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Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

The hon. Gentleman will have heard the Secretary of State explain that he too, and his Government, would fund some of their priorities from efficiency savings. We recognise the damage that the increase in national insurance will do to our economy at a fragile time, and we have fully costed this proposal. Many businesses will no longer be eligible for small business rate relief, which, incidentally, we have proposed should be made automatic. The impact on businesses, particularly small businesses such as pubs, which in the rural economy may be the only business in a village, or petrol stations, the cause of which my hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Mr. Dunne) has championed, will be disastrously affected, with, no doubt, many being sent to the wall. In Northern Ireland, the revaluation was postponed because it was accepted that it would be very damaging to economic growth, so why inflict it on England? Do Ministers believe that it will not harm growth prospects in England? They certainly cannot base that belief on any impact assessment, because they have not bothered to do one.