(Except clauses 7, 8, 9, 11, 14, 16, 20 and 92)
Finance Bill
10:30 am
Mark Hoban (Shadow Minister, Treasury; Fareham, Conservative)
I also welcome you, Mr. Atkinson, and your co-Chairman, Mr. Hood, to the proceedings. The Financial Secretary and I are veterans of proceedings on the Finance Bill. This is my fourth Bill as a Front Bencher. I participated in proceedings in 2002 as a Back Bencher, so I know what a long haul we have in front of us. I have not quite reached the record established by the Financial Secretary’s predecessor, the right hon. Member for Bristol, South (Dawn Primarolo). She dealt with 13 Finance Bills in Opposition as well as in Government, a record in longevity to which I am not entirely sure that I aspire.
Our proceedings are perhaps the less glamorous aspect of the Budget. All the excitement of Budget day is over and done with. We have moved from a Committee of the whole House to a Public Bill Committee, and the fact that our proceedings are not programmed will give all members of the Committee the chance to explore at length the provisions of the Bill. Labour Members who did not take part in the debate on the Finance Bill in the House will now have the opportunity to voice their concerns about aspects of it. I am disappointed that the hon. Members for Wolverhampton, South-West (Rob Marris) and for Coventry, North-West (Mr. Robinson), the most assiduous participants when the Bill was discussed in the Committee of the whole House, have not found favour with the usual channels to serve here, but perhaps their absence will enable other Labour Members to shine and flourish in the confines of this room.
We are about to undertake an important scrutiny process The Financial Secretary said on the Floor of the House and by letter that the Government would table amendments. It is important to get the Bill right and to approach it with the rigour and seriousness that a Bill affecting so many people requires. I am grateful, as the Financial Secretary is, to the support of House advisers, who give up their time voluntarily to help inform us and to make sure that the scrutiny process is effective. I am grateful to my hon. Friends for joining us in Committee and I am sure that we shall do battle with the Treasury Bench and Labour MPs in a generous and well-spirited way.