Value Added Tax

Part of Ways and Means – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 30 April 1974.

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Photo of Mr Geoffrey Pattie Mr Geoffrey Pattie , Chertsey and Walton 12:00, 30 April 1974

It is always a matter for concern when this House stands on the verge of approving a statutory instrument, one of whose provisions will lead to an anomalous absurdity.

I have in my hand a large, roundish, multi-celled juicy, sweet or acid fruit enclosed in a bright reddish-yellow, tough rind. It is a fruit which has been enjoyed in Europe since the eleventh century. We know that in the year 1290 the Queen of Edward I purchased seven of them from a Spanish ship which had docked at Portsmouth. Why she purchased so few I do not know. Perhaps it was a special offer—