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Rating and Valuation (S.I., 2009, No. 204)

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. I know that we make common cause on this issue. A number of Labour Members have raised exactly the same point. A number of parliamentary answers have disclosed that the way in which the Government subsequently handled the issue does them no credit. The initial fault lay with the VOA, but the Government have failed to do anything to rectify it. We have a retrospective increase in taxation about which there was no communication, no consultation, no impact assessment, no assessment of the likely revenue to be raised and no assessment of the impact on the wider economy. There was no quantifying of the revenue or the economic impact, which was a clear breach of the Treasury's guidelines on the imposition of retrospective taxation. This is not just a complete foul-up in practical terms; it is thoroughly wrong in principle—[Interruption.] I am glad to see that the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field) is following me so far.