Finance Bill

For the hon. Gentleman to begin quoting private correspondence, even that written in bad taste and in jest, is particularly inappropriate in a Finance Bill debate on a £19 billion tax increase of which his constituents will pay part. If that is the strength of his contribution this afternoon, I think that they will be disappointed. I was about to say that the Deputy Prime Minister was among those who gave the public the impression that there was not a plan to increase VAT. He said on 8 April:""Our plans do not require a rise in VAT. The Tory plans do. Their tax promises on marriage and jobs may sound appealing."—" appealing to him, I think he meant.""But they come with a secret VAT bombshell close behind."" There was, of course, a nice poster to go with the quotation, which we talked about last week. I was one of those who were lucky enough to get a copy of the poster before the Deputy Prime Minister took it off his website last Tuesday night—it is good to note that at least they were not all in the bar. The poster was clear. It said:""Tory VAT bombshell. You'd pay £389 more a year in VAT under the Conservatives."" The Deputy Prime Minister's assertion, however, that no rise in VAT was needed in the Liberal Democrat plans found its echo in words from the right hon. Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), who is at ECOFIN today. He told The Times on 10 April:""We have no plans to increase VAT.""