The Office for Budget Responsibility has estimated that the take from stamp duty land tax in the rest of the UK is likely to fall by 5 per cent over the next three years. The Scottish Government predicts that LBTT residential receipts in Scotland for the same period are likely to fall by some 46 per cent. Given that that represents a potential loss to the public finances of some £833 million, why did the Scottish Government not listen to all the property experts who warned it that, by setting the rates too high, it would depress activity in the property market and therefore reduce the tax take? Will it now reconsider the level of tax rates?