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Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 16 November 2010.

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Photo of George Osborne George Osborne The Chancellor of the Exchequer 2:30, 16 November 2010

As I say, we are doing that because we need to deal with the Budget deficit. I thought it was the policy of the hon. Gentleman's party that a greater share of the consolidation should be borne by tax rises; I thought that that was now the official policy. It is also clear that the previous Government were planning a VAT rise. Businesses have had plenty of notice of the increase that is coming in in January, and I am sure they will be able to cope in the same way as they coped with the VAT rise at the beginning of this January.