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Finance Bill

I, too, shall attempt to be brief, as time is marching on and we discussed the issue in the Standing Committee at considerable length. I have three points. The first is that the measure is not being proposed by the Treasury to deal with tax avoidance. There is no pressing reason why the Government should include it in this Finance Bill, rather than allowing the consultation process to continue and introducing a more substantive measure in the Finance Bill next year. The matter has been under discussion for a long time, and the fact that the Treasury proposes an explicitly time-limited measure lets the cat out of the bag and reveals the rather half-baked nature of the basis on which the Government intend to proceed. My second point is that the regulations are tax-raising measures that should properly be the preserve of Parliament and positively agreed by the House. For that reason, I commend the amendment. Thirdly, the proposals are arbitrary and discriminatory and have changed dramatically from those that were first aired in the draft regulations published at the end of 2004. They would have had an impact throughout the life insurance industry, whereas under the current proposals the focus would be on only a small number of companies for a similar amount of revenue. Those companies are thus entitled to expect some independent restraint on the freedom of civil servants—albeit under the direction of Ministers, who are no doubt already on the case—to push through measures that could have a significant impact on their commercial position. For reasons relating to the technical taxation aspects of the substantive measure and the principle that the matter should be discussed in the House, I hope that the amendment will be supported. I look forward to the Minister’s response.