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AMENDMENT OF THE LAW

The hon. Member for Brent, North (Barry Gardiner) drew me to my feet with his full and erudite exposition of the Ramsar convention. I should state to the House, for good order, my proprietary interest in the bog mentioned. [Interruption.] I own it, yes. He also said that I was shameless in raising a constituency interest. I have no shame whatsoever in doing so, and I intend to raise four matters that have an impact on my constituents, as well as a brief point about the Budget as a whole. The Chancellor of the Exchequer came to his current job with a reputation as a safe pair of hands; time will tell whether they are safe enough to accept the hospital pass that he has received from his predecessor. The critical test of the Budget will relate to financial stability and whether our economy will survive. The right hon. Member for Hitchin and Harpenden (Mr. Lilley) made some interesting points, many of which I agree with. For the second time this week, he told us about the tide and the bathing trunks. I could tell him from personal experience that if the bathing trunks are loose enough and the tide is strong enough, the tide can take the bathing trunks. He said that the way in which the banks have sought to package and sell unsecured debt is not a factor in the problems that we now face. I disagree—I think that their use of extreme financial technology has been a major factor in those problems. One of the key tools that will see us through is the independence of the Bank of England. I welcome the fact that, for the first time in its history, the Bank is independent at a time when the economy is being tested. Particularly in the light of the studies of lessons learned from the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, there is room to look again at whether the Bank should have the sole objective of curtailing inflation, as currently, or a mixed objective combining inflation and employment. The first of my four points of particular concern to my constituents relates to transport. I was glad that the Chancellor, with his particular knowledge of transport issues, brought that up in his Budget statement. I have no particular problem with the concept of using vehicle excise duty to encourage people into vehicles that are less polluting; in fact, I rather support it. Indeed, my colleagues and I tabled an amendment to that effect this time last year. However, I still have grave concerns about the cost of fuel to people who live in remote and rural areas. The hon. Member for Beckenham (Mrs. Lait) mentioned a fuel price in her area of 106p or thereabouts. I can take her to a petrol station in my part of the world where it is 126p and rising. That big premium is the main problem. The hon. Member for Brent, North made several points about the principles behind taxation, including the concept of fairness. In seeking to change behaviour, one of the key points about fairness is that there is somewhere for that behavioural change to go. If someone in the far north of Scotland has a car, that is the only way that they will get around. There is never going to be a bus service in the middle of Sutherland. We need a system that is fair. The long-term answer, which the Chancellor brought up in his statement, is road pricing. We should look to make progress on that policy, and I hope that he will. However, we need an interim measure to deal with that premium that exists in remote rural areas. My second point is one that was brought home to me forcibly by one of my constituents who is a pensioner. Typically, many pensioners have a modest occupational pension to supplement their state pension, and they own a house and a car, but they have a pretty fixed income. They have suffered from inflation in council tax, the price of fuel and other areas, but particularly fuel. My constituent said that when the winter fuel allowance began, it paid for an entire winter’s supply of fuel for his house. Prior to today’s announcement, it accounted for exactly half; his bills have precisely doubled in that time. I welcome the £50 and £100 increases to the payments; I note that they are one-off payments, and I hope that that policy will be revisited. But that will not go more than a quarter of the way to redress the balance of the impact on bills since the winter fuel payment was first brought in. We must consider further the issue of fuel poverty, to which a number of hon. Members have referred. The final point that my constituent made to me was that on top of everything, his 10p rate of tax has doubled. He is paying more tax, he has higher bills and he has nowhere to go. We must take account of people who have such problems. My third point is on renewable energy. I am an ardent and well-known supporter of all forms of energy that have a low-carbon life-cycle and can help to reduce our carbon emissions. One example is the renewable energy that can be supplied from the Pentland firth—scientists who have studied it tell me that it could supply 31 GW. The core barrier is the transmission regime. If the Chancellor would really like to help, then on top of the renewables obligation certificates that are available, perhaps something could be done to make the grid more accessible for renewable energy produced in outlying areas. Having produced renewable energy, it would be helpful if we could get it to market. My fourth point—I cannot let the Budget go by without commenting on it—concerns, of course, whisky. Here I must declare an interest. Most of my interests are in the register, but one that is not is that I am about to become grand master of the Keepers of the Quaich, which is an organisation designed to celebrate and promote whisky. I have no problem with putting tax on alcohol as a method of raising money, and given the cracks in the Budget, I see why the Chancellor would need to raise money from that source, just as he raises it from vehicles, cigarettes or elsewhere. I have difficulty, however, with the concept of linking the need to raise money with social consequences. The social consequences of binge drinking are an extremely complex area. Some good organisations, such as Alcohol in Moderation, are working in this area, and I counsel all parties to be careful about pretending that a modest tax hike will have any great social benefit. Other methods could be used, and should be studied.