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House of Lords (Members’ Taxation Status) Bill [HL]

The noble Lord, Lord Elton, invites me to tread in dangerous water. I will try to tread myself out of it as quickly as I can. Let me repeat: the Government gave a commitment in the Budget that the personal tax rules on resident and domiciled status will not be revisited until at least the end of the next Parliament. My honourable friend Mr Prentice's Bill takes a rather different approach from that of the noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott. That is what I was referring to. The Government have expressed reservations about the drafting of the tax provisions within Mr Prentice's Bill. The noble Lord certainly cannot take my comments on Mr Prentice's Bill as detracting at all from the commitment that the Chancellor made in the Budget. I hope that I have got myself out of the trouble that the noble Lord thought that I was in.