| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Jackie Ballard: Does the hon. Gentleman think that most pensioners in his constituency would rather have £3 a week on their pensions to spend as they like, or have fuel vouchers?
Mr. Davies: I shall not be distracted by that. I must draw my remarks to a conclusion.
Mr. Michael Fabricant (Lichfield): I give full marks to the hon. Members for Bury, South (Mr. Lewis) and for Croydon, Central (Mr. Davies) for coming up with every new Labour cliche in the book. It is pretty clear that both boys will go far. The hon. Member for Bury, South talked about social exclusion, but I remind him that the Rowntree Trust has said that the past two and a half years have seen a greater divide between rich and poor in Britain than ever occurred in the 18 years of Conservative Government. What price social exclusion?
The Government have at least admitted, or some in the Government have admitted, that taxes have gone up during the past three years, and that is confirmed by the BBC website. You, Mr. Deputy Speaker, may not know this, but the BBC has a website where one can fill in one's personal details and be told in a flash how much one's tax has increased or decreased. I filled it in, lying only about my name, which I said was Mr. Jones, and I was told that my personal tax would rise by £10 a week as a result of the Budget--and I can believe it.
What does the Budget offer? The hon. Member for Waveney (Mr. Blizzard) said that in rural areas its effect would be extensive, but I think not. It offers agriculture nothing. Dairy farmers receive 10p a pint for milk at the farm gate, but it costs them 11p a pint to produce. Pig farmers get nothing either. We all know that people in rural areas depend on their cars. A gallon of petrol now costs £3.64 in Britain, compared with just £2.82 in Germany. Motorists will have to pay £274 more for their petrol this year than they did three years ago. That is not even counting workplace parking taxes and congestion charges. Those costs have gone up in rural areas, just as they have in urban areas.
We have already heard about the tax on e-commerce, in the form of IR35, so given the lack of time I shall not go into that. However, I do have a question regarding profit-related share schemes, which I would ask the Minister to address when she replies; if she cannot do so, perhaps she will write to me. The Chancellor claimed that the profit-related share schemes would be extended. What will the position be regarding genuine, bona fide schemes such as that offered by the John Lewis partnership, which has 40,000 employees who, owing to the nature of the partnership, cannot buy shares? The Minister will know, however, that the partners have a fair system of sharing in the company's profits.
Hon. Members have talked about private health care, but whether services are provided by the NHS or by private organisations is irrelevant as long as they are free at the point of delivery. That is the acid test. I simply make the point that private health care organisations have done particularly well in the past two or three years. We have seen a fourfold increase in the number of private operations during the past year compared with 1997, because people are just not prepared to wait as they have to at present under this Labour Administration.
What about the great announcement on health? In the past few hours the NHS Confederation has warned that Ministers should not try to browbeat NHS workers. In answer to the Prime Minister's so-called statement this afternoon, Stephen Thornton, its chief executive, said:
What of the marvellous £2 billion that the Government have announced? Of that, £200 million will have to pay for the unfunded pay award and £300 million will come from tobacco tax. That leaves just £600 million to £650 million out of the £2 billion to be released to NHS trusts and primary care practices.
Where does that leave authorities such as the South Staffordshire health authority, which are badly in debt? Throughout the United Kingdom, area health authorities owe approximately £1 billion. That figure has accumulated in the past two and a half years; it will not be paid off.
How are those problems reflected in the microcosm--South Staffordshire--that I represent? At Prime Minister's questions, I made the point that South Staffordshire health authority has announced that Hammerwich hospital and Barton hospital are to close and that services at the Lichfield Victoria hospital will be severely curtailed. The maternity wing and the dialysis unit at that hospital will close, while the services provided by the minor injuries unit will be greatly reduced.
We also experience postcode differentiation in my area. Why do people in Lichfield have to wait three times as long as people in Birmingham for an operation at the Good Hope hospital? I wrote to a Health Minister about that more than a year ago. The Minister replied swiftly and said that it was unacceptable. I was pleased with that reply. The Minister promised to direct full attention to the matter. It now appears that nothing can be done. These dilemmas have occurred since the Labour Government were elected.
Mr. Robert Syms (Poole):
We are considering the 9p up, 1p down Budget. To return to our position in 1997, the Government would have to reduce taxes by £15 billion. The tax ratio continues to increase; that is a burden on all parts of the community. We need only consider the allowances that have gone: the married couples allowance and mortgage tax relief have been abolished. IR35 makes a great difference to high-tech and engineering. The construction industry scheme has been messed up. It is good that the Government are reconsidering it, but it was ridiculous that people had to
The first Budget about which I spoke was in 1997. The Government then changed the advance corporation tax rules and took £5 billion a year off pensions. That is regrettable. We are starting to experience its effects. For example, Tesco announced that its employees would have to contribute more. There has been a big impact on local councils.
Poole borough council in my constituency is suffering because it has to contribute hundreds of thousands of pounds more to pension funds. This year, the council tax increase is 12.3 per cent. Many pensioners tell me, "I had a 75p increase, yet I had to pay a 12.3 per cent. increase. That is not fair." I agree with them.
Poole local authority receives the lowest level of support for education. Although I am sure that it welcomes the increase in the amount of money that will go to schools, that does not alter the fact that, year on year, far fewer resources go to schools in Poole than in many other areas.
I regret that the savings ratio, which was 10.6 per cent. when we were in office is now down to 5.5 per cent., and, according to the Red Book, falling. That does not bode well for the future.
The average British motorist pays £274 more than when the Labour party came to power. Overall, pre-Budget, the Government were taking £36 billion a year from road users, but spending only £6 billion on roads. In the Budget, they increased that amount by £715 million through tax and £60 million through vehicle excise duty; yet they have put only £280 million back. They announced today that they had spent £250 million on the Manchester metro.
Although we pay a heavy price for road congestion--£20 billion a year, the Confederation of British Industry estimates--many road and important bypass schemes across the country have been cancelled. The hon. Member for Waveney (Mr. Blizzard) mentioned problems with the condition of the roads that take people to his constituency, and many of us appreciate that without investment in roads we will not get the country moving and business will not be able to make a better job of employing people.
The Government's record on transport is disgraceful, as they are milking the motorist and not putting the money back. People would feel a little happier if public transport were an alternative in most places. That may be a prospect in London, certainly in north London, but not in Dorset or Poole. The car is a necessity for most people and hitting motorists means hitting some of the poorest people with marginal incomes who need a car for the necessities of life. The Government must rethink what they are doing. The fact that they are not continuing with the escalator was trailed a great deal. There has been less of an increase this year, but the increase, on top of previous increases, has made the burden on the motorist heavy.
I have a further point to make on advance corporation tax, which has hit charities to the tune of £400 million. People tend to consider charities as a group, but there are different sorts--those that can raise lots of money and those with lots of investments as a result of bequests. After making the ACT changes, the Government have tried to make the regime for giving a bit easier. I welcome that--it helps the newer, more fashionable charities--but
some older charities with big investments, such as the most respected medical charities, have still been hit hard. Great disquiet has been caused among the charities and the Government need to reconsider.
We are all pleased that the economy, which started to grow in 1992, has continued to expand, and the public sector surplus which is largely due to that continued growth, represents the difference between two large figures. Although we hope that that expansion will continue, we cannot be complacent. I welcome the fact that we shall continue to run a surplus, which is the right thing to do at this stage of the cycle, but I have worries.
The Government were very meddlesome in yesterday's Budget. Simple taxes are best, but there was a great deal of fiddling about with capital gains tax and, when we look into that, we see that it will not give an awful lot back to businesses and will make the system more complicated. It would have been better if the Chancellor had gone for much simpler solutions that people could understand.
I welcome the additional money for the health service, but there was a whiff of panic about the Government's announcement today. They have been in office for nearly three years, but what is happening in our hospitals is of great concern to us all. Our postbags inform us of constituents who are exasperated by the service they are receiving. It has deteriorated, but money is not the only factor; management and the way our hospitals are run have also to be considered.
Each of the Prime Minister's five challenges relies on changing clinical practice, which will need a style of working which wins hearts and minds, not naming and shaming--
which is precisely what the Government have tried to do.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |