Finance Bill

Absolutely. There is a sense that this ratcheting up might be for ever. Once the so-called emergency period is over, most sane and rational people would say, "Okay, the emergency is passing, so we should reduce sales tax down to some level of normalcy", but I would not expect that from the Treasury. This is the Treasury's opportunity to grab more money from the general public and to stay at that high level. I have heard nothing from the Government to suggest that this is a temporary measure. We therefore have no choice but to table suggestions that sunset clauses are necessary and incredibly important. Amendment 23 would retain the 17.5% rate on a certain class of goods and not raise it to 20%. I refer in particular to children's equipment—children's prams, cots, toys, high chairs, babies' bottles, children's sanitary products and teething-related goods. I declare an interest: I have a 10-month-old daughter. I am thus realising that while she is, of course, worth every penny, she is also an exceptionally expensive addition to my family. I am not complaining in any way about that, but it has brought home to me the sheer cost on families of raising youngsters. Believe it or not, the Family and Parenting Institute has said that over a lifetime—up to the age of 21—each youngster can cost a family £200,000 to raise, which is about £800 a month. That is the institute's figure, and although I would not necessarily see its methodology I feel very much as if the expenditure is going in that direction. Even if just half that cost were VAT-able expenditure, over a lifetime the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition's change equates to £2,500 of extra tax per child. That is not to be sniffed at; it is a significant amount of money. It is not fair that families with young children should have to bear such a disproportionate burden of the deficit solution. As we know, the phrase "We're all in it together" does not apply to the bankers or the highest paid in society. The burden will hit those in the most difficult circumstances.