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Margaret Hodge MP
Chair of the public accounts committeeGreen Box: Margaret HodgeClick to open
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07:00 Brian Groom: An inquisitor for our times (£) News
Opinion | The Financial Times
Veteran MP Margaret Hodge is striking fear in the hearts of business executives, writes Brian Groom Continue to article
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07:00 Jenni Russell: Politics needs mavericks, not just the same old chumocracy and groupthink News
Opinion | The Guardian
That Margaret Hodge and Nigel Farage are arousing passions shows how sick we are of the professional political class Continue to article
- = Key Development Sunday 19th May
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19:50 Margaret Hodge: Cameron should pile the pressure on Google On air
On Air | Margaret Hodge MP | Chair of the public accounts c... | Channel 4 News
Margaret Hodge urged David Cameron to use Google chairman Eric Schmidt’s position as an economic adviser to the Government to put pressure on his company to pay more tax. “In the end, that’s an issue [whether Mr Schmidt remains an advise... Continue to article
- = Key Development Thursday 16th May
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19:41 Margaret Hodge: Not clear that Google's tax practices are legal On air
On Air | Margaret Hodge MP | Chair of the public accounts c... | Channel 4 News
Margaret Hodge disputed that Google’s tax arrangements were sanctioned by the law, and called on HMRC to challenge the search engine giant. “It’s not clear to me that they are acting within the law – this is an issue of judgement and rea... Continue to article
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13:27 Margaret Hodge: HMRC acting like pussycats over Google On air
On Air | Margaret Hodge MP | Chair of the public accounts c... | The World at One, BBC Radio 4
Margaret Hodge accused HMRC of not being tough enough on Google over tax avoidance. "No, I think it’s quite clear from the evidence that we heard this morning, particularly the evidence that these very principled whistle-blowers gave us,... Continue to article
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11:04 Google could be misleading tax authorities and Parliament, MPs say PoliticsHome News
Google could be misleading tax authorities and Parliament, MPs say
Google could be misleading tax authorities and Parliament over its tax arrangements, MPs on the Public Accounts Committee have said. Labour chair of the Committee Margaret Hodge said Google was dishonestly changing its story over its rea... Continue to article
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08:06 Margaret Hodge: HMCR should be more aggressive in pursuing corporate tax avoiders On air
On Air | Margaret Hodge MP | Chair of the public accounts c... | Sky News
Margaret Hodge said HMRC should be more aggressive in pursuing companies who avoiding tax. "I think there is a judgement to be made, I just wish HMRC were slightly more aggressive on behalf of us the UK taxpayers to ensure that we all pa... Continue to article
- = Key Development Friday 26th April
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11:11 Guardian: Treasury insiders help rich avoid tax, say MPs - video News
News | The Guardian
Margaret Hodge, chair of the public accounts committee, says the Treasury should punish insiders who use tax loopholes for private clients Continue to article
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08:24 Margaret Hodge: Tax advisers looking to exploit Government tax relief On air
On Air | Margaret Hodge MP | Chair of the public accounts c... | Today, BBC Radio 4
Margaret Hodge said that the objective of private accountants advising government on tax policy was to “exploit tax relief”. “The only objective of Parliament and government is to encourage firms to transfer intelligence and innovation i... Continue to article
- = Key Development Monday 22nd April
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13:33 Margaret Hodge: If people want to have the voice of government, they have a responsibility to pay their fair share On air
On Air | Margaret Hodge MP | Chair of the public accounts c... | World at One, BBC Radio 4
Margaret Hodge MP said that multinational corporations should not be exempted from UK tax obligations. “These global companies should pay a fair rate of tax related to the economic turnover in this country and the profits they derive fro... Continue to article
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12:44 MPs hit back at Hodge 'lazy' comments PoliticsHome News
MPs hit back at Hodge 'lazy' comments
MPs today defended against the idea that short sitting times in Parliament had made them look “lazy”. Chair of the Public Accounts Committee Margaret Hodge told the Guardian that MPs risked looking “lazy” because they were spending less ... Continue to article
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11:51 Lobby:No 10: PM disagrees with RCN criticism of nursing plan Lobby Briefings
11:51 | Lobby Briefings | PoliticsHome
Downing Street disagreed with criticism from the Royal College of Nursing about the Government’s proposed reforms to nursing training. Asked what he thought of the criticisms, the Prime Minister's Official Spokemsan said: "I would disag... Continue to article
- = Key Development Friday 19th April
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15:59 In Brief Events
15:59 | Events | PoliticsHome
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt (15.30) and health committee chair Stephen Dorrell MP (10.45) speak at an AgeUK event on health and care in later life in London Care minister Norman Lamb is expected to make an announcement on care and suppo... Continue to article
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08:00 Margaret Hodge: Olympic lottery money must be paid back On air
On Air | Margaret Hodge MP | Chair of the public accounts c... | Today, BBC Radio 4
Margaret Hodge said the £2.2bn Lottery investment in the Olympics still needed to be paid back. "£2.2billion of lottery money went in to fund the Olympics, so a lot of money that should have been used for good causes, that money has got ... Continue to article
- = Key Development Monday 15th April
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17:10 PAC disappointed with measurements of Civil Service reform PoliticsHome News
PAC disappointed with measurements of Civil Service reform
The civil service's delays in coming up with its own performance measures are "disappointing", the head of a key parliamentary committee has said. At a Public Accounts Committee session with the Head of the civil service and members of t... Continue to article
- = Key Development Thursday 11th April
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07:51 Margaret Hodge: Treasury accounts impenetrable On air
On Air | Margaret Hodge MP | Chair of the public accounts c... | Today, Radio 4
Margaret Hodge said the Treasury’s annual account statement was “pretty impenetrable”, and said there were elements of the public sector which had not filed their accounts in time. “It is pretty impenetrable, and I think the Treasury sho... Continue to article
- = Key Development Tuesday 26th March
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00:01 Public Accounts Committee statement: PAC: Lack of DWP clarity on Housing Benefit changes Press Release
00:01| Press Release | Public Accounts CommitteePublic Accounts Committee press release The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, today said: "The DWP says it can't accurately predict the effects of its housing benefit changes either on individuals or... Continue to article
- = Key Development Monday 25th March
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06:57 Margaret Hodge: End free school vanity projects to pay for primary places On air
On Air | Margaret Hodge MP | Chair of the public accounts c... | Daybreak, ITV
Margaret Hodge called on the Government to reduce funding for “vanity projects” such as free schools and academies to pay for more primary school places. “[We are] 250,000 short; it means children being taught in classes of over 30 – tha... Continue to article
- = Key Development Monday 18th March
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09:48 Margaret Hodge: HMRC targets unambitious On air
On Air | Margaret Hodge MP | Chair of the public accounts c... | BBC News
Margaret Hodge said that the call answering targets set by HMRC were “unambitious”. “I’m pleased they have plans to do things better. They are answering more calls but their standard, that they set themselves in our view is unambiti... Continue to article
- = Key Development Wednesday 13th March
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06:54 Liaison Committee Sketch: PM plays the blame game The House Magazine
06:54 | The House Magazine | PoliticsHome
WORDS: SAM MACRORY The Liaison Committee is a bit like an extended psychotherapy session. A sorrowful David Cameron flings off his jacket, leans forward in his chair, admits to mistakes – and blames all his problems on everyone else. M... Continue to article
- = Key Development Wednesday 6th March
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16:05 Overpayment dwarfs fraud for tax credit errors PoliticsHome News
Overpayment dwarfs fraud for tax credit errors
Overpayment to people claiming tax credits hugely outstrips fraud by claimants, the head of HMRC has told MPs. Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee, Lin Homer said overpayments were a real problem that was not being reduced. ... Continue to article
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- = Key Development Tuesday 27th November
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Stories involving Margaret Hodge
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08/05/2012 in Defence
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Aircraft carrier fiasco shows up 'dysfunctional' MoD
Public Accounts Committee chair Margaret Hodge has attacked the Ministry of Defence's mishandling of carrier aircraft replacement as a "tragic waste of taxpayers’ money".
The UK will lack aircraft carrier capability until 2020 because the Government "chose to delay" purchasing the required aircraft as part of the defence spending review.
Writing exclusively for PoliticsHome, Ms Hodge said: "This fiasco over aircraft carriers is one of the most potent examples of what can go wrong with big projects in the public sector and lies at the heart of what is dysfunctional within the Ministry of Defence."
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27/04/2012
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MPs question cuts pledge
George Osborne will struggle to cut Government spending to the extent he has promised, according to a report by MPs. The Public Accounts Committee said departments coped well with the first year of cuts, totalling £7.9bn, but warned that finding a further 19% of total spending, £77bn, would prove a "more significant challenge". Margaret Hodge, who chairs the committee, said: "The Treasury needs to get a grip at the centre on the approach taken by departments, otherwise government will impose arbitary cuts and fail to secure value for money."
The Private Finance Initiative scheme set up by Gordon Brown was "appallingly poor value for money", Margaret Hodge has admitted. In a wide-ranging interview with The Times, Ms Hodge also said she had been shocked at discovering how taxpayers money has been wasted in Government departments, criticising the Ministry of Defence in particular, which she said was "over-optimistic" about what it could buy with the funding available.
A "radical" rethink of the Government's Private Finance Initiative has been called for by the Commons Public Accounts Committee. The Committee, chaired by Margaret Hodge, warned that, in too many cases, investors have made "eye-wateringly high" profits while taxpayers are trapped in expensive and inflexible contracts.
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15/03/2012 in Parliament
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Spending watchdog 'shouts' about Whitehall
The chairman of Parliament's spending watchdog has promised to make life "uncomfortable" for ministers and civil servants who refuse to comply with it. The chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Margaret Hodge, said it was her job to "blow the whistle and shout loudly" to eradicate waste. In a speech today, Ms Hodge will also say the PAC has faced "obfuscation" during its inquiries.
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09/12/2011 in NHS
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Hodge blames 'cowboys' for NHS IT fiasco
Margaret Hodge, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, has described the American firm in charge of the failing NHS IT project as "cowboys" who should be "run out of town". Ms Hodge told the Times she was shocked to learn that Computer Sciences Corporation was looking to increase its contract after it failed to deliver fully functional software to any of 166 NHS trusts in England, costing in excess of £2bn.
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Margaret Hodge: HMRC acting like pussycats over Google
16/05/2013 on The World at One, BBC Radio 4
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Margaret Hodge: HMCR should be more aggressive in pursuing corporate tax avoiders
16/05/2013 on Sky News
On air
Margaret Hodge: Tax advisers looking to exploit Government tax relief
26/04/2013 on Today, BBC Radio 4
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Margaret Hodge: If people want to have the voice of government, they have a responsibility to pay their fair share
22/04/2013 on World at One, BBC Radio 4
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