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AMENDMENT OF THE LAW

The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point. This Government have done much for women pensioners, but we recognise that there is still much more to do. Later in my speech I shall discuss one aspect of that subject which has disturbed me somewhat. More than 300,000 families will benefit from the increase in the child element of child tax credit by some £50 a year from April next year. I shall focus on one or two highlights of today’s Budget statement that are important to a significant number of people in my local area, but first I come back to the point raised by the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink). If what I say is negative, it is something that I need to get out of my system. It arises not from something that was said today, but from what I see as a missed opportunity following last year’s Budget statement. In that statement, the reduction in the basic rate of income tax from 22p to 20p and the abolition of the 10p rate, which come into effect next month, were announced. The news caused deep anxiety, and within days I and several colleagues met my right hon. Friend the then Chancellor, now the Prime Minister, to make him aware of our concerns. I have also discussed the matter with the present Chancellor a couple of times. Although 700,000 pensioners will be removed from the tax bracket next month, many people in areas such as the one that I represent, which regrettably has a low-wage economy, will not see a positive impact. In areas with a low-wage economy, we find households that struggle to get by. It is those low-income households, women pensioners under 65 and people who may have retired because of ill health who, unfortunately, will be paying extra tax after 1 April. The only reassurance I have is that any extra tax that we generate will go into public services, which, I believe, need continuing investment. I am delighted that the Chancellor chose to defer the introduction of a 2p increase in road fuel duty, especially with crude oil prices so volatile. I wrote to my right hon. Friend and discussed the matter with him, and I would like to think that he listened to me, but I suspect that he was listening to other representations, as well. The decision will come as a great relief to households in my constituency, but we face a real challenge. Some people, we hear, are talking about the price of a barrel of oil reaching $200 in coming years. It has taken a long and painful time to reach $100 a barrel, but the fact that some people have in recent weeks been speaking freely of $200 a barrel is extremely difficult to swallow. As a nation, and perhaps globally, we have to think about how to face that challenge. Can we get people out of their cars? When crude oil prices are so volatile, the price differentials that have been mentioned in the Chamber this afternoon and on previous occasions are exploited. We see wide-ranging price differentials. The hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (John Thurso) mentioned the figure of £1.26 a litre. Parts of Scotland have extremes, but differentials have crept in even in areas where there are not extremes, and we desperately need to look into that. I fully support the green agenda, but individuals can be moved out of the comfort zone that the private car provides only if suitable public transport is available and affordable. In my area, the local bus network is nowhere near adequate, and it is more expensive than it should be. I wrote to Stagecoach, which is the main provider of public transport in my area, complaining about the increase in bus fares. I am disappointed that no Scottish National party Members are here, but I want to read to the House what was said to me. The letter says:"““I feel that it is important to highlight the fact that this year in particular bus operators in Scotland are subject to higher operating costs than our counterparts in England. This is a direct result of the current Scottish Governments decision not to award the increased level of Bus Service Operators Grant…we may find ourselves in the position that we may have to increase fares by a further amount later in the year.””" That is only one of a number of issues that have arisen of late. I know that colleagues paint the rosy picture that Scotland is a land flowing with milk and honey. It is an admirable country to live in, but there are some underhand practices taking place in Scotland under the current Administration in Holyrood. It has been raised, both on the Floor of the House and in Westminster Hall debates, that £34 million was allocated, as a direct result of the Barnett formula, to supporting disabled children and their families. That was a direct result of the pre-Budget statement made towards the end of last year. We cannot account for that money, and it is my belief and the belief of many of my colleagues that the money has gone towards filling a major black hole in the SNP Scottish Executive budget, which has led to the freezing of council tax. It is an admirable concept to freeze council tax, but should it be done at the expense of disabled children? Should it be done, potentially, at the expense of those in rural areas who desperately need public transport? The increase in alcohol duty has been mentioned. I intervened on the hon. Member for Dundee, East (Stewart Hosie) to make the point that his party was in a dilemma, as the SNP Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth had pleaded with the Chancellor not to increase duty on whisky, whereas the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in Scotland had said that there should be significant increases in the price of alcohol to combat antisocial behaviour and binge drinking. The hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) has left the Chamber, but I have heard it said more than once in the Chamber this afternoon that by increasing duty the Chancellor was tackling the issue of binge drinking and heavy drinking. The Chancellor’s comments on the increase in duty came to some 135 words, but not once was binge drinking or heavy drinking mentioned. In fact, he summed up by saying: ““It is only because I have taken these decisions on alcohol and on closing tax loopholes that I am able to provide additional support for families and lift more children out of poverty.”” That, and no other reason, is why there is an increase in the duty on alcohol. As I suggested earlier, my view is that alcohol and its price is only one aspect of what we as a nation need to do to tackle the unsavoury behaviour that we see on many of our streets, in towns, cities and even villages, and on some housing estates. Let us be perfectly honest: if there is an increase in the price of alcohol, young people will manage to get their hands on additional money to buy it. We should never forget that sometimes they are not going out to buy it or getting others to buy it; they are taking it from home. There was a wry smile on the faces of some of my hon. Friends when the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross declared that he would at some stage become the grand master of the Keepers of the Quaich. Let me assure the House that that is not some kind of secret organisation, as the title may suggest. All in all, it has been a good Budget under difficult circumstances. My hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Mr. Kidney) made the point that the Chancellor passed his test today. I hope that this is the first of many Budgets that we will hear from him. Debate adjourned.—[Liz Blackman.] Debate to be resumed tomorrow.