---

Finance Bill

Happily, the question is hypothetical, because the then Chancellor reached a decision on the right package of measures needed to halve the deficit over the next four years. The hon. Gentleman's problem is that the Conservative party concluded that it needed to bring forward by a year the date at which debt as a proportion of GDP needs to start to fall. Therefore, another £40 billion in tax rises and spending cuts are needed. The only way to secure that is to take an enormous risk by whacking domestic consumption with a regressive tax. So he must contend with a question of economics and one of fairness. [Interruption.] He says from a sedentary position that it is a question of leadership, but the art of fairness is integral to the effective leadership of this country. That is what his constituents would expect, and it is why I hope that he will support me in these amendments to carry out a study of the impact of the new tax, so that we can understand how to remedy the problem in the next Finance Bill.