Finance Bill

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. What he and others are identifying in this debate is an element of confusion in public policy. Compulsory third-party insurance for people who drive cars is a matter of public policy. If such compulsory insurance is required by the law, we are effectively saying as law-makers that it is a good thing to have it. Are we seriously saying as law-makers, ““Well, if you comply with the law, we are also going to charge you extra tax for your compliance””? It seems to me that we need more clarity of thought on the matter. If we do not think that insurance is important and necessary, we should remove the requirement for compulsory insurance. I think that motor insurance, and particularly third-party insurance, is not only desirable but essential. If we are to have it, however, why should we also have insurance premium tax on it? In particular, why do we need to increase the insurance premium tax at this time? The yield from all the increases in insurance premium tax comes to some £400 million a year, but I suggest that the cost ramifications arising from uninsured driving, and the accident and injuries resulting from it, might be on a scale similar to the total yield of the entire increase in insurance premium tax. Because the current system imposes a flat rate on the level of the premium, the higher the premium, the worse the risk and the greater the penalty incurred. When the Minister responds, I hope he will let us know whether he has considered alternative ways of raising revenue, if it has to be raised, from insurance premiums. It might be possible to do so by looking at each transaction, or we could have a fixed levy on every annual insurance premium. That would mean that people with the highest premiums would not have to pay the highest amount in tax. I do not know whether those options are being looked at. If the Minister is listening to what I am saying rather than coalescing with the coalition, I hope he will let me know whether any thinking has gone on in this radical Government along the lines that I have suggested—of having a fixed price tax on each insurance transaction rather than relating the tax to the cost of the premium, which, as I have said, militates particularly against the least well-off, living in areas where the premiums are higher because the risks are higher. Without making a meal of it, I believe that we are debating an important matter of principle, and I am delighted that there are so many right hon. and hon. Members in the Chamber to hear it debated. We look forward to hearing more about amendment 15, which I believe is also a useful one. It is surprising that we do not have such a report as is suggested in the amendment before us now as we consider these issues.