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Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: I am responding to the Chief Secretary's points. One of his hon. Friends will have an opportunity to respond to the debate and we will listen to what is said. It is not the fault of my hon. Friend the Member for Grantham and Stamford that he knows more about the Bill than the Government or that he spoke at some length to some of the amendments and clauses.
About a quarter of the Bill remained unexamined at the end of our proceedings. That created great difficulty, not only for the members of the Committee but for outside bodies. The Chief Secretary's extraordinary statement that the Bill's being bundled through the House was all according to precedent ignores the fact that outside bodies often want to criticise some of the proposals, recommend improvements and propose amendments, but they were denied the opportunity to do so.
We are complaining not just about the short time between the Bill going into Committee and its coming out of Committee, but about the fact that the Committee sat every day of the week. Many outside bodies, institutes and tax practitioners wrote in to complain.
I have before me a letter from the respected Association of Unit Trusts and Investment Funds, which complains that it was not seeking, in its suggested amendments, to wreck the Government's proposals. It says that it likes to work with Governments to avoid unintended consequences of legislation. It says that its members would not meet Ministers because there was no time. When its members asked to meet officials they were told that there was no point in talking to officials because Ministers made the decisions. So the only people worth talking to had no time for them. Association members were offered the chance to meet Ministers only once the Bill had completed its Committee stage.
That is what we are complaining about. It is an insult not just to the House but to taxpayers outside the House that they had no opportunity to be consulted or to recommend improvements to the Bill. I am surprised that the Government do not concede that. Hon. Members will remember that they came to office full of all sorts of stuff about partnerships, the need to listen--they were going to be a listening Government--and the need to consult. How hollow and hypocritical it sounds now. The way we have proceeded is practically a definition of how not to legislate. The Government have proceeded in haste, made mistakes, and pushed ahead in the teeth of well-argued opposition.
The proceedings have not been fruitless. We are not saying that the procedures of the House have not brought advantages, because we have established certain facts beyond dispute. One interesting fact the Government did not deny--and implicitly accepted--is that real expenditure in the current year is reduced by £3 billion, and by more than £5 billion in the next financial year, because of the extra inflation that is now built into the Budget arithmetic at least in part because of the inflationary effect of some of the Budget measures.
I mentioned the increase, from the date of the Budget, in petrol and heating oil duties, which, as we have already observed, feed straight into the retail prices index. That is inflationary for all public services and an additional imposition on their costs, but there is extra money for none of the public services this year or next. What the Government have done for next year is simply pre-allocate some of the reserve, which was part of the control total anyway. Not a penny piece has been promised for public services as a whole, but the inflationary consequences of the Budget and other measures that the Government have taken ensure that the real value of public expenditure is reduced by £3 billion in the current year. It was therefore useful to be able to establish beyond doubt that that is indeed the case.
Mr. Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield):
My right hon. Friend will recall that the Chief Secretary has stated more
Does my right hon. Friend believe that the way the Government have dealt with foreign investment dividends and advance corporation tax in respect of pensions is likely to lead to further investment by companies, which will now need to invest rather more in their employees' pensions thus depriving companies of investment in technology and machinery? How will he further respond to matters relating to foreign investment dividends, which will have a damaging effect on some big companies that employ a large number of people?
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory:
I agree with my hon. Friend. He will recall that, as an excuse for the timetable motion, the Government said that they wanted to get the Bill on to the statute book to end the uncertainty. In fact, as we now know, the Bill has created uncertainty. The status of foreign income dividends is in limbo. We do not know what the Government intend. All we know is that clause 36 is defective and inoperative.
My hon. Friend mentioned the effect on savings and pensioners. The central feature of the Budget is the huge and unexpected tax increase on pension funds and, therefore, on millions of savers. I use the word unexpected only because a few people might have believed the Labour party's promise not to increase taxation. They will have been alarmed and amazed by the speed with which the Labour party broke its pre-election promises.
Labour is hitting the very people who are attempting to provide for themselves and their families in the long term. The Government have the brass neck to call this a Budget for the long term. It is, in one sense: it hits the people who are saving for the long term.
To add insult to that injury, the Government deny that they are hitting pension funds at all. It remains Government policy, as enunciated by the Financial Secretary, that the withdrawal of £3.5 billion a year from pension funds is good for them. That is what she asserted on 3 July. No member of the Government has withdrawn or modified that remark.
The Budget will always be known as the pension tax Budget. If the Government believe that hitting pension funds to the tune of £3.5 billion a year is good for them, many other sectors of the economy must be hoping that the Government will not try to do any good to them in future Budgets.
Mr. Tony Clarke (Northampton, South):
I am grateful for the opportunity to make my maiden speech during this debate. I begin by offering through you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, my gratitude to Madam Speaker for her comments on her acceptance of office. She spoke about my predecessor, the right hon. Michael Morris, who was the previous Chairman of Ways and Means and a Deputy
I wish to take this opportunity of placing on record my thanks to Michael Morris for his service to the House, and wish him and his family well for the future. He was a good servant of the House and I am sure that he will be missed in the Speaker's Office.
Michael is not the only Member for Northampton to have left his mark on the House, as previous post-holders have played their part in the history and administration of this place. I am honoured to count myself among their number.
Spencer Perceval entered Parliament in 1796 and remains the only Member for Northampton to date to hold the post of Prime Minister. He also has the unenviable honour of being the only British Prime Minister to be assassinated. He was shot in the Members' Lobby in 1812 by an angry farmer by the name of J. Bellingham.
I appreciate that the folk of Northampton have strong views on parliamentary representation. Fortunately, Mr. Bellingham was not a local, but from the east coast.
Charles Bradlaugh was a radical Member, first elected in 1880, but it was six years before he was finally able to take his seat. Having asked to affirm rather than swear the oath on arrival, he was imprisoned in the Clock Tower and excluded from Parliament, and a by-election was called. The wise folk of Northampton refused to accept Parliament's view. They did not allow Parliament to tell them whom they should select or refuse, and continued to return Bradlaugh. Unlike people today, he faced elections in 1880, 1881, 1882, 1884 and 1885. The people of Northampton returned him each time, declaring, "It is up to us to decide whom we wish to represent us." Finally, the Speaker allowed him to take his seat in 1886. I am pleased to say that, in 1888, he secured the passage of a Bill legalising affirmation in both the law courts and Parliament.
Bradlaugh opposed the English oppression of Ireland. He also frowned on many aspects of the British empire, and was a great friend of India--of which I am sure many people are aware. He condemned war making and deplored malnutrition and neglect of the people. He was an advocate of land reform, and a staunch republican. There is much about Mr. Bradlaugh and his views that I find desirable today.
No history of Northampton parliamentarians would be complete without reference to Margaret Bondfield--who was also mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, North (Ms Keeble). Margaret Bondfield became the first woman Minister in this place when she was appointed Minister of Labour in 1929.
Northampton was a seat of Parliament many times during the 14th century, and it has a proud history in defence of this place. During the civil war, the strong parliamentary garrison at Northampton led the assault at Naseby. Its shoemakers made the boots for Cromwell's army on the promise of payment following his victory. That payment was never received--I raise that issue now
as we are discussing the Finance Bill, and the relevant Ministers are present. I understand that the Chancellor is looking to introduce legislation on late payment of bills. I believe that Northampton has a just case in that regard. Alternatively, if that is not possible, we would settle for a favourable standard spending assessment settlement next year.
My constituency of Northampton, South today comprises the southern half of the town and its surrounding green belt. It remains one of the fastest growing constituencies in the land. Despite a recent review, the electorate is 81,000 and rising. The population increases at an alarming rate: Northampton alone grows at a rate of 2,000 people per annum. The current population of 192,000 is expected to exceed 200,000 by the millennium.
Industry has changed over the years. It still includes the tradition of shoemaking, but is now much more diverse. Church's shoes are particularly noteworthy, and I am grateful to the company for its assistance during the election campaign. The shoes that I purchased from it are still going strong and have seen me through both the election campaign and my many trips around this place, during which I have got lost many times. I recommend that brand to hon. Members.
As I said, industry in my constituency has changed and is now more diverse. Carlsberg, Barclaycard and MFI are based in my constituency and have their headquarters in Northampton. We look forward to welcoming Panasonic to the fold later this year. Industry looks to the Government to strengthen the economy, and the measures in the Chancellor's Budget and in the Finance Bill will ensure that there is long-term stability and prosperity, rather than a cycle of boom-bust, for the first time in several years.
My constituents welcome that stability and prosperity, and they welcome the additional provision for the national health service and for education. Although I understand the reasoning behind some of the amendments placed before the House today--I was in the Chamber for a considerable time this afternoon, listening to discussions about the pensions issue--I am somewhat disappointed that none of the amendments mentioned from where finance would come to replace that which they would eliminate. I found it particularly difficult to accept Conservative Members' advice on pensions, when they sat back for eight years and did nothing about the mis-selling of pensions.
It is a great honour to serve the people of Northampton and its surrounding areas. It is the town of my birth and where I live and raise my family. I am proud to be the first member of the town for many years to serve the place of my birth. If we look through its history, we will see that not many people who were born and bred in Northampton have had the honour of serving that area. I am proud to be able to do that.
May 1997 was a memorable time for me, not simply because of the general election result, but because, as the hon. Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell) will know, my team, Northampton Town, were at Wembley. The cobblers, celebrating their centenary this year, reached Wembley for the first time and were victorious. Their defeat of Swansea was not appreciated by the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard) who joined me on that day, but
Northampton Town has now been promoted to the second division. That is proof positive that anything is possible under a Labour Government. As vice-chairman of the supporters trust, I wish the team well in their centenary year.
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