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Finance (No. 2) Bill

The hon. Gentleman is inviting me to speculate on any number of ifs, buts and maybes that might start with the cost of oil on the world markets, go to the level of fuel duty, and from there to the rate of value added tax. The answer to him is the same as it was to the hon. Member for Wycombe: it depends on the figures that the Treasury is able to produce at the time. What we want to hear today from the Financial Secretary is that at last he is prepared to take seriously the fact that there is a problem which causes real hardship to individuals and to businesses in my constituency and in many others represented in the House. Rather than spending all their time and energy producing excuses for not implementing such a measure, let his civil servants recognise the problem, examine it and act, otherwise the situation will never improve and the sustainability of our communities will never be maintained.