---

Finance (No. 2) Bill

I apologise for straying, Mrs. Heal. My constituents already pay an increase to the Treasury due to the increased VAT that they pay because of the higher price of their fuel. It is thus perfectly appropriate to offer them some form of alleviation. My hon. Friends have tried to achieve that through an amendment to this imperfect Bill on vehicle excise duty. The way in which they have tried to achieve that in principle, if not in detail, gives us a good way forward. The key point is that those who live in genuinely remote rural areas suffer a real burden. It was extraordinary that the hon. Member for Wycombe was so dismissive of that burden, although it might explain why the Conservatives regularly come fourth in elections in my constituency and much of the Highlands. His speech has probably done more for my party’s prospects in elections in Scotland than anything that I could ever have done. The amendment is a sensible way forward.