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Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

I regret to say that I cannot support the Second Reading of the Bill. Having said that, the speech by the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) was extraordinary. Before he got carried away in his flights of floral fantasy, he said that he agreed with the postponement of the revaluation and with the removal of the obligation to carry out revaluation on a regular 10-yearly cycle. I would have wholeheartedly agreed with him on both counts, but he does not appear to want my support. Everyone who has considered this issue starts from the simple proposition that if we have a system of local government taxation based on local property values, those values must be revisited periodically. No one has argued credibly that the current values based on 1991 levels should remain the basis of council tax for evermore.