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Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

I am afraid I have not read The Guardian today. I will turn to green issues later in my speech. I disagree with that assessment, although of course the hon. Gentleman is quoting one of the very few organisations that backed his party's economic plans, if that is what they can be called. The fourth objective of our growth strategy is to have a more educated work force who are the most flexible in Europe. Let me turn first to creating a more competitive tax system. We used to have the third lowest corporation tax rate in Europe, but we now that the sixth highest, so from April this year corporation tax will be reduced not just by 1%, as we announced last June, but by 2%. It will continue to fall by 1% in each of the next three years, taking our corporate tax rate down to just 23% and giving us the lowest corporation tax rate in the G7.