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Finance (No. 2) Bill

The hon. Gentleman cannot deny that there have been repeated amendments to the film tax regime over the past few years. We have seen the film tax regime used in large part for tax avoidance and it has had very limited success in supporting the film industry. We will be looking at the clauses to see whether we can make them more successful than the Government have so far been able to make such provisions. It is not just the huge complexity of the tax system that is undermining our competitiveness, but the instability and unpredictability of the Chancellor in his nine years in office. If the hon. Member for Rhondda does not want to take my word for it, he should listen to the comments of Frank Haskew of the Institute of Chartered Accountants:"““The UK corporation tax system appears to be caught in a culture of endless change and increasing regulation that does not allow businesses to plan properly.””" This stop-go approach has left us with what is basically continuing revolution in the tax system, making it much harder for businesses to plan for the future. That is damaging our competitiveness and it must be one reason why business investment and productivity growth have fallen significantly in recent years.