it will help give the boys an edge notonly in their academic careers, but also later in their professional lives. I would like to take this opportunity to thank The Fulham BoysSchools Headmaster, Alun Ebenezer, and its Chairman of Governors,Alex Wade, for their continued hard work not only in making this FreeSchool succeed, but in making sure it goes from strength to strength. Greg Hands looks forward to continuing his support as patron of TheFulham Boys School. Any businesses or other organisations interested in helping developThe Fulham Boys Schools enterprise programme and diploma shouldcontact Ms Meriel Stinson at meriel.stinson@fulhamboysschool.org oron 020 7381 7100.

Greg Hands MP handing out prizes at the Fulham Boys Schoolthis week.

Photo news:Hands welcomes German MEP to Treasuryfor talks on the UK's EU renegotiatonprocess

Greg Hands MP welcoming senior German CDU MEP DavidMcAllister to the Treasury this week for talks on the UK's EU

renegotiation process.

Greg Hands Welcomes Memorial to Victimsof Terrorism Greg Hands, Member of Parliament for Chelsea and Fulham,welcomes the Prime Ministers announcement of funding for twomemorials to British victims of terrorism. On 5 July, the Prime Minister announced that funding will be madeavailable for a memorial dedicated to the thirty British victims of therecent terror attack in Tunisia, as well as for a separate site ofremembrance for all UK nationals killed in acts of terror overseas. Greg Hands also took the opportunity to remember the fifty-twovictims and scores of survivors of the 7/7 London bombings on theirtenth anniversary, which was also marked by a wreath-layingceremony at the memorial in Hyde Park and a national service ofcommemoration at St Pauls Cathedral. In particular, Greg Hands remembered the life of 7/7 victim Giles Hart,who had been an active and leading member of the Polish SolidarityCampaign of Great Britain, championing freedom and human rights inPoland during its years of communism. Greg attended the unveiling ofa memorial to Giles Hart in Ravenscourt Park, Hammersmith, in 2008,when he was Member of Parliament for Hammersmith & Fulham. Greg said, Last weeks attack in Tunisia came as a terrible shock, andserved as proof that the threat from terrorism is as real as it is deadly,even ten years after the 7/7 bombings in London. It is right and justthat we unite as a country to remember all of the British people whohave been killed as a result of terrorist atrocities abroad. My thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones they leave behind,and I gather that the families of those killed in Sousse will play apivotal role in the location and design of the memorial. I am grateful forthe efforts that my colleague, the Foreign Office minister TobiasEllwood, has put in to secure a single national memorial to all victimsof terrorism overseas, especially in light of the personal experience hehas suffered as a result of terrorism. I am also reassured by Chancellor of the Exchequer GeorgeOsbornes Summer Budget, which puts security first by investing indefence and committing to meet the NATO pledge of spending 2% ofnational income on defence every year of this decade. This meansthat we can carry on doing our best to keep the British public and ourBritish values safe. Greg Hands was also pleased to note that the Summer Budgetannounced that the Victims of Terrorism Memorial would be receiving1 million from banking fines levied by the Financial Conduct Authorityand reserved for good causes.

Photo news:St John's Walham Green Primary Schoolvisit Greg in the House of Commons

Greg Hands with Year 3 and Year 4 pupils from St John's WalhamGreen Primary School, this week, in the House of Commons.

7 ways to contact Greg Hands:

By Phone: 020 7219 5448By email: mail@greghands.comBy post: Greg Hands

House of CommonsLondon SW1A 0AA

In person: Click here for details of howto book an appointment atGreg Handss weeklysurgery

www.greghands.com

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