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Finance Bill

I do not subscribe to any of the theories that have been pumped out from the Opposition Benches. They are all absurd. If one really wants to find out, the best thing to do is ask the Prime Minister exactly what his reasons were. The absurdities that have been pressed by those on the other side of the House do not do them much credit. The one really positive thing that has come out of today's debate is the fact that we agree that we need to look at the wider tax package to decide how we can protect the poorest in our society. That is exactly what I propose to try to address. It is widely and quite properly acknowledged that one of the Government's major achievements has been to remove 750,000 children from poverty. In addition, they have significantly enhanced the incomes of the poorest households, right across the board, through a combination of tax credits, pension credit, the national minimum wage and improving training skills for employment. That is a thoroughly good and reputable record, and it would be a tragedy if the good will that comes from that substantial gain to the poorer half or quarter of society were undermined by this unfortunate mishap over the abolition of the 10p tax rate.