Finance Bill

I would not want to go against your judgment, Mr Amess, but may I say that my hon. Friend's point is another example of how hard-working pensioners in my constituency will be affected by the Budget? However, I defer to your wise counsel and would not want to get on the wrong side of you. Distributional analysis is needed before anything is done. We also need to know, if the relief charge is not going to go ahead, where the money is going to come from. It will affect pensioners lower down the income scale. Many on quite small incomes, who have saved all their lives for their pensions, will basically be paying for a give-away to the richest 2% in the country. I hope that we can get the message out loud and clear from today's debate that we have a Government who are clearly taking care of their friends, the top 2%. They have to start being honest with the British people—this Budget is not about deficit reduction. It is about an ideological approach to where the burden of taxation should fall and to the size of the state, and it will not help many of my constituents in North Durham.