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Finance Bill

We try to bear the big picture in mind throughout the budgeting process. We do not consider vehicle excise duties in isolation, but alongside other duties. We then examine their distributional impact, so I hope that we can make my right hon. Friend pleased with our fair approach. The system of CO2 based vehicle excise duty applies to cars registered from 2001 onwards. Cars registered before then continue to pay the duty according to their engine size because we do not have comprehensive data on their CO2 emissions. Clearly, over time, the number of cars in that pool diminishes. Although engine size can act as a proxy for emissions, my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-West gave a few examples of perverse results. It does not, therefore, provide as accurate a measurement of emissions as that used in CO2 based VED: grams per kilometre. I hope that hon. Members will join me in supporting the clause. Question put and agreed to. Clause 14 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.