Cracking The Ice
Thanks in part to a neighbour with a mini-digger who scooped piles of snow away from my gate, I made it to Belfast today to present Inside Politics. The main guest is the Secretary of State Owen Paterson, also snowbound in the west of England, who gives us some detail about the government's draft discussion paper on devolving corporation tax here. The paper went to the Executive on Thursday, and Stormont ministers have about three weeks to consider it and make their own suggestions. The Exchequer Secretary is due to visit Northern Ireland in January, after which the proposal should be re-worked and put out to public consultation.
In his interview recorded earlier this morning Mr Paterson defends reducing corporation tax against those who argue its a tax give away for businesses at the expense of a £310 million cut in local services. He also explains why he doesn't think it would have been a good idea to pressurise the Irish Republic to increase its corporation tax rate as a quid pro quo for British participation in the multi-billion pound bail out.
As well as Owen Paterson, I shall be speaking to economist Mike Smyth and our regular commentator Seamus Close, for what is the last Inside Politics programme of 2010.
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