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Finance Bill

We have had a good debate on the new clause. I particularly welcome the contributions by my hon. Friends who served on the Standing Committee and have come back for more this afternoon. The hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Mr. Field) introduced his new clause with such a wide-ranging speech that I thought that we had suddenly moved on to the Third Reading debate. He sparked an interesting succession of points about the role of the second Chamber, if any, in finance legislation. He said that that chamber has extensive experience; it does indeed, and it is based on extensive interests. However, I utterly reject the proposition that a non-elected chamber should have a role in any tax matters, tax scrutiny or tax policy decisions. That would overturn a centuries-old principle of this House. The hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster should be aware, in making sometimes fairly light comments, that the financial privilege of the Commons dates back to the 17th century.