Finance Bill

My right hon. Friend makes a very important point that I tried to make earlier. It is all very well for the hon. Member for Caerphilly to ask why the VAT rise is not different for different areas—perhaps less for the construction industry—but when it went from 15% to 17.5%, it was a blanket policy that hit everywhere. It is important to ask why that rise was acceptable but this rise is not. To conclude, we have to bear two things in mind when we consider the amendments. The VAT rise is regrettable. Nobody in the House particularly wanted taxation to rise—that is not why we came into politics, with the exception of Labour Members who seemed to raise it year on year regardless—but the purpose of the Budget is to reduce the overall deficit and to bring security to the economy, to people's jobs and to people's everyday living allowances by keeping interest rates low. Some of the amendments might have value on their own, but, looking at the bigger picture, I do not believe that they would add value or do anything to reduce the deficit that the country now faces.