Capital Transfer Tax

Part of Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 12 November 1974.

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Photo of Mr David Mitchell Mr David Mitchell , Basingstoke 12:00, 12 November 1974

It is all very well for the hon. Gentleman to talk about printing money. With a £6,300 million borrowing requirement this year no Gov- ernment in history have printed money in the way the present Government are printing it. The Chancellor will go down in history as Mr. Inflation. Let us have no pussyfooting on that issue.

The Chancellor made an important point about unemployment being the central problem. The cut-back in investment by industry is central to that problem. The uncertainty about the Common Market has a substantial influence, for there are many companies whose main overseas market is in Europe. They know that some time next year they may find that they are cut off by the Common Market external tariff from the opportunities of selling in Europe. That uncertainty must mean that many boards of directors will say "We shall not lay out capital to increase production facilities when we do not know whether they will be required, when we do not know whether we may find ourselves partially locked out from our best overseas market".

There is also the threat of the National Enterprise Board. The hon. Member for Birmingham, Handsworth appealed for the end of the mixed economy. What dangerous nonsense that is. Such speeches frighten private enterprise out of its wits. They frighten private enterprise into saying "It is not worth while investing, it is not wise to take risks, because if we fail we get nothing, and if we succeed the Chancellor or the Labour Party will see that the fruits of our success are confiscated".