Relief for Payment of Interest

Part of Orders of the Day — Finance Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 17 May 1972.

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Photo of Mr Cecil Parkinson Mr Cecil Parkinson , Enfield West 12:00, 17 May 1972

The hon. Member for West Lothian (Mr. Dalyell) and the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Grimond) both made the same point, that the Clause will benefit a section of the community and that we as a party have been gearing our efforts in that direction. The relief is available only to those who pay interest, and the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland said that what is good for one should be good for all. But the Government can point to a substantial record of benefits given to people in need which are not available to everyone. We introduced the family income supplement for the working poor, which is not a benefit available to the rich but is exclusively available to those who need it.

Opposition Members do not make the point that we have introduced a range of benefits available only to those in need. All the time they say that the Conservative Party is discriminatory, that we give reliefs to people who borrow money and that those who do not borrow do not receive any relief. Obviously those who have no investment income do not pay tax on their investment income. It is misleading to go on about the benefit which may become available to one section without mentioning the 2½ million people who will pay no tax as a result of the Government's measures. When we came to power a man earning £20 a week, with two children, paid £60 a year in taxes, but he now pays no tax and qualifies for substantial benefits.

There are two sides to every coin. Labour hon. Members harp on about the railwaymen being very aware in their wage negotiations that there will be relief for loan interest. I hope that the railwaymen are also also aware that the same Government introduced substantial benefits for people who needed help, and that the railwaymen will stop trying to encourage inflationary wage settlements and wage demands by people whose needs are not always absolutely established. Labour hon. Members are misleading when they harp on as they do, and the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland also spoke in this vein.

4.45 p.m.

The hon. Member for Heywood and Royton (Mr. Joel Barnett) has not always felt about bank interest as he says he feels now. I have looked at the OFFICIAL REPORT of the Committee debates on the 1969 Finance Bill when he and his hon. Friend the Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Mr. Sheldon) pointed out some of the anomalies that arose from not giving any relief for loan interest. They did not vote with their Government when an Amendment was moved to allow relief for people borrowing money to acquire shares in companies they worked for.