Finance Bill

I know that the hon. Lady is not trying to run away from this debate, because she has been writing to colleagues in Scotland and including in her letters the immortal sentence, "The increase in VAT did not feature in any of my election publicity." She would have to accept therefore that the impression given by both the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chancellor in the words that I have just read out would conjure up in the minds of voters the idea that there was no plan for a hike in VAT. The point that I am making this afternoon is that because that illusion was created, rightly or wrongly, by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, the public did not get a chance to think about the kind of protections that would be needed. That is why the amendments call for reports to be laid before the House of Commons.