---

National Insurance Contributions Bill

My hon. Friend makes an interesting point, which leads me to this observation. I will not dwell on the point, but a certain Labour Government had been elected on a pledge that they would not increase the rates of income tax. They then increased national insurance contributions and said, ““Well, that's not income tax.”” Given that precedent, if at a future election a party—it could be either party—made a pledge not to increase income tax, could anything stop it increasing national insurance contributions above the upper earnings limit or abolishing the limit? That is an interesting point, which relates back to what my hon. Friend the Member for Gosport (Peter Viggers) said. There is a suspicion that a door is being left open. We know from yesterday's Institute for Fiscal Studies report that the Government's public finances are in a mess; there is an £8 billion black hole. ... I am grateful, Madam Deputy Speaker; I think that I probably said what I wanted to say. Clearly, there is a concern about public finances, and in such circumstances suspicions may grow. I should also say—I assure you that I will make this point very briefly, Madam Deputy Speaker—that although the Government have made a commitment not to increase the upper earnings limit above the point at which higher rate income tax is payable, they also made a commitment at the last general election to have a referendum on the European constitution.