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National Insurance Contributions Bill

The hon. Gentleman obviously thinks it is. It is interesting to see the collegiate working between the Liberal Democrats and the Labour party on this matter. Perhaps it is symptomatic of what we will see when the Liberal Democrats get their new leader. My hon. Friend the Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) talked about broken promises and today we are seeing another, although it may be more of a moving of the goalposts, which is concerning Opposition Members. He talked about the ““conjuring”” that we have seen in the Bill—a very apt word. We all accept that simplification is to be welcomed, but we are concerned about the way in which the Bill delivers it. We are also concerned about the fact that although we have made progress in discussing pensions and pensions reform, that consensus has been tested today. My hon. Friend the Member for Broxbourne (Mr. Walker), in a customarily witty and wide-ranging speech, said that he smelled a rat but did not link that with any specific Member, which was reasonable of him. He also linked the Bill with health care in his constituency, which was some achievement. There is no doubt that the Bill increases the national insurance contributions that higher rate and some basic rate taxpayers will make, particularly those who are on about £40,000 to £43,000 a year. As my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) mentioned, there are particular income levels at which people will be paying more national insurance as a result of the Bill—