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Finance Bill

My Lords, I shall come on to the noble Lord’s speech in a moment, but he will recognise that a third represents an extensive increase in taxation directed towards his objectives. He will know how difficult it is to persuade the electorate of the enormous virtues to be seen in a massive increase in air passenger duty or in a tax on fuel, or in other areas that I have no doubt his party will need to canvass if it is to make its figures add up on the overall position. My noble friend Lord Barnett also questioned me on another area that we have debated in the House quite recently—non-domiciled status. He indicated that he thought that the time for us to reach our conclusions was overdue. However, the review has been thorough and considered over a period of time. He will recognise that we have to balance the effects on the economy of tax returns with concerns among the public about the unfairness that certain aspects of non-domiciled status convey. I say to him that, when he is pressing the Government in this respect, he is joining a large number of representations. The Government are not mindless—or do not fail to be mindful, I should say more accurately—of the importance of fairness with regard to taxation and we intend to produce conclusions on this in due course. What he cannot expect me to do—although I do not think that he expects it in his wildest dreams—is to speak about the Finance Bill and produce fresh taxation proposals at this very late stage. I am not going to do it. He is going to have to put up with the Bill that we have before us, which I will defend rigorously.