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Donate to our crowdfunderPaul Goodman: I just wanted to say that we do not intend to press new clause 1 to a vote tonight. None the less, does the hon. Lady agree that we did not get a full answer from the Chief Secretary and that it will be worth returning to the matter in due course?
Paul Goodman: I am looking for a sentence that will sum up the what the official Opposition feel about clauses 20 and 21, about new clause 1, about the Liberal amendments to the clauses and to new clause 1, and about what the hon. Member for Nottingham, South (Alan Simpson) has just said. That sentence is: "The Red Book only takes us so far." It takes us only so far in relation to the two clauses before...
Paul Goodman: I am worried about proposing a delay without proposing a firm alternative. I want to come to that point in due course.
Paul Goodman: That is why I would be extremely pleased—as, doubtless, would the Liberals—if the Financial Secretary said tonight that, once the clause is passed, the Government will carry out an assessment of a replacement for APD. The Financial Secretary has never ruled that out. I am interested to know whether he will do so when he responds to the debate. We believe that there should be an...
Paul Goodman: I would be grateful to the hon. Lady if she confirmed that that is exactly what happened.
Paul Goodman: But the hon. Lady did that last year in relation to vehicle excise duty.
Paul Goodman: They were both tax rises. The amendment that the hon. Lady tabled last year on VED was outside the scope of what was eligible to be tabled for debate. [ Interruption. ] Well, the Liberals will have to explain why they were so keen last year on tabling amendments that were not eligible for debate, but will not do so this year. I suspect that the real reason is that, according to independent...
Paul Goodman: I certainly agree that the proposals are pretty chaotic. Again, I note that there is no substantial amendment setting out Liberal Democrat policies in any form. However, I will not carry on down that road. I have made my point, and no one has got to their feet to say that the Institute for Fiscal Studies is wrong. We agree with the Liberals that there should be an assessment, but we do not...
Paul Goodman: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. That word did not pass the Chancellor's lips.
Paul Goodman: It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr. Illsley. May I encapsulate what I want to say on behalf of the official Opposition about the amendment by saying to the hon. Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable) that if his amendment had proposed only an assessment, we would have been tempted to vote for it? However, it does not do only that, so for that reason, as I shall explain, we do not...
Paul Goodman: I must confess that I have not yet got to the bottom of the consultation document, but if the hon. Lady is saying that APD is an aviation tax, I agree with her. Where we part company is that we are not opposed in principle to an aviation tax. I could not credibly stand at the Dispatch Box and argue that we were when my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe introduced it and...
Paul Goodman: My hon. Friend makes a fair point. My hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs. Villiers), the shadow Chief Secretary, has received a letter from the Financial Secretary citing further precedents. We want to examine those, because the Library note on the other precedents that he cited is extremely interesting. That brings me directly to the amendments tabled by my hon. Friend the...
Paul Goodman: I was waiting for someone to make that point. I am only surprised that my hon. Friend needed persuading to vote for them. Evidently I have not entirely mastered his psychology: I must pay more attention in future. I entirely agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch that the way in which the APD rise has been implemented has been—as the Library note confirms— legally and...
Paul Goodman: My right hon. Friend makes a fair point. A sword of Damocles is hanging over the Government. I do not think that the House of Commons is the right place in which to decide what change is legally in order and what is not, but it may well be that the Government have been as careless about the legal aspects as they appear to have been with the procedure. Where I part company with my hon. Friend,...
Paul Goodman: The key point, though, is that it would give relief to the airlines, because the airlines, not the passengers, pay the duty. One of my reasons for asking the Financial Secretary earlier how much of the increase had been passed on to passengers was the genuine uncertainty that exists on this point. We fear that as a result of the amendment the airlines might simply receive the windfall, say...
Paul Goodman: The Minister finds me convoluted. May I simply ask him a straightforward question? Does he agree with the Treasury Committee that he has not cited any relevant precedents for this retrospective increase?
Paul Goodman: Will the Minister give way?
Paul Goodman: Why did not the Treasury Committee have access to the precedents?
Paul Goodman: You are policing the conduct of the debate as vigorously as ever, Mrs. Heal, which is entirely appropriate. Let me reassure you that I do not propose to be dragged away from considering the amendments of my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Mr. Chope), either by the general debate about the clause or by the Liberal Democrat amendments, which we will deal with in due course. During the...
Paul Goodman: Why does the hon. Lady think that the last time the Government substantially raised APD, they gave a year's notice of the rise?