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Finance Bill

I shall make our position fairly clear towards the end of my speech. I understand the hon. Gentleman’s question, but I hope that he can be patient. Incidentally, we find it interesting that the new clause was tabled both by parties that are fierce defenders of the Union and by parties that are not so keen on it. Subsection (1D) contains a potentially more powerful measure. It proposes that whenever international oil prices rise above the level estimated in the Budget—the formalised estimate proposed in subsection (1B)—indexed duty increases should be frozen until prices return to the forecast level. There are practical problems with that as well. First, there is the technical but nevertheless important question of how international oil prices will be defined for the operation of the clause. Will the definition depend on Brent light, West Texas intermediate, Dubai or some other representative basket of oil prices? If one is putting into law a trigger that affects the payment of duty, it is important to be clear on exactly the circumstances under which that duty would operate. I do not mean to steal the Financial Secretary’s thunder, but I would not be surprised, as he is a Treasury Minister, if he had a similar view of those matters.