Clause 24
Finance Bill
5:15 pm
Stephen Timms (Financial Secretary, HM Treasury; East Ham, Labour)
Opposition Members may have slightly misunderstood what the Chancellor of the Exchequer said about the scale. The figure he used was £50 billion, not £60 billion: that is the amount of investment that will qualify for support from the allowances. I certainly do not wish to give the Committee the impression that there will be an additional £50 billion or £60 billion of investment. That will not be the case. However, I expect some increase because many businesses are likely to have some flexibility regarding the timing of their investment and will be able to bring it forward, compared with what they otherwise would have done.