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Finance Bill

I agree wholeheartedly with my right hon. Friend. I thought that we were at a stage in this House where we were all 100 per cent. behind making progress on green issues. Clearly, as he has pointed out, there was a fundamental flaw on this occasion. The Conservatives voted against the Budget measures that raised money, but not against those that increased spending. That equates to a £10 billion black hole in their economic plans on top of the £10 billion in unfunded tax pledges. Support in the Budget included the additional one-off payment in 2008-09 of £100 alongside the winter fuel payment for the households of those aged over 80, and of £50 for the households of those aged over 60. That will benefit about 9 million households. The increase in the first child rate of child benefit to £20 a week from April 2009 reinforces our Government's commitment to child benefit as a foundation of financial support for all families. The increase in the child element of the child tax credit of £50 a year above indexation from April next year will further help low to middle-income families. The public will see through the reckless unfunded promises made by the official Opposition, whose opportunism showed through when the Leader of the Opposition called for the 10p rate to be restored. Now there seems to be confusion, because they refuse to say what their policy is. That is typical of the reckless and irresponsible approach that they take to issues of taxation and spending. It was precisely that reckless approach to public finances that saw the last Tory Administration inflict on hard-working families across Britain interest rates at levels that reached 15 per cent. We would never wish to return to those days. More than a third of the Bill is concerned with measures designed to simplify and modernise the tax system. That will help businesses to be more productive and the UK to remain internationally competitive in these difficult times. The 2008 Finance Bill will implement the business tax reforms announced in the 2007 Budget. The Bill will further promote access to financial resources for small and medium-sized enterprises through reforms in the enterprise investment scheme and the enterprise management incentive scheme. The Bill implements the capital gains tax reform announced in the pre-Budget report towards the end of last year. That includes the introduction of the flat-rate capital gains tax of 18 per cent. and a 10 per cent. entrepreneurs' relief on the first £1 million of lifetime gains. The Bill will also reform the North sea fiscal regime, particularly focusing on the tax treatment of assets. Petroleum revenue tax will also be reformed. Having mentioned petroleum, I want again to put on record my thanks that the Chancellor saw fit to delay the fuel duty increase that had been proposed for earlier this month. I know that there is likely to be a proposal from some in this House to introduce a fuel price regulator. I hope that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will be in a position fully to explain why such a proposal is unmanageable. As I am talking about fuel, I also want to mention an issue that blights many who live in rural communities—household heating oil. Those people are among the hardest hit. I know from a recent discussion with my hon. Friend the Minister for Energy that we need seriously to consider a number of issues, including social tariffs, which would alleviate some of the problems that many households face. Looking to the future, as a nation we need to set our minds to the ever-increasing price of crude oil. It has taken us a long time to reach the price of $100 a barrel. It is not uncommon to see some of the major oil companies saying in the press and the media that oil will cost $200 a barrel in the next two or four years. If that is the case, we all need to consider the issue seriously now rather than waiting until it happens.