Finance Bill

These charities are very important across the country. Of course, another charity in my constituency that I have approached about this matter—the Nightingale House hospice—has said that as a result of the Budget it will have to find £10,000 to care for the sick people whom it looks after. That is the consequence of the Budget that is being supported by the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. This is a specific aspect of that Budget: the penalty that is being imposed on charitable organisations that the parties opposite purport to support. Politics is all about choices. That is what we are paid to come here to make. The choices that a party makes when it gets into a position of power tell us a great deal about that party. The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives are choosing to lower the rate of corporation tax, which will apply to the banks that we were talking about last night. While we were having that debate, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury was elsewhere delivering an after-dinner speech, but he should have been here, telling the House about what he is proposing in respect of a banking levy. The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives support a cut in corporation tax for Barclays bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland and all the companies that have benefited from the support that the Government have given. They also support a VAT increase that they know will inflict financial pain on charities that are committed to serving the most vulnerable in our communities. Those parties can make those choices because they are in government, but people will remember. We expect such choices from the Conservatives, but perhaps we do not expect them from the Liberal Democrats. If the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats make those choices, we will make sure that all our constituents know where they stand. We all know that organisations such as hospices are among the most valued organisations in our communities—that is why the Prime Minister talks about the third, or voluntary, sector. The Government parties should be aware that what they are doing tonight is inflicting financial pain on those organisations, and they should be ashamed.