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Finance Bill

This is my first Finance Bill Committee, and I admit to a degree of trepidation as I embark on this adventure, which will occupy a large part of my time for the next few months. I was reading an obituary of Humphrey Lyttelton on the train from Taunton this morning, and I thought that his comments about his period as a restaurant critic were relevant to my feelings. He said:"““In a moment of self-doubt, I said to George Melly…who had been doing the film reviews for The Observer, 'I'm sure they're going to find out one day that I know nothing about it'. His answer was convoluted but true: 'Yes, but in my experience, by the time they find out you know nothing about it, you will know something about it'.””" I hope that is my experience during the remainder of our sittings. I am sure that my unease about the Bill is nothing compared with that felt by the Government in recent days and weeks. Our deliberations have focused primarily on the 10p rate being doubled. Although the public as a whole, and people who watch politics carefully, inevitably tend to have a great preoccupation with taxation on personal income, taxes on small businesses are just as relevant—sometimes more so—to the prosperity of the individuals whom we represent as the taxes that are levied directly on their income. The Chancellor is championing the 2p cut in the main rate of corporation tax, but if we look at the small companies rate, we see that it was 19 per cent. in 2006, 20 per cent. in 2007, 21 per cent. in 2008 and that it will be 22 per cent. next year. There is no clearer direction of travel than that. People in my constituency and elsewhere who work for, or who are related to, people who work in the small business sector are understandably concerned about the impact of that increase on its profitability and competitiveness. The chief executive of the Forum of Private Business, Phil Orford, has said of the Budget:"““While there are some welcome initiatives, they do little, if anything, to offset the tax burden due to be implemented in April. The Chancellor has missed a golden opportunity to convince the small business community that he is on their side.””" When I speak to those who work in small businesses, they frequently say that it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to remain competitive. The burden of tax and regulation, not all of which is tax based—some of it relates to health and safety provisions—compromises those businesses' competitiveness. There are not many large corporations in my constituency. Inevitably, when a large business goes bust or makes several hundred employees redundant, people tend to focus on that, but the cumulative effect of lots of small businesses laying off a person here and a person there, which is much less readily observed by the media and by the general population, is none the less a problem for us if we wish to have a successful economy in the UK. I agree with many of the points that have been made by the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban), and I shall not repeat them simply because we are able to carry on for as long as we want to in today's debate. I agree particularly with him about the unease in many quarters regarding the small business provisions in the Budget. If he chooses to press the amendment to a vote, we will support the Conservative party.