Finance (No. 2) Bill

Part of the debate – in a Public Bill Committee at 10:45 am on 19 October 2010.

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Photo of David Hanson David Hanson Shadow Minister (Treasury) 10:45, 19 October 2010

I have listened to the Minister, but I still think that there is an argument for us to look at the matter positively. This is no reflection on the discussions and negotiations that have taken place between my hon. Friend the Member for West Ham and the hon. Member for Scarborough and Whitby, but I think that a significant change has occurred since the initial discussions were held. I suggest to the Minister that we look at amending the motion so that we can meet his objective of completing our proceedings on the Bill in reasonable time and also allow Members on both sides of the Committee to contribute to the two important debates on the Savings Accounts and Health in Pregnancy Grant Bill and the  comprehensive spending review. The Committee could then still consider the Finance (No. 2) Bill in a fruitful and productive way.

If you will allow me, Mr Chope, I would like to table the following amendment: at the end of the Government’s motion, insert, “except that there shall be no afternoon sittings on Tuesday 26 and Thursday 28 October.” That would give us the option of two sittings on 2 November, which is the Tuesday following. Our proceedings might conclude on the morning of 2 November. They might even be completed as early as the morning of Thursday 28 October—we do not know; we go at the pace we go. I do not want to cause the Minister trepidation, so I should say that we could finish the Bill on Thursday morning next week without needing to sit on 2 November. However, if we are faced with sittings on the afternoons of Tuesday and Thursday next week, when the House considers the CSR and the health in pregnancy grants Bill, it might be that my hon. Friends and I will find details in the Finance (No. 2) Bill that we will wish to test even more than we might have done.

I do not think that anything would be lost by accepting an amendment that would allow us to clear Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. We could then attend the health in pregnancy debate and stand up for our constituents who are being unfairly hit by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government on pregnancy grants, on the savings gateway and on child trust funds. We could also stand up for them on issues to do with cuts in housing, defence, police and justice, and on tackling the deficit. The Government could get their Bill as early as next Thursday afternoon, and certainly no later than Tuesday 2 November. I commend such an amendment to the Committee and ask whether my hon. Friends or other Members wish to speak to it.