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Finance Bill

I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention, but perhaps she misunderstood the point I was making. Altering the VAT rate obviously has an impact on the wider economy and on Government finances, but claims as to which specific groups of people it would hit in particular are hard to prove in advance of the change. Many of the predictions of price increases—in rural shops in Scotland or elsewhere—may not come to pass, simply because retailers will have to take other considerations into account, such as the effect on their trade. I am sure that we can all think of retailers—such as the Fopp record store in my constituency —which set their prices at standard amounts, such as £3, £5, £7 or £10, simply to attract customers through the door. It is unlikely that they will move away from that marketing model.