---

Finance Bill

The hon. Member for Dundee, East (Stewart Hosie) made several telling comments across the range of financial and industrial policy. I hope that he will forgive me if I do not follow him down that track, except with respect to his final point, which was about the 10p tax rate. I want, in a short speech, to concentrate on the most politically contentious part of the Bill, arising out of the abolition of the 10p rate. I hope that something of what I say will answer his final point. I want to make proposals that are designed to be helpful in preserving the Government's well-earned record for alleviating poverty while ensuring that there is no shortfall in revenue to the Treasury. It is all very well to propose schemes that will cost money if we are to protect the poorest; the question is where the money comes from. The right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard), who is no longer here, made a most extraordinary speech, purporting to peel away one by one the supposed conspiratorial motives of the Prime Minister. Rather, it reminded me of Salome discarding her veils one by one, although the final revelation of Salome was a great deal more telling than the final disclosure of the right hon. and learned Gentleman. I thought it was patent nonsense. The one really positive thing to come out of this afternoon's debate—