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Local Transport Bill [HL]

My Lords, the noble Lord persists with the spurious argument that these are tax-raising powers. Are they therefore tax-raising powers when they are applied to local authorities in England? Are they tax-raising powers when they are applied in Scotland? Are they tax-raising powers when they are applied in Northern Ireland, or are they just tax-raising powers for the convenience of some section of the Conservative Party that still wants to deploy an anti-devolution argument and therefore needs to frighten the natives of Monmouthshire?