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Mr. MacShane: Will the Financial Secretary confirm that the burden of taxation is higher now than in 1992?
Mr. Jack: I can confirm that the burden of taxation in the next financial year will be no greater than it was at the beginning of the most recent general election. The hon. Gentleman--who claims to be an economic literate--fails to understand that further figures in the Red Book demonstrate the simple proposition that as people earn more, they pay more tax.
I should now like to reply to the speeches made by my right hon. and hon. Friends in this debate. In the telling speech of my hon. Friend the Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts), he rightly drew our attention to the Labour party's £30 billion of spending pledges. The hon. Member for Edinburgh, Central (Mr. Darling) seemed to wriggle very hard when he said that Labour's pledges were not pledges but something else--perhaps an eternal wish list. However, some people who claim to be supporters of the Opposition see matters rather differently. On the matter
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"Well I think it's been a commitment of David Blunkett's for some time and he sees it as a means by which teachers can be updated, they can be retrained and reinvigorated into the job."
Ms Primarolo:
Will the Minister give way?
Mr. Jack: Not at this point; I am making an important point about the matter of a pledge. The point underpins the argument made by my hon. Friend the Member for Havant, and it makes it very clear to the House and the public that, despite what the Opposition say, one would have to pay a £30 billion bill to meet the pledges of the Labour party.
Ms Primarolo: On the issue of pledges, could the Financial Secretary explain to us why, on page 88 of the Red Book, under "Total taxes and NICs", it states that, for 1992-93, the total take was 34¼ per cent., but that, for 1997-98, it will be 36¼ per cent.? Is that not a rise?
Mr. Jack: It is remarkable that, as soon as we hit home with the cost of a Labour Government, Labour Members change their line of attack.
Ms Primarolo: Answer the question.
Mr. Jack: I will deal with the point. As the hon. Lady said, I pointed out a moment ago, as have all my right hon. and hon. Friends, that as people earn more, the amount of tax taken in the economy increases.
Mr. Jack: I will not give way on that point because I want to make some progress.
The percentage of tax burden in this financial year will be the same as it was in the year of the last general election.
We have seen the way in which the Opposition reacted to the points on public expenditure raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Havant. If that causes them so many problems, let me turn to another point raised in the debate by my hon. Friend the Member for Havant--the windfall tax.
None of what the Opposition said gave us any insight into how much people will pay, who will pay and how the tax will be levied. On the central question of the legal opinion obtained by the organisation Aims for Industry we got no satisfaction from the Opposition. They did not tell us about the basis on which they say that the tax could be sustained. The Opposition may not have had a chance to see that advice, although it is in the public domain. I will do a deal with the right hon. Member for Dunfermline, East (Mr. Brown) and his hon. Friends. For greater accuracy I have obtained a copy of the advice and I am prepared to make it available to them with the proviso that they make public the advice in which they put so much confidence. If they do not make that advice available, we will know that it is wanting, that the tax will be non-existent and that there will be a considerable hole in Labour's finances.
My hon. Friend the Member for Havant went on to tell us about the strengths of the British economy and he was absolutely right. All we heard from the Opposition were
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Mr. Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan):
On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Is it appropriate for a Minister to refer to a document that he says he will make conditionally available and not put in the Library of the House as is the normal procedure?
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
That is a matter for debate.
Mr. Jack:
I am prepared to make it available to the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond). I was trying to elicit some facts from the Opposition for the benefit of the House, but they have remained totally silent. We can draw our own conclusions from that.
The Bosch-Siemens company made clear its view on the competitiveness and excellence of the British economy when it pointed out that it was the company's wish to increase the purchases of white goods from this country because of our
My hon. Friend the Member for Stamford and Spalding (Mr. Davies) unmasked the true spirit of the Labour party. He pointed out that it is a party of taxers which still believes in devaluation and can see nothing but state investment. He made those points tellingly. I can tell him that we have contained the growth in social security, to which he also referred, to a level that we can afford. One of the themes that underpins this Finance Bill and the Budget is the control of our public finances.
My hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes, South-West (Mr. Legg) made some telling points about the real economy about which we have heard so little from the Opposition. I was delighted that he welcomed that part of the Bill which enacts his suggestion from last year's consideration on the subject of charities and their receipts from their trading enterprises. I am glad that we have been able to incorporate that into the Bill. I was also grateful for his support on borrowing and inflation.
My hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth, West (Mr. Butterfill) made some important points about small businesses. I was grateful to him for pointing out why this was the best Budget for small businesses for a decade. He was entirely right.
I should like to take up my hon. Friend's point about long-life assets and the aircraft industry. We consider that case to be different from the need to encourage the burgeoning railway industry and we recognise some of the real problems for commercial shipping. I cannot offer my hon. Friend the comfort that he sought, but I am grateful to him for making that point.
My right hon. Friend the Member for City of London and Westminster, South (Mr. Brooke) and my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Mr. French), as well as my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth, West, raised
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My hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Mr. Budgen) made a characteristic speech, drawing the attention of the House to important aspects of monetary policy, pointing out that the Opposition's monetary committee-type proposals were not worth the paper that they were printed on. My hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, North (Mr. Marlow) reminded us clearly that at the heart of every Labour Member is a desire to raise taxes and spend more. As the Bill confirms, we Conservatives are intuitively tax cutters. [Interruption.] Labour Members may laugh, but while they have chastised the Conservatives for what they call 22 tax increases, I remind the House of the 25 tax decreases, among others, that we have made.
In dealing with the contributions from Opposition Members, I pay public tribute to the hon. Member for Barnsley, East (Mr. Ennis), who made his maiden speech in what I believe will be a characteristically direct fashion. He talked about the traditions and needs of his community in Barnsley and rightly paid tribute to our former colleague, Terry Patchett. When the hon. Gentleman talked about the Grimethorpe band, one could almost hear it playing in the background. We now know the secret of his success, which was to keep it in the family. However, there is a clear message from the Budget and the Finance Bill that I want him to take back to all the members of his family and all his new constituents: a family on average earnings will be £370 better off this year as a result of the Budget. That is an incorruptible message coming out of our considerations.
I remember thanking the hon. Member for Gordon for his contribution on the reductions that we have made to spirit duty. I remind him, too, of the rising living standards to which I have attested.
The hon. Member for Upper Bann (Mr. Trimble) made some important points about the Northern Ireland economy and I shall certainly draw to the attention of my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland some of the local points that he made, particularly about education. We shall give careful consideration to his comments on the air passenger duty and the insurance premium tax. I shall also look into some of his concerns about the private finance initiative because, as he knows, I went to Belfast specifically to encourage developments in that respect. I am grateful to him for mentioning that point.
The shadow Chief Secretary spoke in support of the Opposition amendment. At no point in that speech did we hear any rebuttal of the central point at the heart of the Finance Bill: the increase in this country's living standards. Living standards have not just increased this year. Let us look at the Government's record. Since the last general election, the average family on average earnings is £100 a week better off in real terms as a result of the Government's stewardship of the economy.
The right hon. Member for Dunfermline, East needs to refresh his memory about some of the 25 tax decreases. Personal allowances rose by £240 in the 1995 Budget and
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The right hon. Member for Dunfermline, East started out by trying to criticise the Government over matters connected with the council tax, insurance premium tax, airport duty and profit-related pay, but shied right away from telling the House the truth about his party's real policy. In debates on the Finance Bill, he must come clean with the House of Commons and the wider public instead of just criticising and tell us about his alternatives ideas. It is easy to criticise but much more difficult to be constructive.
I remind the right hon. Member for Dunfermline, East that the total net wealth of the personal sector has doubled in real terms and net financial wealth has risen almost fourfold in real terms since 1979. I remind the hon. Member for Bristol, South that research by the independent Institute of Fiscal Studies shows that the spending of the poorest 10th of households, to which she referred, has increased by 14 per cent. since 1979. That rebuts some of the claims that she made.
On investing in skills, the Bill contains some important measures that deal with training. One in three school leavers go on to university in this country--one of the highest rates in Europe. Last year, business spent £10.5 billion on training, and 95 per cent. of businesses forecast that they will increase or maintain the present amount spent on training. That would not be possible if we were not able through our stewardship of the economy to have competitive industry.
"low wage costs and flexible working record."
That is a simple testament to the excellence of the supply-side reforms that the Government have introduced, our tax policies, the competitiveness of the British economy and the high regard in which we are held by the rest of Europe. The Finance Bill delivers more of that.
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