Schedule 3
Finance Bill
10:15 am
David Gauke (Shadow Minister, Treasury; South West Hertfordshire, Conservative)
It is a pleasure to be called by you, Sir Nicholas, to serve under your chairmanship, and to move our debate on from the perils of the interweb thingy.
As you said, Sir Nicholas, clause 9, which relates to the temporary VAT reduction, was debated in the Committee of the whole House. We discussed when we should return to a rate of 17.5 per cent. I have no intention, as you have already guided us, Sir Nicholas, to run over the discussions that we had about the effectiveness or otherwise of the reduction, nor about whether 1 January is the appropriate date to return to 17.5 per cent, as we had a full and interesting discussion about that subject on the Floor of the House.
Schedule 3 contains a number of detailed provisions required by the structure created and the Government’s policy of reducing VAT and then returning it to a higher level over time. I look forward to debating the details this afternoon, Sir Nicholas.