(Except clauses 7, 8, 9, 11, 14, 16, 20 and 92) - Schedule 3
Finance Bill
1:00 pm
David Gauke (Shadow Minister, Treasury; South West Hertfordshire, Conservative)
It is a pleasure to welcome you back to the Chair, Mr. Atkinson. As I am sure you would expect, Sir Nicholas Winterton kept us in order this morning in his inimitable way, but we are delighted to see you back.
As I stated this morning, and as Sir Nicholas pointed out, we debated clause 9, which deals with the temporary cut in VAT from 17.5 per cent. to 15 per cent., on the Floor of the House, and I have no intention of running through all those arguments again. I will merely add that those of us who were concerned about the state of the public finances take no reassurance from this morning’s news that public sector net borrowing has increased substantially for April and is at record levels, and that the ratings agency Standard and Poor’s has revised its outlook for the UK to negative, due to borrowing concerns. The agency has said that Britain’s triple A rating for its Government bonds was at risk if the next Government did not produce a credible plan to put Government debt on a “secure downward trajectory”. Our concerns about a discretionary fiscal stimulus appear to be further vindicated.