(Except clauses 1, 3, 7, 8, 12, 20, 21, 25, 67 and 81 to 84, schedules 1, 18, 22 and 23, and new clauses relating to microgeneration) - Clause 17
Finance Bill
10:30 am
Paul Goodman (Shadow Minister (Childcare), Treasury; Wycombe, Conservative)
Welcome to the Chair, Mr. Gale. The clause marks the beginning of the part of the Bill that deals with the environment. It is progress to have such a part, given that there was no similar part in last year’s Finance Bill.
By way of introduction, I shall point out that my hon. Friends and I have done some research and discovered that in last year’s Budget alone, the Chancellor mentioned climate change no fewer than 15 times, whereas in the Budget and pre-Budget statements between 1997 and the autumn of 2005, he mentioned it on average only once. I shall leave it to the Committee to work out what stimulated his interest in the environment, and what might have happened in the autumn of 2005 to awaken that interest.